Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp

Lucie Pohl ★★★★★  Tom Rhodes Radio Review for Lucie Pohl in ‘Hi, Hitler!’ Tom Rhodes Radio give the show 'Hi, Hitler' by Lucie Pohl a 5 star review! This show is so fast paced, character driven and funny that I saw it twice. The eye catching title of this show comes from the adorable tale of how Lucie Pohl as a child thought the Nazis were saying hi to Hitler and not heal Hitler. Is it possible to make Hitler adorable? Lucie Pohl can! She even drew Hitler innumerable times as a kid and wanted to go as Hitler for carnival but that kind of action is illegal in Germany where she was born. Her show is the story of her life and it is greatly influenced by the New York style of one person shows that I hold sacred like Eric Bogosian's Sex Drugs & Rock & Roll and John Leguizamo's Freak. Expertly performed Lucie Pohl keeps you captivated as her story pops from one scene of her life to another.  As a child loving David Hasselhoff in her native Germany, her successful father moving her family to New York City, h

This episode was recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland. When I moved to San Francisco in 1991 openly gay comedians did not play at the regular clubs in the city, they performed at Josie's cabaret and juice joint in the Castro. It was at Josie's that I first saw Scott Capurro perform. He stood out among all the other comedians that night because he made my sides hurt with laughter.  It was only a few years later Scott would be the first openly gay comedian to bust through the barriers of the regular club scene there. He was like the gay Jackie Robinson busting down the door for all the other gay comedians who would eventually be able to work the regular rooms.  Scott's comedy has always been dark, twisted and controversial just the way I like it. I once had an interviewer ask me of those years in the 1990s when I lived in San Francisco "Did you know you were a part of history when it was happening?" The answer is "No." I just was enjoying my friends killing audiences and getting inspired by them to lift my game h

This episode was recorded in Edinburgh, Scotland Andrew Maxwell is the kind of guy who you would want on your side in a debating hall, on the football pitch or in a barroom fistfight. Andrew is one of the few human beings that tickles the living shit out of me just to hang out with him. He is a street fighting man originally from Dublin, Ireland who has lived in London for the past 20 years.  I first met him 15 years ago at the Comedy Store in London and he has since gone on to be one of the greatest friends I have ever known. He is one of my favorite people to stay up all night with laughing and talking about everything that comes to mind. His brain is packed with vital information concerning life, history and the general Ninja secret of high level comedy performance.  Regarding the Edinburgh Fringe festival, he has been one of my main sources for advice and guidance that I have sought out over the years leading up to me finally participating in it this year.  He is an exciting performer to watch because

 ★★★★★  Tom Rhodes Radio Review for Yisrael Campbell in ‘Circumcise me’ Greetings from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival!  At a later date I will talk about my personal history with this festival but for now I want to tell you about the magnificence of the biggest and greatest arts festival in the world. There are literally thousands of shows happening here on all manner of topics but the one thing that all of them share is that they each belong to the family of storytellers. I have been racing around the city as much as possible taking in as many different shows as I can and one of the shows I have loved most and that knocked me out is 'Circumcise me' written and performed by Yisrael Campbell. It is the story of his life and how he went from growing up Catholic in suburban Philadelphia to being an orthodox Jew living in Jerusalem. As is pure in every hero's story it was a bumpy ride to reaching the top of his spiritual journey. Yisrael is a reformed alcoholic, philosophical sage and stand up comedian with cle

A few weeks ago I performed at Helium in Portland and Lucas Molandes was my feature act. Lucas is from Austin, Texas. Austin is a spiritual center of edgy original comedy and Lucas decided to take the trip West with two other Austin comedians, Ramin Nazer and Sara Reihani. The set up showcase sets in California and other gigs around the North West. They called it 'The Good Grief' tour and I got to do shows with them in Salem, Oregon and Arcata, California on my drive back to San Francisco after my week in Portland. While I was in Portland I wanted to watch the World Cup final somewhere cool and Ashna found The Kennedy School. The Kennedy School is a former elementary school that has been turned into a hotel, cinema, bar, restaurants. This conversation was recorded in the back courtyard of the Kennedy School on a lovely July evening the day after the World Cup final and our week together at Helium. I respect any young comedian who invests in themselves and takes a chance to expand his horizons by trying to do

This episode was recorded in Seoul, Korea Nevada Rhodes not only has the best last name ever he is a one man volcano bursting with fabulosity. He is tall, blonde and muscular living in Seoul, Korea where he not only speaks fluent Korean he is also one of the stars of the long running hit Korean TV show 'Strange TV Surprise!' He also does stand up comedy and that is how I met him.  I love traveling and presenting to you the many beautiful lunatics I know all over the globe but Nevada is not a lunatic, he is one of the sweetest, most sincere, loving human beings I have ever met. We recorded this on his rooftop garden in Seoul where two ducks and one chicken live among the bountiful array of plant life. He is like the heroine of a Disney animated cartoon the way he cares of all of the life sprouting on his roof and he also teaches Korean children about musicals. He tells me that living in Korea he feels more free than he ever did in the United States. Of growing up in America he said "Being my fabulous faggot

This episode was recorded in Kuala Lumpur. Jonathan Atherton built the comedy scene in Singapore and now he just opened the first full time comedy club in Kuala Lumpur called The Crack House. When he first appeared on my podcast one year ago I got a tremendous response from people saying that thought he was the most interesting man in the world. His stories about selling shoes to prostitutes in Kenya and smuggling gas into Uganda captivated me and anyone else who heard them. Now he has lived in Malaysia for one year and has just launched the Crack House comedy club. If this podcast had a bigger budget I would have dropped confetti on his head.  In this episode we talk about the disappearance of the Malaysian airlines plane, how he is not afraid to go off and party with angry Nigerians all night, the sad and untimely death of Vernon Lewis "Life is too short to die with bitterness in your heart." How Malaysian police are the best police money can buy, the crude humor that Australians are born with and how

MinhHa Pham is a comedy superstar waiting to happen. She just needs a few more years of experience and developing material. Her love of comedy is pure and she is from the most unlikely breeding ground for comedians of Hanoi, Vietnam. I met her last year while I was performing in Hong Kong and she told me all about the new young comedy scene that is happening in Hanoi and it peeked my desire to return there.  My Father flew helicopters in Vietnam, was shot down, survived, saved another soldier's life and was rightfully decorated as a war hero. I love my Dad and the topic of Vietnam was very dear to our family.  In 1994 I was one of the first Americans to go to Vietnam after the travel ban was lifted and I filmed an hour special for Comedy Central there called 'Viva Vietnam!" Since filming there I have always wanted to return and since it had been 20 years since I had been there I set up a show there on my next tour of Asia. Filming 'Viva Vietnam!" we went all over the country and Hanoi was my favorite place

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles. I first met Jason John Whitehead about ten years ago at The Comedy Store in Sydney. Then I worked with him in Jakarta and Bali. He is from Nova Scotia, Canada, started being a comedian in Edinburgh and cut his teeth Manchester and London. He has done nine one hour Edinburgh shows. He is also a veteran of the world wide comedy circuits and now he is living in Los Angeles. He is one of the most pleasant people in comedy. Last month when I was at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles a young comedian got punched in the nose right in front of us. He go over the details of that epic knock out between comedians, he advises me on doing the Edinburgh Fringe festival and he explains what he likes most about living in North America instead of England. It is my pleasure to present to you the one and only Jason John Whitehead.

This episode was recorded in Burbank, California. Ritch Shydner is a comedian I always looked up to an admired while I was growing up, having watched him on Johnny Carson, David Lettermen and his HBO special. I had known him for years before I ever knew that he was there at El Brookman's in Washington D.C. the night my father took me there to see comedy when I was 12 years old. That night changed my life forever and Ritch remembers some of the details more clearly than I do. The fact that he remembers the night there was a kid (me) in the audience that night makes my love and respect for him hit hyperspace.  He wrote a book called "I Killed" which was a compilation of the greatest comedian road stories of all time. That book remains text book learning for young comedians looking to gain insight on the business of comedy. He writes for Bill Maher and in recent years has been helping turn Bill Maher's book "True Stories" into a screen play. Everytime I run into this man at the clubs he always puts a smile o

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles. I have only been friends with Duncan Trussell for a few years but he has already skyrocketed to the top of my list of people that I love hanging out with. We never talk about mundane topics like sports or weather, we always go to higher planes of love and consciousness as we do in today's episode that was recorded on a pleasant late Spring evening while we sat outside on Duncan's front porch. In this conversation we talk about spirituality, the transformation of evil souls into good ones, neurological science and most bend bending of all is his theory that we are all unknowingly building a time machine for the future. He has his own podcast that I have appeared on twice called the Duncan Trussell Family Hour. I like how when we get together it is mental ping pong hitting ideas back and forth. When we get together it is wise to roll recording equipment and if the universe was balanced correctly he and I would already have a TV show together. Aside from having a bri

This episode was recorded in Minneapolis. In the future if we are lucky every comedian will be more like Ted Alexandro. Not only funny but passionate about knowledge and politically active. I am a fan of Ted Alexandro because whenever I see him perform he is talking about things that matter and putting his unique opinion on world events. He is the kind of comedian I like the most in that he is the kind of comedian you learn things from, one that makes you see a topic from a different way you hadn't seen. He studied music and taught music before becoming a comedian and teaching seems to infuse most every act that he commits artistically. He will forever be enshrined in the comedy history books for starting the movement that led to the New York City comedy clubs to raise the pay for comedians from the paltry 20 dollars a set they had paid for years.  Ted was heavily involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement from the beginning and it is not only a driving force in his life it reflects creatively in his co

Jackie Kashian is a powerhouse comedian by any way you measure it. She has a strong sense of humor and slices up topics of mundane living and her own personal rage with ease. Her autobiographical humor has been seen on Comedy Central and countless late night talk shows. She has a popular podcast called 'Dork Forrest' where people talk about their strange obsessions. When I did it we talked about my obsession of going to graves of people I admire. She is perhaps the most requested guest I have had from my listeners asking me to get her on my show. I love her honesty, her work ethic and no matter what form of entertainment she is presenting she always makes me laugh. It is my pleasure to present to you a true American original, Jackie Kashian.

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles. You may know Maz Jobrani as one of the founding members of The Axis Of Evil Comedy Tour. He has been referred to as the Persian Elvis. He has appeared in countless film and television roles but my favorite incarnation of him is as a stand up comedian. I am a fan of his comedy because it contains the original energy of joy. His brand of comedy is not the slumped shoulders, down on your luck kind. His is a man in love with life and clearly enjoying himself onstage and that is what it is all about. In comedy, just like in real life it's all about having fun and enjoying yourself. I also admire Maz's work ethic. When I am in Los Angeles I always run into him around town doing sets and working on new material. This conversation was recorded in his home where I met his beautiful wife and amazing children. In every form of media these days the negative gets high lighted and too much time is spent glorifying bitter turds. The fact that he is the complete opposite of an unh

This episode was recorded in London. I first met Joseph Wilson when I performed at the Comedy Cafe in London in 2013. We hit if off instantly and unbeknownst to me he became a avid listener of my podcast. I found out he was listening to my podcast 6 months later when he was on vacation in Peru and sent me a video he filmed at the top of Machu Pichu where he recreated and slightly mocked the opening of my podcast where I list all the fabulous places in the world I am going to take the listener. I thought the video was funny and I was very flattered he filmed it in my honor.  This year when I got to London I got to hang out with Joseph a lot and get to know him better and today consider him a good friend. He is well dressed, has a theatrical personality, is an animated story teller and he is fun to be around. He currently holds the distinction of being the only comedian to appear on my podcast whose act I have not seen.  Even though I have stopped drinking I had a great time going out in London with him and

This episode was recorded in London. Very often in interviews I have said that getting in with London was the key to me getting in with all of these world wide comedy circuits, specifically me getting in with the Comedy Store. My guest today is Don Ward, the owner of the Comedy Store. Since its opening in 1979 it has single handedly changed the British comedy scene from tired old pub comedians doing Mother in law jokes to the champions league of powerful original comedy that it is today. It is now an established institution of British comedy because every British comedy legend of the past 30 years has performed there. Don Ward is the visionary who made this work and who has witnessed the development and rise of these now household names, French & Saunders (Absolutely Fabulous), Eddie Izzard, Ben Elton, Jimmy Carr, Harry Hill and on and on. The first time I ever did a set at the Comedy Store was in 1994. Then again in 1998 which led to me playing there regularly in 1999. In 2000 the Comedy Store started

This episode was recorded in London. Within the first 5 minutes I met Natalia Tena she was cracking me up and I was teaching her the basic steps of the tango. I think she is a feminist icon badass woman. She is an amazing actress whose first role was in the Hugh Grant film 'About A Boy'. Since then she has had a sterling career staring in the Harry Potter films and in Game Of Thrones. Most human beings would die content with those credits but not Natalia Tena! She is also the lead singer and creative driving force of the band Molotov Jukebox which just released their new album 'Carnival Flower'. Her parents are from Spain so rhythm is naturally in her DNA, she told me that her aim is for people to go home and make love after her concerts. Molotov Jukebox has performed all over the world inciting raucous ass wiggling good fun in it's path. Natalia Tena is a fearless shaman who leads the spiritual ritual of music, dancing and laughter at her shows and your life would be enriched to experience them. In the

This episode was recorded in London. Virginia Gilbert is an award winning author and filmmaker.  She is currently premiering her new film 'A long way from home' which she wrote and directed at film festivals all over the world. This conversation was recorded immediately following her showing of this new film at the Dublin film festival. I met Virginia many years ago when I worked with her husband, Keith Farnan at the Laughter Lounge in Dublin. Since then they have become close friends. I had been friends with Virginia for several years before I found out that her father was acclaimed filmmaker Brian Gilbert who made what I consider the greatest film about Oscar Wilde ever made with Stephen Fry in the lead role. Virginia was a young adult helping her father on the set in Dublin and this experience inspired her to go to Trinity University in Dublin the same as Oscar. In this conversation we talk about the joys and sorrows of the film making process, her secret for inspiration when she is writing and how to e

This episode was recorded in London. There have only been a few of my comedy super star friends who when I asked them to appear on my podcast declined and then there is the opposite example of Stephen K Amos who when I asked him said "Of course, how soon can we record?" I met Stephen about 15 years ago when he was in his early years of being a comedian at the Comedy Store in London. I love everything about this man! Aside from being one of the kindest souls I've ever met in the business, I love his style of dress, his flow of material as a comedian and the charming sucker punches of his punch lines. He deserves every drop of success he has gotten and I'm genuinely happy for him and his current elevation that he is flying at. He has done 11 Edinburgh one hour shows and has just come out with a book called 'Finding The Funny'. Currently hosts a show on BBC Radio called 'The Idiots Guide To Life' which I recorded a segment for at Stephen's request. In this conversation he walks me through the steps he took

This episode was recorded in Paris, France.   I first met Eve Jackson in June 2012 when I appeared as a guest on her TV program called 'The Culture Show' which airs on France 24, the English language channel of France. She was a fun and easy interviewer and I liked that she could roll with my answers injecting her wit into the conversation effortlessly.  She is the editor and primary journalist for art and culture happenings in Paris. I thought she would be an interesting guest because she knows everything that is happening for art and entertainment in Paris and also because she is usually the one answering the questions. I have stayed in touch with her in the past year and a half and I have enjoyed seeing the clips she has posted of her interviews with artists, musicians and movie stars that have graced her studio. Her journalistic path that led to her current reign at France 24 is an interesting tale and once a year she gets to hit the red carpet to interview all of the film industry people in attendance at