1 Tom Rhodes Tom Rhodes Has Been a Stand‐Up
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Tom Rhodes www.tomrhodes.net Tom Rhodes has been a stand‐up comedian since he was 17 years old. Early years At the age of 12 Tom's father, a decorated Vietnam war hero with a great sense of humor and a love of stand‐up comedy, took Tom to see his uncle Bob perform at a comedy show. The entrance to the room was right next to the stage and as a joke the comedian on stage pulled Tom up with him because he wearing a Washington Redskins jacket. He interviewed Tom as if he was the coach of the Washington Redskins. It was that moment on stage in Washington DC, seeing the happy people with their heads thrown back in laughter, that Tom Rhodes decided to be a stand‐up comedian. Later that same year Toms family moved to Oviedo Florida just outside of Orlando and Tom became obsessed with everything to do and related to comedy. He dreamed to become either a major baseball player or a professional stand‐up comedian. Sometime during high school as the swift curve balls increased their precision Tom knew he wasn’t born to be a baseball player and continued to fill notebooks with joke ideas and focus on following his comedy dreams. Tom’s father David had many comedy classic albums in the house and with his father guidance he studied the masters Richard Pryor, Bob Newhart, Bill Cosby and Rodney Dangerfield. While attending Oviedo High School, everyone knew Tom wanted to be a comedian and he was invited to host talent shows, pep rallies, and the morning and afternoon announcements. One of Tom's earliest supporters was his drama and speech teacher. The teacher encouraged Tom to explore his natural talents. The classroom had a small elevated stage in the center and the teacher would give Tom the first five minutes of class to talk about whatever he wanted. Tom would talk about world events, things that were happening at school, and whatever joke ideas he felt trying. The rants became so popular that children from other classes would sometimes attend. Comedy beginnings At the age of 17 Tom took a fake ID and auditioned at the only comedy club in Orlando, The Funny Farm. Soon after passing and becoming a regular performer at The Funny Farm. Throughout his junior and senior years of High school he did shows every weekend in Orlando and branched out to one‐nighters all over the state of Florida. After graduating in 1985 from Oviedo High School, Tom went on the road to play comedy circuits all over the Southern United states and up and down the Eastern seaboard. 1 At 19, Tom won "The Funniest Person in Central Florida" contest. The grand prize was the opportunity to perform at the Comedy Store in Los Angeles, California. After meeting Jay Leno , who told Tom that all great comedians should be living in New York or Los Angeles, Tom decided that he was right and moved to New York City. In what he describes as the worst year of his life, Tom was living in the Washington Heights neighborhood "like a dog" with no money and not getting very many sets in the city. He decided that the one nighters he was doing in New Jersey and Long Island were not the pot of gold he was looking for, so he moved back to Florida with his tail between his legs. Back in Florida, Tom's comedy became stronger than ever and he started branching out and getting into better comedy clubs across the United States. The first quality comedy club to headline Tom was the Atlanta Punchline. After Atlanta other quality clubs followed. Turning professional At 22, Tom moved to San Francisco with the sole purpose of growing and strengthening his comedy in the city he refers to as "the Jerusalem of stand‐ up comedy." He became friends with comedians living and performing there at that time: Margaret Cho, Marc Maron, Patton Oswalt and Greg Proops. Tom quickly became a regular at the comedy giants of the city: The Punchline, The Improv and Cobbs. Along with meeting many people that would become lifelong friends, Tom got to open concerts for James Brown and the The Everly Brothers while in San Francisco. Tom also got the notice of comedy programs and began appearing on shows like An Evening at The Improv, Comic Strip Live, Caroline's Comedy Hour, and MTV's Comedy Half Hour. Television success It was an appearance on Comedy Central's Two Drink Minimum (1994) that led to Tom performing on a more regular basis on the network. Presented as interludes, Tom filmed a series of jokes in a jail cell setup like a rock video by Comedy Central. These clips helped the long haired comedian break out on the national consciousness. Tom became the first comedian to sign a one year development deal with Comedy Central that led to his one hour special "Viva Vietnam" a comedy travel log to the newly opened country Vietnam as a heartfelt tribute to his father and the other veterans who served. Tom's friend Rich Hall worked on "Viva Vietnam" as the one and only writer he was allowed to bring with him. "Viva Vietnam" was critically acclaimed and the Washington Post ran a feature 2 story on Tom and his father, and how the premier in Washington DC attracted both Vietnamese diplomats and US diplomats laughing in the same room when they were once mortal enemies. In that same year (1995) Tom performed at the first ever HBO Aspen Arts Festival and at the Montreal International Comedy festival. At the Montreal Festival, Tom was discovered by NBC talent scouts and the network offered him a development deal to create his own sitcom. In 1996, Tom moved from San Francisco to Los Angeles to create a sitcom with his friend, comedy writer Mark Brazill. From 1996 to 1997, the sitcom "Mr. Rhodes" (1996) aired for a full season on the NBC network. Tom played a long‐haired rebel English teacher in a stuffy private school for rich kids. The cast included the exceptional actors Stephen Tobolowsky, Ron Glass, Lindsay Sloane and Jensen Ackles. When the sitcom ended Tom looked at the money he made as his "NBC artist's grant" and moved back to New York City to focus on his first true love of stand‐up comedy. Living in New York City 1998‐1999, Tom got to fulfill the promise that he made to himself that he would one day live in New York City with style. For two years Tom performed multiple sets nightly across the city at Gotham Comedy Club, The Comic Strip, Caroline's, The Comedy Cellar, and Stand Up New York, and opened for Ray Charles at the famed jazz club Tramps. Tom also performed for the second time in Montreal International Comedy Festival and Just for Laughs. Breaking into Europe During this period, Tom began to take trips to London. Through the help of his friend, comedian Rich Hall, he began to break into the London comedy scene at the Comedy Store. Success at The Comedy Store led to Tom getting more work in the United Kingdom and all around Europe. Also in 2000, Tom appeared in Australia for the first time in the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. This inspired Tom to start expanding his reach to more international circuits in Paris, Dublin, Berlin, Hong Kong, Beijing, Bangkok, Jakarta. All the while performing half the year in the USA so as not to let his American comedy muscle go soft. In 2001, Tom released his first live CD "How Sweet Ass" on Stand Up Records, recorded in Houston. In July 2001 Tom filmed "Comedy Central presents..."at the Hudson Theater in New York City his first half hour comedy special for the network Dutch Television 3 At the end of 2001 Tom's was about to go back to the USA when producers from the Yorin (RTL) television network saw his show at comedy club Toomler in Amsterdam. In January 2002, the late night talk show "Kevin Masters Show starring Tom Rhodes" premiered. The show was an American style late night show. The show ran for three full seasons. In 2004 when the show came to an end the network asked Tom to be a presenter on the popular travel program "Yorin Travel". For one full season Tom got to film travel segments all over South America & Europe, including Peru, the Champagne region of France, Saint Petersburg Russia, Wales, the Dutch Caribbean, Aruba, Curacao, and a special highlight on the Beatles in Liverpool. Going International At the end of 2004, Tom decided to go back to the United States and continue to travel the world. In 2005, he performed at the Vancouver Comedy Festival and started to appear in Australia regularly. In June 2006, Tom released his second CD "Live in Paris" recorded in Paris, France at the famed "Hotel du Nord". Also in 2006, Tom appeared on the Australian "Rove Live", and in 2007, "The Side Show". In 2007 Tom released his first self‐produced DVD "Holy Temple of the HA HA" recorded live at the Sydney Comedy Store in Sydney Australia. The bonus feature is a short documentary of Tom's life over a ten year period as a stand‐up comedian entitled "There and Back Again". It includes appearances and kind words from Dave Chappelle, Janeane Garofalo, Bobby Slayton, etc. Tom's travels and passion for filming his travels culminated in 2008 with his obsession for making YouTube clips.