Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp

The day we recorded this, it was brutally cold rain with heavy winds outside.   Todd Barry is a perennial force of continuous head busting comedy for many decades now. The fact that Todd grew up in Florida and that he is one of the most respected comedians to have ever have started out there makes him feel like he is a part of my extended family. As long as I have been around, Todd has been around. From the earliest Comedy Central and MTV comedy shows to all of the best comedy festivals world wide.    He has appeared multiple times on Letterman and Conan, as well as delivering highly acclaimed comedy specials. He is one of the most respected comedians in the business and Louis CK is one of his most ardent supporters, having highlighted Todd as himself as a reoccurring character on the smash hit FX show 'Louie'.     Louis Ck even produced Todd's most recent live audio recording called 'Crowd Work'. Todd's unique brand of comedy as well as his signature delivery has made him a staple on several animated series

  You are about to experience the creative power of Sananda Maitreya!   The man has been a hero of mine since he first burst onto the scene because I had read that he grew up in Florida and then went on to become an internationally renowned artist living in Europe and still tantalizing the world with his creations.   With his last release of 'Return To Zooathalon' and his brand new release of 'The Rise Of The Zugebrian Time Lords' he is in my mind the JR Tolkien of Rock & Roll. Zooathalon is the paradise where we once trusted ourselves to be the masters of who we are. The Zugebrian Time Lords are trying to control your life and tell you who you are. As epic as this multilayered concept is, with it's metaphor of how in our modern consciousness and vanity you can be punished by being cast in a state of scrambled pixilation, I don't want anyone to get the wrong impression that these current recordings are not also packed with his ultimate strength of exquisitely articulated and soulfully expressed love songs

Kevin Meaney is one of my favorites because I will never forget watching him on television with my Dad and he made us both laugh out loud together. From then on my Dad would quote one of Kevin's jokes to me when he thought I might be on drugs "What are you hopped up on goofballs?"   To see Kevin Meaney perform today is to see him funnier than he has ever been.   If Depression, jail time and being stung by hornets can make you funnier in the retelling of those hard luck occurrences than Kevin is at the height of his powers and this episode is going to leave your sides hurting with laughter.   This year has been a tough year on Kevin Meaney especially with the shittiest moment being sent to jail for a misunderstanding at JFK airport when he was on his way to Israel to do shows. As much as I love him and feel terrible for what happened to him I can't help but howl with laughter and that is the gift of a great comedian.   "You can't cry in jail, you have to be tough. You can't show fear in county jail."   He thou

Pete Johansson is someone I always love to run into because when I see him it always results in intelligent lofty conversation. He has never been one to waste his time on small talk chit chat as his brain has more value to offer and he has never been one to bullshit anyone.    Since I first met Pete we have had epic wine drinking evenings where we dissected the world's problems and laughed ourselves silly until the sunrise. He is a part of the Canadian comedy collective of what I consider to be Canada's finest comedians who make their home currently in London.   The philosophical nature of his comedy is why I am a fan of his work but it is his dedication to squeezing every drop of fun out of life is what attracts me to him as a friend.    He was in Edinburgh for this year's Fringe festival where I got to spend many great nights talking and hanging out with him but we did not get to sit down and record this conversation until I was in London performing at the SOHO theater. As The Kings Of Leon sing about Londo

Rich Hall is to comedy what Johnny Cash is to country music.   The man is a living legend, having won Emmys for his writing for David Lettermen, was on SNL and Not Necessarily The News, he invented his own language with Snigglets and he won the grand prize at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2000.    For me personally, Rich Hall has been a great friend and someone I look up to who inspires me, especially with the amount of comedy ass he still kicks. Internationally respected and adored everywhere microphones are plugged in.    When I filmed Viva Vietnam for Comedy Central years ago I could bring one writer with me and I chose Rich. We bonded in 'Nam baby! I've been to visit him in Montana 3 times and I would not know the unbridled glory that is Montana had it not been for Rich. After Rich moved to London he encouraged me to come over because  he thought I would do well there. Not only did he coach me on the right chess moves to getting in with London but for 5 years he let me keep a key to his phenomenal flat

This episode was recorded in Amsterdam. Sander Borst is the quintessential Dutch bad ass. He is one of my oldest friends in Amsterdam. I met him when I first came to Holland to perform at Toomler comedy club where he was a bartender. He was performing in a punk rock band called the Skidmarks when we met and we hit it off easily by talking about music together. After I moved to Amsterdam I had many great music experiences with Sander and The Skidmarks. He has been one of my best friends in the city and he has always been there for me through life's ups and downs. No one knows my personal history of Amsterdam better than him and I also know all that he has been through in his life and the different turns his music career has taken that led him to where he is today. As a man I respect him and the way he has always conducted himself as a human being. He is the strong smart handsome Dutch man hero of my book.  After the Skidmarks came his hard rocking alternative country band called Check 1-2. Sander has given

This episode was recorded in Galway, Ireland I met Reginald D. Hunter many years ago in Manchester while hanging out with a group of comedians. It was before he became the comedy superstar that he is today. I liked him when we met so I have been cheering him on through the ensuing years when I saw him on countless British panel chat shows. Because he is from Georgia I felt Southern comedic pride watching him rise and it made me think that I knew him better than I actually did.  Last month we were both in Galway, Ireland to do the Galway Comedy Carnival and it was the first time we got to sit down and talk one on one.  He left his home in Georgia and headed to England many years ago to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic acting. After graduating he started his comedy career in England and as a result he is a much bigger star in the far reaching signals of the BBC than he is on American television.  Reg is an American original subversive thinker and he is a true master of stand up comedy.  In his own wor

This episode was recorded in Las Vegas. I want to pay tribute to the Amazing Johnathan before he drops dead. We all avoid the thought of death and superstitiously try to avoid the topic but that dirty whore will strike each of us. The Amazing Johnathan has a heart ailment and his doctors have told him that if his medicine doesn't work he only has one year to live. Imagine what you would do if you were told you only had one year to live. After years of touring relentlessly he wants to stay at home, maybe buy a new big screen TV, maybe do heroin, maybe a demolition derby in his back yard? I drove into his swank neighborhood, gated community with plush lawns and green trees in Las Vegas. Rich people can make it green anywhere. His house is a large sparkling palace with classic cars parked all over the front yard and back.  The 17 year old boy in me can't help but smile to see sitting in his drive way a 1967 midnight blue convertible GTO. His tasteful home has been modified to his specifications and every pai

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles. Eddie Pepitone is the darling of the underground comedy scene of Los Angeles. For an older man without a full head of hair to kick so much ass in the city where youth and beauty reigns eternal he must be respected for what he has accomplished. His comedy style is the man yelling to the people who are in the house that is one fire but they cannot see that the house is on fire. He is the angry heckler in the crowd in the crowd who makes perfect sense. He comes from an emotional place as a comedian, he attacks the stage with how he feels. What fuels him now is what is happening in the United States with corporations destroying people.  Anyone who thinks American comedians never talk about anything substantial have never seen Eddie perform. In this conversation Eddie and I talk about how you stay aware of what is happening in the world while remaining sane. Like George Carlin, Eddie Pepitone is an example of how an older man can do his best work in comedy and continue

This episode was recorded in London. Let it be known to the the universe that Tom Rhodes Radio gives Mark Farrelly's one man show 'Quentin Crisp' a 5 star review. This show invites libation imbibement and encourages you to be yourself whatever you wish that self to be. Being exactly what you are even if that is a bore. Mark was doing his Quentin Crisp solo show at the Gilded Balloon for the Edinburgh Fringe festival and I met him about half way through the festival's run at the Loft bar, the private bar for the entertainers and artists doing shows there. I had so many deep conversations with him over the last 2 weeks of the festival and I liked his show much I thought it an imperative that he be a guest on my show.  After our Edinburgh run we both went to London, me to do my show at the Soho theater and Mark to do his at the St. James theater. My wife Ashna and I went to see his show again in London and then we invited Mark over to have a few bottles of wine and record this conversation in our rented flat.

This episode was recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland. Rhys Nicholson is a star waiting to happen. He is visually captivating with his flaming orange read hair, thick black glasses, high cheek bones, chiseled jawline with powdered make up and his smart style of dress.  His comedy is frank, up front, straight forward, unabashed and unapologetic even when he talks about the details of his sex life. In his own words he told his Grandmother "Being gay is not all anal sex and dancing." He can be unsettlingly graphic on stage at times for normal puritan audience members but he always makes me laugh and it is his sincerity on stage that is my favorite thing about his style of comedy. I first met Rhys 5 years ago when we were performing together at the Comedy Store in Sydney, Australia. Back then you could see that he was destined to do great things as a comedian and it is enjoyable to me, someone who is cheering him on, to see the development he has had and where he is as a performer today. This being his 4th Edinbur

This episode was recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland   In my opinion Jo Caulfield has the sexiest speaking voice in all of the English speaking comedy world. Her tone, elocution and educated accent is one that makes me tingle like a comfort food and if I owned my own television network she would be the voice of my channel.    I first met Jo when I first started coming to London in the late 1990s. I have worked with her many times through the years and I respect her not only because she has always been kind to me but because she is funny and has a certain authoritative way of carrying herself onstage.   I've always said that when a comedian steps onstage everyone else in the room should lose rank and title and that comedian should become the sheriff of the room while they have the microphone in their hand. That is one thing about Jo's style that has always impressed me, while she is onstage she is the sheriff of the room.   In recent years more women and ethnically diverse personalities have taken to comedy stages

This episode was recorded in Edinburgh. Lynn Ruth Miller is an inspiring risk taker who is attacking life as if she were someone 20 years old. Humbling to learn that she is 80 years old and just moved to Brighton, England last year to pursue her career as a stand up comedian. Born in 1933 she remembers the war years in a way that will surprise you and her opinion of America is ice cold honest from someone who survived much person disaster and incredible odds to be where she is today. Her charm and joy for life is infectious as it is captivating. She has many strong opinions former from a life fully lived. She doesn't believe in fear or evil and she believes that every dream is worth pursuing. I met Lynn Ruth 10 years ago when she started out as a comedian in San Francisco. She had come to see me headline at the Purple Onion then shortly after this she booked me to do a show with her at Stanford University which turned out to be a very special experience for all involved. Through the years I have seen her in

This episode was recorded in San Francisco. I first met Margaret Cho when I moved to San Francisco in the early 1990s and because we both developed and came up together she is a friend that I am always cheering for and who I will always be loyal too. I could go for years without seeing Margaret but when we do it is like we never lost a minute together. I have been communicating with her for the past few years about trying to record an episode of this podcast with her but our schedules have not allowed us to make that happen. A few weeks ago when I was in Los Angeles I asked Margaret if she would be in town and she said that she was going to go San Francisco for Comedy Day in Golden Gate park because this year it was dedicated to Robin Williams. Because of Margaret I bought a last minute plane ticket to fly up for it. Comedy Day is a yearly free comedy concert in the park every year that the city of San Francisco puts on. I had not been to one since the late 1990s and neither had Margaret. It was so much fu

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles. Aisha Tyler is an iconic woman who has conquered the stages of stand up comedy, the world of network television and the New York Times bestsellers list of book authors. I met Aisha Tyler in the 1990s in the golden age San Francisco comedy. I remember Aisha when she was starting out as a comedian there and I remember that she always had a pure heart in her pursuit of becoming a master stand up comedian. I remember her hustling around the Bay area comedy scene trying to get as much stage time as she could and always trying to get better as a comedian. I felt like she was Luke Skywalker and I was Obi-wan Kenobi when she would seek out my Jedi warrior wisdom.  She has always shown me respect and been grateful for my influence on her development. In this conversation we talk about how she felt like an outsider growing up in San Francisco, Finding your voice as a comedian, taking giants leaps in developing your material, the influence of the abundant about of humor her dad

This episode was recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland. Karen Koren is the queen mother of the Edinburgh Fringe festival. She has produced countless shows for the festival for over 30 years and it the operator of the Gilded Balloon, one of the cornerstone venues of the entire Fringe.  It was important for me to do my Edinburgh debut with Karen at the Gilded Balloon because of a disaster I had experienced at the old Gilded Balloon (which has since burned to the ground) at the perennial late night show Late n’ Live many years ago when I was visiting the festival in August 2000. That disaster and the notorious viciousness of Late n’ Live hecklers are discussed in the episode. Not only did I shatter that memory for myself I created the best possible new one from getting to perform my hour show every night at 9:15pm at the Gilded Balloon and be under the loving umbrella of Karen Koren.  At the Loft bar of the Gilded Balloon where this conversation was recorded is the private bar for the performers of this venue who

In comedy there are certain wise men you meet on your journey that are priceless to talk with because they possess the glow of knowledge you hope to gain when you one day pass from warrior to wise man. Tommy Sheppard owns The Stand comedy club in Edinburgh which is the heart and soul of Scottish comedy. It is as perfect of a comedy club to start in as the Cavern club in Liverpool was for the Beatles to start in.  Since opening the Stand in Edinburgh he has branched out and opened satellite rooms of The Stand in Glasgow and Newcastle. He is reputed to be an honest fair man in a business where sticking it to a comedian by undercutting his cash is often one of the occupational hazards. Comedians speak of him with respect and his employees show their loyalty by working for him for years. I was happy to meet Tommy and make friends with him this past month while I was doing the Fringe Festival. Before going into the comedy world by opening his room in the 1990s he was a full time organizer with the British Labor

★★★★★  Tom Rhodes Radio Review for Zoe Lyons in ‘Mustard Cutter’ Zoe Lyons is one of the best performers that I saw at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival. I love her style, her energy, her pacing and her material. Often when you are seeing multiple shows in a day at the Fringe festival you will look at your watch during a performance and I'm happy to report I did not look at my watch once while Zoe was performing her show Mustard Cutter. I simply got lost in my enjoyment of her show.  Her and I have in common that she also has a Dutch wife and her insights on being married to a Dutch person made me howl with laughter. Her facial expressions as well as her way of expressing how she feels about the life that she is living is of the essence of what comedy is about.  I will now bestow the greatest compliment I could give any performer by saying that Zoe Lyons contains the original energy of joy.  Like all comedians, I'm sure she has experienced a bumpy road but her attitude towards life and performing come

Glenn Wool is one of the finest comedy exports Canada has ever produced. His comedy is philosophical, heartfelt and endearing. He is also one of the nicest human beings I have ever come across in all my years traveling the globe. I met Glenn many years ago at the Comedy Store in London and have since worked with him at comedy festivals all over the world. He is one of the few comedians like myself that has relentlessly toured the world wide circuits proving that his comedy is accessible to laughing brains anywhere comedy microphones are plugged in. He has recently secured a home in Vancouver but that will undoubtedly not stop him from continuing to tour the world circuits. His take and opinion on subjects is always fresh and uniquely his own which makes him one of my favorite comedians to watch. He is also the kind of friend that if we are anywhere within a few hundred miles from each other we always make the extra effort to get together.  Impressively he is a veteran of 16 Edinburgh Fringe festivals and o

★★★★★  Tom Rhodes Radio Review for Hannah Gadsby in ‘The Exhibitionist’ Hannah Gadsby is one of the brightest shining lights on the world wide comedy circuit. An innately gifted story teller whose tales of awkward humiliation and personal triumph will have anyone from any walk of life or age group howling with laughter. I first met Hannah 4 years ago in Perth, Australia when we were both doing a comedy festival there together. In July of this year we worked together again at Toomler comedy club in Amsterdam the week before we both went off to do the Edinburgh Fringe festival. Sharing an apartment together in Amsterdam I was privileged to see Hannah tightening up and putting the finishing touches on what would be her Edinburgh show this year, which made the experience of seeing her finished product at the festival even more enjoyable for me. In this year’s show called ‘The Exhibitionist’ she used a slide show of great works of art interspersed with photos of her growing up through life. It was part art history