Tom Rhodes CD "Live in Paris"
I grew up next door to this French kid who smelled like ear wax. That was kind of weird, but he also had a radio control helicopter and his mom's freezer always overflowed with pudding pops. And until now, I thought that was the coolest thing to ever come out of France. But now France, along with Stand Up! Records, by far out does itself - as it brings you Tom Rhodes, Live in Paris. Tom has gotten a lot out of Paris - he found his first love there, it was where he was mugged for the first time, and it was the first place where he was sprayed in the eyeballs with pepper spray. Now he gets to play the final night at the Hotel du Nord, setting of the famous French movie of the same name, and known as their equivalent to our Casablanca.
Live in Paris is more of a semi-sober conversation between a worldly man with a touch of a Southern drawl on a well deserved stage and a group of the drunken literate, than it is the usual stand up performance. Rhodes blows minds with his effortlessly quick wit as he converses with his attentive audience about the joy of watching women’s tennis, forming complex metaphors about white people, cigarettes, and make-up sex, and in discussing his early fight against the elasticity of his someday elderly scrotum.
Tom is no stranger to comedy as he hosted a late night talk show in Amsterdam for two years and then went on to host his very own travel show where he gained a world perspective that few are lucky to acquire. Live in Paris grants us access into Tom’s worldly insight as he shares with us his cynical charm and his desire to bless the world, one drop of holy water into a stripper’s ass at a time. And with more one liners than a 19-year old trying to get into a girl’s bikini on spring break, Live in Paris warrants multiple listens to truly appreciate its comedic mastery. When you purchase Live in Paris, you are not just getting a lifetime of laughs, you are also helping a man live out his dream – allowing Tom to both fuel his alcoholism and feed his need to be at the center of attention. Help a brother out.
-Dan Schlissel, Stand Up! Records
