A Brief Interlude: Comedian Erica Rhodes

Hello laughers, humorists, and friends of good cheer. Today’s post is a first for my Substack, I am featuring the work of a comedian, Erica Rhodes. Erica Rhodes, in case you’re wondering, has been performing since she was 13 working on the radio show "A Prairie Home Companion” and a host of film/TV credits. You can find out more about her here and here.

She has made a bit of splash with audiences and other comedians with a recent appearance on a segement of the WGN Morning News show. She told a deeply dark and hilarious joke. Fair warning, this is a pretty dark joke, but it made it onto TV so there can’t be too much wrong with it. Here’s a link to the segment. It’s maybe a minute or so long. It’s absolutely worth your time.

There isn’t much not to love about this whole situation. First, the joke/bit is delivered so well, and the absolute shock of the anchors, who are clearly not used to such edgy comedy in the morning, is wonderful to watch in real time. The male anchor is sobbing into his hands and cannot do anything but laugh. If there’s anything a comedian wants more than that response, I am not sure what it is. (Well, maybe a lot of money). The joke/bit is just beautifully crafted. It’s dark, sets up and punches in short order, and there are a couple of follow ups that lean into and amplify the whole bit. I strive, but not too hard, to write bits like that.

I also love the fact that Ms. Rhodes even breaks a bit and laughs. She regains her composure, but when the folks off-camera start to lose it, and you can hear them, she breaks a bit again. But like a true professional comedian, she keeps with it. One of my absolute favorite reactions is the female anchor when she says “Holy God Almighty!” replete with a wonderful northern US accent. Meanwhile, the male anchor is a quivering pile of laughter and of absolutely no help bringing order back to the scene. I may have mentioned that already. If this isn’t comedy at some of its best…

I think I am going to reach out to the morning news team and see if I could interview them. I think the rest of the cast and crew’s day was amazing and that was due, in large part, to Ms. Rhodes’ amazing joke. Till next time. Laugh often and much.