About
Rodney Marks: Hoaxes & Jokeses is a corporate comedian for hire in Sydney, NSW.
Rodney Marks arrives in character and nobody in the room knows it. He works the crowd first, schmoozing at pre dinner drinks or sitting through a seminar and asking a question, building the credibility of his invented corporate persona. Then he's called to the lectern for what looks like a keynote address. The Q&A afterwards is genuine and unscripted, which is where the people in on the hoax get to watch everyone else work it out. All material is tailored to the audience by industry, sector and profession. He works mostly at business events, occasionally at private ones, and now and then in public. Sydney based. He needs a microphone and to be lit. He also takes roadshow work and comedy emcee bookings.
Watch
The show
Rodney turns up as somebody else, and the room has no idea. He'll mingle at pre dinner drinks, or sit through a session at your conference and ask a question from the floor, all of it building the credibility of a corporate character who doesn't exist. Then he's introduced at the lectern and delivers what looks like a keynote. The Q&A afterwards is the good bit, because none of it is planted. Real questions, real answers, and the handful of people who know what's going on get to watch everybody else slowly work it out.
On the day
A microphone and some light on him. That's the whole technical rider, and it means the hoax works in a hotel ballroom or a conference plenary without anything special being wheeled in. He's straightforward to deal with on the day and slots into whatever the venue already has running.
Performance options
The comic hoax keynote is the main event. Rodney also works as a comedy master of ceremonies, either on its own or alongside the hoax, so one booking can carry the whole evening. And if you're taking a program to several cities, he takes roadshow work as well. Material gets rewritten for each audience by industry, sector and profession, which is why the character holds up in front of people who know their field.