Biography – Rodney Rude

Rodney started his career at age 11, singing on the Pepsi Cola Show on Radio 2BS Bathurst.

As a teenage musician Rodney started changing the words to songs to create parodies, later becoming an Elvis impersonator.  Rodney’s later career was heavily influenced by his time working on showgrounds in a carnival act then in the early 1960s Rodney worked as a busker in Sydney and went on to busk all over Europe. Canada and the U.S. became Rodney’s base and he spent fifteen years working in bars-rooms and strip clubs, releasing five independent stand-up comedy albums featuring a large repertoire of original comedy songs.

 

After years of working in North America, Rodney was offered a job to set up the Sydney Comedy Store; under Rodney’s expertise it reached its peak in the 1980’s. This was one of Rodney’s proudest accomplishments; the style reflected his carnival beginnings and incorporated his experience of performing comedy in North America.

 

Rodney contributed greatly to the Australian theatrical community with his win in the Supreme Court which set a precedent that allowed future performers to enjoy freedom of speech in public performances. He was also a pioneer in fighting for the creation of designated smoking areas in clubs and hotels and from there, non-smoking concerts.

Having hit sales figures within the millions, Rodney Rude’s impact on stand-up comedy through vinyl, tape, CD and DVD, has been enormous, with twelve highly successful live stand-up comedy CDs and five DVDs all achieving gold and multi-platinum status.  In particular, his album ‘Rodney Rude Live- I Hate That’ went to number one on the national album charts. This was a phenomenal result considering that it was pure stand-up comedy with no radio airplay. Rodney has also enjoyed much international success with five independently released stand-up comedy albums overseas, bringing a career total of twenty two releases.