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Tom Rhodes Smart Camp


Tom Rhodes Smart Camp is a festival of ideas, knowledge, stories, books & adventures. 

I have been a comedian for more than 39 years. I travel the world doing comedy. 
Whenever I can I will share my adventures with you on this Tom Rhodes Smart Camp podcast.

My amazing creative partner and ex-wife Ashna is my best friend. We are a mom & pop business and with her help I will putting out these episodes with all the wisdom I have gained in my life and telling you all of my greatest adventures while traveling the world. 

Thank you for your generosity and for joining the Rhodesies club. You are in my heart forever!

Aug 23, 2017

Patty Farmer is an entertainment historian who has authored the new book 'Playboy Laughs' chronicling the history involving Playboy magazine and stand up comedy.

The recently deceased Dick Gregory got his big break performing at the Playboy club in Chicago and used to have to take the bus to get there because he was so broke when he started. For all the criticism that has fallen on Hugh Hefner for being sexist he doesn't get enough credit for breaking the color barrier in terms of hiring performers at his clubs and models for his magazine at a time when the United States was racially segregated. In this episode we talk about my own personal history with Playboy magazine and how the Playboy interviews were a very important part of my entertainment apprenticeship. We discuss the rise of George Carlin and Lenny Bruce who performed at the Playboy clubs and which entertainer who couldn't keep his hands to himself. This important period in American entertainment history and the history of American censorship is but a distant memory for those who remember and this is a conversation I was happy to capture for the Smart Camp audience. So put on your bunny ears and you fluffy slippers and find out why the  Playboy empire was a crucial component in the history of American comedy.
It is my pleasure to present to you now the one and only Patty Farmer!