Tom Rhodes Smart Camp

Stay cheerful because there are enough bitter turds on this earth try to see the beauty that exists among all the ugliness.   JT Habersaat is a comedian, author, artist and my dear friend. He is also a Charles Bukowski enthusiast, so much so that he has Bukowski's face tattooed on his leg. In this episode JT and I sit down and talk about the poet Charles Bukowski and why he is meaningful to us. Th...

This episode is a repost from September 2014. --------- Recorded at Johnathan's house in Las Vegas, September 2014 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 d...

In the USA we had a war on drugs, we had a war on terrorism, and now I think we need to declare war on anger. Each one of us should fight to keep that poison out of our lives. Listening to Curtis Mayfield helps. Another sure way to perfect joy is by  listening to this warm and lovely conversation I had with Zainab Johnson. She is someone I love and would always makes laugh. Let some light into you...

Happy love day February 14! Today I want to introduce you to the bright ball of sunshine, intelligence & hilarity that is my good friend Monique Marvez. She is a fire breathing dragon on the comedy stage and a possessor of great pearls of wisdom from a life fully lived. Get happy with this glorious conversation that we recorded for delight of your brain & all of humanity. Joy be upon you!   patreo...

Danny Fingers & The Thumbs have a new album coming out on February 22 & he has flown himself down from Bend, Oregon to tell me all about it. Danny is a fellow world traveler and artistic soul and that is why it is my pleasure to present him to you now. Joy be upon you!

My heart took a solid punch of sadness when I learned of the recent passing of Jonathan Atherton. He was a pioneer on the international comedy scene for nurturing and helping to develop the comedy scenes in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. He was a beautiful lunatic with a golden heart who made me and so many others laugh through the years with his all loving comedy in defense of the underdog. It was m...

Enjoy this conversation I recorded with my wonderful & amazing mother in Mount Dora, Florida. Joy be upon you!     * Become our patron and receive podcast goodies! www.patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp   * Sign up for a conversation with Tom! www.patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp

This year has been rough and I have been on a mission to cheer myself up. Comedy, baseball, rollerskating and music have been my tools to repair my joy but most of all, friendships have been my glue holding it all together. I am blessed to have so many good true friends in my life and in this episode I review the many strange and joyous experiences I've lived recently. Hooray for humanity and hoor...

Let me tell you about the time I smoked pot with Jack Nicholson at Dodger stadium during a Rolling Stones concert   I blew it! I have been dating an amazing woman and I broke up with her only to find out that my love is stronger than my pride and my principles. In this episode I talk about how I'm afraid to listen to music now because the right song could destroy me. I talk about the death of Char...

It is best to stay a bus length away from a bison and a football field's length away from a bear.   Hear the story of my epic trip trip to Montana, from the best place to see bison, to where you can take bubble breaks along the highway and why mounted deer heads on walls all have the same facial expression. Come ride along with me to learn amazing animal facts and to hear stories that will make yo...

Never become a bitter turd, no matter what happens to you.   For the first time in 37 years I had to cancel show due to illness because I got Covid 19! I am fully vaccinated so I felt bullet proof and hugged way too many people at the shows in Las Vegas last week. Fortunately I was about to perform at Brad Garrett's comedy club in Las Vegas when I found out that I had it. Brad Garrett is one of th...

Comedians are not fixing the world, we are making fun of it.   Bassem Youssef was a successful heart surgeon in Egypt before he left his career in medicine to become the Jon Stuart of the Middle East. His version of The Daily Show became one of the most controversial shows in the history of television. He was arrested, interrogated and had his life seriously threatened as can be seen in the docume...

Laughter literally began in our species as a gesture of shared relief at the passing of danger.   The state of California just lifted the restrictions that have been in place for the past 15 months and a big collective sigh of relief along with hardy laughter is ours for now. I celebrated life getting back to normal by seeing the Dodgers at Dodger stadium and it felt so good to gather in a large g...

Peron means bad ass & other things worth knowing. Last week I was contacted by a listener named Big John who wanted to trade me his baseball cards for anything I could think of. I decided to trade him something that I loved greatly for his cards and to introduce him to my favorite tacos in Los Angeles. Enjoy this conversation I had with a new friend and if you are in Los Angeles, head straight to...

Life is like a butterfly... One minute you are floating along and then the next... thummppp! Windshield.   This past week two men that I love dearly dropped dead. Gerke Nauta was the director of the first two seasons of the Kevin Masters Late Night show that I did in Amsterdam. He taught me how to be a television host and how to look into the cold black lense of the camera and speak warmly to the...

I woke up April 5 at 4:44am to a 4.0 earthquake. Some days the world just tells you to wake up early. The meaning of Easter  is that Jesus rose from the dead and I like that we can use that as inspiration to rise from back from the dead in areas of our own lives. If you have been defeated, beaten down or immobilized for whatever reason in your life you can still rise back up as long as you have br...

A Sapiosexual is someone who is attracted to intelligence. After listening to this episode you will become more intelligent & therefore more attractive to Saposexuals.   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 hummingb...

The best thing that you can do with bad memories is to pave over them with good ones.   Have you ever had your brain completely fucked by something that you witnessed? It happened to me last week and I now see that I have been misusing the word traumatized my whole life because I was truly traumatized by what I saw. If you have a weak stomach for harsh stories then this episode might not be for yo...

Not being dead is the number one reason to remain cheerful.   My girlfriend and I fled Portland last month because of the fires and unbreathable air. For the past month we have been in Los Angeles finding the simple things in life like miniature golf, the zoo and the beach to combat the fear, confusion and uncertainty that dominates life at this moment. There are still many reasons to be 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 yea...

Grab some fruit and let me take you to Peru.   Have you eaten a peach lately?  Try eating slices of one while alternating bites with slices of mango. If you can do it while sitting in your underwear in the sun like I did then you are a true champion of summer in my book. In this episode I talk about Willie Nelson's new record 'First Rose Of Spring', George Carlin, The Wrong Missy, Eurovison Song C...

The best thing you can do with bad memories is to pave over them with good ones.   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...

In this bleak and anxious world there is still so much joy and beauty to discover.   My mom and I have successfully completed watching every art and educational program that I have and here and now we will delight you with all of the knowledge that we have just learned. In this episode we talk about Matisse, Picasso, Eugene Delacriox, Toulouse Lautrec, Antonio Guadi, Mother hummingbirds, Birds of...

With helicopters circling overhead, I wish you a happy end of slavery day! My mom is a true champion and the current reigning champion of our Scrabble competition. Mother and child is one of the eternal themes of art and that is the theme of my podcast right now as my mother and I search the history of world art to bring you the happiest and most interesting stories we could find for you this week...

During the rut the males exhibit tough guy behavior in order to attract a mate, me myself I always preferred dancing.   In these frightening uncertain times it is always good to be reminded of the good that humans have done while working together. That is why my mom and I have been watching the PBS docu series 'Great Museums of America'. In this episode we talk about and celebrate the best stories...