Tom Rhodes Smart Camp

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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Buy my newest double album All Hail Laughter (2017) [email protected]

End Song: Bob Dylan Tangled Up In Blue

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

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

Hello from the other side of the planet!

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