Biography
Australia projects through its media an image of affable, outgoing citizens whose occasional bluntness remains endearing, yet an opposing reality explains why comedian and musician Rodney Rude, denied radio airplay and later barred from television, still moves millions of units while every new title enters the Top 20. His repertoire of crude jokes, recurring catchphrases, and signature high-pitched machine-gun laugh draws a broad audience, especially across rural districts, despite its lowest-common-denominator character.
Born Rodney Keft in Bathurst, he joined several bands by age sixteen that performed at north Queensland showgrounds, a region locals sometimes label the Deep North. None of those groups retained him long, because he routinely altered lyrics into crude versions that amused him. Once ejected from every ensemble, he developed a solo act and left for the North American comedy circuit, where the Rodney Rude persona took shape. After years of performances that he systematically taped for later use, he came back to Australia in 1981 to host Sydney’s first standup venue, the Sydney Comedy Store. His debut live recording, I Hate That, titled after one of his catchphrases, unexpectedly topped the album charts and reached triple-platinum status; comparable sales accompanied each later release.
Not every listener approved. In Queensland he provoked the state’s premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, by describing a sexual fantasy that involved being flogged by Mrs. Bjelke-Petersen with a bag of her homemade scones. While appearing in Brisbane in 1988 he faced arrest on obscenity charges; he answered with the album Not Guilty, which likens flathead fish to “the Brisbane policeman fish.” During the 2001 tour supporting Ya Mum’s Bum, which reached the Top Ten and earned platinum certification, a motorbike crash necessitated knee reconstruction. The injury prevented his midget-impersonation routine and prompted thoughts of retirement, yet persistent fan requests brought him back onstage in 2004. Three years afterward he issued Frog Sack and declared it would be his final tour, after which he planned to settle on his rural Illawara property with family and pursue his interests in poetry and tractors.
Born Rodney Keft in Bathurst, he joined several bands by age sixteen that performed at north Queensland showgrounds, a region locals sometimes label the Deep North. None of those groups retained him long, because he routinely altered lyrics into crude versions that amused him. Once ejected from every ensemble, he developed a solo act and left for the North American comedy circuit, where the Rodney Rude persona took shape. After years of performances that he systematically taped for later use, he came back to Australia in 1981 to host Sydney’s first standup venue, the Sydney Comedy Store. His debut live recording, I Hate That, titled after one of his catchphrases, unexpectedly topped the album charts and reached triple-platinum status; comparable sales accompanied each later release.
Not every listener approved. In Queensland he provoked the state’s premier, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, by describing a sexual fantasy that involved being flogged by Mrs. Bjelke-Petersen with a bag of her homemade scones. While appearing in Brisbane in 1988 he faced arrest on obscenity charges; he answered with the album Not Guilty, which likens flathead fish to “the Brisbane policeman fish.” During the 2001 tour supporting Ya Mum’s Bum, which reached the Top Ten and earned platinum certification, a motorbike crash necessitated knee reconstruction. The injury prevented his midget-impersonation routine and prompted thoughts of retirement, yet persistent fan requests brought him back onstage in 2004. Three years afterward he issued Frog Sack and declared it would be his final tour, after which he planned to settle on his rural Illawara property with family and pursue his interests in poetry and tractors.