RODNEY Rude sits and shifts his vest so the American label “Roots” is visible on the shirt he is wearing.
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“This is what I came to Mount Isa for,” Rude jokes.
After taking a photograph at the request of fans passing through the Irish Club’s Tram Stop Cafe, Rude continues; “Mate, the real reason I came to Mount Isa is it will be my last year touring.
“I wanted to go to all the places that were the beginning of my career.”
Rude has a fondness for touring in Queensland. Yet at the same time he speaks of his passion for entertaining in the sunshine state, he also recalls the police prosecution against him to the blunt subject matter, resulting in a three-year legal battle.
“I have a lot of history in Queensland because the cops hounded me to death here. When the Fitzgerald Inquiry came out (1987-89) the top two guys harassing me both went to jail, so I was exonerated. But it still set me broke, it took three years of my life.
“The audiences, they just were more powerful than ever because of that, in their attitudes. They were so supportive and on my side and so many incidents happened where they really gave the cops a terrible doing with the things they did and said.
“My audiences are the best. They really are.”
Rude is notorious for his language and sexual subject matter. That suited him in an industry that was increasingly filling with more serious subject matter.
“I couldn’t stay with those serious things. I want people to laugh at silliness and nonsense. It’s the hit rate. You talk about the things you know and understand, but by doing that most people only get a certain percentage of the audience.
“Where as I get 100 per cent of the audience everybody has got a c—k or a c—t.” It’s approximately 10 minutes into the interview with Rude and the first time he has sworn.
There is a cliche in the comedy industry that every d—k joke has been told. When asked how Rude keeps his material fresh after a lifetime, he responds, “there’s always a new person in the audience.”
Rude performs at the Irish Club on Friday and Saturday.