After months of not putting out a podcast I am finally joyful enough to record a new episode. This episode is called Mostly Sunny because it is mostly about happy topics. Here I give you the knowledge of the orange Rufous hummingbird that spends its entire life in a constant state of migration. Also you will learn about the snuggly curious facts about sloths to the disturbing pervert tendencies of the Borneo moth. I rejoice in the story of how a movie I once tried to make years ago and the footage that I owned but did not possess for 15 years, a story that once brought me grief, now makes me happy because I am now posting this entire movie one vintage short clip at a time on social media. You will also hear the story of the 12 year old boy in New England who wants to be a comedian and has been seeking my advice.  

Not being dead is the number one reason to remain cheerful.

Let me tell you all about Oregon & why you should be listening to Bootsy Collins & Curtis Mayfield right now. Praise be to the plum wine man!

I was playing the Rick James song 'Busting Out' when I crossed the border from California into Oregon. My girlfriend lives in Portland and for the past month we have been going on driving adventures all over Oregon. I had planned on exploring France this year but that got canceled so instead I am enjoying all of the best that there is to see in Oregon. This episode starts in Whale Cove, then on to Ona Beach then back to Portland. I have circled Oregon and I have some stories to share with you. From Crater Lake and Cannon Beach to the Last Blockbuster in Bend and seeing 'The Outsiders' at a drive in movie theater in Newberg I have been squeezing joy out of this last bit of summer. I went to Plush, Oregon just because I loved the name and slept in a grocery store parking lot in Lake View. On the news Portland looks like a lawless hellhole right now but those skirmishes all happen downtown and I have found the best places in this city  to relax with minimal pandemic stress. Let me tell you all about Oregon and why you should be listening to Bootsy Collins and Curtis Mayfield right now. Praise be to the man who makes plum wine and gin!

Hooray for humanity! Joy be upon you! Shalom Amigos!

Have you eaten a peach lately? 

This was my mom's last week in California so after four months of not leaving my neighborhood I rented a car and we blazed up the highway to Sequoia national park. During a life threatening virus outbreak it is good to look at 3,000 year old Sequoia trees and be reminded that the earth survives and life goes on.  We learned what not to do if you are attacked by a bear, cougar or struck by lightning. Our next trip to the Huntington library was a bust and we were turned away for not having reservations. For the 4th of July we drove up to Santa Barbara and discovered this gem of Spanish architecture with a gorgeous beach and vibrant pier. Because the fireworks were canceled we drove back home in time to catch all of the illegal fireworks being shot off that can be seen from my building. Thank God for the criminals of Los Angeles who provided the celebratory entertainment. On our last day today my mom crushed me 237-210 in our Mom and Tom Scrabble championship and she will take home the trophy. I'm thankful that I have spent these past four months with my mom, it is a memory that we will always cherish in that we survived it all together and nothing could make me happier than for my mom to thump me at Scrabble on our last day when it counted most. Her smile as she held up the trophy is a sight that made my heart glow. I will be lonely when she leaves but it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Sara Rhodes, my mom! Shalom amigos y amigas and long may you run!

In this bleak and anxious world there is still so much joy and beauty to discover.

During the rut the males exhibit tough guy behavior in order to attract a mate, me myself I always preferred dancing.

In times of tragedy is when human beings show their best sides and their most compassionate sides. Now is the time to speak out and demand that everyone shows a better side of themselves.

When was the last time you let out a good yodel?

You can yodel as my mom and I take you on an audio tour of the best museums in America... while wearing face masks of course.

Join me now for a few happy yodels and a celebration of knowledge as my mother and I take you on a tour of the best museums in America according to PBS.

First you will learn how yodeling became a part of country music and how I got my oldest most authentic country music albums from a deceased black woman from Jamaica.

My mother and I have been walking up and down each neighborhood street in my area and we got to experience for the first time being in a bank with everyone in the bank wearing face masks. My mom loves the stencil sidewalk graffiti all over Los Angeles, especially the updated Covid 19 graffiti on Melrose ave. I greatly appreciate the joy of getting a package and today I got a massive box from my friend Jasper in Delft, The Netherlands. Holland lives in my heart forever and my friend Jasper sent me a big box full of love that I share with you as well as honoring the HEMA highlighter pens for the copious amounts of joy they have given to me. We have gotten our news from the Grove shopping plaza because that is the main town square of the area I live in. A CBS Evening News woman who was filming there told us the stores have been given permission to open but the employees are reluctant to return. We rightly praise Rob Reiner's movie 'Flipped' for being the masterpiece that it is. Then for the past week my mother and I have been watching the PBS documentary series "Great Museums' about the best museums in America. Here for you now my mother and I share with you the best bits of knowledge from the following museums:

The Living Museum of Music that is the city of New Orleans

The Institute of Texan Cultures in San Antonio, Texas

The Charleston museum in Charleston, South Carolina

The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi 

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York

Ellis Island Immigration Museum

Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian

National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, Louisiana 

The Library of Congress in Washington D.C.

"There is nobody I'd rather have with me in a beer hall brawl than my mother standing beside me with a broken beer bottle in her hand."

On our daily walks around my neighborhood my mother and I have been amazed by the exotic plant life and my mom wondered how it was possible that desert plants can survive and thrive next to plants that are predominantly in the North East of the United States. We stopped into the plant store on Beverly Blvd. to ask and the man who worked there said, "Plants here don't follow plant rules." I thought that was a funny image of our biker gang exotic flowers not following the rules of others. 

In this episode my mom and I talk about the good things we have been putting into our brains in the form of the documentaries we have been watching and the books that we have read. We talk about the BBC's 'The Adventure Of English', all about the history of the English language and we learn the mind blowing story of Squanto, the Native American who spoke English and kept the Mayflower pilgrims from perishing during the first winter they spent in this new land. We talk about PBS Ken Burns' Mark Twain documentary and the book 'The Bohemians' by Ben Tarnoff, about Mark Twain's time in San Francisco and we learn that Artemus Ward was the first stand up comedian in America before Mark Twain. Then we talk about the PBS Ken Burns documentary 'Country Music.' From this we talk about how Bonnie and Clyde had to have the latest Jimmie Rodgers records, the powerful story of when Sarah Carter dedicated 'I'm Thinking Tonight of My Blues' on national radio to the man she loved and upon hearing it drove to Mexico to find her. We talk about Hank Williams and how his mother went with him to his rough early gigs and would fight beside him whenever bar room brawls broke out. "There is nobody I'd rather have with me in a beer hall brawl than my mother standing beside me with a broken beer bottle in her hand." We tell the best stories we just learned about Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Charlie Pride, Roger Miller and Dolly Parton. 

Then we talk about the two books my mom read this past week, 'My Israel Trail' by Aryeh Green and 'When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple.' During this global pandemic lock down my mother has often said: "Sometimes you've got to call people and cheer them up." 

I'm honored and privileged to have all of this uninterrupted time with my mom and this episode is a happy stroll through the best stories we learned this week delivered with love just for you. Joy be upon you!

If my mom ran Hollywood every movie would end with the family all going to church more often.

The great virus lockdown film festival continues!

In this batch of films that my mother and I have watched we discovered that we both love any movie with Jeff Bridges or Clint Eastwood in it. We also discover that my mom won't stomach certain things and is not afraid to ask me to stop a film if she really doesn't like it. You can say what you want about Woody Allen but in not one of his films does anyone ever take a shit in the middle of the road in a wedding dress like happens in the Judd Appatow film. This week for us has seen us loosen our restrictions and start taking walks through my neighborhood every day. It is good for our souls to feel the sunshine on our face, cool breezes on our hair and to see how many extraordinary fig trees are living in my neighborhood. Each night we watch a film and in this conversation today we talk about the 25 films we have watched in the last 25 nights. 

It is a hardy feast of movies and I hope you enjoy my mother and I's thoughts and feelings about the these celluloid stories. 

Here is the list of the movies we have just watched:

Space Jam

Crazy Heart

True Grit

Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid

For A Few Dollars More

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

The Legend Of 1900

The Revenant

Judy

Bridesmaids

Midnight In Paris

The Only Living Boy In New York

Talladega Nights

Sleepless In Seattle

You've Got Mail

St. Vincent

La Grande Belleza

I Saw The Light

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Crossing Delancey

A Walk In The Clouds

My Fair Lady

Hang 'Em High

Gran Torino

Parasite

Why wait until Mother's Day to spoil your mother

When I was a kid my mom would ask "Are you ready for the best feeling in the world?" Right before dumping a warm basket of clothes over my head fresh out of the dryer.

"No one volunteers to fight in a war who is happy at home."

It is from my mom that I get my love of books and since she arrived here on March 9th she has crushed five books here at the Rhodes library:

Joan of Arc by Mark Twain

Go Tell It On The Mountain by James Baldwin

Picasso by Gertrude Stein

The Success And Failure Of Picasso by John Berger

Paris At The End Of The World by John Baxter

In this episode my mom and I talk about the books she just read and the one she just started, Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes. We also talk about our time together in this global lockdown and relive happy memories like when I was a kid my mom would ask "Are you ready for the best feeling in the world?" Right before dumping a warm basket of clothes over my head fresh out of the dryer. We also talk about the art documentaries we have watched so far in our pandemic university courses. The documentaries that we have watched so far are:

BBC 1969  Civilisation

BBC Modern Masters (Matisse,Picasso, Dali, Andy Warhol).

BBC The Private Life Of A Masterpiece

BBC The High Art Of The Low Countries

New York & Paris Abbott & Atget (Photography)

Finding Vivian Maier (Photography)

PBS The Life & Times Of Frida Kahlo

Biography: Vincent Van Gogh - A Stroke Of Genius

The Hermitage Museum Of St. Petersburg

The Great Artists with Tim Marlow

The best way to relieve your mind from stress is to focus on art, beauty, books, cinema, comedy, music, appreciating the people who mean the most to you in life. We who are coronavirus free have a lot to be grateful for. After we recorded this my mom felt a little bad that she said at the end that: "we were rich" without clarifying that she didn't mean money in the bank rich but heart, mind and soul rich. So just to clarify for my mom before this goes public that when my mom says that her and I are rich she meant because of the people in our life and the love in our hearts. I hope your mom makes you feel as rich as mine does for me. Every day we still go out and watch the sunset and appreciate the moment. Spending time with the people you love is the key to happiness now and always. Please enjoy the knowledge that my mom lays out for you in this episode on art, life and books. 

Hooray for humanity!

Hooray for moms!

Is the threat of our possible human extinction bringing you down? This is a big shot of love and sunshine from the Rhodes library. When this stink ball of shit virus shut down the world my dearly loved 80 year old mother was visiting me and I got lucky to be riding out this storm with her.

Had she not been visiting me at this moment we both would have been alone for this and probably each of us would have been more casual in our attitude because of the virus. Because getting her through this alive is my main priority I love my combat preparedness that I consider when I have to go out for supplies.

I love cooking all of our meals and I've learned that as a son I have many duties to my mother but letting her win at Scrabble is not one of them. You've never seen someone get so trounced at Scrabble as I have so soundly been beating her. Qi baby! Qi is a word and you should remember that because if played right it is a crusher. This is a special time now if you are spending it with someone you love. My heart smiled when my mom told me that I remind her of Kanye West because I am always working on projects. Because my balcony faces West I get the most spectacular sunsets and everyday we go out and applaud the sunset. As the sun disappears I say: "Thank you sun you did great today. Enjoy your trip around the earth and we'll see you tomorrow." Because of my vast collection of books, music and movies we have plenty of brain food to feed ourselves with everyday. In the daytime we watch BBC art documentaries and at night we watch classic movies. Currently my mom is reading a book called 'The Success And Failure Of Picasso' and I am on page 713 of the Andrew Roberts' biography of Napoleon called 'Napoleon The Great. Whatever your sacred passions are now is the time to dive in to them and perfect your ability. There is no reason not to come out on the other side of this a better version of yourself. Shalom amigos y amigas!

* I collected postcards around the world for many years. Become a member of the podcast and receive handwritten postcards! Sign up here > Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

"You can be whoever you want to be in America, in your gated community, away from all those dirty poor people who might cast judgement on you."

My own personal golden girl, Lynn Ruth Miller stops by the Rhodes library to share the best lessons she has learned in life and to tell me about her new life living in London and performing all over the world.

After getting fucked by #wellsfargo bank on a refinancing scam she lost her house and disgusted with the ruthless nature of American capitalism she moved to England at 80 years old to take a chance on having a comedy career there.

After a bumpy start in Brighton she is making a name for herself in London and now performing all over the world. "I don't think enough sympathy has been shown to the Germans for what they went through in World War II."

"It must have been hell being a man in the 1950s. You had to work to support a home and family and you had to please a demanding wife."

"Now is the best time to be alive because you can be whatever gender you want now." After Bush we got Obama so after Trump I think our next president will be a black left handed midget lesbian. "The world is going through a transition right now and I think it is headed in a great place because you can be whoever you want to be right now." "Why don't we have faith that the majority of people want to better themselves?" Republicans care about families, but specifically their family only. White college educated soccer moms are the reason why things are the way they are in this country now. They've got what they need so fuck everyone else. "You can be whoever you want to be in America, in your gated community, away from all those dirty poor people who might cast judgement on you." What's hot between the covers? 'The God of small things', 'How green was my valley', 'To kill a mockingbird' and 'Of mice and men.'

"It's a funny thing when no one wants you. The thing you have to remember about rejection is that everyone is trying to protect themselves." You can't let other people decide how you feel about yourself. Happiness is not being dead and having something to look forward to. "Plant a tree and give someone a cuddle.That's all we can do. At her age her biggest break will be a hip fracture." Just remember, "The woods would be silent if the only birds who sang were the ones who sang best."

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"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 Impaler and how the Salem witch trials was essentially a land grab. 

This episode was recorded in Las Vegas where people come to show the worst side of themselves, Dan and I have gathered here under the circus tent of knowledge to rejoice in all that we know and to celebrate the joy of friendship with intelligent observations like "The way young people now sit around inventing new apps, in the old days people used to sit around inventing new torture equipment." 

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Dan Cummins!

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 you feel a crisis coming on start writing, express yourself artistically. Charlie Chaplin gave dignity to poverty. Miller's fascination with exotic far away places in the secret desire to reveal the mysteries and truth of his inner self. In this episode Eddie and I read quotes from the books of Henry Miller spread out on my table and discuss the inspiring thoughts laid out by the zen master of artistic living. "The man of heart believes and the world belongs to the man who believes most." Regain your faith in life, learn how not to hold anything back and risk everything in order to be the greatest possible version of yourself that will be long remembered when you are gone. This is one of my favorite Smart Camp episodes ever because of the passion that Eddie Pepitone and I both have for the pure beam of inspiring light that was the life and words of Henry Miller.

As the zen masters say the best joy can be found in perfecting your mind and soul and today I give you this powerful pill of knowledge that is Henry Miller book roulette with Eddie Pepitone!

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 to get pissed off at a sunset, historical obsessions and how Clark from Lewis and Clark was a turd who died in obscurity. Arctic sea voyage disasters where heroic dogs were eaten, Captain Cook's murder by Hawaiian natives happened because he couldn't swim and why you should avoid durian because it tastes like ass pudding. Try everything once except incest and folk dancing. A man is not a man until he has earned the love of a woman, earned her trust and keep it. 

The beautiful way Ashna and I ended our marriage by ending it in love just the way we started it. I can never not love Ashna. I never want to not know her. I would never be mean to her and I would help her succeed any way I can. Like we examine in the book Shantaram, you can't kill love. You only live once and when you are dead you are done so let the good times roll. 

Connect with people, let go of your anger. Change your thoughts and change your life with simple acts of love. This conversation is the last time two older white guys did something important in Hollywood. Tell each other jokes! Collect street jokes or write your own, always make sure you always carry at least one joke that will make a little kid laugh, but no matter what never heckle Lawrence Olivier. Long may you run and long may you pee! Shalom amigos y amigas and long may you fill your beings with knowledge, wisdom and love! Be less of an asshole this decade! Hooray for humanity!

patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

Everyday my prayer is the same... God please make me less of an asshole.

"Modern country music is like heavy metal was in the 80s, it's all about partying, girls and having fun." - Josh Wolf

"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 comedy. Here now we talk about our best experiences traveling and other activities that feed our souls. 

Showbiz might not be looking for any older white guys right now but there have been few honkies in entertainment history who are as dedicated to uniting humanity as we are. 

"It's not what under the Christmas tree that is important but the people who are sitting around it." To start this holiday season Jimmy and I exchange our favorite street jokes. 

Our elected officials have firmly wrapped their lips around the cock of corporate greed and the media has successfully divided most of our nation. 

Replace your news consumption with music that delights your soul Jimmy and I may disagree politically on some topics but that would never negate our love and respect for each other and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Jimmy Shubert!

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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 call out the nazi dictator doctrine but they remain silent on the most important things that are sending our country in the wrong direction. Kindness is making a comeback and it's not coming from the wall of hatred, bigotry and cruelty being generated by the red hat crowd and Putin's urine pawn. Don't drown in the sea of ignorance and stupidity flourishing on the planet now be a change agent to stand for something of meaning in truth and dignity. The strongest human desire is the desire to belong, people are confused now, fear lives in their heads, will Democracy survive if one side rejects truth, science and law? History will not be kind to Trump and the Republican party. Where are the good Cristians and the good Republicans to stand up and blow the whistle on their own team? Bernie Sanders is the most punk rock disrupter to ever enter modern politics. Tamer and I break down all of America's problems and we both pay our taxes so that we can run our mouths. Nazis are unhappy people and living a happy life while embracing knowledge, diversity and culture is the greatest revenge against them. Just like me his mission in his stand up comedy work is to unite humanity and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Tamer Kattan!

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."

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!

Hooray and hallelujah!

Straight out of Mongolia and coming into your ears, brain and heart is Batbileg B!

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.

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 and he reminds me that the "cancel generation" doesn't buy tickets to comedy shows.

As the earth spins out of control with hate, stupidity and cruelty it has never been a better time to be Tony Hinchcliffe, with his 'Kill Tony' podcast crushing the charts and him selling enough tickets to keep calling the shots. His comedy is fearless and he always slices out the heart with a hard edge and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now Tony Hinchcliffe!

patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

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 magic and how our fathers both shaped us into the funny men that we are. Now that Brad is approaching fatherhood he explains to me how it is important never to yuck someone's yum. What Brad's father did to a big plate full of mashed potatoes is one of the best laughs he's ever had and making your kid laugh might be the secret to raising children into becoming the best humans. He is one of the most naturally funny comedians crushing heads in America today and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you the one and only Brad Williams!

Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

People of the earth! Throw down your weapons and rejoice in this excellent conversation I recorded with Brazilian comedy superstar Rafinha Bastos.

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.

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. 

Hooray & hallelujah! For episode 300 the lovable human Cameron Hattan has taken me out to the center of Lake Tahoe on a sail boat. After cruising around the majestic beauty of the lake we parked and went down in the cabin to record this episode. Cameron taught sailing on Lake Tahoe for many years, teaches me what a zephyr is and then he goes to intensely pull lines when our lives were in danger.

Bonjour y’all! It was a big week in the news! I am in Paris and experienced the hottest day ever recorded at 109 degrees. I beat the heat by jumping into the fountain at Saint Sulpice and climbing to the top. This week also saw the end of democracy and Donald Trump declaring  the 2020 election to be white people versus everyone else. Other big person news is revealed in this audio postcard from my favorite city in the world. With peach tart breath I give you a quick update on myself and all of the pertinent news in our ever crumbling world. Make America less pea brain fuck witted! Make the world more compassionate and get this sweltering holiday treat within your skull. Joy be Upon you my friends!

Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

Tony Woods is not only one of the most influential comedians ever to grip a microphone he is also one of the most naturally funny human beings you will ever meet in you in your life. This episode needs to other introduction other than in my opinion statues should be erected all over the world to Tony Woods for the amount of laughter he has brought to this suffering globe. No one makes me laugh harder than Tony Woods and he rings my bell multiple times in this conversation.

The life of Lord Byron was more adventurous and debauched than any rock & roll biography you have ever read. In the words of Lady Caroline Lamb, he was "mad, bad and dangerous to know." Get ready for your mind to be blown away by the life of the king of the romantic poets and learn why no hole was safe around this guy!!

When I was 10 years old my family lived in Wilmington, North Carolina in a housing development called King's Grant where all of the streets were named after English writers. My family and I lived on Lord Byron road. Because of this I have always wondered what was so important about this man that he earned a street in North Carolina to be named after him. Through the years I have collected many books on the life of Lord Byron and I brought them with me to England on this last trip.

For the past two months I have been reading all about the life of Lord Byron and I'm happy to present to you now this amazing tale that has receded from many people's memories because it is so far in the past. His life was filled with much tragedy, triumph and swinging of his dick. It is a story so epic in its scale that I have to break it up in multiple episodes to tell it. For this episode we learn about his youth and the adventurous trip he took as a youth to Turkey and Greece that would forever color his poetry, dreams of the future and life the way he thought that it ought to be lived. It is my pleasure to present to you now the life of Lord Byron: Youth & Adventure. 

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The legendary punk rock poet John Cooper Clarke returns to TRR Smart Camp!

In the past 5 years since I worked with Romesh Ranganathan at the Comedy Store in London it has been a joy watching his star rise to where he is now crushing it at the highest levels of the British comedy scene. He was kind enough to take a break from his current TV duties to sit down and record this conversation with me. In this soul and brain enriching episode we talk about his show Judge Romesh where he hands out verdicts of domestic disputes where the punishment is ridicule.  Bringing his mother back to Sri Lanka where her humor is archived forever thanks to the BBC and the show that was made from it. Any man who loves his mom and makes time for a comedy brother is a top quality human in my book.

Beast master Reginald D Hunter has invited me to open for him on his UK theater tour called Facing The Beast. Now after our first week of performing in lovely old English theaters in Devon we sit down to iron out the problems of humanity with the greatest minds ever to assemble in Walthamstow. With Reginald D Hunter, Kash Yusaf, and Pete Johansson I cover, meander and collide with some of the most complex issues humanity faces today. Also this conversation is sauced with the explicit joy of a group of comedian friends just sitting around shooting the shit.

"I think I was unconsciously affected by 70's children's television, because they would make you laugh but also teach you something." - Reginald D Hunter

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"So let us face up to the blows of circumstance and be aware that whatever happens is never as serious as rumor makes it out to be." Get to know the life and words of Seneca! TRR Smart Camp #293! 

In celebration of little bitches everywhere I'm highlighting Seneca because his thoughts were immortal and they should live in your brain.

He was a contradiction because in his own life he failed to live up to his own teachings but his works may have inspired the birth of the essay and modern psychology. Here is a little taste of the narcotic that is Seneca:

"So let us face up to the blows of circumstance and be aware that whatever happens is never as serious as rumor makes it out to be."

"A setback has often cleared the way for greater prosperity. Many things have fallen only to rise to more exalted heights." 

“What you must do, then, is mend your ways and get rid of the burden you're carrying. Keep your cravings within safe limits. Scour every trace of evil from your personality. 

“If you want to enjoy your travel, you must make your traveling companion a healthy one." 

Everyone should read Seneca!

Start with the book 'Letters From A Stoic' and before you dive in give this episode of Smart Camp a listen to learn about this extraordinary man and his thought provoking words that still resonate today. 

Hooray for humanity!

Jon Stringer is a lovable human and a top quality comedian!

When I was young many older comedians I admired helped me up along the way and I'll never forget them for that because their endorsements opened doors for me that allowed me to thrive in a very competitive business.

In the pay it forward tradition I want the comedy world and the regular human world to know about Jon Stringer. I met Jon in his hometown of Austin, Texas several years ago and have worked with him many times since and he always leaves me feeling uplifted and proud to be a member of the human race because of his joyous bitter free spirit. His attitude towards stand up comedy is one that embraces the gift of being able to do this and that we have the privilege to hone our skill of trying to get better at it each and every day that we are alive. He is the exact opposite of the bitter turd comedian who is miserable and takes cheap shots at other humans. Jon's approach to comedy is the same that he approaches in life and that is that we are here to uplift humanity and that is why I enjoy being his friend so much and why I love to see him perform. 

With his lovely wife Joanna they are burning up the American highways living an adventure that few people ever get to experience. It reminds me of the days Ashna and I had no home and traveled every inch of America in search of jokes, art, photography and laughter. 

He is someone I am proud to call a friend, someone comedy lovers should follow, someone festivals and comedy clubs should have on their rosters, someone who is valuable in the art of making life a happy experience for all and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Jon Stringer!

Jon Stringer is a lovable human and a top quality comedian!

When I was young many older comedians I admired helped me up along the way and I'll never forget them for that because their endorsements opened doors for me that allowed me to thrive in a very competitive business.

In the pay it forward tradition I want the comedy world and the regular human world to know about Jon Stringer. I met Jon in his hometown of Austin, Texas several years ago and have worked with him many times since and he always leaves me feeling uplifted and proud to be a member of the human race because of his joyous bitter free spirit. His attitude towards stand up comedy is one that embraces the gift of being able to do this and that we have the privilege to hone our skill of trying to get better at it each and every day that we are alive. He is the exact opposite of the bitter turd comedian who is miserable and takes cheap shots at other humans. Jon's approach to comedy is the same that he approaches in life and that is that we are here to uplift humanity and that is why I enjoy being his friend so much and why I love to see him perform. 

With his lovely wife Joanna they are burning up the American highways living an adventure that few people ever get to experience. It reminds me of the days Ashna and I had no home and traveled every inch of America in search of jokes, art, photography and laughter. 

He is someone I am proud to call a friend, someone comedy lovers should follow, someone festivals and comedy clubs should have on their rosters, someone who is valuable in the art of making life a happy experience for all and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Jon Stringer!

Insatiable Curiosity with Jim Gaffigan on episode 291 Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp! > 

Jim Gaffigan and I both have an insatiable curiosity to travel and educate ourselves through world travel. As a comedian your experiences fuel your material and when you are forced out of your comfort zone is when you are exposed to new ideas. Jim is fresh off the plane from Asia, so we talk about Asian history, Europe, Russia, self censorship, cultural sensitivities and where in Manhattan you can find the best world cuisine that the city has to offer.

We also answer the big question of when is it appropriate for a straight white male performer to advance transgender issues and the sad missed opportunities of movies that don't address this issue. Here is a man that I respect as a comedian, am inspired by as a human being and find a comrade in the quest that we are both trying to season our souls with the flavor that only world travel can give you.

Sometimes we feel like circus animals, sometimes we feel like super heroes blessed with the power to cheer up humanity with gift of laughter and that is why I love the one and only Jim Gaffigan!

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W. Kamau Bell has the most important show on television where he examines race in America and in this episode he tells me how close we are to Civil war and what to expect. I've know Kamau since my old San Francisco days and he is a great old friend that I can cover the current most important questions with him like, will rich white people be in charge forever? How does the electoral college system relate to slavery? Why do Supreme court justices get to keep that job for life?

Will I ever get a stamp commemoration for blocking my brother Dave on facebook?

Kamau is a good friend for me to vent my frustrations to right now and getting to talk to him after both of my brothers have declared war on me and want to hold me accountable for all the actions of the left. I'm proud that I told mat brother Dave, "What you call the liberal gay agenda I call the teachings of Christ."

To be compassionate and caring to others the way Jesus taught us to be.

If you are going to a church that preaches war and enemies you are going to the wrong church. "The money is in fear, not love."

Professional politicians are more interesting in keeping their jobs than they are in protecting democracy. Should Brett Kavanaugh breaking down and crying like a baby disqualify him from ever being considered a serious decision maker of laws and when we stop laughing about that? 

We recorded this conversation right across the street from CNN in Kamau's hotel room and we talk about the Trump wake up call making some true believers in journalism step up their game at CNN. We talk about the episode of Anthony Bourdain's No Reservations where Kamau filmed an episode in Kenya with Bourdain right before he died. Bourdain is a god to me and Kamau generously tells us the best advice Bourdain gave him about filming for television. If anyone at CNN or anywhere else had any sense in their head they would give Tom Rhodes his own epic world travel comedy show.

The New Zealand mosque shooting is fresh pain in the world where slaughters at synagogues, churches, elementary schools are never enough for everyone to yell "Enough! Stop the senseless slaughter of innocents"

Even in the pursuit of making television Kamau tells me, "You should show respect to all religions." Your actions in the world should show what kind of person you are. Everyone should watch the film 'Starman.'

"You humans are at your best when you are working together during tragedies."

Do as much as you can, while you can to make the world a better place.

Make the world a better place by listening to W. Kamau Bell and and improve humanity and you can do the same afterwards by going to www.donorchoose.org

Every year when I do San Francisco I appear on Rick Tittle's sports radio talk show and I love it because we talk about everything but sports.

In this episode I rejoice in the glory of a Florida back porch with my oldest best friend in life Lou Angelwolf. On his back porch in Palm Harbor, Florida we discuss the secret language of trees, evolution, reincarnation, UFOs, and how the responsibility of paying rent keeps us from following our creative instincts. On this first day of Spring I am being healed by the joy of having deep meaningful conversation with one of my guest lifelong friends. The bad news is that seeking revenge will kill you but the good news is that "we create order out of chaos naturally."

Today started out so shitty for me. First I woke up to a text message from a woman in Florida who I was ready to pledge my alliance to telling me that she was dropping the Guillotine on the neck of our beginning relationship which hurt my feelings greatly. And she let me know that I am a self centered narcissist but I knew that already because that is the kind of person that it takes to do stand up comedy and put out a podcast. So as shitty as my day began it got progressively better in everyday starting with Pam Worthington bring me an egg McMuffin. I've sworn off junk food but on shitty days you are allowed to spike your cholesterol. I think it says that in the bible in Leviticus. 

In case you've missed the saga, I went on Ari Shaffir's podcast 'Skeptic Tank' a few days ago and I was ragging on Delta for downgrading me. It takes 125,000 miles flown and spending $15,000 to reach Diamond status which is Delta's highest level of frequent flyer. In 2018 I flew 155,621 miles and spent $13,000. Not many people have traveled as much as me and I'm proud to say that Delta is my airline, but they downgraded me. Ari said that he felt Delta would do the right thing if enough people tweeting at Delta to do the right thing. In the past 48 hours hundreds of people have been tweeting to Delta. Then about an hour ago I got a call from Delta airlines. Guess what happened next… I rarely use twitter because it seems like a vacuum of hate and frustration but after today I saw that twitter can be used for good. Now I wish in life it was just that easy for a wrong to be corrected but I'm pretty sure that woman that I liked doesn't even use twitter. And yes please let it be known that I am a self centered narcissist, how else could anybody get things done if they weren't? Shalom amigos & fly Delta!

At any one time there are more people who are suffering than there are who are happy, many more people who are heartbroken than there are who are in love.

My life is falling apart and I am a mess!

This year has broken me physically and emotionally.

My amazing wife Ashna is divorcing me and I am at a low point in my life.

What better time to take my very Christian mother to the holy land to visit Jerusalem! What good is a spiritual pilgrimage unless your life is in the toilet!

After a very long break of not putting out episodes because I had nothing to say and was sorting out how I felt about what was happening in my life I am back with a new episode just in time for Christmas. It was a powerful experience to take my Jesus Freak mother to Jerusalem and visit the spot where Jesus was crucified and some of the other most important places in Christianity. My report and feelings about Jerusalem will surprise you and the tense moments we experienced made me grateful for the lack of history we have in the United States. Does extreme religion make you a better person or will it make you murder innocents with a rock? In the words of the fake Jesus I met at the most sacred place in all of Christianity: "The true miracle is when a bad person becomes a good person." No truer words have ever been spoken. I got to live so many moments I thought would never be attainable and now I am back to tell you the stories of this epic trip to the holy land. Doing comedy around the world and traveling away from home for too long has cost me everything. I will explain it all to you in this episode here and now. The only thing left to say now is: Merry Christmas from Jerusalem!

Rui Xara put on a comedy festival in Porto just to bring me to Portugal for the first time. He bent over backwards to show me everything that is great about Portugal and now I'm in love with the place. In this episode we talk about all of the glorious things about Portugal and why Porto is a better city than Lisbon.

Joe DeRosa is a beast killer of a comedian. He is obsessed with death and destroying the institutions that hold us back from evolving spiritually.

The reason I first found Jared Logan to be a lovable human was when I saw him onstage talking about the Lincoln assassination. In this episode we talk about the hilarious personality shortcomings of John Wilkes Booth, the man who killed president Lincoln.

This is a bonus episode where I am forced to make a statement about my story concerning Louie Anderson.

When is enough, enough? How many times can you go to the Great Wall of China or to Wrigley Field in one lifetime? How much dirty filthy shit can a country tolerate from their president? How much time away can the wife of a comedian put up with? These any many other big questions are presented as I ponder the cross roads I am at in my life now. Shall I continue traveling the world at the detriment of what it is doing to my marriage? Shall I give up smoking weed and be 100% sober since the weed I fell in love with no longer exists? I say it often but, every warrior eventually needs to move on to wise man. Certain things I will never stop doing, like performing stand up comedy. Making jokes against bullies and totalitarian psychopath presidents is my biological function in life. Dehumanizing anyone ever by a thought from my brain is never my intention. Snowflakes need to stay flakey together. I am away from home far from the one true love of my life. I need a friend. James Hatfield thinks I'm funny. Everyone is beautiful when they laugh. I've seen more teeth than a dentist. I'm off to Wrigley Field to rejoice in something I will never get tired of and that is watching the Cubs play at home while thinking of John Dillinger and Eddie Vedder.

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Book Roulette is back with the brilliance of Guy de Maupassant!

Rafinha Bastos is the Lenny Bruce of Brazil and he has the court orders to prove it.

Let the soothing words of Malcolm X fuel your summer party.

Greg Behrendt shot to notoriety when he co-wrote the book 'He's Just Not That Into You' and now he is about to release a book he co-wrote with his wife called 'How To Keep Your Marriage From Sucking.' He is an old friend of mine from back in my San Francisco days and he has advice for you on how not to let poison into your relationships. We could all use a refresher course in how to make love lives best.

Hannah Gadsby has set the comedy the comedy world on fire.

Happy Birthday America!

In this episode you will learn how the first game of football was originally played by the ancient Mayans and how the Captain of the losing team would be executed.

In Europe the first games of football were evolved from bored soldiers kicking around the severed heads of their dead opponents.

There are so many fascinating elements to the beautiful game but none more important than how the game of football cured racism in Brazil. 

Happy World Cup 2018! Enjoy!

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Prepare to have your brains busted out by the powerful words of Charles Bukowski!

Bukowski invented a poetic language free of literary pretense by writing about the hard scramble life he grappled with daily. His life and poetry was about the low life bars of Los Angeles, whores, drunks, bums and betting on horses at the race track.

Mingled with the hard truths of his existence were also some of the most tender and thoughtful insights on human struggle and our desire for love and acceptance.

His bitterness had humor and his drudgery produced thoughtful meditations on the beauty of hard working people, broken down bums and pathetic alcoholics and street fighters. He was a man of a different age and his works remain timeless.

In this episode I pull down his books from my private collection and read to you excerpts from the following books that lit my brain and made me his fan for life:

War All The Time, Love Is A Dog From Hell, It Catches My Heart In Its Hands, The Last Night Of The Earth Poems, Burning In Water Drowning In Flame, South Of No North, Mockingbird Wish Me Luck, Dangling In The Tournefortia, Post Office and Hollywood. 

If you are unfamiliar with the works of Charles Bukowski then buckle up for a journey of how I discovered him at City Lights bookstore in San Francisco and delight in my reading to you my selections of the profound insights and timeless with of the street fighter poet true American original that is Charles Bukowski!

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Fun with books is back!

In this episode I randomly select choice passages from the biographies that line my shelves. The gritty, grappling lives of heroic characters are served up to you now in chunks of read passages from some of my favorite biographies.

Including on the list of books I read from for you now are:

Steve Jones - Lonely Boy

My Lunches With Orson 

Furious Cool - Richard Pryor

James Brown- The Godfather Of Soul

Brando - Marlon Brando

Errol Flynn - My Wicked Wicked Ways

The Shameful Life Of Salvador Dali

Steve McQueen - Portrait Of An American Rebel

Lou Reed - Transformer

Led Zeppelin - When Giants Walked The Earth

Fill your brain with gladness now!

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Get to know the first comedian ever to have abdominal muscles!

I have been friends with Carrot Top since 1986 when he first starting coming around to open mic nights in Orlando, Florida.

One of my happiest memories with my Dad was watching Carrot Top's show at the MGM with him and I'll never forget how hard my Dad laughed at him.

Carrot Top's Dad worked at Nasa and grew up in Cocoa Beach which might be where he got his inventive mind for comedy and the gadgets he has created.

I have always loved and respected Scott (Carrot Top) because he is a joke writing machine and in the immortal words of Jim Gaffigan "When I hear people make fun of Carrot Top I feel like they have insulted a family member, because he is a comedian and he is a part of my family."

In this episode we talk about our Central Florida roots, his private jet ride with Jay Leno, his friendships with Vinnie Paul and Axel Rose, meeting presidents, what is was like to kiss Elton John and the endearing words he received from Bill Hicks as well as the joy of getting to know George Carlin.

He also describes in detail what it was like in Las Vegas on the night of the deadliest mass shooting in American history.

That shooting happened right next door to the Luxor where he performs his show nightly. During this recording you can hear in the back ground at times, Las Vegas show girls running back stage for a costume change and the thumping music that they perform to. It is classic Las Vegas American show business in action.

He is one of my oldest friends in comedy and someone I have infinite love and respect for and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Carrot Top!

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On October 2, 1866 Mark Twain invented stand up comedy, or as he called it "platform speaking." He did not enjoy "mounting the platform" but by 1895 the famous author of Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn was in debt from bas investments and publicly disgraced due to his bankruptcy. So to pay off his mountain of debts and restore his good name he embarked on a world wide lecture tour.

Craig Campbell is a beautiful lunatic and a comedy legend.

Ashna and I are fresh back from spending a week in Hong Kong.

This episode was recorded in Singapore.

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I have been dreaming of going on a motorcycle adventure into North Vietnam since the last time I was in Hanoi and heard of the concept.

I unfortunately missed the March in Las Vegas so I decided to interview two people instead.

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Uncle Bob is dead.

Praise be to the written word!

This is a warm blast of love deep in the heart of winter!

I first met Lucie Pohl at the Edinburgh Arts Festival where we were both performing at the same venue. I may not have won the top prize at Edinburgh that year but my friendship with Lucie has been more valuable to me than any little statuette.

This is part 3 of my French Revolution episodes celebrating the Stanley Loomis book Paris In The Terror. Have you ever wondered how people with differing political opinions would hate each other enough to have each other's heads chopped off by the guillotine? The answer to that can be found in this episode about the end of the road for that shifty dirty bastard Robespierre. Robespierre was a mediocre provincial lawyer who came to Paris and became one of the darkest forces in the drama that was the French Revolution. The enlightenment period was when field workers started to wake up and ask themselves "Why do those rich assholes get to live in the castle and wear fine clothes while we do all of the hard work?" This led to the French Revolution where king Louis XVI and his family all got their heads chopped off, then the citizens found out they loved chopping heads off so much they started cutting everyone's head off who may have disagreed with them. Robespierre out maneuvered Danton to become dictator for one year but there was a man named Fouche lurking in the shadows out maneuvering Robespierre. In this episode you will learn about The Festival Of Reason that turned into a drunken orgy in the most famous churches in Paris. Then with astounding magnitude you will marvel at the blunder that turned out to be the end for Robespierre. Get your smelly French cheeses ready, slice your baguette at an angle and pour yourself a glass of Pierre for this amazing ride that is the blood bath of heads falling into baskets otherwise known as the French Revolution. Just remember that it was all done for the good of the people, as is this podcast. Ashna and I now present to you, your brain food for the day. Bon Appetite! 

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In this episode you will learn about the unsung hero of the French Revolution and all time bad ass woman Charlotte Corday. I just finished the brilliantly written book 'Paris In The Terror' by Stanley Loomis. The book was published in 1964 and UC Berkeley named it one of the best books of the century. 

I am fresh back from Paris! In this episode Ashna and I talk about my quick trip to Paris, the amazing experience I had while performing at Theatre L'Oeuvre and how

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Hooray for Hollywood!

"In the creation of comedy, it is paradoxical that tragedy stimulates the spirit of ridicule; because ridicule, I suppose, is an attitude of defiance: we must laugh in the face of our helplessness against the forces of nature - or go insane.
I read a book about the Donner party who, on the way to California, missed the route and were snowbound in the mountains of Sierra Nevada.
Out of one hundred and sixty pioneers only eighteen survived, most of them dying of hunger and cold. Some resorted to cannibalism, eating their dead, others roasted their moccasins to relieve their hunger.
Out of this harrowing tragedy I conceived one of our funniest scenes.
In dire hunger I boil my shoe and eat it, picking the nails as though they were bones of a delicious capon, and eating the shoe-laces as though they were spaghetti.
In this delirium of hunger, my partner is convinced I am a chicken and wants to eat me." - Charlie Chaplin

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I had the best day in my life at the Charlie Chaplin's museum just two days ago. But now I am stuck in Switzerland because of weather conditions. I got all the time to record this episode so I give you all my Switzerland knowledge nuggets and tell you about Charlie Chaplin's life. Because hey I got nowhere to go at the moment. Enjoy!

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Bonjour Y'all!
It’s winter here so I am freezing but I'm thrilled to be back sauntering along the boulevards and I have lots of fun facts to share with you about Paris from the books that I have been reading and the life that I have been living.

Hear about the bad ass story behind the painting The Death of Marat. The history of banquets, the invention of the sorbet and why the French are so pessimistic.

So pull out some smelly cheese and nibble on a baguette while I delight your brain with words worth knowing as my history with the city of love grows ever deeper.
Au revoir mes amis!

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End Song:
Bob Dylan
Tangled Up In Blue
 

I am proud to say now that my eyes do know the glory that is Mongolia.
This past weekend I performed in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and I now rank it among my favorite places. Like all great experiences you have in life it comes down to the people that you spent time with. From the moment I arrived I was greatly by the comedians of Ulaanbaatar and they spent my few days there showing me everything that was magnificent about their country. To prepare for this trip I read the biography of Genghis Khan and I had in my mind all of their glorious history and the many ways that Mongolia shook the world and shaped human history. In this episode I talk about my own experiences performing in Mongolia and the generous loving humans that make up the comedy scene there. I also read the many highlights I made in the book by Jack Weatherford called 'Genghis Khan and the making of the modern world.' Did you know that Genghis Khan had a policy of religious tolerance of all the lands that he conquered? Did you know that ancient Mongolia gave the world ice cream? Did you know that the English word "Hooray" comes from ancient Mongolia? Well, put on your learning hat because you are about to learn many things that will enrich your life as I tell you the tale about my visit to Mongolia and read to you the highlights of this incredibly informative book that I just read. Hooray for Mongolia and hooray for humanity!

Tom

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I am reporting to you from Tokyo, Japan. Enjoy my observations on this trend setting capital and learn amazing facts about Japan and knowledge nuggets about the secret code of the Samurai. Enrich your life with wisdom and laughter as I send you a respectful Samurai head bow from the land of the rising sun. Enjoy!

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Yes, #metoo. We both. Hear our stories and how it affected and changed us forever. Massage requests, butt squeezes, shame, blame, enablers & abusers. We go right into the Weinstein affaire and Tom's own #metoo story. How it affected him and changed his life perspective forever. Ashna explains how her experiences changed her career path. Our book this week is "Goodness Had Nothing To Do With It by Mae West. 

We recorded this episode deep in the AM, right after we landed from Las Vegas and right before Tom had to go to the airport for his Tokyo flight. Thank you for supporting us! 

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I'm back in Las Vegas right after the worst mass shooting in US history.

This episode was recorded in room #4 at the Mill Valley Inn. All important information about America's past and future are answered under the canopy of the ancient redwood trees. Ashna and I talk about the Kurt Anderson book 'Fantasyland" about how America went haywire. We also talk about the Ken Burns documentary "The Vietnam War. Our yearly trip to Northern California is in full swing now and we talk about what is great and irritating about Arcata, California. What trimmigrants are and the old theaters were where Charlie Chaplin and Robin Williams performed. We talk bookstores and classy women's fashions only won indoors by veterans. Pop a wheelie and ride it half way down Elm street! Hooray for humanity!

This episode is a roller coaster of emotions for me because I just received bad news an hour before recording that I am still processing. Not every podcast episode can be happy and cheerful but thankfully, Ashna pulls me back from the brink and helps me to see the bright side of life. It all comes down to status anxiety and that is what we discuss at length in this episode from every angle. We also talk about Allan du Botton, the entertainment juggernaut that is Netflix, the poet Pablo Neruda, my favorite Italian movies and the Ken Burns documentary about the Vietnam war. The number one enemy of happiness is envy. Curb your desires now and enjoy the brains and hearts of the Tom and Ashna show! Shalom amigos y amigas!

Steve Hughes is a comedy legend. He has sliced and diced up some of the best stages that the world comedy circuit has to offer. I've worked with Steve many times, I was even working with him on the night that I met Ashna.

Mickey D is the only comedian I know of who has climbed Mount Everest.

Hello from the other side of the planet!

Patty Farmer is an entertainment historian who has authored the new book 'Playboy Laughs' chronicling the history involving Playboy magazine and stand up comedy.

Ashna and I are fresh back from Europe (Paris, The Netherlands, Belgium, Ireland, Norway) and we are full of stories to share! This episode is all about war & peace. We talk about our visit to the Nobel Prize center in Oslo. Who decides who gets awarded? What is the link between dynamite and the prize? And learn why Alfred Nobel was a very peculiar man and the extraordinary mistake that changed his life and created the Nobel Prize.

Why should you definitely NOT go to the Edvard Munch museum in Oslo to see The Scream. Why should the USA reconsider their fear of paying taxes? What the consequences are of my Instagram obsession. What brilliant strategy did Ashna use to bring peace in her family and what Tom could learn from that to bring peace to his. 

What stories in Ireland from Irish folklore should never include the truth? Where did the term "Lynch mob" come from? Where did the expression "Wouldn't give you the time of day" come from? Why should you never let the truth get in the way of a really good story?

All of these questions and many others will be answered as well as travel tips from my 5 week tour of Europe and general knowledge nuggets that will enrich your life with wisdom and laughter. Dig in and get happy now! Shalom amigos y amigas!

I kick off this visit to Amsterdam by celebrating my obsession with the artist Rembrandt! In this episode I talk with noted Rembrandt author Nina Siegal about all things Rembrandt. Why did Rembrandt paint so many self portraits? Why did he own so many turtle shells? What were the poor choices he made that led to his downfall? Why did he fall out of favor with the religious society of Amsterdam? Why was Rembrandts body dug up and where is he buried now? You will learn many details about the fascinating life of one of art history's greatest masters. Nina Siegal wrote the best selling book 'The Anatomy Lesson' about the Rembrandt painting 'The Anatomy Lesson Of Dr. Nicholaes Tulp' and aside from being very knowledgable about the life of Rembrandt she is also an expert on the Jewish history of Amsterdam. As a bonus you will learn why true Amsterdammers when they say goodbye, they say "Mazzel" and why the soccer team of Amsterdam "Ajax" get anti-Semitic slurs when they play around Europe. This episode is full of Smart Camp Knowledge Nuggets and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Nina Siegal!

Bonjour mon amis! In this episode Ashna and I come to Paris for me to do a show and we stretch it out into a week long visit with summer in full swing.

For the comedy nerd in all of us I am proud to present to you this lengthy chat I had with Kliph Nesteroff about the history of stand up comedy.

How should you act when a neighbor is harassing and trying to intimidate you?
Learn the outcome of the ongoing saga we have had with our downstairs neighbors who keep making noise complaints against us.
Listeners sent us legal advice, we were acting like civilized adults when everything came to a head when they came to our door accusing Ashna of stomping.
I flew home the next day in a fury of anger and had to go talk to these people.
This week's movie talk is about Wonder Woman, Gal Gadot's breathtaking portrayal and rebranding of the old red booted Wonder Woman, into the new compassionate feminist icon and ass kicking heroism of this year's cinematic Wonder Woman. The subtle messages in the dialogue were just as powerful as the jumping side kicks and skull crunching punches. 
June 2017 marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the Summer Of Love.
Is this the Summer of Love or hate?
We conclude this episode with a recap of life enriching quotes by Voltaire, Oscar Wilde, Alan de Botton, Willie Nelson and George Orwell.
Everything we can give you that can improve your life at this particular moment.
Happy summer time! Shalom amigos y amigas! Long may you run!

Emmy winner T. Sean Shannon has written for Saturday Night Live, The Tonight Show & In Living Color. He is one of my oldest & best friends in comedy since the day I met him at Yankee stadium when we smoked a joint together in the upper deck. He is the pride of Houston, Texas and will enrich your life with wisdom & laughter!

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Our lives are are collection of stories and memories. I tell the story of smoking pot with Jack Nicholson at a Rolling Stones concert and how people watching in Las Vegas says more about you than the people you are watching. This episode is all about my own personal history with Las Vegas. The city I used to hate and avoid like the plague is now a place I come to several times a year full of entertainment friends, culinary delights and audiences of people from all around the globe. Shalom Amigos!

In this episode we talk about how I surprised the squirrel on my balcony.

My mom is visiting me this week and I took her to Yosemite National Park to recreate one of the best mother and son memories we have together.

In this episode we talk how Ashna received a hate filled Facebook from an old white coward telling her to move back to the Netherlands. My reaction was to start searching flights to Houston so that I could go punch this old fooling the face but Ashna reminds me that it is always best to remain stylish like Seneca. We talk about our wedding anniversary date that included popping into an open mic night in our neighborhood where an untalented comedian started verbally attacking the crowd, me included because his poorly written jokes weren't being appreciated. Seneca style counseling is recommended to me again for how to conduct yourself in the face of hate filled white men. From there we popped into the Kibitz room where we delighted in our neighborhood watering hole where hate was nowhere to be found.

What kind of music does Tom like? On this episode a selection of his vinyl > My amazing wife Ashna has booked an acting job portraying the historic powerhouse and badass woman Sojourner Truth. She is in the next room running her lines and I am left alone with my vinyl record collection to play some of my favorite cosmic slices. Ashna is kind enough to share her speech in front of the microphone at one point for the scene she will film tomorrow. For anyone keeping track of what I played on this episode, the running order of the artists appearing here are:

What's the most annoying sound to wake up to?

Will hate and violence be the new marketing trend? 

What drug can make you genuinely happy? Why does Tom have an unhealthy relation with AA?  How does Ashna overcome her biggest fears? This episode is all about addiction. Learn how Tom gets a big insight not yet revealed to him. We end with a happy plane story with an interesting family from Australia. Exclusive photos and videos on Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp. 

Find out how Dirty Dozen/Clean Fifteen changed our lives. Ashna and I talk about our latest obsession watching interracial movies on Netflix and the Black Mirror episodes by Charlie Brooker. Tom reads the greatest opening paragraph of any book ever written (Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts) and he closes with a quite disturbing story for Ashna about one of her favorite musicians Chuck Berry. 

Hear about the one time Tom swam naked where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood in Greece, Tom being called a racist in Calgary, Rotterdam riots, Kurt Vonnegut's speech that is still relevant today, childhood innocence in the movie Mustang and Tom trying to save the world with every punchline.

Learn about the funny situations we get in being an interracial couple and we experience deep levels of fear after watching the movie Get Out.

Should artist be defined by their personal mistakes? We talk Oscar blunders, Russia manipulating the masses, Tom continues talking about his book "The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists" & documentaries! 

Ashna and I talk about me turning 50, Putin's chess match with the world, the gullibility of the masses, best movies, the upcoming Academy Awards and the happy news out of London.

Ramy Youssef is one of the bright young stars burning it up in the comedy world right now. I worked with him last year and he is one of my favorite young comedians right now. If you are looking for a lovable young Muslim to build a television show around you need look no further than today's guest and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Ramy Youssef!

Jimmy Tingle is a political comedy beast! One of the finest examples of the quality comedy that has come out of Boston and he is also a recent Harvard University graduate. I remember seeing Jimmy busting heads on comedy shows when I was a youngster studying all things comedy and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Jimmy Tingle!

James Thiep was a former child soldier in Sudan, Africa. Now he is a standup comedian in the United States. Learn about his epic journey.

Not since Gutenberg's printing press has one human being's inventions improved the quality of life for people as much as Apple co-founder and principle creator Steve Wozniak. 

I met Steve last month when he came to my show in Lake Tahoe. Fortunately for me the Woz loves jokes, humor and comedy in general so after sending him several heart felt e-mails requesting to chat with him he agreed, so last week while I was performing in San Francisco I drove down to Cupertino to record this conversation while him. This conversation was recorded at the Mandarin Oriental restaurant where Steve asked me to meet him. There is pleasant violin based classic music playing in the background because the owner politely delinked my request to turn off the music. 

Steve Wozniak is not only a creative genius who has improved human life more than any other human being in the last 300 years, he also loves and cherishes humor and the story tellers who create the jokes. 

He is exciting to talk to because he thinks so fast and can convey complicated information in a very simple way to be understood universally.

His genius is not exclusively bound to his inventions that will lead the world to higher plains of consciousness and communications but it is the basic fact that he is a good person who genuinely cares about helping dreamer people like me wherever he can. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Steve Wozniak!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Movie clip from YouTube: Her TRAILER 1 (2013) - Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson Movie HD

Movie clip from YouTube: Klaatu's warning

Song from YouTube: Everybody's Free (inspirational speech of Baz Luhrmann)

Recorded in Cupertino, CA. January 2014. 

[Original broadcast date: Jan 28 2015]

Kim Dotcom is a German-Finnish Internet entrepreneur, currently residing in New Zealand. He is the founder of Megaupload and its associated websites, as well as Megaupload's successor site, Mega. 

What makes Kim controversial is the fact that the American government is actively trying to extradite him from New Zealand to the US. 

American comedian Tom Rhodes wanted to meet this enigmatic maverick of modern technology and show the human side of this public figure who is so often demonized in the mass media. 

Recorded on the last day that Tom was in the country for the New Zealand International Comedy Festival.

Kim & Tom are instantly united by their humor and a very honest open conversation about everything of relevance pertaining to Kim Dotcom is raised and discussed openly.

Sources of news clips can be found on YouTube. Steve Wozniak, co founder of Apple, gives an interview where he defends Kim's actions and ways of doing business.

Source of the interview clip with Tom Rhodes is from the program Nine to Noon hosted by Kathryn Ryan aired on Radio New Zealand . For full interview go to:

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2555002/tom-rhodes

Podcast theme song: 'New Generation' by The Universals

End song: ' The Harder They Come'  by Jimmy Cliff

(ORIGINAL BROADCAST DATE: 5/31/2013)

Truth seeking Freedom fighter comedy legend Barry Crimmins explains all you need to know about making the world a better place on TRRSC!

Joey Diaz & I bring head crunching thunder to this week's Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp!

Me and Ralphie May talk about the currents events of the day.

In this episode Ashna and I talk about the fan letters we have received from around the world recently, the improv class we have been taking at the Groundlings, the benefit that I put on for the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting victims which included my friends Bill Burr, Hannibal Buress and Anthony Jeselnik. The benefit also took place because Dave Chappelle encouraged me to do it.

We also talk about the murders of five police officers in Dallas this week and the state of crisis currently griping the United States at the moment. To end this episode I have included the recording I made last year as I drove along with my cousin Officer Ron Ryan as he patrolled the streets of Boynton Beach, Florida. If there was ever a good cop to remind you that not all cops are bad and that most of them are committed to doing good for the community it is my cousin Ron. United We Stand Indeed People!

"I've spent the past 20 years of my life trying to make old white men uncomfortable."

- Geoff Tate 

Greg Fitzsimmons and I solve all of the worlds problems. Let your healing begin here and now. My apologies for any slight audio issues that occur in this episode.

Feraz Ozel is a superstar waiting to happen. He is the all American boy you would want quarterbacking your team, the pilot flying your plane or the star lead of your favorite movie or TV show. Get to know him now here first before the rest of the world finds out about him.

That is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Feraz Ozel.

Marc Maron and I have been friends since 1992 when we were both living in San Francisco in that city's golden era of comedy. In this conversation we talk about our history and the many ups and downs we have both experienced in the course of our friendship. Marc is the person who popularized the medium of podcasting and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Marc Maron! 

Bobby Lee is one of the most honest and true to the bone human beings you will ever meet in show business. Just a taste of the valuable advice he has to give is this: 

Mike Tyson does not appear in this episode. Special guest commentary by the one and only Ryan Hicks. 

John Fugelsang combines intelligence and compassion in everything he does. 

Pete Dominick is a comedian and political talk show host on Sirius XM satellite radio.

"The person who you disagree with politically might be the person who saves your life or changes it forever."

This episode was recorded in New York City!

I worked with Ronny Chieng in Sydney five years ago. Today he is a correspondent of The Daily Show. I sat down with him for a chat. Recorded in New York.

On April 21st Prince died which felt like losing a family member because he has been  such a profound influence in my life. I was lucky enough to have seen him in concert 4 times. The most special time I saw him was in 1995 when I was invited to a private party at Paisley Park. On April 22nd Ashna and I celebrated 5 years of being married. In this episode Ashna and I talk about our anniversary, the death of Prince, our recent trip to Montana and my Reno tweets. This episode is dedicated to His Purple Majesty, Prince Rogers Nelson, Peace Be Upon Him!

Barry Katz has dedicated his life to stand up comedy and like anyone who has done so he has experienced many highs and lows. His life's journey has been an epic tale and throughout it all he has remained one of the most positive good humored people I have ever known in this business. He once managed Louie CK, Dave Chappelle and Tracy Morgan. He produced Last Comic Standing for the first 7 years of that shows run and now he hosts his own podcast called The Industry Standard. 

Gene Sullivan has a life story so incredible it should be made into a movie. His father was the renowned San Francisco Examiner sports writer Prescott Sullivan which got him dedicated to a life in sports. in 1969 he left a promising boxing career to be Evel Knievel's bodyguard before Evel was a household name. After money and fame went to Evel Knievel's head Gene broke out on his own as a daredevil who dedicated his life to Jesus and started his own daredevil ministry Jump For Jesus. jumpforjesus.net To hear Gene tell the story of leaving Knievel he says that "The bible tells us to turn away from evil." His jumps has a deep meaning and his life has a purpose. I met Gene Sullivan the last time I was in Montana 5 years ago on a search for the remnants of my boyhood hero Evel Knievel. Gene turned out to be the kind hearted guy I guess I had hoped Evel would have been had I ever met him. He and Evel Knievel made peace at the end of Evel's life and Gene gave the eulogy at his funeral. He is sought out for any movie or special made about the life of Evel Knievel because he was there for most of it. He can be seen in the new Johnny Knoxville produced documentary called 'Being Evel" He is someone I am proud to call a friend and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Gene Sullivan!

This conversation was recorded in Billings, Montana

End Song: Chris Whitley  Big Sky Country

Photo: Daniel Sullivan

Samba Schutte reminds me of myself because he left his home country to follow his heart. I met him when we did shows together many years ago in Holland. He won the biggest comedy prize anyone can win in the Netherlands and for good reason. He is a lovable, inventive comedian who I am proud to call my friend. Funny how the world spins some time. Please open your hearts and get to know the one and only Samba Schutte!

Our man Arbi El Ayachi reports from Belgium on the tragic events that happened in Brussels this past week and what it is like to do comedy there now with everyone tense and upset and not knowing what will happen next. This is a special edition of Tom Rhodes Radio on how to keep your sense of humor and how to remain positive in a modern war zone.

In this episode Ashna and I talk about my first trip to Africa, giant tortoises of Seychelles, the worst sunburn of my life, Alan de Botton's book The News, why humans have the need to constantly check on the news, more salacious facts about Donald Trump and the Mr. Ghetto video that is a pure expression of booty power!

Tom Rhodes Radio Smart Camp is here! Pick a book with Danny Lobell. This episode is all about meeting your heroes and getting to hang out with them. Danny shares stories of him hanging out with Jackie Mason, George Carlin, Mel Brooks and more. Be inspired and start your own journey!

Voltaire lived from 1694-1778 and he is considered the father of the enlightenment.

Post Oscars Chat with Ashna

Alex Hooper comes from a renowned theater family in Baltimore but today he is burning up the comedy scene in Los Angeles. He has the best prescriptions for treating humans with respect and getting the most out of life through creative expression. He also just got back from an epic trip to Argentina!

He has a pure heart and a beautiful outlook on life and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Alex Hooper!

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles.

Gina and I talk before doing the Kuala Lumpur gala show in Malaysia. We talk about the differences between the comedy scene in Asia, London, New York and Los Angeles. About racism in today's society and how to stay true to your art despite the many obstacles in life. Gina is one of the best comedians I know and she kicks ass all over the world. Truly unique and inspiring to the soul. Always a pleasure the one and only Gina Yashere!

I sit down with my old friend and comedian Josh Sneed. We talk about his Last Comic Standing performance just minutes after his dad passed away and him touring with Mitch Hedberg. Life, comedy and all that jazz. 

Book Talk! I found this gem of a book at Eureka Books in Eureka, California.
A Criminal History Of Mankind by Colin Wilson is a broad overview of human history and all of the horrendous criminal acts that humans have perpetrated against one another. I burned through all 670 pages of it in a few weeks and in this episode I talk about it and the events that I thought might enrich or deliciously foul up your brain.
It is my pleasure to present to you now A Criminal History Of Mankind!

Winter Stories with Tom & Ashna. Cozy up and hear our winter travel stories. Send your winter photo to @_TomRhodes. See the dirty road photo @AshnaRodjan

Rick Bronson is first and foremost a stand up comedian. Beyond that he is a TV presenter, comedy club owner and super mensch. He has been on of my greatest supporters in the business and someone I enjoy speaking with immensely because he knows that to love comedy above all else is the best way to navigate your life. That is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Rick Bronson!

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Judah Friedlander is the world champion! He is also an old friend of mine and he has a brand new book called If The Raindrops United. He is also an intelligent conversationalist and the stuff we pack into this chat will bust your brains out. That is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Judah Friedlander!

Tom travels to the remote outlaw hideaway of Bisbee, Arizona for a late night-booze fueled talk with his old friend Doug Stanhope in the premiere episode of Tom Rhodes Radio.

Tamer Kattan is the answer to world peace. His mother is Jewish and his father is a Muslim Egyptian. We talk about everything what is happening in the world right now. 

I am in Florida moving my stuff I kept in my mom's attic. I found my first notebook full of jokes when I was 17 years old. After packing 20  packages for the post office I am having dinner with my mom, Richard, David, my nephew Jake and Ashna while sharing some of my first jokes. Hey, it's open mic night! 

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David Edward Perry - TheBearShow.org

Richard Goldstein

Jake Goldstein - iiiband.com | https://www.facebook.com/IiiBand

I consider this my best interview yet. Find out what it feels like to be a Belgian muslim at this moment and what exactly is going on in Belgium right now. Arbi el Ayachi is a Belgian, Moroccan, Muslim and a great comedian. Do I need to say more?

Find out what it's like when people who fit your exact description have just committed one of the worst atrocities in human history and you have to go on stage and be funny under a maximum terror threat.

He is my friend, he has heart and he is a force for good in a world of hurt and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Arbi el Ayachi!

"Every religion needs to control their chumps. It's a war on happiness'. In this episode I talk everything Paris. Paris is in my heart. Je suis Paris.

Opening: excerpt from La Marseillaise' by The National Anthem of the French Republic

End song: Jacques Brel - Quand on n'a que l'amour

Henry Phillips is a one man comedy hit making factory.

My Vinyl record collection has been in storage for 10 years and now I am unleashing savory slices for you of the strangest and most wonderful obscure selections for your sonic gravy consumption. The servings in their running order include:

Laughter and gunshots
The Hindenburg Disaster
Etta James Tell Mama
Billie Holiday One for my baby and one more for the road
Will Rogers Bad Will Tour
BBC End Of World War II
Louis Armstrong I've got the world on a string
Groucho Marx WC Fields
Tom Lehr Smut
Anthony Quinn In my own way... I love you
Telly Savannas Something
Nat King Cole L O V E
Flip Wilson The devil made me do it
The big sounds of the drags
Geraldine and Ricky Reading the bible
Van Morrison Town called paradise In the garden

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles.

(Update PT 1:27 PM: Obscure Vinyl_final 1:38:25 replaced with Obscure Vinyl_2_final.mp3 1:35:29)

In this episode I reflect on my many years coming to Chicago and how much this city has meant to me personally. From my years of partying in late night blues joints to the healthy living of briskly walking along Lake Michigan every morning of today.

Muddy Waters - I Am Ready  

Willie Dixon - Back Door Man

Muddy Waters - Long Distance Call 

Bernie Mac on Def Comedy Jam

Scene from Groundhog Day

Bill Murray on Charlie Rose

Robert Johnson - Sweet Home Chicago

This episode was recorded in Chicago

After doing a weekend at the Omaha Funnybone I slipped down to Lincoln to do a gig at the historic Zoo bar. A few hours before my last show in Nebraska I sat down and recorded this rant of interesting knowledge nuggets about Nebraska, what I've experienced here and how I feel about a lot of the big issues of the day at this moment in time. After having having traveled the world Nebraska is a very exotic place to me. People in lumberjack shirts and Cornhusker hats seem like movie extras to me. Please enjoy the one and only me!

This episode was recorded in Lincoln, Nebraska

Tom Rhodes Black Power Netflix Suggestions:

Winter on Rising

Black Power Mix Tape 

Nina Simone 

No No

Fela

Muscle Shoals

End Song : Atlantic City by Bruce Springsteen 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-LIEr43_wk

I first met Jeffrey Gurian at the HBO Aspen comedy festival in 1995. Back then I was chasing the devil's flame in New York with Mitch Helberg 1998-1999, Jeffrey was there many times hanging out with us after shows and keeping notes on the exotic wild life he was observing.

Bas Rutten is a living legend in the fight world.

Friendship is one of the masterpieces of nature and I have never had two truer friends than Lou Angelwolf and Kevin Rogers. We all met as young comedians in Clearwater, Florida in 1986 at Ron Bennington's comedy scene and we were so earnest about influencing the world in a positive way through our comedy that we can ourselves The Sheperds.

They have been there for me through thick and thin. We have cried together and laughed together and never not been friends and that is why it is my pleasure to introduce to you now the one and only Lou Angelwolf and Kevin Rogers!

Ian Edwards is one of my favorite comedians because of the supreme intelligence he brings to his well thought out ideas. He inspires  me every time I see him perform and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Ian Edwards!

I first met Mishka Shubaly at Doug Stanhope's desert party ten years ago.

One of the bright new young stars of the comedy world is the nephew of Bill Hicks. I could not have enjoyed more watching him perform and talking extensively as a friend and that is why it is a pleasure to present you now the one and only Ryan Hicks!

NY State Of Mind by NAS

Stefan Pop is one of the bright new stars of the Dutch comedy scene. He also books the international acts for Toomler, the best comedy club in the Netherlands.

In this conversation we talk about the Malaysian airliner full of Dutch people that was shot down over the Ukraine and how soon is too soon to make jokes after a tragedy.

Recorded in the back garden of an Amsterdam South home on a perfectly gorgeous summer day. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Stefan Pop!

Pulitzer prize winning author Gilbert King is a library of congress of civil rights knowledge and in this episode he brings an avalanche of powerful knowledge nuggets. I have been friends with him since I did my first open mic night on February 4, 1984 and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Gilbert King!

Ron White is one of my favorite comedians and it is for very personal reasons that I am his fan. I started out on the Southern circuits of the United States just as Ron White did and I knew about him years before the rest of the world did because we were doing the same gigs. 

I think what I like the most about Ron is I know how hard he worked to get where he is today and it gives me hope that it is possible for older hard working comedians to bust the lid off of show business and "make it."

When I watch him perform it is like watching your favorite team play who wins every time because he always delivers the goods. I love hearing him talk about his private jet and when I hear him do so I think to myself "Damn right brother, you deserve your own private jet." 

Through the small world of comedy and the mutual friends we have I got to record this conversation with Ron last month in Las Vegas. I got to watch him from the back stage area of The Mirage casino destroy a sold out house, then I waited patiently as Olivia Newton John stopped by his dressing room to tell him she was a fan before I got to come into his dressing room to have this chat.

My favorite quote from this conversation is when he said "For change to happen, old people with their stupid ideas need to die." It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Ron White!

Standup Clips:

Just For Laughs - Ron White

A Little Unprofessional - Ron White (direct download > http://ronwhitespecial.com)

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) - Oceanliners

End Song: Jet Airliner - Paul Pena

This episode was recorded in Las Vegas

In celebration of America's birthday I have talked to people I consider to be great Americans talking about the rapid changes happening in the United States today.

It is my pleasure to present to you now comedian Scott Capurro, Pulitzer price winner Gilbert King and my big brother John Rhodes!

YouTube clip 1: Watch Obama's phone call to same-sex marriage plaintiff

YouTube clip 2 & 3: President Obama delivers Eulogy – FULL VIDEO (C-SPAN)

End Song: Super Bad - James Brown

This episode was recorded in the USA

Sam Coleman is currently the editor of Esquire magazine for Malaysia. I met him when I lived in Amsterdam where he was at that time the editor of ExPatriots magazine and he did a cover story on me when I had the late night talk show there. He is filled with valuable knowledge, he is a man of style, he has a kind golden heart and he is one of the truest friends I have ever had in this life.

This episode was recorded in Beijing. Tony Chou is a Beijing based comedian who does comedy in both Mandarin Chinese and English. If that alone was not enough to qualify him as a Beijing badass he is also an on air financial advisor/commentator for thew state run China news channel CCTV. He has become a good friend I respect that strong developments he has made as a comedian and a performer. In this conversation we talk about the rapid change that has taken place in Chinese society and how money is the religion of China. "I would rather cry in a BMW than laugh on a bike."

This episode was recorded on the road

Driving from Los Angeles to San Francisco with the one and only legendary Dr. John Cooper Clarke.

Audio cameo: Some Cunt Used The N Word - John Cooper Clarke  

Song: Cocksucker Blues - Rolling Stones  

Song: The Spaniard Who Blighted My Life - Al Jolson and Bing Crosby

Endsong: Pirate Love - Johnny Thunders

This episode was recorded On The Road

On the road with John Cooper Clarke from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

End song: The Girl On Death Row - Duane Eddy/ Lee Hazlewood

Rhodesies Smartcamp Book Review: Dillinger's Wild Ride by Elliott J. Gorn (book review)

Endsong: Billy Grammer - The Ballad Of John Dillinger 1968 

As a member of the Screen Actors Guild I get viewing copies of each film that is nominated for Academy Awards every Oscar season. It is one of the perks I most enjoy about being a member of SAG. However, because of my busy touring schedule I was unable to watch the movies before the actual Academy Awards happened.

John Rhodes is my big brother and although we disagree on everything politically I love him very much and he is one of the greatest heroes I have ever had in my life and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only John Rhodes!

Karl Spain is one of the most naturally funny human beings I have met in all my years as a stand up comedian. If you are unfamiliar with his presence on this earth than his wit and charm of this conversation will make you a fan of his for life.

I have been a fan of Eleanor Tiernan since I first worked with her in Dublin many years ago. Since then I have worked with her in London, Chicago and Edinburgh and my strong feelings about her brilliant comedy only gets reconfirmed every time I see her perform. 

This past October 2014 I worked with her again in Galway at the Galway International comedy festival. She was doing a shot called the 'National Therapy Project' in which she gives the entire country of Ireland and the entire race of Irish people a therapy session so that they can forgive themselves for past guilt and real or imagined transgressions that have been inflicted upon them. 

I loved this show but as I stated earlier I am biased because I love her and think this concept for a show was as joyous of a ride ride as you will ever experience in a comedy or theater festival performance. Even as I type these words her star power is increasing to its brightest wattage and if you are a fan of great comedy and don't know who Eleanor is then you will be pleased to get to know her further here now and see why I am such a believer in her and her comedy.

In honor of St. Patrick's Day it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Eleanor Tiernan!

This episode was recorded in Galway, Ireland. October 2014.

Jesse Joyce is a supreme bad ass when it comes to writing, creating and producing head crunching comedy thunder. I first met Jesse when we both performed on Dave Attell's Comedy Underground show for Comedy Central. Jesse not only performed on that show but he was also the main writer for Dave who helped him shape his monologues for that show. I next saw and worked with Jesse when I did @midnight for Comedy Central. Jesse is one of the main writers for @midnight and his comedy writing talents are in great demand. In this conversation we talk about the joys and benefits of not drinking and the many great comedians who have perished or risen above dying by the sword of booze. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Jesse Joyce!

End song: The Rolling Stones - Winter

Recorded in Venice Beach, Ca. September 2014.

When I think of Andy Andrist I am reminded of a Bob Dylan quote "Never give anyone a hard time because you don't know what they have been through or what burden they may be carrying."

I met Andy at one of Doug Stanhope's desert parties and admittedly Andy was whacked out of his skull on psychedelic mushrooms at the time. 

We recount this story in this conversation because I was greatly annoyed by Andy at the time. Now looking back it is very comical as to why he was annoying me but that is the thing with drugs, while you are on them you have no idea of the amount of people that you are irritating. 

Since then I have gotten to know Andy much better and the incredible life journey he has been on and what it took for him to heal from the heinous experiences of his childhood. 

Andy is one of the best friends of Doug Stanhope and it was Doug who was instrumental in helping Andy confront the man who had committed the heinous acts against him that rob him of his childhood innocence. I have come to know Andy very well in the years since we first met and he is the kind of comedian that I love to be around because his is not always "on" and when he does say something funny, it from out of nowhere and is always sharply a direct hit. 

Last year in Las Vegas, he and I were on Doug Stanhope's podcast when someone mentioned that hippies don't go to Las Vegas. Andy said "That is because you can't gamble with vibes." That line still cracks me up. 

This episode was recorded last summer when I had a week off between shows in San Francisco and Portland.  Ashna and I took a leisurely drive up the California coast into Oregon to enjoy the great Northwest. We stopped off in Eugene. Oregon where Andy lives and he stopped by our hotel to say hello and record this conversation. Eugene, Oregon is a lovable enclave of intellectual learning and is one of the most livable places in America. As for the guest of this episode, you will rarely find a person with more strength of mind, strength of character and who can cut your heart out with a precisely placed funny line and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Andy Andrist!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip: Andy Andrist's HBO 'Down and Dirty' set, May '08

End song: Bright Eyes – Lua

Recorded in Eugene, Oregon. July 2014.

Ophira Eisenberg is one of the most lovable human beings and powerful performers I have ever met in all my years in entertainment.

She is the darling of NPR, being heavily involved in their successful story telling series The Moth and she also hosts the weekly NPR game show Ask Me Anything.

Because of these sterling credits I had expected her to be more of a story based performer, but even though her personal stories do pop up in her live performances I was blown away by her stand up comedy skills and how hard she throws down her comedy thunderbolts. 

I first met Ophira briefly last summer in Amsterdam when I finished my week at Toomler and she was just arriving to do hers. Even slightly jet lagged her ebullient personality shined brightly and I liked her instantly. This past weekend we were both doing the Aspen Laff Festival in Aspen, Colorado. There were brilliant comedians galore and the camaraderie was tight with all of us watching each other's sets and enjoying our time together performing at the Wheeler Opera House. I was happy to get to know Ophira and to laugh at her battle tested tales of a life fully lived. 

She is originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada but now makes her home in New York City. She is someone I would love to do anything with, be it touring together, working together on a project or just hanging out playing Scrabble. She has a quick wit that is always ready to stab you with a punchline and an easy infectious laugh that is as pleasing as it is calming.

If you are unaware of her presence on this earth, after listening to this conversation you will like her as much as I do and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Ophira Eisenberg!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip 1 & 2: Bangs – Ophira Eisenberg

Stand-up clip 3: As is – Ophira Eisenberg

End song: Leaving on a Jetplane – Peter, Paul and Mary

Recorded in Aspen, Colorado. February 2015.

Richard Leiby is one of the most respected journalists in the United States. He was one of the first reporters to write about Scientology in the 1980s and he has covered the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. For several years he was the bureau chief in Pakistan for the Washington Post. He is now senior writer and editor Style Section of the Washington Post where he has worked for nearly 25 years. 

I have been friends with him for exactly 20 years now, we met at the first HBO Aspen comedy festival in February 1995 and he also wrote about me and my Dad in April 1995 when I made Viva Vietnam! for Comedy Central and that special premiered in Washington D.C. He is one of the wise Buddhas in my life who I can go to to decipher the chaos of world events or if I need a source of higher world knowledge.

We have gotten together every year when I come to D.C. with the exception of those few years he was based in Pakistan. With all of the heart wrenching world events happening lately it was a perfect time to sit down with him and talk about events and the workings of modern journalism. 

This conversation was recorded at the Washington Post on a brutally cold February afternoon but it contains the warm glow of two decades of friendship. He is his own library of Congress possessing oceans of valuable information and he is one of my oldest dearest friends whose opinion on important matters I greatly cherish and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Richard Leiby!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Ask Me Tell Me Anything: Roger from Norway

End song:  Bustin’Loose – Chuck Brown & The Soul Searches (1978)

Recorded in Washington, DC. February 2015.

Paul Provenza is a true Renaissance man of comedy.

Having gain worldwide critical success for his film the Aristocrats, the history of the world's dirtiest joke, he went on to create and star as the host of the comedy cult classic series the Green Room. Then if that wasn't enough to solidify a career he thereafter co-produced the show Set List, where comedians go onstage with nothing prepared and are given their set list on the spot to see what they can invent.

Paul is a philosophical good hearted dreamer who has lived in Venice Beach, CA for 30 years. This past year when I have come to LA I have been staying in Venice Beach. We recorded this on a Saturday afternoon in February in Paul's living room, as much as I always enjoy talking with him this recording has the added bonus that I could see the waves of the Pacific ocean crashing over Paul's shoulder.

He is currently directing Kelly Carlin in her one woman show about her life and being George Carlin's daughter. I had seen the show 2 nights earlier and asked Paul if we could record this conversation. We talk about how doing comedy and seeing comedy is a defiant act now since world news attacks on humor, we talk about how people are seeking authenticity now because they are fed up with the bullshit they have been spoon fed for so long. We talk about the slaughter at Charlie Hebdo and the geopolitical corporate powers won't let us hear alternative Muslim voices because they need to convey a clear enemy in their propaganda.

I love Paul because whenever I talk to him it's never not lofty and seeking world turmoil solutions. He is a comedy legend, a brilliant human being and I am proud to present to you now the one and only Paul Provenza!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

End song:  Wanted: Lover (No Experience Necessary) – James Govan

Recorded in Venice Beach, CA. February 2015

Brent Weinbach is one of the most inventive and absurdly hilarious young comedians I can recommend to people at the moment. 

I first met Brent many years ago when he was starting out in San Francisco. He is always exciting to watch because you never know where his premises for jokes will come from. 

He was also at the Edinburgh Fringe festival in 2014 and I got to see him destroy the intelligent European audiences. He is soft spoken and never arrogant and looks like he may never have smiled one day in his life. I love him as a human being and a comedian.

His jokes are outlandish and inventive in their absurdity and he never fails to impress me with his joke writing skills. We sat down a few months ago at the Hollywood Improv to record this conversation and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Brent Weinbach!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Brent Weinbach at Lopez Tonight

End song:  Finley Quaye – Sunday Shining 

Recorded in Los Angeles, 2014

Not since Gutenberg's printing press has one human being's inventions improved the quality of life for people as much as Apple co-founder and principle creator Steve Wozniak. 

I met Steve last month when he came to my show in Lake Tahoe. Fortunately for me the Woz loves jokes, humor and comedy in general so after sending him several heart felt e-mails requesting to chat with him he agreed, so last week while I was performing in San Francisco I drove down to Cupertino to record this conversation while him. This conversation was recorded at the Mandarin Oriental restaurant where Steve asked me to meet him. There is pleasant violin based classic music playing in the background because the owner politely delinked my request to turn off the music. 

Steve Wozniak is not only a creative genius who has improved human life more than any other human being in the last 300 years, he also loves and cherishes humor and the story tellers who create the jokes. 

He is exciting to talk to because he thinks so fast and can convey complicated information in a very simple way to be understood universally.

His genius is not exclusively bound to his inventions that will lead the world to higher plains of consciousness and communications but it is the basic fact that he is a good person who genuinely cares about helping dreamer people like me wherever he can. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Steve Wozniak!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Movie clip from YouTube: Her TRAILER 1 (2013) - Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson Movie HD

Movie clip from YouTube: Klaatu's warning

Song from YouTube: Everybody's Free (inspirational speech of Baz Luhrmann)

Recorded in Cupertino, CA. January 2014. 

John Cooper Clarke is quite possibly the coolest human being walking the earth and performing on it's stages today. He is the English language's premier punk rock poet who started out in his verbal vocation in the late 1970s performing in clubs with the Sex Pistols, The Buzzcocks, Elvis Costello and Joy Division. For a brief period he lived with Nico from Velvet Underground. He invented the street where street credibility is earned and received. 

I first met John in Edinburgh during the Fringe festival in 1999. I went to see his show with Greg Proops and Greg's wife Jennifer. They knew John Cooper Clarke and we all got to hang out together drinking and laughing all night. I have been quoting for years some of the whip crack smart lines I heard John perform that night. 

Cut to October 2014 and I am doing the Galway International comedy festival with John Cooper Clarke and we got to rekindle our friendship and get back to our main business of laughing and joking all night. 

Born in 1949 he is getting up there in age which makes it even more powerful that he is playing to sold out rooms full of young people hanging on his every word and screaming their heads off with laughter. 

He is the personification of cool and his poems always pack a punch that make you howl with laughter. 

He is the man that I want to be when I am older, he's got style, a love of life and and an impeccable style of dress. 

In November 2014 he came to Los Angeles to film a music video for MacArthur Park and I got to hang out with him for a few days while he was in town staying at the London hotel for his first paid work visit to Hollywood.

I'm proud to call him a friend and you will be happy to know him too if you are unaware of his existence. He is historically important to performance art, comedy and spoken word performance and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only John Cooper Clarke.  

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

1 Clip from YouTube: The First Televised Oscars Opening in 1953

2 Movie clip from YouTube: James Cagney in White Heat - Top of the World - COLORIZED

3 Song from YouTube: Shombalor - Sheriff and the Ravels - HQ

4 Poem from documentary’ BBC - Evidently... John Cooper Clarke’:  Kung Fu International – John Cooper Clark

5 Poem from documentary’ BBC - Evidently... John Cooper Clarke’:  The Pest – John Cooper Clarke

6 Song from YouTube: The Velvet Underground - Sister Ray (MONO, Best Sound)

7 Poem from documentary’ BBC - Evidently... John Cooper Clarke’:  Things Are Gonna Get Worse – John Cooper Clark

8 Poem: Beasley Street - John Cooper Clarke

9 Song from YouTube: RIO BRAVO My Rifle, My Pony, and Me/Cindy - Dean Martin, Ricky Nelson and Walter Brennan (legendado)

10 Movie clip from YouTube: Evidently Chickentown - The Best Sopranos Ending Ever

11 End Song: I Wanna Be Yours - Arctic Monkeys

12 Clip from YouTube: Bob Hope Christmas Special (1967)

Recorded in West Hollywood, CA. December 2014. 

This episode was recorded in Venice Beach, CA

I met Louis Katz in December 2013 when we were both filming Dave Attell's Comedy Underground for Comedy Central in New York City. 

I was impressed with his punching power and how offbeat his topics were. 

Like a freight train out of nowhere this peaceful looking guy was coming out with dark twisted melodramatic heroic tales in his joke premises and I found it as refreshing as some people do with watching sunsets with cold Pacific winds.

Louis was raised in Los Angeles, started doing comedy in San Francisco and now lives in New York. I have bumped into him several times in the past year and fate kept pushing us together to sit down and record this conversation. 

I think it is perfect to release this now during the harshest point of dark winter because this was one of my most sunny happy moments of last summer.

I was staying at a friend of mine's beach house just one block away from the ocean. It was a brilliantly sunny day sitting on lawn chairs underneath a large umbrella canopy. I had been there all week amazed at the silence and how you could hear the roar of the Pacific ocean's waves crashing in the distance. 

Of course while we recorded this chat LA police helicopter circled overhead several times and at one point a neighbor dog starts barking mad.

It is an audio taste of real life Los Angeles in the background of a conversation loaded with life's greatest wisdom... Where to get the best pastrami on rye sandwich in LA, Langers. How San Francisco is the Jerusalem of stand up comedy and how your act should be a dialogue and not a monologue.

And how the answer to it all is big brown bulbous ass! 

He is one of the most refreshingly dark and twisted comedians I have met in many years and if I am anywhere near when this man is introduced I while be in the back of the room hotly anticipating what will come out of his mouth next.

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Louis Katz!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

YouTube clip 1: All in the family England is a fag country!

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Louis Katz stand up on HBO's "Down n' Dirty with Jim Norton"

End song: Standing Outside A Broken Phone Booth With Money In My Hand –Primitive Radio GodsRecorded in Venice Beach, California. March 2014

If comedy were boxing I would rank Paul Ogata in the top ten of the all around, pound for pound, heavy hitters. 

I first bonded Paul when we did Beerfest in Singapore together years ago. Beerfest is one of the funnest experiences you can plan for yourself on a visit to Singapore, with it's outdoor music and beer tents but as a comedian with loud music blasting through canvas it is one of the toughest gigs that only real pros could muster. Paul and I bonded over the toughness of those circumstances in Singapore, respected each other for not capitulating and have been close friends ever since.

I first met Paul many years ago when we performed together in Honolulu. Paul grew up in Honolulu and has a Hawaiian laid back chill that makes you think he is mild mannered until he gets on stage and rips the heads off of people with his superior jokes. 

Paul is huge in Hong Kong, Sydney and some places in the US but he is one guy I believe in and know it is a matter of time before the rest of the world finds out about him. 

His humor is accessible on so many levels from his punchlines always pack a kick. He is one of my favorite human beings and he has been around paying his dues getting banged up and proving himself in battle that when his star does one day soon pop you can know for a fact that this man earned his place in the world. 

This conversation was recorded at the Safari Inn in Burbank, CA were they filmed scenes for the film 'True Romance'. He is a true Samurai master of stand up comedy and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Paul Ogata.

Audio Cameo: Matt Corsey

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Tell Me Anything, Ask Me Anything: Billy from St. Louis

Stand-up clip from YouTube 1: Paul Ogata Stand-up 

Movie clip from YouTube: True Romance – Best Scene

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Paul Ogata - The Problem With Po' Folks Food

End song: Everywhere – Fleetwood Mac

Movie clip from YouTube: True Romance final scene

Recorded in Burbank, CA at the Safari Inn. February 2014

Robert Hawkins is not only one of the funniest human beings alive he is also one of my dearest best friends. Robert is of those rarest creatures in that he is almost as funny off stage as he is onstage. I first meet Robert in the early 1990s when we were both playing at the River Center comedy club together in San Antonio, Texas. Robert was the MC, I was the middle act and Nick DiPalo was the headliner, what a show! 

Robert is originally from Hollywood, Florida. I always love to say to him "You are so Hollywood... Florida." Because we both grew up in Florida we can always laugh about the unique and disturbing ridiculousness of our home state.

He didn't start doing stand until he got out of the army in Texas so Texas is also a major factor in his life as is San Francisco as he and I both lived there at the same time. 

Career highlights aside from Conan appearances include being a writer for Christopher Titus' sitcom and for many years now he has been the opening act for Ron White. For me Robert will always be significant because he never fails to make me laugh and he has been a friend to me through thick and thin never once leaving me hanging if I were having troubles. 

Robert and Dan Gabriel were the ones who introduced me to Bikram Yoga in 2004 and we compare notes on that practice and talk about it at great length in this episode. "The best thing about Bikram Yoga is quieting your mind." In this conversation Robert and I talk about the Ice Cream Truck business we thought of starting, why should should pick your favorite team in the playoffs, the gold fish project of Amsterdam, family discounts in Thailand, why you should never have sex with a comedy club waitress on the first night of the week, why you should write and try out two jokes a day minimum and the most brilliant invention of all 'The Smoothie Phone.'

He is one of my favorite living human beings walking the earth today and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Robert Hawkins!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip 1: Compilation of ‘Quitting Smoking’, ‘In The Army’ and YouTube clip ‘Gay Pride Parades - Robert Hawkins’.

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Ron White's Comedy Salute to the Troops Robert Hawkins

Audio Cameo: Standing Bow Posture (Bikram Yoga)

Stand-up clip 3: ‘Write Home’

End song:  Wanted: Lover (No Experience Necessary) – James Govan

Recorded in Dallas, Texas. March 2014

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 voicing characters on Dr. Katz and Squidbillies. Todd started doing stand up comedy in South Florida and moved to New York City where he still lives today. This conversation was recorded at the Salt Hill Hotel in Galway, Ireland. Todd and I were both doing the Galway Comedy Festival together and this was the tail end of a European and Scandinavian tour he was on.

It is a special honor to know the quiet thunder of his personality and to have seen him kick so much comedy ass through all of these years and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Todd Barry!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Tell Me Anything, Ask Me Anything: Liam from Cambridge & at the moment rocking with his band ‘Tape Runs Out’. Send him a message if you like his music! http://www.soundcloud.com/tape-runs-out

Stand-up clip from YouTube 1: Todd Barry Stand-Up 03/24/14

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Todd Barry Stand-Up 09/04/12 - CONAN on TBS

End song 1: MacDougal Blues – Kevin Kinney   

End song 2: Friends – Tape Runs Out     

Recorded at the Salthill Hotel in Galway, Ireland on a horrible cold and windy day. October 2014

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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.

I have been a fan of Sananda Maitreya since he first hit the airwaves many years back recording under a different name. In the last few years as Ashna and I have dedicated our off time from touring to exploring Italy I found out that Sananda currently lives in Milan with his amazing wife, two young children and continues to record noteworthy epics. Last year I got to have him as a guest on Tom Rhodes Radio when he released 'Return To Zooathalon.'

We recorded the conversation over Skype and I found him to be just as witty and charming as his writings that can be found at Sananda.org so it was my mission this year to meet him face to face and record another episode.

We recorded this in his state of the art recording studio where he records all of his music and plays every instrument on those recordings.

It felt like going to Willie Wonka's chocolate factory and getting a personal audience with Willie Wonka himself. His kind eyes and easy humor instantly evaporated my hero worship and made me feel as if I had been friends with the man for years. It is impressive when you meet people who are solid examples of how to conduct business professionally. Not only was everything set up for us to record when I got there but a photographer was there to capture our togetherness but also a film crew recorded a multi camera shoot of it as well that can be viewed at youtube.com/SanandaMaitreya . 

This conversation was just the tip of the iceberg on the glorious day Ashna and I had with Sananda Maitreya and his glorious family. After this recorded he invited us over to his house for lunch where his wife cooked us a wonderful meal and we got to meet his two sons Elvis and Mingus. If seeing those two perfect joyful children doesn't make Ashna's ovaries start to knock then nothing will. Sananda invited me into his library complete with grand piano where we continued to talk endlessly about everything.

Seeing the titles of his books indicates what a lofty intelligent thinker this man is. Goethe, Balzac, Celine and other philosophers of heights I have yet to comprehend. By the time our evening together ended I felt like I was his blood brother and that I was saying goodbye to a relative. They say that you should never meet your heroes but in this case Sananda is the exception to that rule.

It was worth every Euro cent that it cost to get there and have this personal experience with a man that I have admired and appreciated for many years.

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Sananda Maitreya!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Song 1: It's Yours

Song 2: If I Fell

End song: Siamo Qui 

Recorded in Milan, Italy – October 31, 2014

Official website www.Sananda.org 

There will be a video interview be available at www.youtube.com/SanandaMaitreya  + the release of THE RISE OF THE ZUGEBRIAN TIME LORDS chapter 5 at www.Sananda.org/newmusic

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 thought using the toilet in the open shared jail cell was his lowest moment until a school class trip came through to scare the kids by showing them how they shouldn't end up in life. 

This episode was recorded at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas. I flew in a day early before I was to do a week performing at Brad Garrett's in Las Vegas. Kevin Meaney was closing out his week and I went to see his show that night.

Geechy Guy and Shayma Tash watched the show with me and after Kevin's show we all went back to my room to record this conversation. 

He is a man that I love very much as a human being. I wish that he would make a musical out of his jail experience. We talk about how depression is a serious medical condition and how the death of Robin Williams made him be more determined to be who he is. At all times through the toughest retelling of his pain he is lovable and hilarious and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Kevin Meaney! 

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube 1: Kevin Meaney: Gay stuff; Mall shitters

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Kevin Meaney - "Why do you do this to your father and I?"

End song: Everybody – Tommy Roe

Recorded in Las Vegas, September 2014

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 London "Those rainy days ain't so bad when you're the king." 

One of the reasons I love to go to London other than the fact that it is one of the comedy capitols of the world is because of the brain nourishment I get from talking with genius friends of mine like Pete Johansson. He always tours worldwide as I do and aside from that he and I share a curiosity about life and attaining higher plains of love and consciousness. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Pete Johansson! 

Cameo: Tom Rhodes, You Are a Globetrotting Comedy Guru – Papa Razzi and The Photologs

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Tell Me Anything, Ask Me Anything: Ray from Sweden, Freddy, Joel from Fort Worth, Roger and James

Stand-up clip from YouTube 1: Pete Johansson – USA, Marijuana and the Chinese Olympics – Youtube

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Pete Johansson – Big Girls – YouTube

End song: Fans – Kings of Leon

Recorded in London, September 2014

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 on Fitzroy Square. 

From London I got to springboard to the world so it is safe to say that all of the amazing life I have got to lead might not have happened had it not been for my friendship with Rich. Not only have I been inspired to watch him work and see where his career path choices have taken him but he has also been kind of a wise Buddha to me. Or better yet he is Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Hank Williams and Lee Marvin to me. He is one of the heroes of my life and I am eternally grateful that in a world filled with so many full of shit people I made friends with Rich Hall and that our worldwide golden experiences together continue to multiply. 

We recorded this conversation while we were both doing the Galway Comedy Carnival festival last month on a blustery cold grey day inside the Salt Hill hotel. He is an American comedy gunslinger badass who ain't the one who would ever leave town before the shooting started and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Rich Hall!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Rich Hall: Why I hate the Tea Party - Live at the Apollo - Series 7 - BBC Comedy Greats

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Rich Hall - Dirty South - Biopic Clip.wmv

End song: She Left Me For Jesus – Hayes Carll

Recorded at The Salthill Hotel in Galway, Ireland, October 2014

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 me each of his releases through the years just as I have also give him all my releases as they happen too. I'm a fan! 

I love his dedication to his music and the fun intensity he puts into each songs execution. I am a fan of every project he has committed himself to and the bands he has played in all have an end of the world, end of your life, going the have a good time if we have to wreck the place energy. 

After Check 1-2 He played in a swinging alternative country band called The Pedro Delgados. Because I want you to know his music, Sander has allowed me to take you on a musical journey through the course of this conversation. 

Now he has infused whiskey thumping honky tonk into his musical equation and his current band is called The Leadbeaters. 

In this conversation we talk about his music, our friendship, peculiarities of Dutch culture and why telling a Dutch person I love you produces suck awkward reactions. This episode is about me introducing you to my friend's music that has happily been playing in my eardrums but is also about celebrating friendship. 

He is one of the truest friends I've ever had and it is my pleasure to present to you the one and only Sander Borst. 

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Song 1: The Skidmarks – Read My Rights 

Song 2: Check 1-2 – Bring It All Down  

Song 3:  Check 1-2 – One Way Track

Song 4:   The Pedro Delgados – Sing High Sing Low

Song 5:   Leadbeaters – Bootleggers Blues

End song: Leadbeaters – Casey Jones

Recorded in Amsterdam, October 2014

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 words "I want to represent the people who want to have intelligent discourse." Or "I decided a long time ago that I wasn't going to coon on television." I was happy that I got to see Reginald perform several times in Galway. 

It was harsh cold wind and rain while while we were in Ireland and it was a perfect comedy festival to stay inside and talk with your friends. His spiritual wisdom and Southern charm will light up any grey day and his advice to comedians is among the best yet given on this program.

"Seriousness is like arthritis for a comedian." Or "You are there to be laughed at. So check your ego at the door (via Tony Woods)." Also "Words are powerful. Enjoy saying them. Lean into them." He is a man that I'm honored to get to know better in this conversation and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Reginald D. Hunter!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Tell Me Anything Ask Me Anything: Mike from Tulsa, Ben from Chicago & Sariel from Sydney

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Reginald D Hunter live at Róisín Dubh

End song:  Me'Shell Ndegeocello – The Way

Recorded at The Salthill Hotel in Galway, Ireland, October 2014

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 painting in his house has a trick or joke function hidden that can spring forth at his command. His opulent home is exactly the way you would dream Amazing Johnathan's house would be or a mad scientist with a wicked sense of humor. I'm impressed to see the life that he made for himself and I'm proud of him for being one of the few comedians who was smart with his money.

He earned it! Going from comedy club headliner to doing countless television appearances he opened up The Amazing Johnathan Theater in Las Vegas and his ominous presence could be felt advertised everywhere in the city during his decades run. I would credit Amazing Johnathan with being right at that turning point in Las Vegas history where it went from being a sad joke to the cool upgraded spot it is today. George Carlin was a fan of his and once left him a long complimentary message on his answering machine. He listens to it when he gets depressed he tells me. He attributes everything he has to drugs. He tells me the best and worst times he had on drugs. He is open with me and honest about his lunatic partying days. He tells me that dying is a lazy way to get compliments.

I met the Amazing Johnathan doing comedy festival and television tapings and we have been friends from sharing those experiences. Our mad men party periods never met and I only knew him in a professional way that I respected. His comedy for lack of a better description I would call rock & roll comedy magician but whatever you would call it the man always hit the stage like a hurricane with jokes coming at you from everywhere. For me personally the reason I love the Amazing Johnathan is because when I was a young comedian watching every stand up comedy show on television while dreaming of getting there myself that is when I saw him for the first time. Destroying the audience on television and me at home.

He was unlike all the other stiff, cookie cutter style comedians, he had his own style and his magic tricks involved fake blood and his eye popping out. Crazy shit! I loved him for his wildness and I respected him before I ever even met him. 

In Shakespeare's Hamlet, Hamlet holds the skull of a comedian and he laments the fact that such a magic human who had made him laugh so hard is no longer of this earth. I ain't Hamlet and I ain't waiting until the man is dead to say how much I appreciate him. This tribute episode is not meant to be sad, it is meant to be alive and celebratory. For this reason I end the episode with a song I love instead of some sad sappy shit. The man left his mark on American entertainment and world wide comedy. I'm grateful that I know him and that he invited me over to his house to have this conversation with him.

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Amazing Johnathan!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

End song: The Shouting Matches – Gallup, NM

Recorded at Johnathan’s house in Las Vegas, September 2014

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 as he ages because he has experienced more in life. 

The documentary 'Bitter Buddha' that was about Eddie's life was a huge success. Acting roles continue to role in because he is such a unique funny character who brings his soul and experience to every project he takes part in. A veteran of two Edinburgh Fringe festivals, who I caught up with in Los Angeles just a few weeks after this year's festival. The show he performed this year was entitled 'Rest In Peace America' in which he celebrates the downfall of America and gives him a vent to steam about life in America today. 

He loves the modern comfort's of today's technology but thinks it is an exercise in futility with us amusing ourselves to death. He believes entertainers live for fame and affirmation but says if you are not centered at your core the entertainment business will crush you like a bug. 

We talk about Hollywood conspiracies, Obama's ineffectual presidency, the lack of gun control in the United States, best New York City film achievements, the collapse of the world economy and the best sources of information. He tells me his best ideas come to him when his brain calms down and he has personal break throughs. 

In this chat we talk about digesting information and ideas in order to spit out everlasting gobstobbers of thoughts. He is a man that I adore, respect and he makes me laugh out loud very hard. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Eddie Pepitone!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Dealing With Hard Times - Eddie Pepitone

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Eddie Pepitone "Let's Order In"

Audio cameo: Eddie's dog Charlotte

End song: Randy Newman – Let’s Drop The Big One Now

Recorded at Eddie’s apartment in Los Angeles, September 2014

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.

His show at the St. James theater was brilliant with the verve and excitement of live performance that Mark brought to his character and since it was in the evening with alcoholic beverages flowing each of the excellently written lines of dialogue hit their targets making the room explode with laughter. Mark told me he loved the message of Quentin Crisp because it wasn't about being gay it was about being yourself.

In this conversation we talk about the harshness of criticism, the meaning of life and the most interesting people who ever lived. "Writing 87,000 reviews would never feel as good as giving one performance." In today's narcissistic society no one knows who they are and what to believe in. Quentin Crisp's life told by Mark Farrelly is one to gain inspiration from and peppered with Quentin's sharp quotes on life we are reminded of why Quentin Crisp is worth remembering.

"We live in a pretty dreary world were most people don't even have the decency to be themselves." In this episode you will learn why it is our excessive freedom is what makes us miserable and why having personal style will cure you of your excessive freedom. He is one of the people who I enjoyed speaking with the most on my most recent visit to the Queen's British Isles. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Mark Farrelly!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

End song: Sting – Englishman In New York 

Recorded in London, September 2014

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 Edinburgh Fringe festival he has more experience than me in some areas. I love him as a friend, a comedian and as someone I always easily have great conversations with. In this conversation we talk about the power of the pink dollar, how in Edinburgh people value stories above all else, the unnerving feeling of performing when children are in the audience, his hand made bow ties, his fondness for Argentinians and lamas. 

He is the Priscilla Queen of the desert of stand up comedy. He was born to be in show business and his side comments to himself are gems of performers inside jokes that anyone would laugh at feeling a part of the club. His Australian accent, personal style and self referencing humor subliminally encourages everyone to embrace their uniqueness and fabulousness just by sheer example of his being. He has many brilliant years ahead of him as a performer and I am one of his fans and friend that will be cheering him on all the way. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Rhys Nicholson!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube: Rhys Nicholson - ABC2 Comedy Up Late 2014 (E7)

End song: Jim White– Hey! You Going My Way???

Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment – Edinburgh, Scotland August 2014

Check out this video HumorTV filmed on Tom’s Edinburgh experience with Rhys: (Part 1) http://humortv.vara.nl/p.346081.the-edinburgh-fringe-a-trip-to-comedy-lane-i.html & (Part 2) http://humortv.vara.nl/nieuws.7141.the-edinburgh-fringe-a-trip-to-comedy-lane.html

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 but going way back to when I first met here up until the present Jo has been someone, a female someone who has been slugging it out in a male dominated profession and busting heads in the comedy world. This business is an unforgiving one where only the strong survive and just the fact that she has remained at the top of the UK comedy performing world for so long is testament enough of her quality and a badge of honor not many people can claim to have achieved. 

She is a respected veteran with many television appearances and Edinburgh Fringe festivals under her belt. 

In this conversation we cover many topics from her personal history to the British Empire's opium wars with China but perhaps the most valuable thing you will learn from her in this episode is the proper way to make English tea. She is someone whose voice, presence and thoughtful comedy always puts a smile on my face and it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Jo Caulfield!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube: WorldStandsUp.flv

End song: Barbara Lynn – I’m a Good WomanRecorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment – Edinburgh, Scotland August 2014

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 San Francisco and other world wide spots where she pops up doing comedy in foreign countries like me. 

"The woods would be very silent if the only birds who sang were the ones who sang best." Lynn Ruth is a veteran of nine Edinburgh Fringe Festivals and I was happy to see her and her show in Edinburgh this year while I was there.

She is like a relative to me, or rather someone I wish was related to me.

She stays in touch with me regularly and she is always popping up around the world cheering me on as I am with her. She is someone I always love talking to because she is filled with wisdom and insight aging from life lessons learned.

She is not afraid to chase her dream of being a comedian and I am inspired by her ruthless determination and the original energy of joy that goes into each performance. She is quit simply a gem of a human being and it is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Lynn Ruth Miller!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

End song: Peggy Lee – Is this all there is

Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment – Edinburgh, Scotland August 2014

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 fun to see so many old friends from the San Francisco comedy scene of the 1990s. Deservedly so Margaret is an adored icon and watching her being appreciated makes my heart happy. She is the perfect San Francisco comedian, raised in the city by book store owning parents, an intelligent, funny Asian woman who represents and defends the gay and lesbian community. Margaret has been busting heads in the comedy world for many years and not many comedians ever attain the universal love and appeal that she has.

This conversation was recorded the day after Comedy Day in Margaret's Union Square hotel room. We had enjoyed comedy Day immensely laughing our heads off together, my favorite moment was having Margaret sit right up front under the stage and scream her head off laughing at me. I also learned that she was very close to Joan Rivers and that she is still very tore up over her recent death. 

Margaret and I also were both given our our sitcoms around the same time and they both only lasted for one season. My reaction to my sitcom ending was to plunge myself into drugs and alcohol but Margaret wrote a brilliant one person show called 'I'm the one that I want'. Seeing that show in New York City gave me great inspiration at that time when I needed it. Margaret's career has been so successful because she continuously works her ass off. In this conversation we talk about our sitcom experiences and the mountain of pressure you have on you when you are the star of your own network television show.

Margaret Cho has championed countless civil rights causes and has supreme knowledge on many different topics, especially stand up comedy. In this conversation Margaret tells me about Joan Rivers' funeral and the best laugh she had with Joan. We also talk about Korea and the Korean pop culture domination of the planet. I've been to Korea twice in the past 2 years and I'm excited for Margaret to go there just because it will produce another brilliant special for her. We talk about our immigrant mother's and Margaret tells me about her quest to learn the Korean language. She teaches me about the highlights of Korean cinema. The trilogy of movies 'Old Boy', 'Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance'.

She we had this talk I watched 'Old Boy' and I highly recommend this mind-blowing movie. Since the day I met her, Margaret has turned me on to cool things. She tells me about the Rue De Temple, the best place to shop in Paris. She gives me the best world wide travel tips she has learned and I tell her the importance of a successful comedian having nice luggage. 

This episode happened because Margaret suggested that I come up to San Francisco at the last minute. After the joy of having this conversation we went to the panhandle and got stoned before she took me to a guitar store on Haight street. After the guitar store we ate fat gorgeous San Francisco burritos and then Margaret called me an Uber that took me to the airport. It was a perfect 24 hours in San Francisco and this episode is the result of this. 

She is the Joan of Arc Samurai warrior of comedy and it is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Margaret Cho!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

End song: Teenage Fanclub & Jad Fair - Crush on You

San Francisco, September 2014

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 that affected the person she is today. The story she tells me in this chat about how before she would leave the house her dad would tell her to go grab the world by the balls hit me in my hilarity button. 

On her podcast Girl On Guy she has a segment called Self Inflicted Wounds. When I did her podcast I showed up with an entire bag of self inflicted wound stories. 

Everyone has stories about how they were self destructive and if you rose again or not is the only answer to that story. Pain is intrinsic in the human experience and self inflicted wounds is such a great idea Aisha wrote a book on that topic called Self Inflicted Wounds which had a strong run on the New York Times best seller list and is currently in the talks to become a television show.

In this talk we talk about the best laughs our fathers gave us and their most funny expressions.

In this episode you will learn why you should eat the spotted owl, never leave anyone stranded on the side of the road and never leave anyone in jail. 

Aisha went to Dartmouth University to study Environmentalism policy. Clean coal is a lie! Then she studied the economies of developing nations and lived in Kenya for a while. She is more than qualified to speak against rich white people.

Aisha has so much to tell the world and her intelligence makes it easy break down major issues to find the rational thoughts on our capitalistic society. There is blood on all of our hands!

We talk about the tangle mess America is in now and how corporations own our every move and how our system tramples people. Aisha is real and honest no matter if we talk politics or our personal lives. She believes in the transformative power of personal freedom and she is not afraid to squash modern topics by pushing it further. 

She is one of the stars of the daily network show The Talk speaking to millions of American homes everyday. As you will see in the conversation she is real and truthful about everything. She is so monumentally intelligent and magnificently charming and funny I wish she would love even more every entertainment outlet from TV, film, books, internet, etc.

She is a deep thinker with a sharp perspective and the truest laugh. I’m proud of her for all of her success because she always had a good heart but also she inspires me because she is real in everything she does. She possesses the pearl of great knowledge and wisdom and it was a joy to record this rambling talk about everything. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Aisha Tyler!

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 I bonded with, saw the shows of and hung out with until the wee hours of the morning. 

Karen has created such a welcoming atmosphere at this excellently run venue. Not Only does she bring in the best quality performers but the people who ran her venue I had met at Comedy festival in Australia, New Zealand, England, Ireland, Canada and France. Even her staff are of the highest quality in live festival comedy entertainment. 

I enjoyed talking with Karen Koren every night, not just because she has the most dreamy hypnotic accent but also because of her gorgeous laugh. She helped to launch the careers of Alan Cumming, Eddie Izzard, Russell Brand, Tim Mincheon and Tom Rhodes.

I can’t say enough good things about this woman, she’s classy, she’s funny and she is wealth of comedy knowledge and history concerning British comedy and the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

She doesn’t bullshit anyone, she doesn’t beat around the bush and she has a strong opinion about the lack of substance from most American stand up she has seen. 

Looking back on my memory of doing the festival this year I think of Karen and the lively and funny conversations we had together most every night. At times it felt like I had a mother figure looking out for me and I grew in her warm loving embrace. The people who book other world wide festivals when they spoke with Karen she insisted they should book me or be missing out on one of the best comedians in the world. She was constantly telling people to go see my show and raving about how funny I am. It would plaster the hugest smile across my face her every endorsement. Because of the incredible experience I just had in Edinburgh August 2014 and all of the friends I made there I am inspired to write my ass off to come up with a new hour of material. 

I won’t go back too early with some watery shit, only hard hitting head cruncher jokes and stories because I would never want to disappoint Karen Koren by being any less than funnier than anyone else. I’m proud the hear in this conversation that her favorite part of my show was the real life stories where I wore my heart on my sleeve. She is the kind of person that if she likes you, you think “Well if Karen Koren thinks I’m great I must be pretty damn good.

At this moment when I post this episode it one of the most important weeks in the history of Scotland because they get to vote whether or not they want to be an independent country or to stay joint with England. Either way, in England they like to yell “Long live the Queen! God save the Queen!”

I just want it to be known that wherever I go in the world I will yell “Long live Karen Koren! God save Karen Koren!” It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Karen Koren!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

End song: Curtis Mayfield – Move on Up

Recorded at The Loft Bar in The Gilded Balloon – Edinburgh August 2014

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 party. After the Labor party decided to go in another direction ideologically he left politics and with his redundancy payment he put a down payment on The Stand comedy club.

This moment in human history is very exciting because next week Scotland has the vote to decide if they want to be an independent country away from the United Kingdom. After thousands of years of bloodshed and dying for this very concept, Scotland has the chance to do it now in a peaceful manner, without ever even firing one bullet. 

Tommy Sheppard is an ardent and vocal supporter of Scottish independence and the person I sought out to explain it all to me and why breaking away from England would be the best option for his fellow countrymen.

In tis conversation I quiz him on comedy, the Fringe festival and all things Scotland but the most valuable insight of all is his knowledge on this turning point in Scottish history where the dreams of ancestors long dead and forgotten will finally be realized next week on election day.

It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Tommy Sheppard.

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Audio Cameo: Graham Brophy from Glasgow, Scotland

End song: Bob Dylan – Highlands (live version Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, CA, 16 Mar 2000)

Recorded at The Stand Comedy Club – Edinburgh August 2014

★★★★★  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 comedy is what attracted me to her soul as I sat among the audience watching her perform and why I wanted to highlight her on my podcast. 

She lives in the artistic hub of Brighton and is a respected veteran of the UK comedy scene, she is one of the people I enjoyed hanging out with the most at the festival after parties and it must be said that I think she has the most glorious gap between her two front teeth. As a gap toothed person myself, I find that an irresistible trait in a fellow human. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Zoe Lyons!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube 1: Comedienne Zoe Lyons

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Joan Rivers: Stand-Up Pioneer Dead at 81 - Fifty Years of Funny | The New York Times

End song: Waiting In Vain – Annie Lennox  Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment – Edinburgh August 2014

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 one of the hottest tickets in town when he is there. This conversation was recorded at my kitchen table of the flat in Edinburgh that I rented for Edinburgh Fringe 2014. We sat down over hot tea to talk about life, comedy, travel, festivals and every other pertinent topic that came to our brains until it was time for both of us to run off to our shows that night.

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Glenn Wool!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Stand-up clip from YouTube 1: Glenn Wool @ Cracker Night 2011

Stand-up clip from YouTube 2: Sobriety - Glenn Wool | RAW COMEDY

End song: Long May You Run - Neil Young

Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment – Edinburgh August 2014

★★★★★  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 lecture and part personal journey through her life.

Hannah got her university degree in art history and art is one of her personal obsessions and greatest passions in life. In this episode we talk about art, art history, her Edinburgh show ‘The Exhibitionist’ and the fact that Tom Rhodes Radio gives her show a 5 star review.

It is an extra treat to know that Hannah does not do many podcast chats and that she made the exception to be on mine. I adore this woman as a human being, as a comedian and as a fellow art lover. Her Edinburgh show of 2014 was one of my favorite shows that I saw this year and her stand up comedy is consistently solid powerful laughs every time I see her perform.

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Hannah Gadsby!

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, having artistic parents with dramatic lives living in Greenwich Village, her moving back to Germany to pursue her dream of acting, getting her knees skinned up from a bad romantic choice to finding love on a beach in Greece on the island of Rhodes. With magnanimous charm she plays all of the characters in her life and the journey she has experienced up to this point. 

Her show is so enjoyable you can't help but think why isn't this woman a superstar actor by now but we should be grateful because superstar actors never give us brilliant one person performances like this rooted in the very fabric that makes theater great and greatly inspiring.

Lucie Pohl's show is also on at the Gilded Ballon like mine and I met her very early in the run hanging out in the performer's Loft Bar. She is a delight on every level and an artist I hope never forgets that making solid one hour performances is the glue that holds all of show business together. It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Lucie Pohl! 

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 higher by always bringing my best. 

For many years Scott has lived in London and is a veteran taking part in his 17th Edinburgh Fringe Festival. He has stirred up controversy and created many firestorms from crafting his thoughts into jokes at this festival. 

We talk about his years of doing Edinburgh Fringe, his life in London and the tragic passing this week of Robin Williams, who Scott costarred with in the movie Mrs. Doubtfire. 

Just recently has Scott reappeared in my life and I have to say that I have missed him. He is never lazy in creating his material for the stage and never one to back down from bringing out thoughts that upset more conservative tastes in the audience. 

To me he is more than just a gay comedy icon, he is a friend who I respect greatly and a performer I love to watch crushing the bugs of prudishness. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Scott Capurro!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Audio Cameo: Graham Brophy

End song: I Loves You Porgy - Diana Ross

Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment , Edinburgh August 2014

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 he never backs down from the challenging remarks he offers on any topic and his television specials are made with great intelligence equally his great humor. 

He is not only one of my favorite people to hang out with but a performer who inspires me every time I see him. Never lazy, never without great thought put into each performance. We recorded this at my kitchen table in my rented Edinburgh apartment just a few hours after I saw him perform this year's hour show at the Assembly Rooms on George street. 

In the conversation we talk about the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence, his great moments at the Edinburgh Fringe festival, near death experiences and as he puts it "The proper way to rinse a cunt."

It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Andrew Maxwell!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Audience: Ashna & Suraya

End song: Lightning’ Hopkins - Mojo Hand

Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment, August 2014

 ★★★★★  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 clear eyes discerning the continual crisis Israel faces and how best to deal with tragedy when it strikes your life. 

I first encountered the bright light of his personality after my first show of the festival run that he attended. I enjoyed his show 'Circumcise me' so much that I went to it twice. I laughed, I cried and stood on my feet clapping wildly when it finished. His story is epic how he became the person that he is today and I would much rather watch a film about his life instead of another dull super hero sequel.

Until then we have his show and this conversation about his life's journey. 

At the Edinburgh Fringe Festival review's are very important so let it be known that Tom Rhodes Radio gives 'Circumcise Me' 5 stars! 5 Bravos! and 5 Hallelujahs! 

(5 stars are the best you can get on an Edinburgh review) If you are in or anywhere near Edinburgh during his run I highly recommend you put this show on the top of your list of must see shows. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Yisrael Campbell!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) – Oceanliners

Audio Cameo: Ashna making lasagna in the background

End song: The Weight - The Band

Recorded at our big wooden kitchen table of our lovely Edinburgh Festival apartment

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 comedy in far away places, to take a chance on yourself to show people what you can do so they book you in the future.

That is why I respect Lucas, Ramin and Sara for taking this journey West.

The best souvenir of any trip is the memories you create and these 3 great friends are in the middle of a trip they will talk about as long as they live.

Ramin Nazer has a new comedy album out now called 'You were funny too'. It is well worth your money to buy it and 2 of my favorite tracks are played in this recording. Remember to support all your favorite comedians on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc. because numbers are important and the bean counters of this business look at things like that. Prepare to get fuzzy tingles in your heart as I present to you now Lucas Molandes, Ramin Nazer and Sara Reihani.

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 faggotty self I learned from a very early age if you make people laugh they won't beat you up."

When I am in Seoul I always have to stop by and see my friend Nevada because he allows himself to be fabulous which in turn allows others around him to be fabulous. It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Nevada Rhodes!

Intro song: Cutting Room (Hot Pants) - Oceanliners

Audio Cameo: PJ Crowell from San Francisco

End song: 19 días y 500 noches - Joaquín Sabina

Recorded in Seoul, Korea May 2014

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 we could all learn from an ancient Hindu ritual and suffer more to psychologically elevate yourself of guilt.

He is a man that I respect and admire because he forges much darkness with the light of laughter. Get yourself another big portion of the one and only Jonathan Atherton.

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 so for this visit I spent a whole relaxed week there. 

Dan Dockery who owns the House Of Son Tinh is a beautiful lunatic from England who drove me all over the city at night on his motorcycle in the rain. Of all the great things I did that week nothing was more fun than the show I did at the House Of Son Tinh and MinhHa Pham opened the show for me. 

She is young, attractive and likable so I knew she would do well on the stage but I was honesty blown away at how smart and funny her jokes were. She graduated from the university of Minnesota and started doing stand up comedy at Gotham comedy club in New York City 2 years ago. Now she is back living in her hometown of Hanoi forging this new art form and expanding her horizons while more stage time in cities around Asia. If she is this funny after only doing it for 2 years then I easily predict that she will be as massive as she would chose to be. It is a mighty claim but nonetheless you will be pleased to know such a person as MinhHa Pham exists. I am grateful to her for giving me the reason to return to a place that I loved and was deeply meaningful to me.

This conversation was recorded at the Hanoi Social Club just a few hours before our show that night. As much as I love my new expensive killer microphone I think it may have been too good because of all the chaos of noise happening outside of our open air window. The streets sounds of Hanoi, car horns, scooter horns, communist propaganda loud speaker announcements, there were moments while we were recording that the city burst out with a plethora of crazy noises. That is the charm of Hanoi and you can hear it in full effect on this recording. It was blazing hot, the windows had no glass and Coca Cola on ice never tasted better.

It is my pleasure to take you all the way to Hanoi in this episode and introduce you to the one and only MinhHa Pham!

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles.

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 brilliant mind he also very easily always cracks me up.

It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Duncan Trussell.

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 comedy. 

He has a web series called Teacher's Lounge that stars many greats of American comedy. Ted is universally loved and respected. He is an exciting performer because anything could happen to him, be it film, television or the mind welding of our video future. I think he and his family should be studied scientifically so that more people can turn out just like him. 

It is my pleasure to present to you the one & only Ted Alexandro.

Jackie Kashian is a powerhouse comedian by any way you measure it.

This episode was recorded in Los Angeles.

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 discovering new watering holes in the Soho district that he took me to. For me personally any British person who wears top quality embroidered cowboy shirts with sincerity is a diamond geezer in my book. 

There are many reasons to love Joseph Wilson, first and foremost is the ease and comfort he can blast out hard core funny in a laid back conversation. It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Joseph Wilson.

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 managing me for Europe while I lived in Amsterdam. You could say I had life by the balls back then and I was most certainly spoiled by being under the loving umbrella of the Comedy Store. Don Ward always treated me like a king and I always enjoyed speaking with him about comedy. I love and respect the man dearly. I love him like a relative in fact. Then I fucked up....

I've been working on writing a book the past few years and I will go into more details there because in the story of my life Don Ward and the Comedy Store is an important chapter. The truth of the matter was that I was partying too much in London after shows and I frightened myself enough to decided to take a break on the place for a while when I moved back to the US in 2004. 

I should have communicated with Don better about what was going on in my life. I owed him that. I owed him the respect her deserves so I wish I had been more honest with him. Needless to say feelings got hurt and it took me many years to mop up the mess that I had made. 

I missed London and all my friends there so I just started going back a few years ago. One of my main reasons to go back was to set things right with Don Ward and apologize to him for me being such a schmuck. Last year when I was in London I went into Don's office and had the heart to heart talk with him. I told him since my Dad and my sister died I now see that the most important thing in life is the relationships you have with people. I told him how important he is to me, how I appreciated him treating me like a king and that I was ashamed and sorry over how I had disappeared on him. He could have rightfully told me to fuck off. Thankfully he welcomed me back to the Comedy Store and told me how that is all water under the bridge now. 

This episode is very important to me because it was recorded between shows on Saturday February 22, 2014, the first weekend I have performed there in ten years. This episode is the end of a circle that took me ten years to get around to the other side of because of my mistake.

Never turn your back on the people who give you love and respect. 

Don Ward is a living legend in the world of comedy because he has seen it all and presented the greatest comedians the world has every known. One day the British government will put a historical marker in front of the Comedy Store but until then we have the wealth of knowledge living in the museum of Don's mind. 

This episode is very important to me because it is with someone I love and respect and that was crucial to my development as a world wide performer. It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Don Ward.

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 meantime you should purchase 'Carnival Flower' and make it a part of the fabric of your entertainment life. Her acting career continues to excite and she stars in the new independent film '10,000 KM' that is currently winning awards at film festivals all over the world. 

Her accomplishments are a part of the pinnacles of modern entertainment but she is one of the most down to earth people you could meet. 

As a strong powerful woman she indisputably kicks truck loads of ass but most important to me is that she is wildly hilarious and hanging out with her is like hanging out with a comedian. You will be pleased to have her in your eardrums and to know that she is out there making the world a better place. It is my pleasure to present to you know the one and only Natalia Tena.

This episode was recorded in London.

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 to become the massive world wide comedy super star that he is today as well the triumphs and tribulations he has experienced in the years since I saw him last. He is one of those people who if I don't see him for years that when I do it's like we never lost a minute in between.

He never fails to make me laugh when we are together and as a comedian he has truck loads of wisdom to share from all of his life experiences. It is my pleasure to present to you the human masterpiece that is Stephen K Amos!

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 the Cannes film festival.

I owe a great deal of respect and gratitude to Eve because of a huge blunder on my part that happened during this recording. She told me about how last year at Cannes she interviewed Woody Allen about his latest film 'Blue Jasmine' and when they got back to the editing studio they realized that her sound man had forgot to hit the record button. I thought to myself "What a boob! Who could screw something up that was that important." Then after an hour of conversation my computer went black because it had run out of energy and the entire recording was lost. My computer said it had 18% left but it went black nonetheless and I was rightfully embarrassed and deflated. 

The ever gracious Eve told me not to worry and come back later that night at 8pm to record it again. This is recording number 2 that we did later that night. It cost me 40 Euros each way from my hotel to her home 4 times, 160 Euros total. This is probably the most expensive episode I have ever created but it was worth every Euro cent because I think Eve is that interesting, fun and knowledgable.  It is my secret desire to make some type of entertainment talk show with her to be broadcast from Paris to the rest of the English speaking world. Aside from being a magnanimous charismatic human being, she is the kind of generous soul who would give a boob like me a second chance to record with her after screwing up monumentally. She is has an effervescent soul and knows everything there is to know about art, culture and entertainment in Paris today. It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Eve Jackson.

This episode was recorded in Paris.

I met Sebastian Marx the last time I played in Paris. He has the young hot new scene  putting on stand up comedy nights in English and in French. 

When I met him I came to see him perform a one hour show in French.

He has lived in France for years and speaks French fluently. I didn't understand a word of the show but I was impressed to see an American speaking French and getting laughs. He is originally from New York with Argentinian parents. There are many reasons for me to love Sebastian Marx because he and I have so many things in common. Being American with a parental Argentinian connection, love of comedy, love of French culture, not afraid to live in Europe, etc.

The upstairs room at the So Gymnase theatre is where I did my shows with Sebastian. It's an intimate cozy room with old couches and a low ceiling which is perfect for comedy. He regularly puts on his New York Comedy Nights show there. The audiences I experienced where multiethnic, multinational and of higher intellect. Also there were lots of French comedians hanging out and making the scene.

Comedy is a brotherhood in many ways because not many people know what it is like to face the fire, to get shit on your face if need be, with the quit respect of fighter pilots. Hanging out with comedians is one of my favorite things in life.

I like what Sebastian Marx is doing in Paris. There is a young hot eager scene there and if you are traveling to Paris and want to do some shows he is the man to know. It's a small room, not a big money maker but worth it in measure of fun and getting your performance orgasm. Sebastian is not only super lovable on stage he is the same sweet guy off the stage too. I had fun running around Paris with him in the communal electric cars of Paris. All over the city there are batches of small electric cars that can be picked up and dropped off using an iPhone app to set it all up. It's cheaper and easier than taking a taxi and being a French citizen he uses that electric car like a master. Enjoying Paris is always best when you experience it with a resident who knows how to get around. Sebastian set up my Paris shows, promoted them and hosted them.

On my show February 4, 2014 which happened to be my 30th anniversary he baked me a cake and has 30 candles on it that he brought out to me at the end of my show. The entire audience sang to me and it was a golden memory of an evening. I think he is funny, smart and lovable and it is my pleasure to present to you the one and only Sebastian Marx.

This episode was recorded in Paris.

I first met Sand Van Roy after my show in Paris in June 2012. Speaking with her I was tickled to find out that she was a huge comedy fan and that he all time favorite comedian is Mitch Hedberg. She was thrilled to hear that I was Mitch Hedberg's friend. She was trying a joke that she had written out on me and I told her that I liked it. 

In this conversation recorded earlier this month in Paris I discover that it was that moment that inspired Sand to begin being a comedian one week after I met her. Because of Mitch Hedberg's influence on her she has a style of comedy that is exclusively one liners. What I consider to be the hardest form of comedy that requires a sharp mind and expert precision. 

Sand is from Holland and now lives in Paris earning her living as a model. She is the first ever super model comedian that I am aware of. To focus on her good looks instead of her comedy is to sell her short in appreciating her outer shell instead of her brain power to invent sharply funny thoughts and observations. In this episode she tells me about the current comedy scene in Paris that happens in English and French. 

This episode was recorded on February 4, 2014, my 30th anniversary of being a comedian. We recorded this just a few hours before my anniversary show which Sand opened up for me on. Aside from talking about comedy she gives me all the insight and juicy trash that goes on in the modeling world. I think she is smart, funny and destined for greatness in the world of comedy. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Sand Van Roy.

This episode was recorded in Amsterdam.

I first met Peter Klashorst ten years ago when he appeared as a guest on my Amsterdam late night talk show. At the time I was told that he was famous for painting naked black women. Having a deep appreciation for dark skinned women I liked the man instantly. His journey as an artist has been epic with a world wide reach. 

He lived in Senegal where he was arrested for running a brothel. He said he was only hiring women as models but the authorities wanted to hassle him. From there he moved to Kenya and his feelings about Africa and African people are dear to his heart and he still maintains an art studio there as well as in Amsterdam. 

I got to hang out with Peter several times in Amsterdam and he is one of the few humans alive who earns his living solely from painting works of art. Every fiber of his being exudes the thoughts and actions of an artist and it was a joy to see him painting in his studio when I did. As a younger man I always loved Rembrandt and Van Gogh but this is a true living great artist and it is possible that Peter Klashorst is currently the greatest living Dutch artist. 

He is now living in Cambodia working on one of the most heart felt acts of his career. For several years he has been painting the portraits of the victims of Pol Pot's genocide against his own people from the photos that were taken of them just before they were executed. Like most great artists Peter doesn't commit himself to anything unless his heart is fully in it and it seems that Cambodia has captured his heart and he will continue to do great work there. He is very open about fucking prostitutes and trouble he has received from living his life passionately as an artist. 

This conversation was recorded 4 years ago late at night when Peter and I were drinking multiple beers. This is actually one of the first interviews I did for Tom Rhodes Radio. We talked and recorded for 4 hours and this episode was taken from the first 2 hours before the beverages really kicked in.

I respect Peter Klashorst as a man, as an artist, as a true friend and it would be hard to find anyone who is living their dream of being a true artist with a real powerful vision than him. As he says in this conversation "I want to show how beautiful God created this earth and all of it's inhabitants." I believe that the life and art of his will live on forever because it is timeless. It was made from his pure vision of love and beauty. Aside from his superior art and world encompassing philosophy I think he is very funny. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now, the one and only Mr. Peter Klashorst.

This episode was recorded in Rotterdam.

It always tickles me to meet intelligent people who attend my shows and are fans of mine. Last month after my show in Rotterdam I met Zihni Özdil and I was so struck by his intelligence, life's work and personable being that I instantly wanted to record an episode of my podcast with him to squeeze out his knowledge for the enjoyment of my listeners. 

He is a social historian at Erasmus University in Rotterdam, one of the highest rattiest intellectual universities in all of Europe. He is an expert on the racial history of the Netherlands and the continuing problems that non-Dutch people face here. For those of you who have never been to Holland you will be interested in learning the word "Allochtoon" which means "Dirty foreigner" and is used to describe all non-Dutch people living in this country, even if these people have been born here. 

Throughout the world the Netherlands is known as a country of tolerance but put under the microscope it is anything but tolerant to some of its darker skinned residents. 

My favorite part of this conversation is when Zihni tells me he wants to be the first Allochtoon prime minister of the Netherlands. It makes me want to gain the right to vote here just so I can cast my vote for him when that day comes. I'm pleased he sat down with me to share his knowledge of the current state of race relations in Holland and what he proposes as the harmonious solution. His answer will surely surprise you. 

It is my pleasure to present to you now, the future prime minister of the Netherlands Mr. Zihni Özdil!

This episode was recorded at the American hotel in Amsterdam.

Greg Shapiro is one of the nicest people you will ever meet in show business. He is originally from Chicago where he got his earliest improv training and he moved to Amsterdam in 1994 where he became one of the founding members of Boom Chicago, the Mecca of improv comedy in Amsterdam that has launched former members to Saturday Night Live and beyond.

Greg just published a book called 'How to be orange' which is all about the ins and outs of Dutch culture from its most lovable traits to the most odd and hilarious. He knows so much about Dutch culture he is actually referred to as the American Nederlander. He should be an expert on Dutch culture because he has lived in Amsterdam for 20 years, married a supremely wonderful and beautiful Dutch woman who he is raising two children with.

Greg produced my recent theater tour of Holland and this was recorded on the last day of that tour. In this conversation we both share knowledge gained from our lives in Amsterdam. From how Amsterdam has changed since the Pulp Fiction view of it in 1994 to the new life of today and how foreigners might have to pretend to be Dutch to buy weed soon.

He was a joy to tour Holland with and I honestly believe that if his car would have broken down that he would have given me a piggy back ride to make sure that I got to the show. It's my pleasure to present to you the one and only, Mr. Greg Shapiro.

This episode was recorded in Amsterdam.

It is ass biting cold outside and miserable rain is expected. I am currently on a theater tour performing around Holland and I'm happy to see good friends who live here that I haven't seen in a while.

One of which is Bob Maclaren. Bob has been living in Amsterdam for 20 years and speaks fluent Dutch. He is from New Zealand and like me he does all the great world wide comedy gigs. 

I met Bob when I first moved to Holland. He and I were both considered as the host of a travel program for the Discovery channel and Bob got it which mildly irked me. In today's conversation I find out that Bob was up for the host of the Amsterdam Late Night talk show that I got and he was mildly irked that I got it. It's like when you are young, the people you have issues or competition with usually are the ones who become your closest friends. 

I have an infinite amount of respect for Bob because he not only is a naturally funny story teller and comedian, he is also one of the top comedy television writers for Dutch television. He now also is producing television shows that he creates the concepts of. He is currently about to finish filming a series for Dutch television that he created where he takes Dutch comedians of ethnic immigrant backgrounds back to their mother countries to see how that influences them as comedians. I think it is a brilliant concept and it should go world wide if the television Gods keep the universal balance right.

Bob is full of fascinating stories and the world knowledge of traveling the world as a comedian.

It's my pleasure to present to you the one and only Mr. Bob Maclaren. 

This episode was recorded in San Francisco.

This episode was recorded in San Francisco.

I have known and respected Drew Hastings for over 20 years.

His jokes have always possessed an intelligent cynicism that hit me right in the heart of what I find funny. This conversation was recorded two years ago.

While performing in Cincinnati I heard that Drew was now the mayor of Hillsboro, Ohio and when I finished my shows I stopped off to see him on my way to Chicago. He still performs stand up comedy, in fact his career took off once he left Los Angeles and moved back to his native Ohio. He is the kind of friend I cherish the most, the kind with differing opinions who can make you see things another way without it exploding into an argument. He is also what I would consider the most dangerous kind of politician, the kind who is sincere and genuinely cares about the people he represents. His story is fascinating and one that will probably one day be made into a movie. He is a prime example of the great and powerful things that can happen if you follow your heart and do what you believe in. 

It is my pleasure to present to you the one and only Mr. Drew Hastings.

This episode was recorded in Brooklyn, New York.

Having co-created the Daily Show and co-founded Air America it is a solid fact that Lizz Winstead has left a permanent mark on American entertainment and the American consciousness. Like most innovators and socially forward thinkers the roots of her tree began in stand up comedy. 

I worked with Lizz several times in the early years of my career as her opening act. I was a very young and inexperienced comedian and I loved and respected her from our initial meeting. She was a strong female headliner in a profession that was mostly male dominated. She shared her comedy wisdom with me back then and I have always appreciated the intelligence she brought to any project she put her name on. 

In the early years of Comedy Central I appeared on the first version of the Daily Show that Lizz was one of the producers of. I felt like a proud relative seeing Lizz kicking ass in the television world just as hard as she had as a headliner in the stand up comedy world. It had been many years since I had seen her and both of our lives and careers have taken many twists and turns since then. 

Today, Lizz can be seen on countless political talk shows commenting on American politics. 

I believe it is no easy task for a comedian to move into political activism and stay funny as well as socially relevant but Lizz has done this supremely. Her current passion is defending the reproductive rights of women from law makers who wish to infringe upon this right. 

In this episode she refers to herself as a vagina warrior, which makes me smile even as I type the words.

I was excited to see my old friend who I respect greatly. I arrived in Brooklyn on the subway and stepped out into a cold down pour of December rain. At her home I was delighted to find she had just had delivered my favorite pizza, prosciutto and fresh arugula. This woman is magic. Right before we started recording she let me smoke at her window which broke and remained half open with the cold air streaming in. I was thrilled to take a ride through her opinions and thoughts on a wide range of topics and I was secretly pleased she was not angered that I had broken her window. She is someone I have always respected and been cheering for from afar. 

She is the one and only comedy crusader that is Lizz Winstead.

This episode was recorded in New York City.

This episode was recorded several years ago in Atlanta, Georgia.

This episode was recorded in Seattle, Washington. I have known Cathy Sorbo for over 20 years. She is not only a brilliant stand up comedian but she also keeps inventing these supremely hilarious songs. She decided to stay based in Seattle to be with her family and I think she is better off for it. Her real life experiences are the gems of her material that makes me laugh the hardest but it is her inventiveness in her style and in her songs that make her a comedy legend. She has been a true friend to me and it would be impossible for me to come to Seattle and not see her. Cathy is one of those rare creatures who personally busts me up with laughter. Her innate silliness perfectly compliments her astute intelligence. She is one of my favorite human beings walking the earth today, she is the one and only Cathy Sorbo.

Recorded in Chicago at Zanies on a Saturday night last September between breaks in 3 shows. Drew Michael was my feature act for the week and I loved what he was doing on stage. He's young, good looking, mildly angst ridden and I believe he will be a dangerously good comedian one day. He is from Chicago but about to move to New York. It was such a busy week for both of us the only time we had to record was during our breaks on a 3 show Saturday. The result is some good examination of the shows and the crowds. Smart comedy has always come out of Chicago and Drew is a prime example of this. I believe in his future so much I wanted to introduce him to you on my show now. Enjoy getting to know Drew Michael!

This episode was recorded in Beijing, China.

I first met Des Bishop many years ago in London when we both performed on a show together. He has had a very unique life story and an amazing career trajectory. 

Des is originally from New York but has deep family roots in Ireland. He started his stand up comedy career in Dublin and has gone on to have a brilliant television career in Ireland. For the past year he has been living in Beijing because he wants to learn Mandarin Chinese and perform stand up comedy in Chinese.

On the night I arrived after I dropped my luggage at the hotel I took a taxi to the local Chinese comedian open mic night that Des puts on. I couldn't believe it when I saw it but here was my friend standing there performing to a room full of Chinese people getting laughs in Chinese! I was absolutely blown away by this feat. 

In this episode we talk about Des' television highlights in Ireland and how he came to fall in love with China to make a life here. He also explains everything you need to know about modern life in China, the current stand up comedy scene here and the three taboo topics a performer can never mention while performing in China. 

It should be noted that Des heard I was booked to do shows in Hong Kong and Shanghai and he put up his own money to bring me to Beijing to headline shows he would host. The sold out shows this past week were at a cool book store with a full service bar in the center called 'The Bookworm.' The shows were billed as 'Tom Rhodes in the humor section.' 

I would like to give a special thanks to Papa Razzi who created the song 'Tom Rhodes is a globe trotting comedian' that plays at the end of this episode.

Sometimes with my podcast I like to imagine it as if I were teaching a university course on stand up comedy. That is why it was an absolute joy for me to sit down with Bill Burr and pick his brain about comedy and his thoughts on the importance of turning over a new hour show every year or two.

Personally, for me Bill is one of the most exciting comedians working today. Onstage he is a tempest. He is like watching a major storm develop and then crash down with a fury each new idea he presents. Presently, he is one of the hottest comedians in the world. Touring theaters, giving birth to new hour specials, he even had a recurring role on the critically acclaimed series 'Breaking Bad'. He is a true comedy bad ass.

The more I get to know Ari Shaffir the more I like him. He is one of the most pleasant human beings walking this earth. Every time I see him he puts a smile on my face. I have never seen him with a dark cloud of emotions hanging over him. 

Several years ago he started doing story telling shows and now that concept of his is being produced by Comedy Central digital in a series called 'This can't be happening'. 

A few weeks ago I caught up with Ari in San Francisco while he was co-headlining at Cobb's with Joey CoCo Diaz. I watched Ari's fans shower him with gifts of joints and marijuana nuggets after his show and the next afternoon we sat down to have this conversation. 

We talk about many great things but most importantly we both agree that "Comedy is a dark room where adults go to hear the truth about uncomfortable subjects." 

I was a fan of Carl LaBove before I ever even met him. When I was 17 I went to see Sam Kinison in Orlando and Carl LaBove was the opening act. Carl blew me away that night with his ferocious comedy cyclone, Kinison was wasted and I left the Bob Carr auditorium thinking Carl LaBove was a name to remember.

Years later I met Carl when we did the Toronto comedy festival together. On the gala television taping for that festival Carl accidentally ended up being on mushrooms for that performance. I never get tired of hearing Carl tell the story of that night.

Through the years I have become good friends with Carl and I see him as a master Samurai warrior of comedy. He is the perfect example to shatter the notion that comedy is a young man's game. Carl continues to be one of my favorite live performing comedians and night after night he harnesses the same enthusiastic high energy story telling power that first blew me away when I saw him at 17.

I'm privileged to have seen him perform countless times through the years and he inspires me because his performances get sharper and his stories and perception never cease to bust me up. He is one of the few comedians who always makes me laugh out loud. This conversation was recorded last month in Chicago as autumn was just taking hold of the trees. We were shooting the shit at the kitchen table of the apartment where Zanies puts their headliners. One of the best human beings in the comedy industry, open your heart for Mr. Carl LaBove.

I first saw Rick Shapiro perform when I lived in New York City 1998 - 1999. He wasn't playing in comedy clubs then he had a regular Wednesday night stint at a bar in Lower Manhattan. A musician friend of mine took me to see him and the musician friend told me "This guy does more than comedy. He does raw naked truth". I was ready to not like it but what happened over the next two hours as I sat watching him in this dark bar was uniquely powerful. It took him about 20 minutes to warm up but once he did there were slabs of brilliance. He spoke so freely and candidly about being a heroin addict and male prostitute I was transfixed. The sheer raw power of his honestly as he portrayed different stories of his personal history made me a fan of his work and the comedy thunderbolts he was throwing down. 

I didn't meet Rick until about 7 or 8 years ago at a party of comedians in Los Angeles. I must have ignored everyone for most of the night because my main memory of that party is of talking with Rick all night about comedy in the back yard. Sometimes you need to be patient with Rick, just like that first time I saw him in New York, because once he gets warms up it is truly masterful.

This conversation was recorded at Rick's Hollywood bungalow. In this chat a beautiful point is made in that comedy wasn't invented for the young and beautiful. It was invented for the damaged people, the ones with great stories to tell. Few people have lived the life that Rick Shapiro has and I admire him because he weaves his stories throughout his brilliant observations on modern living.

He's not afraid to get angry and yell at the injustice's of the world. I like his vulnerability and his sincerity on and off the stage. I think that sincerity is the bravest choice a comedian could make and Rick is a perfect example of this style.

I respect this man and believe him to be an American comedy legend who will be remembered and studied. Precisely for the very reason how he was first described to me, for his raw naked truth.

I'm proud to present to you here and now the raw naked truth of Rick Shapiro.

I believe this episode is among the very best that I have yet been a part of because of the time, love and preparation that went into making it.

Sananda Maitreya was once known by a former name that I will not speak because I get the feeling that person no longer exists and that is the way Mr. Maitreya wants it. I love and respect this man so much it is effortless for me to comply with his wishes. Earlier this year I discovered his brand new album entitled 'Return to Zooathalon' and it has been in my heavy rotation in the music that I have been using to pump me up and fuel me up to keep motoring down the highway.

For me as a music lover there is no better feeling than when you fall in love with an artist's music to discover that they have an entire body of work that you were unaware of. That is what happened with me after I feel in love with 'Return to Zooathalon', I discovered the period of recordings Mr. Maitreya calls Post Millennium  Rock. There are so many smash hits in these recordings! As I got further into his music I went deeper into exploring his website sanandamaitreya.com & sananda.org where I discovered his archive or writings. His writings reminded me of my own comedy notebooks that I have been keeping for years and made me fall deeper in love with the man behind the music.

Mr. Maitreya lives in Milan, Italy with his wife who he loves and inspires him and they have just had their second child. I keep referring to him as Mr. Maitreya because many years ago I was lucky enough to be the opening act for James Brown and Ray Charles. Backstage everyone addressed them as Mr. Brown or Mr. Charles. Even Ray Charles' son Ray Charles Jr. called him Mr. Charles! I believe this is the same respect that Mr. Maitreya commands. In this conversation when Mr. Maitreya refers to an artist that he respects and admires I like that calls them master. I was privileged to have this long conversation with him via Skype and it is filled with wisdom, humor, philosophy and supreme advice from the life of a legendary recording artist. 

For the first 5 minutes of our chat I felt like a nervous fan, for the half hour past that I felt like I had been friends with him my whole life, then beyond that I felt like a disciple of a new religion I wished that he would start. There ain't nothing about this man that I don't like! I'm proud to present to you here the one and only divine presence of music and light that is Master Sananda Maitreya!

The songs that I have generously been given permission to use in this episode can be found and available for purchase at the following links:

'Kangaroo' from Return To Zooathalon www.Zooathalon.com

'Ornella Or Nothing' from Return To Zooathalon  www.Zooathalon.com

'With A Girl Like You' from Nigor Mortis www.NigorMortis.com

'Hurricane Me & You' from Return to Zooathalon www.Zooathalon.com 

This episode is a heartbreaker. I was shocked and saddened to learn that Dara Faizi died on September 30, 2013 at the tender young age of 25.

I've known Jim Breuer since we were both starting out in Florida back at Ron Bennington's Comedy Scene in Clearwater. He has always been bringing head crunching thunder as a comedian since I first saw him. He went on to massive success with Saturday Night Live and co-staring with Dave Chappelle in the quintessential stoner movie of all time 'Half Baked'.

We recorded this conversation in Chicago while we were both performing there. I was looking forward to seeing him and telling him how much I loved his act the last few times I had seen him because he bravely spoke about taking care of Dad and helping him through his illness. It was the most heartbreaking subject matter turned into hilarious comedy. It turned out Jim has just released a film about his father's illness called 'More than me' which is now available on Netflix. In this conversation he opens up about his Dad, the highs and frustrations of being a main player on SNL, the greatest show business advice he ever received from Bill Cosby, hilarious opinions and stories that solidify Jim as one of the most head strong people in comedy.

His podcast model entertainment empire development concept is brilliant and I have always enjoyed seeing what projects he comes out with next. One of my favorite things in life is getting together in the afternoon with a comedian friend and shooting the shit. This is me laughing it up with my old friend Jim Breuer. Feast upon it!

For the past 3 years in a row my wife and I have rented an apartment in Rome.

When I started out on the road I worked the southern circuits of the United States. I have performed in every town that ends in ville or boro.   I did a horrendous gig in Mobile, Alabama many years ago and the best thing about it was I made a life long friendship with Faye Woodruff.   Faye is a southern comedy legend known as the Grand Mother From Hell. She started doing the road once her husband Joe had retired and they would travel together. It was inspiring to see an older couple who were still head over heels in love with each other. Sadly, Joe passed away and as she gets older Faye does the road less and less. She has been an important person in my life. My Grand Mother died when I was very young and I have always considered Faye to be a sort of Grand Mother figure to me. She loves dirty jokes and that is why she is called the Grand Mother from Hell because she looks like a sweet little old lady when she takes the stage but then her act that follows is filthy and hilarious. She once robbed a comedy club at gun point in Jacksonville Beach, FL after they refused to pay her. She tells that story here and how she made the most fun out of her time in jail. I also get her to tell me my favorite story of hers which is what she taught a parrot to say in Key West, FL. She loves Nashville, country music and filthy jokes. I go out of my way to swing by Nashville to visit her whenever I have the chance. Things haven't been easy since Joe died but she loves life and believes in laughter and jokes to be the sweetest joys a person could know. Once you hear this conversation, recorded in Nashville last year, you will know why I have loved her since the day I met her and why she is called the Grand Mother from Hell. 

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Malaysia!

Kuah Jenhan is the darling of the Malaysian comedy scene. His jokes are clean and clever and he is admired for turning over fresh new material frequently. I worked with him on my first visit to Kuala Lumpur and got to sit down and have this chat with him when I recently returned. He writes a comedy monthly comedy column for Esquire magazine of Malaysia and recently had an ice cream named after him. Enjoy the world wide perspective of one of Asia fastest rising comedy stars!

Hasan Minhaj is politically aware and socially conscious in his comedy and in his life. He doesn't take any shit when it comes to offensive stereotypes, just ask Ashton Kutcher who he smacked down for appearing in brown face. Hasan has appeared on MTV's Disaster Date and can be seen in the upcoming Stand Up Planet. He puts his heart and soul into his comedy and his youtube videos brandishing the powerful sword of truth. This episode was recorded at the Safari Inn in Burbank, California where scenes from the movie True Romance were filmed. Enjoy this future bright star of world wide comedy!

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Malaysia! What are Moslim people making jokes about? What makes Malaysian stand up more progressive than American stand up? Tom gets to sit down with Malaysia's most famous and veteran comedian Harith Iskander. Harith gave birth to stand up comedy in Malaysia Asia two decades ago and should be considered the true ambassador for bringing stand up comedy to Asia. Listen how the stand up scene all started in Asia and learn what makes moslim people laugh. Get it here!

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Chicago! Let me introduce you to the most interesting couple I know! Rory Zacher & Kelly La Banco two fresh faced kids that moved to Los Angeles to get involved in the porn industry. This episode brings you juicy & surprising behind the scene stories and all that jazz of the business of porn. Get it here!

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Los Angeles!

Several years ago I worked with Gina Yashere in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta. I loved her as a person and was extremely impressed with her as a comedian. He stories are hard hitting hilarity. Her Mother is from Nigeria and Gina grew up in London. Her unique perspective on the world and skill as a performer I never tired of watching night after night. Just hanging out with her tickles me silly. We bonded they way combat veterans bonded on this exotic tour and have stayed friends ever since. I respect her talent and love her as a human being. It surprises me that she is not a bigger star in the United States but I think her day is coming.

We recorded this conversation last month while I was in Los Angeles, recounting her getting her purse snatched in Kuala Lumpur, her life growing up in London, how her Mom has become a celebrity thanks to Gina's jokes about her and what it was like when Gina went to Nigeria to get in touch with her family history. She is a powerhouse performer and a natural comic wit on and off stage. If you don't know her prepare to fall in love with the one and only Gina Yashere!

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Los Angeles! Brian Posehn has been my friend for over 20 years. He has gone on to have an amazing career, writing for HBO's Mr. Show, acting in NBC's Just Shoot Me and Comedy Central's The Sarah Silverman Show. I don't get to see him very often but when I do it's always a good laugh. 

This conversation was recorded at his home in Los Angeles and among the highlights is Brian letting me know that his son Rhoads is not named after me. Enjoy a glimpse into our friendship!

Tom Rhodes is in New Zealand! Tom chats with New Zealand's comedy legend Brendhan Lovegrove.  Brendhan and I met 15 years ago in London while filming a television show together. Working together again in the years that followed in Sydney and Jakarta. Brendhan is one of the main people how got me invited to the New Zealand Comedy festival. This conversation was recorded in my hotel room on a rainy day in Auckland. He delights me with interesting facts about New Zealand and tells me how England is the human debauchery capitol of the world.

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Los Angeles!

Jimmy Shubert is a comedian I have loved and respected for years. He has always been a strong performer with hard hitting jokes. I've known him for many years and I enjoy him because not only is he a kind hearted friend, he constantly cracks me up. 

As a comedian with a lot of years under my belt there are not too many people who just being in their presence cracks me up but Jimmy is one of those few people who do. 

On a recent visit to Los Angeles I stopped by his house where we recorded this episode at his kitchen table with freshly brewed cups of coffee. 

As a live performing comedian I find him to be a total head cruncher! The man knows how to destroy a room! He owns my respect. He recently had performed in China and Israel and we had a lot of catching up to do since we had last seen each other. 

It's always a good day when I get to hang out with Jimmy Shubert! Enjoy!

Tom Rhodes is in New Zealand! 

After doing the New Zealand Comedy Festival in Auckland for 2 weeks I did a best of the fest tour with a small group of comedians that went all over the country. This was an epic adventure in the land of epic adventures. We performed in gorgeous theaters nightly, had daily flights or long van rides. It was a fun group to travel with because nobody on this tour was a douche bag. 

Of the comedians on the line up Chris Martin from London killed it every night. He is young, handsome and has the right passion for comedy. I was impressed that he carried the same style of notebook that I did, scribbling ideas in it every day and consulting it before he went on stage.

There is an exciting period when you are fresh into comedy and you are looking for jokes in everything. Chris Martin has that enthusiasm and I respect him for it. Everyone on the tour bonded friendships and supported each other. We all laughed truck loads enjoying the hundreds and hundreds of miles we were traveling together. 

At the end of the tour Chris Martin and I sat down to have this chat back stage at the Regent theater on Broadway in Palmerston North, New Zealand.

Chris Martin is a joy to watch perform and even more fun to shoot the shit with back stage before a show.

Comedian Chris Martin - Flamingo - Dave's One Night Stand http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=-c4z-qx-Ci4

Comedian Chris Martin - Driving - Dave's One Night Stand http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Qf6rKj_-J-I

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Austin, Texas! Lovable lunatic and comedy juggernaut Brendon Walsh and I got together at the Moon Tower Comedy Festival in Austin , Texas to discuss how being in love affects your comedy, pulling the ultimate pranks and the mutual respect we gained from meeting and working together on a very tough gig in Reno, Nevada.

Tom Rhodes Radio is in New Zealand! After doing the NZ comedy Festival in Auckland I did a 2 week best of the fest tour going all over the country. With a small group of comedians we shared planes, van rides, and stages every night for 2 weeks. Of this great group of guys Jesse Griffin and I became fast friends. He is lovably smooth and his jokes are sharply funny.  I thought him to be one of the best Kiwi comedians that I saw.

Aside from being a comedian, writing for television and making movies he has an American cowboy persona that he performs under the name of Wilson Dixon. As Wilson Dixon he has toured comedy festivals around the world achieving great success. Wilson Dixon is a philosophical wise cracking American Country & Western singer songwriter with thunderously good punchlines. Jesse Griffin is a man of many talents and he is good fun to be on tour with.

We recorded this at the end of our 2 week tour together in Timaru, New Zealand. Our days were so full of traveling and performing and in a town without much to do we had this chat where we talk about interesting facts about New Zealand, the extraordinary event of meeting his wife, the killer character he created with Wilson Dixon, killing his demons before making babies, the joy of comedy and a wide range of subjects bouncing off of each others ideas.

New Zealand is one of the heavenliest places on earth and one of the best gems I found there is Jesse Griffin.  

Tom Rhodes Radio is in Los Angeles! I got to sit down with Andy Kindler who revealed why he took marshal arts lessons to defend himself from people he had made fun of.

Markus Birdman explains how his near death experience made him a better comedian and how he admires his Vicor Father's performing style.

Tom Rhodes Radio is in LA! Brilliant comedy writer Laurie Kilmartin explains how she turns her personal turmoil into comedy gold in this new episode. Enjoy!

Steve Hughes and Tom Rhodes talk about everything pertinent on a rainy Saturday in Auckland during the New Zealand International comedy festival. May 2013. 

Tom & Moshe discuss comedy, travel, religion, and their respective tastes in pornography. 

Tom Rhodes Radio presents the funny Tom Gleeson! Recorded in Auckland New Zealand 2013.

Sources on this episode: 

Clips taken from https://www.youtube.com/nonstoptom

Tom Gleeson Storm in a Tea Cup #5

Tom Gleeson | 2012 Melbourne Comedy Festival All Stars

Podcast theme song: New Generation by The Universals

Tom chats with Australian actor & comedian, Greg Fleet. 

Joey Waldon keeps it eternally silly & colorful on the new Tom Rhodes Radio.

Tom chats with veteran actor & comedian Godfrey at the Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin, TX.  

Tom sat down with Ari Shaffir at the Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin, TX. Then Marc Maron showed up and did what he does best - made it all about him. 

Heavy Metal Comedian Steve Hughes crushes political thoughts and conspiracy theories with Tom in Sydney, Australia.

Doug and Tom drink late into the night in this last part of their conversation recorded in Bisbee, AZ March 2013. Videos available @ YouTube.com/kingofhaha

Tom returns to Bisbee, Arizona to chat with Doug Stanhope about guns, tragedy, death, and the joy of controversy.

Tom chats with one of his favorite people in comedy, Brad Garrett, at his glorious Las Vegas comedy club. 

Tom chats with a living museum of stand-up comedy, the still relevant and still hilarious, Rick Overton. 

Tom chats with long-time friend and one of Letterman's favorite comedians, the great Jake Johannsen. 

Greg Proops proves that he is indeed the smartest man in the world. He's also one of Tom's oldest friends in comedy and brought him to London for his first European gigs. Please enjoy this great chat.  

Tom sits down with Noel Faulkner, the Irish owner of London's legendary Comedy Cafe. He's a truly fascinating human being. 

Tom travels to Galway to chat with his friend, legendary Irish comedian, Tommy Tiernan. 

Tom enjoys a chat with Amsterdam based British comic Adam Fields upstairs at the Comedy Theater in de Nes. 

Brilliant English comedian/actor/musician Bill Bailey joins Tom for a chat in Indonesia at the Jakarta Fringe Festival. 

Jamie DeWolf reveals all of Scientology's secrets and tells how being L. Ron Hubbard's great grandson fuels his performance art.

Tom's brother tells the world to stop being such a pussy. 

In honor of Bill Hicks' birthday, December 16, his brother Steve shares extra loving family stories about the comedy legend.

Steve explains why Bill Hicks is to some people what Jesus is to Christians. And what it was like to be the big brother of Comedy Jesus.

Christina Pazsitzky reveals the most viscious Hungarian insults and explains why telling shit jokes makes her feel truly alive.

Tom chats with global comedy star Arj Barker at a Denny's in Orlando, Florida.

The late legendary Comedian John Fox talks about his friendships with Johnny Carson and Rodney Dangerfield. He also shares his happiest moments in his long comedy career and why Wrigley field is paradise on earth.

In one of his final interviews, Ron Shock shares some of his best life stories with Tom just before his passing. 

Tom chats with one of his favorite young comics, Ryan Stout. He turns 30 this month and already has a ton of hosting credits, a killer album, and plays the best American clubs. Please enjoy this fantastic man. 

The irresistibly funny and lovable Brian Scolaro joins Tom for a lovely chat about his life on stage and on screen. 

I got to sit down with my long-time San Francisco pal, W. Kamau Bell, star of the new show "Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell" on FX. He's a lovely human and I hope you enjoy this conversation. 

Lee Camp is one of today's most important political comedians. I caught up with him in Los Angeles after we went to a taping for Russel Brand's new show. We talk about the current state of Occupy and his genius web-series / book, "Moment of Clarity". Please enjoy my conversation with this wonderful human being.  

Tom catches up with international superstar Russell Peters while they perform together in Amsterdam for a Showtime special. They share their experiences of traveling the world to perform stand-up comedy for people of all races and cultures. 

Tom sits down with his long time San Francisco pal Dana Gould at the Moontower Comedy Festival in Austin, TX. They talk about his legendary career in stand-up comedy, dealing with hecklers, 911, UFOs & Area 51, Gearoge Carlin, and his time with the Simpsons. 

Tom chats with legendary comedian Jeff Foxworthy on stage at the world famous Punchline in Atlanta. They talk about the early days of driving to gigs together and growing as comedians in the south. They also discuss Jeff Foxworthy's recent Mitt Romney endorsement. Enjoy! 

Tom sits down with one of the South's most talented and promising rising stars of comedy, Matt Davis. They discuss the joys and horrors of southern audiences and succeeding in the often brutal circuit. 

http://www.daviscomedy.com/

Listen to the brilliant Jim Short share stories about his time with Mitch Hedberg and Bill Hicks. 

Tom chats with one of America's greatest actors, Stephen Tobolowsky, who gives Tom some interesting insights on their time shooting Mr. Rhodes.  

Tom chats with legendary purveor of HaHa, the great Bert Haas of Chicago's greatest comedy club, Zanies. 

Tom chats with Chicago comedy giant, Patti Vasquez. They talk about the Chicago scene, ethnicity, and the joys and trials of family. 

Check out her site pattivasquez.com

Tom sits down with his best friend - host and comedian Lou Angelwolf. They reminisce on starting out in Florida with comics like Brian Regan and Ron Bennington, and reflect on decades of love and laughter.  

In this long-lost pilot episode of Tom Rhodes Radio, Tom is joined by his good friends Lou Angelwolf and Dana Gibson in Los Angeles. Together they are "The Unoffendables."

After discussing the best free entertainment in LA, they interview the brilliant comedian/prophet John Fugelsang, in which they discuss real Christianity and eating the Beatles. 

Then they sit down with TV & comedy stars Jimmy Shubert & Billy Gardell to talk about Philly and Baltimore pride. 

Tom continues his conversation with musician Tom Rhodes. 

Tom travels to Wilmington, North Carolina to talk to Tom Rhodes, the musician. 

Tom travels to London to do shows and talk with his comedian friends Shazia Mirza and Dave Fulton.

Tom travels to London to do shows and talk with his comedian friends Ed Byrne and Adam Bloom.

Tom visits his good friend Brian Regan in Las Vegas.

Tom talks with Australian comedian Brendon Burns from his flat in London about cracking the London scene and the Edinburgh fringe festival.

Tom travels to the green rolling mountains of Vermont to visit his uncle Bob and talk about life, comedy and the family sense of humor.