As a boy, a teacher once told Rodney Keft that he was a worthless troublemaker who would never amount to anything and that when he grew up people would only laugh at him.
Two out of three ain’t bad.
Better known as stand-up comedian Rodney Rude, that young boy has enjoyed one of Australia’s longest and most successful comedy careers.
People have been laughing at him and his jokes for 45 years and he will readily admit to have made some trouble in his time.
The bawdy comedian most famously challenged obscenity charges on a freedom of speech defence all the way to the Supreme Court, paving the way for “adult” performances by live performers since.
A lesser-known achievement was his foundational involvement in setting up the Sydney Comedy Store, reaching its peak in the 1980s under his guiding hand.
The success of his first album made Rodney Rude a household name, and his catch phrase, “You know what I hate?” has passed into Australian colloquial speech.
After crafting a long successful career in a notoriously fickle industry Rodney still has the most recognisable laugh in showbiz.
He 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. In the early 1960s, he worked as a busker in Sydney and went on to busk all over Europe.
He spent 15 years working in barrooms and strip clubs across Canada and the US, releasing five independent stand-up comedy albums featuring a large repertoire of original songs.
Having hit sales figures in the millions, Rodney Rude’s impact on stand-up comedy through vinyl, tape, CD and DVD, has been enormous, with 12 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, which went to number one on the national album charts, was regarded as a phenomenal result considering it was pure stand-up comedy without any radio airplay for support.
Rodney Rude performs at Corio’s Gateway Hotel on 9 April.
