Rodney Rude
| Rodney Rude | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Rodney Malcolm Keft |
| Born |
29 January 1943 Nowra, New South Wales, Australia |
| Medium | Stand-up, music |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Years active | 1969–present |
| Genres | Observational comedy, blue comedy, insult comedy |
| Subject(s) | Australian culture, current events, pop culture |
| Website | http://www.rude.com.au |
Rodney Rude (born Rodney Malcolm Keft, 29 January 1943 in Nowra, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian 'blue' stand-up comedian, poet and writer. He is infamous for his bawdy humour. He has released 12 albums and 5 videos throughout his long career, all of which are distributed by EMI Music Australia. To date, Rodney has sold well in excess of 3 million CDs videos and DVDs. Rodney has also been nominated for 6 ARIA awards for Best Comedy Release for almost every album he has released.
Early career
He began his career performing with traveling 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 work in America, Canada and Europe under various stage names.
Personal life
Family
Rodney's first marriage was to a Canadian woman; his son from that marriage continues to live in Canada. He is married to wife Pat, has two daughters, and lives on a property in the Illawarra region.
Arrests in Queensland and Western Australia
He was arrested by Queensland police in the mid-1980s after offending officers during a show. He fought several long and expensive court cases defending his right to perform his show to adult audiences. His legal battle continued after police brought further obscenity charges in Western Australia where the case finally went to the full bench of the supreme court. Rodney won his court cases and all charges were quashed. After the Fitzgerald Inquiry against corruption (1987–89), set up to investigate police corruption in the state of Queensland, the police officer leading the case of obscenity against Rodney was jailed for corruption in an unrelated matter. Since that time Rodney performed without incident in all states of Australia.
According to his website, his absence from the comedy circuit in 2004 was due to his recovery from a motorcycle accident on his property, which required him to undergo a knee reconstruction.
Rude toured Australia in 2006. A CD and DVD accompanied the tour, the CD Frog Sack was released on 11 November 2006 and the DVD Rodney Rude Goes the Growl was released 11 October 2008. In late 2009, Rude announced he was coming out of retirement and returning to stand-up comedy in 2010.
Discography
Albums
- Rodney Rude Live (1984)
- I Got More (1985)
- Rude Rides Again (1986)
- Not Guilty (1988)
- A Legend (1991)
- Rats Arse (1995)
- More Grunt (1998)
- Ya Mum's Bum (2000)
- Rude Bastard (2002)
- Twice as Rude (2004)
- Frog Sack (2006)
Compilations
- Classic Rude (1992)
Single
- "I Hate That" (censored version) (1984)
Filmography
- Rude Rude Rodney Rude on Video (later released as Rodney Rude Live) (1984)
- Rude Rides Again (1987)
- I Don't Give a Rats Arse (1996)
- Get Rude On (2002)
- Rodney Rude Goes the Growl (2008)
External links
| Preceded by Purple Rain by Prince and The Revolution |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one album 20 August – 2 September 1984 |
Succeeded by H'its Huge '84 by Various artists |