Holy Temple of the Ha Ha Review
The Serious Comedy Site
Taped at the Sydney, Australia Comedy Store Tom Rhodes
Holy Temple of the Ha Ha is a stand-up comedy DVD that does not
readily exist. That is a shame. Rhodes is a smart, quick paced
chameleon stand-up comic who covers a lot of ground in a very
short period of time. In the first five minutes of this show Tom
Rhodes talks about his experiences in Amsterdam and a stripper
with a special candle act, voodoo shops in New Orleans, women
who do not believe in God and the repercussions on their sex
life, gun violence in the United States, natural disasters and
weathermen on the weather channel, a very original slam on
George Bush as the environment President, and a modern take on
the Last Supper. The next fifty-five minutes of Holy Temple of
the Ha Ha are just as wild, funny, sometimes thought provoking,
weird, and more often than not off the comedy beaten path.
Tom Rhodes Holy Temple of the Ha Ha features material from his
two Stand Up! label comedy CDs, Live In Paris (the smart,
erudite version of the comic) and Hot Sweet Ass (the more down
to earth club comic version) and lots and lots of other original
material. I especially like the bit about the Chinese conspiracy
and his Australian material for the local audience really rocks.
There are not many stand-up CDs or DVDs that include a "You've
got to listen to this bit!" moment I make a point of sharing
with just about everyone I know. Holy Temple of the Ha Ha has
one of those in Rhodes' Oprah bit. This is one of those routines
that becomes a yard stick to any other stand-up comic's take on
the O. "Yeah, that was pretty funny, but you have to hear the
bit Tom Rhodes does on her." That it segues very elegantly into
a funny bit on racism just shows how good Rhodes is even if he
is extremely eclectic and sometimes seemingly all over the
place.
Stay tuned as there is a surprise encore bit after the Aussie
guy tries to send the patrons home.
Production value wise Tom Rhodes, Holy Temple of the Ha Ha is
also good stuff. This is your basic two camera job with only a
couple of flaws but the sound is just fine indeed.
The Bonus Feature is There and Back Again a 25 minute clip of
the early Tom Rhodes back when he had Fabio hair. Some of these
clips are grainy and stuff but the early material is still good
stuff. There are also a few comics who comment on Rhodes. The
best bit here is the Gerry Garcia funeral.
For a whole bunch of reasons and in jest, I can't resist taking
at least one shot at Rhodes: He holds his mic like Michael J.
Fox.
1. Where I'm From and What I've Seen
2. The Power of Love
3. Magnificent Sunrises
4. I Love Everything Mexican
5. Cowboys and Cadillacs
6. Arm the Teachers
7. Mix the Races
8. Random Voodoo
9. Adventures of a Comedian
10. Amsterdam Epiphanies
11. Gargantuan Advice
12. Every Man's Secret
Live In Paris
$15.00
1. Karel Beer Intro
2. Living in Amsterdam / Moving Back to Arizona
3. Muslim Girlfriend
4. The World Today
5. Why I Love Black People / Smoking and Drinking
6. Why I Love Canada / Why I love Peru
7. My History with Paris
8. Why I Love China / Why I Love Australia
9. Why I Love Florida
10. Lightnin' Rhodes
11. Hooray for Love!
13. Passport fo Freakyland
14. Why Dutch People Are My Favorite
15. Why I Love Ireland
16. Taxi Driver Genius
17. Music Sweet Music
Live In Paris Review Punchline Magazine Dylan P. Gadino
Armed with a stoner-meets-intellectual vibe, Tom Rhodes is an
enigmatic character for sure. On one hand, he maintains an
alluring contempo-hippie mystique. From his stand-up material,
you can tell he goes with the flow; you can tell he’s in love
with life and with people and with experiencing things for the
sake of, well, experiencing them. He talks about the joys of
smoking pot and of drinking lots; on why he became a comedian,
he muses, “How can I feed my drinking problem and yet still
remain the center of attention?”
On the other hand, Rhodes, is by no means, your typical baked
out comic. Sure, he has a laid-back delivery (actually, it’s
much more laid back than what’s heard on his last album, Hot
Sweet Ass) but his otherwise rich voice – there’s barely an
audible southern drawl in there – doesn’t concede to your
typical stoner stammer. He’s articulate and charming. His
material is thoughtful and many times, especially on Live in
Paris, revolves around culture and the funny things that crop up
when you travel the world as Rhodes has.
Recorded at the Hotel du Nord, Live in Paris finds Rhodes
reflecting a lot on those travels as he tells a very vocal
audience about the misadventures he’s had, among other places,
in England (getting mugged and maced), Peru (forced to eat a
hamster), Holland (where he dated a Moroccan Muslim), China
(where he saw a 70-year-old man in Bejing “pulling a cart full
of scrap metal like a donkey”) and in Australia where he caught
some local sports: “I think I would rather take speed and watch
piranha eat my dick than to ever watch another cricket match
again.”
Although his jokes often have settings in foreign lands, Rhodes
never takes the easy road, highlighting a stereotype and then
dissing the entire country’s population. Rather, when he does
establish stereotypes it’s usually to point out his own
shortcomings in a humble and hilarious way.
But the Florida native also finds time to rail against his own
kind: “If Wal-Mart just had a prison and a baby day care center,
no one in America would have to go anywhere else,” he says. “You
can visit your fucking loser family in prison, visit the kids
and pick up some laundry detergent.”
By the end of the hour-long performance, it’s easy to like Tom
Rhodes. He’s the type of guy you want around to calm your
nerves, show you the good things in life and make you laugh.
