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Tom Rhodes Smart Camp — Comedy
Tom Rhodes Smart Camp

About Smart Camp podcast
Tom Rhodes Smart Camp is a festival of ideas, knowledge, stories, books, and adventures. I have been a comedian for more than 40 years, traveling the world to perform comedy. Whenever I can, I will share my adventures with you on this podcast. Together with my creative partner and best friend, Ashna, we ‘re offering a blend of wisdom, humor, and heart.

Tom
I have been a comedian for more than 40 years. I travel the world, performing comedy. Exploring diverse cultures and connecting with people from all walks of life while doing comedy is at the heart of my journey. Whenever I can, I’ll share my adventures and a global perspective with you on this podcast.

Ashna
Ashna, Dutch artist, photographer, and my ex-wife, is my best friend and she’s an essential part of the Rhodesies production team. We’ve traveled the world together for 8 years. With her background in cognitive psychology and her passion for philosophy and the arts, Ashna shares her unique European perspective.

Copyright: © 2011 Tom Rhodes

Latest Episodes:

313 Rinsing out the raisin hole with Jimmy Shubert Nov 19, 2019

Show notes

"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!

Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

312 Creating a hummingbird garden with Tamer Kattan Nov 13, 2019

Show notes

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!

311 I haven't killed like this since Appomattox with Charles Ezell Nov 08, 2019

Show notes

Charles Ezell is a guy I've known since my early San Francisco days. He used to do an impression of Ulysses S. Grant if he had done stand up comedy and the bit always killed me. "I haven't killed like this since Appomattox."

Charles has always been a great friend to me and I've always loved shooting the shit with him and hanging out. For years he lived in the Gaylord building in Koreatown in Los Angeles and that was one of the reasons I moved there when I moved back to the U.S. after living in Amsterdam for 5 years. I wanted to pursue getting on television and I thought that if things didn't work out for me in Hollywood at the very least I could get to hang out with Charles Ezell all the time in Koreatown. We hit wiffle balls for hours on the roof of the Brown Derby Plaza and Charles experienced an excellent period of song writing for his band at the time called Hail The Size. I remember when Charles was writing these songs and rehearsing them in my apartment where he had his band equipment set up for a while. In this conversation we play some of those songs and talk about our long friendship and years of creative yearning, seeking and executing. Charles moved back home to Minnesota 5 years ago and I haven't seen him in 8 years. We have a lot of catching up to do and he is one of my favorite human beings in terms of kindness, intelligence and creativity and that is why it is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Charles Ezell! Music:

I Can't Die In LA (feat. Maria McKee) · Hail The Size

Babies · Hail The Size

Booze, Pills, & Her · Hail The Size

℗ 2009 Hail The Size

310 Ruining The Joker with James Inman Oct 31, 2019

Show notes

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!

309 The Decline & Fall Of The American Empire with Rajiv Satyal Oct 22, 2019

Show notes

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

308 Live from Portland with Dante Rusciolelli Oct 15, 2019

Show notes

Hooray and hallelujah!

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

307 Straight Out Of Mongolia with Batbileg B Oct 08, 2019

Show notes

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

Pioneer and founder of the Mongolian comedy scene is my friend Bata, owner of UB comedy club and superstar of the Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia laugh providers. He is visiting Los Angeles at the moment and stopped by the Rhodes library to record this conversation. We talk about how Genghis Khan's influence still shapes the world, our once in a lifetime special visit to Ghengis Khan's 13th century camp sites and the shaman tents were we picked up our warrior spirits. My time in Mongolia was special and I dream of returning there one day. I first went to Mongolia because of Genghis Khan but it was the comedians of Mongolia who made me return for the second time. Aside from diving deep into history and loving my shows there for the brilliant Mongolian audiences, Bata's mother is a dentist and gave me a full cleaning and whitening while I was there. Free dental work is a very generous gift and that encapsulates how giving and loving the people of Mongolia can be. Batbileg B and Zolo treated name like a king on both of my visits to this magnificent country and that is why it is my honor to have in my home and a guest on my podcast the one and only Batbileg B! Patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

306 Brian Holtzman Oct 01, 2019

Show notes

Brian Holtzman is one of my favorite comedians to watch at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles because he appears to be a man on the verge of a nervous break down or a genius shattering hypocrisy in his revolution against stupidity.

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

305 Unshakable confidence with Tony Hinchcliffe Sep 25, 2019

Show notes

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

304 Don't Yuk My Yum with Brad Williams Sep 17, 2019

Show notes

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

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