Rodney has delivered more than 3,500 live comedy performances. He has been a full-time comedian since 1991. He is infamous as the perpetrator of ‘Hoaxes and Jokeses’.
He has performed all over Australia and has had over 30 international tours.
Rodney has performed for club presidents’, chairmen’s, and captains’ lunches and dinners. He is often an impostor, a comic hoaxer. He has over 350 comic characters.
Rodney arrives at an event – in character – and works the room, schmoozing with attendees. If it is a conference, he will attend a seminar and ask a question; if it is a dinner, he will attend pre-dinner drinks. This mixing and mingling establishes the credibility of Rodney’s comic character. At some agreed point, often advertised in the program, he will be called to a lectern to deliver a keynote address.
At the conclusion of the speech, the performance continues with a Q&A session. These questions are not set up. Those in-the-know about the hoax are observers. This time gives other funny people in the group a chance to have some revenge … not really on the corporate impostor – Rodney – but on those who booked him.
Make room for comedy at your club
Clubs are great venues for live comedy because club audiences are part of their community, are experienced at going to shows, and are sophisticated. They’re at comedy shows to laugh and to have a good time, and to forget all their cars and woes.
Clubs may wish to consider comedy as part of their entertainment mix because comedians are fun for management to deal with, they bring people to the club, they bring fun to club audiences, and they (usually) have simple staging requirements.
If a club looking to start running comedy nights or booking comedians for the first time, find a small group of comedians to be regulars, and they can attract a larger group of comedians to appear as one-offs. Find comedians who fit your demographic and tastes.
What I enjoy most about performing for club audiences is the immediacy of their reaction! Live comedy is so different to large or small screen comedy, and club audiences know they’re not at home in front of the telly. They co-create the show with laughter and positive vibes.
I tailor my material and approach for a club audience, especially if it’s a mixed crowd, by working clean, staying topical, and writing material for the venue and the location.
Rodney has been doing comedy for so long that his website is comedian.com.au.