Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp

  "If you tried to govern people by the rules of the bible it would be a bloody mess and women would be treated like property."   TRR # 320 Under the circus tent of knowledge with Dan Cummins!  Listen here > https://bit.ly/37hmW4C     Dan Cummins is a comedian that I love, respect and admire. He is the rare human that I can blaze any trail with mentality on any topic and we both dazzle each other with valuable knowledge nuggets.   Dan left Los Angeles and moved back home to Idaho, "Playboy of all brands brought our family back home." Since then Dan has created a handsome podcast empire with his "Time Suck" podcast.    Dan tells me about the sexually liberated intellectuals he had the best conversations with during his time working for Playboy television. We talk here about the brothers Grim fairy tales, Disney films, Ted X talks, how going dark gets you more followers than going light, Josephine Baker, John Dillinger, Bonnie and Clyde, the Jumbo appendages possessed by Lyndon Johnson and Rasputin, Vlad the Im

Rejoice in the glory that is the words and thoughts of Henry Miller! One of the greatest American writers all time. Your zest for life begins here! Eddie Pepitone and I celebrate the author Henry Miller, one of the best human examples to follow the path of the artist and smile in the face of struggle. “The Rosy Crucifixion trilogy is basically about being crucified on the cross of love”. Learn how the act of creativity is the way to pull out of your darkest moments in life and return to the light. “I have no money, no resources, no hopes. I am the happiest man alive”. The best writings of Henry Miller should be assembled into a single book and made into the new bible and placed in hotel rooms all over the world. "I want to write something that has real guts. Real hard realism. If every man wrote down what was his real truth the entire world word explode. Open yourself up and be super vulnerable in order to achieve your self liberation. Release the inner angel within! The theory of artistic creativity, when yo

"How you are on the golf course is how you are in real life, if you cheat on the golf course you will cheat in real life."   Alex Thomas and I met when we toured Israel together. I brought my mother on that tour and Alex brought his family because we both wanted to share the experience with the people we loved most. This conversation was recorded last week before the tragic death of Kobe Bryant. In this episode we talk about how the Republicans now are the 1919 Chicago Black Sox because they are all in on the fix. Alex is the self proclaimed Ghetto Tiger Woods or the black Bob Hope. "How you are on the golf course is how you are in real life, if you cheat on the golf course you will cheat in real life." "The bible is my favorite book, I was taught and value integrity, I believe in karma and the golden rule." Who was this guy Mulligan that was so bad at golf that the one fuck up do over is named after him? An amazing fact about Alex is that his father was 'Wind' in Earth, Wind & Fire. Alex grew up with the

"If we are to survive as a human race we have to hide our hatreds, we have to find things we have in common if we want to progress and move forward."   I first met Shazia Mirza in 2002 when I had my late night talk show in Amsterdam when we did shows around The Netherlands together. I was riding high with the dream TV job and Shazia was a cultural juggernaut at the time because she was playing a pro terrorism Muslim character on stage with her one liners and was getting a lot of media coverage at the time. When we met on this tour Shazia had a reporter from the Guardian following her and writing a story about her. It was a very exciting time for both of us in our careers and even though we are both from very different cultures we bonded because we are in the same tribe of stand up comedy. "The Jews have a great history of producing comedians, so do the Catholics, we have never had a history of comedians. Islam is a new religion and so is our comedy and satire. It takes time before you can laugh at something."

Shantaram with Jake Johannsen "I would never commit a felony, I am strictly a misdemeanor guy." Jake Johannsen comes to the Rhodes library to talk about his favorite book 'Shantaram' by Gregory David Roberts. In this conversation we talk about people losing the sparkle in their eyes in Hollywood, how Kurt Vonnegut will improve your life and how Kurt Vonnegut is to Jake what James Brown is to me. I teach Jake the 8 words of Spanish that saved me from getting ripped off by cops and I tell him about the one and only time I have ever been in jail which was when I was 19 years old in Little Rock, Arkansas. That weekend I spent in jail at 19 was very influential in my life because I would never commit a felony, I am strictly a misdemeanor guy.  In this episode we weigh the benefits of martial arts versus carrying mace and how in life, just like when you are dealing with a heckler, using kindness and charm is always the best course of action.We talk about how instagram is better than twitter because no one is going

Everyday my prayer is the same... God please make me less of an asshole. That is also my New Year's resolution, to try to be less of an asshole. The epidemic of modern assholishness is something I am not immune to and I was an unrelenting asshole recently when I appeared on the Tom & Dan podcast when I was back in Orlando during the holidays.The tidal wave of internet hate that followed let me know that plenty of people thought I was a turd. Also when I was back home I met the family of the soldier who had committed suicide who I had witnessed a year before experiencing peak grief at MCO airport. At the moment I saw them it reminded me of how I felt when I lost my sister and it put into perspective that pain from a divorce is a minor thing in comparison to having a loved family member plucked from you out of this life. While at home I had the realization that none of us should ever identify as Republican or Democrat, we should only indentify ourselves as friend, brother, son, husband or the female equival

"Modern country music is like heavy metal was in the 80s, it's all about partying, girls and having fun." - Josh Wolf We start this episode with the remedy of a Charles Bukowski poem that is the shield against some of the monkey mouth chump shit of the world. How is it possible that some hayseed rednecks drink pickle juice and are the morality tales of the Andy Griffith show more important than the ones in the bible? How disappointed were little people when Willie Wonka and the chocolate factory was made and the glorious decision Martin Scorcesse made by saying that super hero movies are not cinema. We talk about current films and the reason I went to see the new Terminator movie and how it is connected to my family reunions. Josh grew up in Amherst, Massachucetts and became a huge country music fan and has more optimism and sunshine than your average New Englander. We talk about concerts of our youth and the time I saw the audience throw shoes at the B52s until they left the stage in Orlando in 1982. What or

"It's not what is under the Christmas tree that is important but the people who are sitting around it."  Rinsing out the raisin hole with Jimmy Shubert! Listen here > https://bit.ly/346mWDu   Jimmy Shubert is a man dedicated to bringing joy to the human race. Fresh back from a trip to India, Jimmy tells me about the unique way people in India clean their raisin holes. How has his life changed since going to India?   In this conversation we talk about how traveling with Russell Peters in India was like traveling with Elvis and how the Hindu Gods were like the first comic book characters. We talk about Shantaram and other books that will change your life. We talk about the gift shops of Jerusalem and how they sell Jesus' crown of thorns for five dollars in case you want to walk around all day with a bloody forehead. Believe it or not Jerusalem is not a big Christmas city but in the Christian quarter they celebrate Santa Claus.  We both have had incredible lives from getting to travel the world doing stand up co

I love Tamer Kattan because not only is he funny, with deep profound thoughts packed into his comedy, but also because he helped me convert my marijuana farm into a hummingbird garden. In this conversation we talk about his time working in advertising, going to university in Sweden and living in Venice Beach where the homeless people charge you to hear the punchlines to their jokes. Of great importance we talk about how human nature never changes, how people use brands to find their tribes, political advertising and people are drunk on power and how humans never learn from the lessons of history. Individual lust for for power has driven all of human history and driven empires off of cliffs. Tamer lives with love in his heart because we are not supposed to live with hatred and fear. "No one ever got PTSD from hugging too hard." Getting death threats in Oklahoma City didn't stop him from bringing  his brand of love soaked laughter. Religion is just as drunk on power as our politicians and it is their duty to ca

Charles Ezell is a guy I've known since my early San Francisco days. He used to do an impression of Ulysses S. Grant if he had done stand up comedy and the bit always killed me. "I haven't killed like this since Appomattox." Charles has always been a great friend to me and I've always loved shooting the shit with him and hanging out. For years he lived in the Gaylord building in Koreatown in Los Angeles and that was one of the reasons I moved there when I moved back to the U.S. after living in Amsterdam for 5 years. I wanted to pursue getting on television and I thought that if things didn't work out for me in Hollywood at the very least I could get to hang out with Charles Ezell all the time in Koreatown. We hit wiffle balls for hours on the roof of the Brown Derby Plaza and Charles experienced an excellent period of song writing for his band at the time called Hail The Size. I remember when Charles was writing these songs and rehearsing them in my apartment where he had his band equipment set up for a while

Hello lovers of knowledge and laughter! In this episode I talk about ruining the surprise ending of the movie Joker for those basement dwellers who hadn't seen it yet. I read hate filled tweets directed at me in the aftermath and choose to deal with them with a loving heart instead of playing along with the hate faucet that is twitter. Also in this episode I talk with James Inman who tells me about how Bill Hicks keeps appearing to him in his dreams. Happy Halloween! Here is a joke I heard as a boy, "Why can't witches have babies? Because their husbands all have hollow weenies." It's a silly joke but still funnier than anything that happens in the Joker. Buddhism is his favorite reading material and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only James Inman!

The Decline & Fall Of The American Empire with Rajiv Satyal In this episode we talk about how the failure of White Christianity will be the end of American democracy and how the American empire will reach its end when the Nazi dictator declares himself president for life. In this conversation we discuss how in the Hindu religion all of the stories are the stories of good versus evil and how if you have a good heart and are a good person you will always persevere over evil. Because we are fucked beyond human imagination and it is our stated aim to be good people who persevere it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Rajiv Satyal!

Hooray and hallelujah! This is the first ever live recording of my podcast coming to you from the hipster city of Portland, Oregon! Dante Rusciolelli is the co-founder of the Portland comedy festival and he and I riff like the skilled joke slingers that we are in front of a hot live audience at Harvey's comedy club. Dante and I are kind of related because in the late 1990s he was on a show on the BET network where he played my father's son. That's right! My father was on a BET show in the late 1990s and Dante regales us with those memories and how his comedy career began in the California desert. Dante is someone I knew I would like even before I met him and you will love this conversation and the light he brings to your soul with his musings here. It was a special weekend being a part of this first ever Portland comedy festival and I'm happy that this memory was commemorated and my friendship sealed with the man who invited me there. Like me, Dante seems to be on an upswing in his life and for creating this

Straight out of Mongolia and coming into your ears, brain and heart is Batbileg B! Pioneer and founder of the Mongolian comedy scene is my friend Bata, owner of UB comedy club and superstar of the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia laugh providers. He is visiting Los Angeles at the moment and stopped by the Rhodes library to record this conversation. We talk about how Genghis Khan's influence still shapes the world, our once in a lifetime special visit to Ghengis Khan's 13th century camp sites and the shaman tents were we picked up our warrior spirits. My time in Mongolia was special and I dream of returning there one day. I first went to Mongolia because of Genghis Khan but it was the comedians of Mongolia who made me return for the second time. Aside from diving deep into history and loving my shows there for the brilliant Mongolian audiences, Bata's mother is a dentist and gave me a full cleaning and whitening while I was there. Free dental work is a very generous gift and that encapsulates how giving and loving the pe

Brian Holtzman is one of my favorite comedians to watch at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles because he appears to be a man on the verge of a nervous break down or a genius shattering hypocrisy in his revolution against stupidity. There are few performers as exciting as this man because of the discomfort he causes the squeamish and his sharply written jokes often make them laugh against their will. He is a comedian who should be more famous than he is and that is why I am highlighting this man on my podcast in hopes of introducing him to people who may not know of this giant on the LA comedy scene. He came over to the Rhodes library to have a lengthy conversation about life and all the bullshit that is so easy to laugh at it you look at it the right way. He is a hard hitting joke master expressing himself beautifully in this world of angst and unease and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Brian Holtzman!

Tony Hinchcliffe grew up in an all black neighborhood in Youngstown, Ohio and it gave him an unshakable confidence that they don't teach you in private schools.   Growing up near real life super hero Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini gave him the world view of an unbreakable bad ass and he is determined to walk the razor's edge of speaking truth in comedy.   We talk about the poor ratty whites who will regret eight years of Trump if the still end up being losers during the white nationalist roar that the Trump presidency is. We talk about the trick of American society being that we chatter about race when we should be paying more attention to class and inequality. Now that our country has been sold out to the Russians we might be seeing those round pointy things that you see on the Kremlin on our white house to accommodate the real master of that domain.   Doing dark and twisted humor is now a crusade because everyone is so touchy about everything. Tony is committed to the big dick rock & roll approach to comedy an

Brad Williams is on a rocket ship that just blasted off to superstardom. His favorite book is 'The Prince' by Niccolo Machiavelli and he tells me how he has navigated his life using this map. In this episode we talk about sad pathetic lonely fuckers who complain about comedy specials, how Andy Dick portrayed little people as caged animals and the future cage that Brad has waiting for him one day. The Richard Nixon list of enemies is something he's not against keeping so I tell him that the opening scene of 'Wild Tales' is the best revenge film ever conceived. Human beings are not evolving, most human beings don't want freedom and democracy. Most humans in history desire power, tyranny and oppression and this surveillance state gangster third world path is full steam ahead. All we can do is make money and put a wall and gate around your house while creating an army of children that you program the thoughts in their heads. In this chat it is revealed that Brad and I both are Capricorns, grew up with Disney magi

People of the earth! Throw down your weapons and rejoice in this excellent conversation I recorded with Brazilian comedy superstar Rafinha Bastos. In the past year Rafi has become one of my best friends. He lives in my building and we often talk comedy, help each other with jokes and go to the clubs together, all in service to our number one love in life, comedy. Now he is moving to New York City so that he can be closer to Brazil for when he has to fly home to his son Tom and continue to follow his dream of making his mark as a stand up comedian in America. In this episode we talk about his favorite things about America, the best jokes he's written here, Bolsonaro letting the Amazon burn, CNN where the house is always on fire and the best advice a father could ever give to his son. Also in this chat is possibly the birth of what will become his next Netflix special. Also revealed is the knowledge nugget that is the connection between Crazy Horse and Nebraska. Great things happen when I gather with this frien

The last of my 3 part series on the life of Lord Byron concludes here with his exile in Switzerland and Italy and his death in Greece. Delight in this dashing dandy's style, his endless carousing with women and his adventurous spirit that eventually led to his death fighting for the independence of the Greeks who weren't willing to fight for it themselves. So many of his heroic moments can be off balanced by the poor choices he made in life. From his Villa Diodati on Lake Geneva where literary history was made to the canals of Venice where he lived every human depravity this episode will take you to his final act of redemption while trying to do good for the people of Greece.   As a boy I lived briefly on Lord Byron road in Wilmington, NC and finally today after spending the summer reading about the life of Lord Byron I have found the answer to why this man would be worthy of having a road named after him in North Carolina. Here I also rejoice and recount the brilliant friendship that Byron had with the poet

In the year 1812 Napoleon was defeated, the waltz was the new hit sensation of aristocratic Europe and Lord Byron became a literary superstar over night and the toast of high society England. He was born a gorgeous full lipped curly headed boy and as a man spent vastly to always be stylishly dressed and fancied himself a dandy. He was born with a club foot that he drag slide when he walked. He was both ashamed and short tempered when it came to the topic of his club foot.  Some historians believe his numerous conquests with women were just an attempt to mask his real attraction to young men. What can be agreed upon by all who studied Byron is that no hole was safe around this guy. His foot might have been lame but there wasn't anything lame about his dick. The married Lady Caroline Lamb had to be dragged out of London because she was acting like a shameless hussy over our poet and disgraced her family name. He reluctantly married Lady Annabella Milbanke who he tortured mentally by being the shittiest most spo