Tom Rhodes Smart Camp

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. We also discuss the presidents who lost their lives while in office and the Battle Of Little Big Horn. I feel like Jared Logan is a man like mys...

This is a bonus episode where I am forced to make a statement about my story concerning Louie Anderson. As it turns out the hard hitting investigative journalism of Jay Cridlin from the Tampa Bay Times newspaper has uncovered the 32 year old story of a young rube from Florida who went to Hollywood for the first time and got his ass squeezed by one of America's most beloved clean comedians. Is this...

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...

I first came to Mongolia because of Genghis Khan but I returned because of the comedians of Mongolia. There is a very special thing happening at UB Comedy Club and I am proud that I am a part of their history. Not only did I get to sleep in a ger at the 13th century camp site of Genghis Khan but I also go to drink fermented mare's milk and have my teeth whitened for free from the greatest dentist...

Book Roulette is back with the brilliance of Guy de Maupassant! Guy de Maupassant died at the age of 42 stark raving mad in an insane asylum but he left behind the greatest short stories ever written. Maupassant is a writer like no other because he is the ultimate master of the short story form and portrays all facets of human drama, ugliness, glory and comedy that is timeless but each new generat...

Rafinha Bastos is the Lenny Bruce of Brazil and he has the court orders to prove it. He has been sued and had his life threatened over jokes he has made in Brazil. His hard hitting, head cracking jokes earned him the titled of most influential person on twitter in 2011, Barrack Obama was number two. He is a film and television star in Brazil but he loves stand up comedy above all else, which is wh...

Let the soothing words of Malcolm X fuel your summer party. Going on a road trip? Sitting by the fire in the Mongolian country side or just strolling the hot streets of London, let my summer mix put a bounce in your step. Using my vinyl records, CDs and cassette tapes I put together for you this joyful array of head cracking numbers for your peak summer pleasure. Happy summer and joy be upon you!...

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 live...

"All of us can take fright, but it requires greatness of soul to laugh at the moment when not merely life, but humanity itself is endangered."   In my ongoing celebration of all things France I am reading a book called 'The Banquet Years' by Roger Shattuck. It is about the origins of the avant-garde in France from 1885 - World War I. From this book I regal you with the story of Henri Rousseau and...

Hannah Gadsby has set the comedy the comedy world on fire. If you have not seen her new Netflix special Nannette you need to do so immediately. It is one of the most powerful comedy specials ever made and I think it will be a game changer in that it will inspire comedians to be more truthful and revealing about themselves. This episode is actually a repeat and it is well worth reposting. Hannah an...

Happy Birthday America! In this episode I talk about my obsession with the World Cup in Russia and all of the human drama and heroic stories that you should be aware of in the world's greatest sports spectacle. I also tell you about the many great experiences I discovered in Philadelphia and how that city is very much like Paris in terms of attitude. This past weekend I got to perform in Philadelp...

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 f...

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 th...

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 B...

In this episode I talk about my Mom visiting me, getting my first colonoscopy, the Genghis Khan exhibit at the Reagan library, The controversy of Roseanne Barr and Samantha Bee's lack oh humor and the new Star Wars film Solo. I don't think Samantha Bee should lose her job because she used the C word, I think she should lose her job for using the word feckless. Shalom Amigos y Amigas.   * Receive p...

Get to know the first comedian ever to have abdominal muscles! Preacher Lawson sky rocketed to national prominence in 2017 when he crushed it on the television show America's Got Talent. I met him last month in Austin, Texas at the Moon Tower comedy festival. I think he is pure comedy gold and he is a super star waiting to happen. I'm proud to say that he is from Orlando, Florida and that I fully...

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 gadget...

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. I just finished readin...

Craig Campbell is a beautiful lunatic and a comedy legend. He is from Calgary, Canada but has been living in London for the past 20 years and crushing it. I first met and worked with Craig 20 years ago when I first started going to London and have since performed with him all over the world. Last month we toured in Asia together and this episode was recorded in Manila. In Manila we rode Harley Dav...

Ashna and I are fresh back from spending a week in Hong Kong. In this episode we give the history of the opium wars and the origins of the dragon boat festival. We also talk about the highlights of our visit and the best travel tips of for visiting the city. I also give the history of Adidas vs. Puma because I had a front row of Germans who worked for Adidas at my show Saturday night and it is an...

This episode was recorded in Singapore. The first time I came to Singapore I hated it because it is so clean and orderly. Now I love it because it is so clean and orderly and that there are no homeless people or street children begging you for money.  In this episode I enumerate the many strange and interesting laws that Singapore is famous for. I talk about the midget boxing match I saw in Manila...

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. This was only my fourth time ever driving a motorcycle and I think it will be hard to beat this experience of going the 90 miles round trip journey from Hanoi to the top of Tam Dao Mountain. Yes it was terrifying and yes I felt like a true bad ass with Steve McQue...

I unfortunately missed the March in Las Vegas so I decided to interview two people instead. TRR Smart Camp goodies: * Receive podcast goodies! www.patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp * Have a one time private skype session with Tom! www.patreon.com/tomrhodesradiosmartcamp * Buy my newest double album All Hail Laughter (2017) www.tomrhodes.net * More episodes on www.tomrhodesradio.com  

Uncle Bob is dead. Getting the news of his death has left me feeling ashamed because I was mean and cruel to him. I had not spoken to Bob in 7 years because I was angry at him for being mean and cruel to my dad. Hate and anger is poison in your life because the person you are holding a grudge against just might drop dead and then your issue with that person will never be resolved.   The truth of t...

Praise be to the written word! In my living room I have the walls lined with book shelves holding over 2,000 books. This is my life time collecting books and Ashna's lifetime of collecting books joined together. Since living in Los Angeles we have invented a game we like to call "Book Roulette." This game consists of us randomly pulling a book from the shelf, cracking it open and reading a few par...