March 22, 2023
/
Mike Binder
Erica Rhodes has her album Sad Lemon, which came out awhile back, up now on Youtube, I guess as a special. (It’s one -camera, shot in Portland, not really a special. Not an album. But it’s really, really, funny.
TRUE STAGE PRESENCE
She’s actually really special herself. I love her look. She’s like a cross between a young Joan Rivers and early Susan St. James. A fresh style that makes her a throwback to another time. She writes very heady jokes, then tells them like she’s on a local television stations talent show. She’s calm and confident on stage while clearly laying out how terrified and unconfident she is about her life, where it is, isn’t, and where it’s going.
Great jokes in a Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg sort of way, yet, not really one-liners. Almost little haiku poems or something. Short paragraphs that make strong points that you wish you wrote. Make you wish you thought that way.
This hour long album/ special/ whatever, lays out so simply and so flawlessly that you start to feel like she’s already a major star and you’re just late to the party.
Here’s the special if you want watch it. I recommend it. She’s great.
Okay, and if you’re too busy, or still not convinced, I cut four or five of my favorite bits from the album/special or whatever it is. Like the Cliff Notes or something, but it’s a mistake. Watch the whole damn thing.
A comic friend saw the cover of the piece on the site and said to me, ‘She’s too cute to be really funny.’ I said, ‘Wait, you haven’t heard her voice yet.’ Which is a joke. She makes fun of her voice. I think it suits her. I just never heard anyone ever say someone was ‘too cute to be funny’, other than a comic.
‘He’s too tall to shoot hoops.’ ‘She knows too much about science to be a scientist. ‘, Cute and funny is a pretty potent combo. It’s working for John Mulaney. Worked for Seinfeld. Worked for Kevin Hart.
By the way, my friend, the comic, sells shoes at Foot Locker during the day. Shrug.
Watch her stuff. She’ll make you laugh. You need to laugh.
ALSO, IF YOU’RE IN L.A, on APRIL 8, Come out to the ICE HOUSE in Pasadena for a great show. One of America’s best comedy clubs, now beautifully remodeled.
Some surprise guests!
(CLICK PHOTO FOR TIX)
AND, PLEASE SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER. THANKS!!
