Rodney Rude (born Rodney Malcolm Keft, 29 January 1943 in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian-born blue stand-up comedian, poet, writer, and musician.
Rude is best known for his bawdy humour and has released 12 albums and five videos all distributed locally by EMI Records. Rude has been nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Comedy Release nine times between 1987 and 2009, and has won two Mo Awards. He officially retired from performing live shows on 9 December 2016.
Career Rude began his career performing with travelling tent shows on the showground circuit in the early 1960s, singing and playing guitar. His habit of altering the lyrics of songs to amuse himself and his audience prompted him to become a comedian. He left Australia in the mid-1960s to tour the world, and to live and work in the United States, Canada, and Europe under various stage names.
Rude faced legal challenges in Australia due to the nature of his material. He was arrested in Queensland and Western Australia on obscenity charges. He was eventually exonerated by the Supreme Court of Western Australia.
The Comedy Store, Sydney In 1981, he was asked by Barry Wain to return to Australia to set up Sydney's Comedy Store, and started working as the club's compere.
Style
Rude's comedy was energetic and aggressive, peppered with expletives and his trademark rat-tat-tat laugh, and typically suitable for adult audiences only. He faced criticism for using material which was often homophobic and sometimes racist.
Recurring stage props often included a small ukulele for short musical pieces, hats too small for his head, oversized clown shoes, metal tea strainers used to imitate a fly (insect) and material from his grandfather's joke book. There were several regular characters that appeared in his act; most notably 'Bishop Rude' while wielding a toilet plunger, 'Harry Muff (The Diver)'—where Rodney would dress in a shirt to below his waist and short pants with belt around his knees—and 'Half Rude', where Rodney would bend himself at the knees into a fabricated set of prosthetic legs with foam around his backside to create a false pair of buttocks. He would regularly 'pivot'; a twist of his upper body and head to one side accompanied by a howl of, "naaaaahhhh!".
Rude's interaction with his audiences ('trendsetters') is a key part of his act, including the famous 'limericks' toward the end of each show. Positive hecklers were frequent at any Rude concert because his quick-fire responses were an integral part of his act, making it something of a badge of honour for an audience member to be put down by a Rude comeback. His catchphrase "You know what I hate?", which preceded several of his jokes, was always responded to by the audience calling out in unison,"What do you hate, Rodney!?"
Discography Live and compilation albums + List of albums, with selected details and chart positions Title Album details Peak chartpositions Certifications AUSPeaks in Australia: Pre-1988: All peaks and certifications from 1988 except noted: Live – Rats Arse Tour: Rodney Rude Live Released: July 1984 Format: LP, Cassette Label: EMI Music (EMX 430018) Recorded at Di Di's, Sydney 1 I Got More Released: August 1985 Format: LP, Cassette Label: EMI Music (EMC 271) Recorded at Middleback Theatre 7 Rude Rides Again Released: November 1986 Format: LP, Cassette Label: EMI Music (EMC 297) Recorded on the Gold Coast, Queensland 24 Not Guilty Released: December 1988 Format: LP, Cassette, CD Label: EMI Music (GET 791446) 30 A Legend Released: October 1991 Format: Cassette, CD Label: EMI Music (GET 797987) Recorded in Perth, Australia 36 Classic Rude: The Best of Rodney Rude Released: 1992 Format: CD Label: EMI Music (7809874) Compilation album — Live – Rats Arse Tour I Don't Give a Rats Arse Released: 1996 Format: CD Label: Kemalda (CAT#011) Recorded during the 1995 Rats Arse Tour 64 More Grunt Released: November 1998 Format: CD Label: EMI (4982752) Recorded live on stage 23 ARIA: Gold Ya' Mum's Bum Released: October 2000 Format: CD Label: EMI (5296642) Recorded live on stage 22 ARIA: Gold Rude Bastard Released: October 2002 Format: CD Label: EMI (5435452) Recorded live on stage 17 ARIA: Platinum Twice as Rude Released: October 2004 Format: CD Label: EMI (8754772) Recorded live on stage 35 Frog Sack Released: November 2006 Format: CD Label: EMI (09463819382 1) Recorded live on stage 30
Video releases Title Details CertificationRude Rude Rodney Rude on Video Released: 1984 Label: Format: VHSRude Rides Again Released: 1987 out Label: Format: VHSI Don't Give a Rats Arse Released: 1996 Label: Kemalda Format: VHSGet Rude On – Live on Stage Vol. 4 Released: 2002 Label: Kemalda Format: VHS ARIA: PlatinumRodney Rude Goes the Growl Released: 2008 Label:
Awards ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. Rude has been nominated for ten awards.
| rowspan="2"| 1987 | rowspan="2"| Rude Rides Again | Best Comedy Release
| Highest Selling Album
| 1989 | Not Guilty | rowspan="8"| Best Comedy Release
| 1992 | A Legend
| 1999 | More Grunt
| 2001 | Ya Mum's Bum
| 2003 | Rude Bastard
| 2005 | Twice As Rude
| 2007 | Frog Sack
| 2009 | Rodney Rude Goes the Growl
Mo Awards The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Rodney Rude won two awards in that time. (wins only) |- | 1985 | rowspan="2"| Rodney Rude | Best Comedy Act of the Year
| 2006 | Outstanding Contribution to Australian Comedy
References
External links
Rodney Rude at Musichead.com.au (run by his record company, EMI)