Comedian Erica Rhodes reflects on career ahead of shows in Cape

Comedian Erica Rhodes once voiced Garrison Keillor's conscience on "A Prairie Home Companion" radio show. Now, she's on a standup comedy tour, and she's on for a four-show engagement starting Thursday at Laughing Gas Comedy in Cape Girardeau.

She's never appeared in Cape Girardeau before, but she has done a show in St. Louis, she said by phone Thursday.

Rhodes was also a semifinalist on "Bring the Funny," a standup comedy competition show on NBC.

"That was a cool opportunity to get seen by people," Rhodes said.

She said the competition aspect meant she was under more pressure than a normal show, "but I had fun doing it."

Comedian Erica Rhodes will perform this week at Laughing Gas Comedy in Cape Girardeau.Courtesy of Felicia Michaels

Rhodes said Jeff Foxworthy told her she really seems to know who she is. "That meant a lot that he saw that," she said.

Her career started when she was just 10 years old, voicing Garrison Keillor's conscience on "A Prairie Home Companion." But, she said, it wasn't immediately obvious to her that she should be in comedy.

"I never thought I was that funny until later in life," she said. "It took me a long time to really embrace it."

Rhodes was an actress, she said, a ballet dancer, a cellist. "I tried a lot of different performing types, and I have a lot of experience. The culmination of all that experience and not quite succeeding at any of it, that's what drew me to comedy."

Comedy is an opportunity to turn failures into success stories, she added.

"Things working out in your life is not so funny," Rhodes said. "It's not like I was horrible, but I definitely struggled to get work as an actress. I wasn't the best at ballet, I had trouble reading music as a cellist. I realized I could turn that into comedy fodder."

And she has.

Her stand-up album "Sad Lemon" was released in June. "I got really lucky with it," she said. "I picked the right club, had good shows with a good turnout."

She's especially proud of the title, she added.

As for her style of humor, Rhodes said she'd term it slightly self-deprecating, but real -- a mix of personal and observational comedy, from her specific point of view.

"I would say it gets a bit dark at times, but since my delivery is light, I can get away with that a bit more," Rhodes said, laughing.

Rhodes said she's been told her humor is approachable. "I don't seem intimidating or preachy. I'm just kind of talking to people, not talking at them -- letting them in."

She talks about the struggles of being a woman at this specific point in history. "I feel like it's a great time to be a woman and there are things not as great. I talk about that too," she said.

There's pressure to be in a relationship, she said, but what if you haven't found that yet, or don't want it?

"We feel pressured to do things, to be a certain way. I like to talk about that in my standup," Rhodes said. "A lot of that is fighting that in your own weird way."

Rhodes said her set is, on a movie-rating scale, probably about a PG-13 level.

"I'm not that dirty, but I do swear a couple of times -- for specific reasons," Rhodes said. "I'd think you can bring your mom. My mom can handle it."

There are only a couple of edgy jokes, she said: "Compared to most comics, I'm pretty clean."

Erica Rhodes will perform live Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Laughing Gas Comedy in Town Plaza in Cape Girardeau. Tickets are available at n2ocomedy.com.