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Rodney Marks (born 1956) is an Australia comedian. His characters are experts, who expertise is called into question by audience members as he progresses through his performance. By doing so, the very nature of expertise is called into question. Marks’s work is by its very nature undermining of authority. By calling into question distinctions between real and fraudulent expertise, his comedy celebrates real knowledge. As Marks has aged, his characters have moved up the fake hierarchies of the industries and sectors. In his thirties, he was a major, a marketing director, an executive officer. In his forties, he was a colonel, a CEO, president. In his fifties, he now portrays generals, managing directors and philanthropists. Another feature of his development is that he is now less political and more philosophical, less of a social commentator and more of an entertainer. Early in his career, he had roles in which he was an objector at a wedding, a downsizing executive who sacked a whole audience and a relocation consultant who moved audience members interstate, at least in their minds, for the duration of the performance. Marks includes and question-and-answer component in the performances, allowing audience members to participate in the humor. He frequently roasts senior management, giving a voice to others in the crowd who are not allowed to be so pointed. The permission to roast is usually given by the executives, as an example of their willingness to receive feedback and improve the systems and processes of their organisation. He is an established comedian, performing all around Australia and has had over 35 overseas tours. He has a biographical entry in Currency Press’s authoritative Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia and has been listed in Who’s Who in Australia since the mid-1990s. In 2011 he was voted Keynote Speaker of the Year by the National Speakers Association of Australia. Early life His secondary studies were at the academically selective North Sydney Boys’ High School, 1969-72 and 1974-75. He has a BA in drama from the University of New England, 1977-80,  an MBA from the AGSM, 1981-82,     and an MPA in politics from Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, 1987-88. Corporate comedy Marks performs mostly on the “live” corporate comedy circuit, as a comic hoaxer and a corporate impostor. Occasionally, he performs media comic hoaxes, as in this four-minute performance for the Sydney Morning Herald Online on October 27, 2012, in which he portrayed the University of Sydney's professor of comedy, Harry Diculous. He has performed many comic hoaxes on ABC Radio (Australia). On their Science Show he played Dr Who's friend from their Balliol College Oxford student days, Melvin Schmendrick. Marks’s comedy performances are character portrayals. He adopts pun pseudonyms relating to the audience, including: Aaron Orticle, Adam Marp, Alf Resco, Andre Mayne de Zert, Anton de Mitteran, Art East, Artur Pfischel, Beau Rocraci, Beau Vine, Ben Schmuck, Bob Zyrunkl, Buck McCluster, Cal Kyulaszn, Cec Temik, Charlie Sarnt, Chris Tallein, Con Volluted, Dan Gerus, Dick Tait, Doug Macquarie, Phil Macquarie, Eddie Torriolle, Frank de Poste, Gen. Al Rounder, Guy Dance, Haydn Zich, Harry Diculus, Hugh Moore, I.T. de Pendes, Ilya Ford, Jacques Podt, Jan Itid, Juan Sidednesc, Laura Byding, Kerasch Dummhi, Seymour Mahoney, Lex Icon, Dick Schonery, Lou Dicrus, Lou Natick, Marietta Mann, Matt Ricks, Mike Bleave, Mort Gauge, Motti Veight, Noel Hedge, PaulyDunbai, Perry Pheral, Phil Anthropei, Phillip de Poule, Rayson Detra, Rhet Eyerment, Rich Vain, Rob de Geste, Rudy Koulis, Admiral Rusty Stern, Sandy Playnz, Haydn de Mudd, Seren Dipitee, Shelby Wright, Sue Ridge, Theo Thanos, Thom Morrow, Ulysses Voyd. The slow-burn, dry nature of his comedy builds over time. He performed as “Ennis Say” three times in three days for the US National Speakers Association (“NSA”) in San Diego in 2007. Almost always, however, it’s a one-off appearance, following embedment of his character to establish credibility and believability. Marks has performed at many charity events. Stand-up comedy He is an experienced performer of the pub and club circuits. He pioneered funny tours, Comedy Walks Over Sydney, where the audience also stood up. Comic monologues Marks has written and performed several one-person shows, sometimes in stand-alone seasons  and sometimes at festivals. He has had seasons at the Adelaide Fringe (1994), the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and at several Sydney Comedy Festivals. He performed at the 2010 Sydney Fringe, reviewed by Lloyd Bradford (Brad) Syke in Australian Stage Online: Be afraid, be very afraid. The world needs more of him, lest we start to take ourselves, our institutions, governments, corporations, processes or systems too seriously; a constant danger we must vigilantly guard against. Rodney Marks is a genius, wrapped in linguistic parody, inside a suit. Any resemblance to any executive, official, spokesperson, expert or authority is purely unavoidable. Campus comedy He has had appointments as Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University (January, 1995), the Australian Graduate School of Management (21 months during 2000-01), the University of New England (12 months during 2001-02), the Macquarie Dictionary (six months during 2002-03), and the University of New South Wales (12 months during 2007), where he was also Visiting Professor-at-Large. Personal life Marks married educator Debra Israel in 1984. They have three sons: Benjamin, an established comedy writer, political satirist  and economic humorist;  Joshua, a documentary film-maker with international experience in directing, camera, sound and editing;  and Samuel, a start-up software engineer. Rodney, Benjamin and Joshua have shared an office at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney since 2009. They have lived in Sydney since 1988, and previously in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth in Australia, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

References "comedian.com.au". Retrieved 5 August 2013. "au.linkedin.com/in/comic". Retrieved 5 August 2013. "Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia". Philip Parsons, 1997. Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia. Abridged Edition. Currency Press. 167. "National Speakers Association of Australia". nationalspeakers.com.au. Retrieved August 5, 2013. "Old Falconians' Union". falconians.org. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "NSBHS 2012 Annual Report". nsbhs.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Bachelor of Arts - Graduate Profiles". une.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Alumni Postcards". asb.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. Wall Street Journal, 2001. The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Schools. Edition. Simon & Schuster Books. 783: Rodney Marks is one of the three most famous AGSM MBA graduates. "Harvard Club of Australia 50th Anniversary Com"The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Schools, page 783 - Rodney Marks is one of the three most famous graduates of the AGSM MBA program". memorative Book". hcag.org.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Top Marks: Rodney’s new book 'funny yet serious …'". hcag.org.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Rodney Marks". saxton.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Rodney Marks". icmi.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Rodney Marks". celebrityspeakers.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "International Association of Pranksters and Hoaxers - List of Founders". prankstersassociation.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Pharmaceutical Society of Australia". psa.org.au. 5 August 13. R Feneley (October 27, 2012) "Court jesters walking a fine line between jokes and taste". Sydney Morning Herald Online. Retrieved August 4, 2013. 2012, 4 August 13, The Science Show. 750 years for Balliol College Oxford. 15 December 12, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/750-years-for-balliol-college-oxford/4428512. 4 August 13. YouTube. (2008). Rodney Marks as "Professor Ennis Say": 1. [Online Video]. 2 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXyBshqjRc. [Accessed: 4 August 2013]. YouTube. (2008). Rodney Marks as "Professor Ennis Say": 2. [Online Video]. 2 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBHvYqafqo. [Accessed: 4 August 2013]. YouTube. (2008). Rodney Marks as "Professor Ennis Say": 3. [Online Video]. 2 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYjg9EBufjg. [Accessed: 4 August 2013]. "Fundraising". foundationdiane.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "A-List Comedy Club". moshtix.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Arts Events". abc.net.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Just for Kicks - Comedy Gala". liveguide.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Marble Bar - Sydney Hilton". au.timeout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Bankstown Sports Club - Rock and Laughter, August 2013". bankstownsports.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Comedy Walks Over Sydney, 1998". pollackconsulting.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Roxbury Hotel - Sydney, August to December 2013". roxburyhotel.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. L B Syke (14 September 2010) "comedian.com.au | Rodney Marks". Australian Stage Online. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Who's Who in Australia 2013". connectweb.com.au. Retrieved August 5, 2013. "Visiting Professor-at-Large to enrich campus culture". newspaper.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Benjamin Marks - comedy writer". comedywriter.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Benjamin Marks - founder and editor-in-chief, Economics.org.au". Economics.org.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Benjamin Marks - founding editor, Capitalism.HK". Capitalism.HK. Retrieved August 4, 2013. Joshua Marks - director, funnyfilms.com.au. funnyfilms.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Samuel Marks - LinkedIn". linkedin.com/in/samuelmarks. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Comedy Services on the lot at Fox Studios Australia". foxstudiosaustralia.com/on-the-lot. Retrieved August 4, 2013.

Rodney Marks (born 1956) is an Australia comedian.
Rodney Marks (born 1956) is an Australia comedian. His characters are experts, who expertise is called into question by audience members as he progresses through his performance. By doing so, the very nature of expertise is called into question. Marks’s work is by its very nature undermining of authority. By calling into question distinctions between real and fraudulent expertise, his comedy celebrates real knowledge.

As Marks has aged, his characters have moved up the fake hierarchies of the industries and sectors. In his thirties, he was a major, a marketing director, an executive officer. In his forties, he was a colonel, a CEO, president. In his fifties, he now portrays generals, managing directors and philanthropists. Another feature of his development is that he is now less political and more philosophical, less of a social commentator and more of an entertainer. Early in his career, he had roles in which he was an objector at a wedding, a downsizing executive who sacked a whole audience and a relocation consultant who moved audience members interstate, at least in their minds, for the duration of the performance.

Marks includes and question-and-answer component in the performances, allowing audience members to participate in the humor. He frequently roasts senior management, giving a voice to others in the crowd who are not allowed to be so pointed. The permission to roast is usually given by the executives, as an example of their willingness to receive feedback and improve the systems and processes of their organisation.

He is an established comedian, performing all around Australia and has had over 35 overseas tours. He has a biographical entry in Currency Press’s authoritative Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia and has been listed in Who’s Who in Australia since the mid-1990s. In 2011 he was voted Keynote Speaker of the Year by the National Speakers Association of Australia. Early life His secondary studies were at the academically selective North Sydney Boys’ High School, 1969-72 and 1974-75. He has a BA in drama from the University of New England, 1977-80,  an MBA from the AGSM, 1981-82,     and an MPA in politics from Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, 1987-88.

Corporate comedy Marks performs mostly on the “live” corporate comedy circuit, as a comic hoaxer and a corporate impostor. Occasionally, he performs media comic hoaxes, as in this four-minute performance for the Sydney Morning Herald Online on October 27, 2012, in which he portrayed the University of Sydney's professor of comedy, Harry Diculous. He has performed many comic hoaxes on ABC Radio (Australia). On their Science Show he played Dr Who's friend from their Balliol College Oxford student days, Melvin Schmendrick. Marks’s comedy performances are character portrayals. He adopts pun pseudonyms relating to the audience, including: Aaron Orticle, Adam Marp, Alf Resco, Andre Mayne de Zert, Anton de Mitteran, Art East, Artur Pfischel, Beau Rocraci, Beau Vine, Ben Schmuck, Bob Zyrunkl, Buck McCluster, Cal Kyulaszn, Cec Temik, Charlie Sarnt, Chris Tallein, Con Volluted, Dan Gerus, Dick Tait, Doug Macquarie, Phil Macquarie, Eddie Torriolle, Frank de Poste, Gen. Al Rounder, Guy Dance, Haydn Zich, Harry Diculus, Hugh Moore, I.T. de Pendes, Ilya Ford, Jacques Podt, Jan Itid, Juan Sidednesc, Laura Byding, Kerasch Dummhi, Seymour Mahoney, Lex Icon, Dick Schonery, Lou Dicrus, Lou Natick, Marietta Mann, Matt Ricks, Mike Bleave, Mort Gauge, Motti Veight, Noel Hedge, PaulyDunbai, Perry Pheral, Phil Anthropei, Phillip de Poule, Rayson Detra, Rhet Eyerment, Rich Vain, Rob de Geste, Rudy Koulis, Admiral Rusty Stern, Sandy Playnz, Haydn de Mudd, Seren Dipitee, Shelby Wright, Sue Ridge, Theo Thanos, Thom Morrow, Ulysses Voyd. The slow-burn, dry nature of his comedy builds over time. He performed as “Ennis Say” three times in three days for the US National Speakers Association (“NSA”) in San Diego in 2007. Almost always, however, it’s a one-off appearance, following embedment of his character to establish credibility and believability. Marks has performed at many charity events.

Stand-up comedy He is an experienced performer of the pub and club circuits. He pioneered funny tours, Comedy Walks Over Sydney, where the audience also stood up.

Comic monologues Marks has written and performed several one-person shows, sometimes in stand-alone seasons  and sometimes at festivals. He has had seasons at the Adelaide Fringe (1994), the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and at several Sydney Comedy Festivals. He performed at the 2010 Sydney Fringe, reviewed by Lloyd Bradford (Brad) Syke in Australian Stage Online: Be afraid, be very afraid. The world needs more of him, lest we start to take ourselves, our institutions, governments, corporations, processes or systems too seriously; a constant danger we must vigilantly guard against. Rodney Marks is a genius, wrapped in linguistic parody, inside a suit. Any resemblance to any executive, official, spokesperson, expert or authority is purely unavoidable. Campus comedy He has had appointments as Artist-in-Residence at Harvard University (January, 1995), the Australian Graduate School of Management (21 months during 2000-01), the University of New England (12 months during 2001-02), the Macquarie Dictionary (six months during 2002-03), and the University of New South Wales (12 months during 2007), where he was also Visiting Professor-at-Large. Personal life Marks married educator Debra Israel in 1984. They have three sons: Benjamin, an established comedy writer, political satirist  and economic humorist;  Joshua, a documentary film-maker with international experience in directing, camera, sound and editing;  and Samuel, a start-up software engineer. Rodney, Benjamin and Joshua have shared an office at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney since 2009. They have lived in Sydney since 1988, and previously in Canberra, Melbourne and Perth in Australia, and Cambridge, Massachusetts.

"comedian.com.au". Retrieved 5 August 2013. "au.linkedin.com/in/comic". Retrieved 5 August 2013. "Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia". Philip Parsons, 1997. Concise Companion to Theatre in Australia. Abridged Edition. Currency Press. 167. "National Speakers Association of Australia". nationalspeakers.com.au. Retrieved August 5, 2013. "Old Falconians' Union". falconians.org. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "NSBHS 2012 Annual Report". nsbhs.nsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Bachelor of Arts - Graduate Profiles". une.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Alumni Postcards". asb.unsw.edu.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. Wall Street Journal, 2001. The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Schools. Edition. Simon & Schuster Books. 783: Rodney Marks is one of the three most famous AGSM MBA graduates. "Harvard Club of Australia 50th Anniversary Com"The Wall Street Journal Guide to Business Schools, page 783 - Rodney Marks is one of the three most famous graduates of the AGSM MBA program". memorative Book". hcag.org.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Top Marks: Rodney’s new book 'funny yet serious …'". hcag.org.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Rodney Marks". saxton.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Rodney Marks". icmi.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Rodney Marks". celebrityspeakers.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "International Association of Pranksters and Hoaxers - List of Founders". prankstersassociation.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Pharmaceutical Society of Australia". psa.org.au. 5 August 13. R Feneley (October 27, 2012) "Court jesters walking a fine line between jokes and taste". Sydney Morning Herald Online. Retrieved August 4, 2013. 2012, 4 August 13, The Science Show. 750 years for Balliol College Oxford. 15 December 12, http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/scienceshow/750-years-for-balliol-college-oxford/4428512. 4 August 13. YouTube. (2008). Rodney Marks as "Professor Ennis Say": 1. [Online Video]. 2 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgXyBshqjRc. [Accessed: 4 August 2013]. YouTube. (2008). Rodney Marks as "Professor Ennis Say": 2. [Online Video]. 2 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHBHvYqafqo. [Accessed: 4 August 2013]. YouTube. (2008). Rodney Marks as "Professor Ennis Say": 3. [Online Video]. 2 March. Available from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IYjg9EBufjg. [Accessed: 4 August 2013]. "Fundraising". foundationdiane.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "A-List Comedy Club". moshtix.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Arts Events". abc.net.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Just for Kicks - Comedy Gala". liveguide.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Marble Bar - Sydney Hilton". au.timeout.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Bankstown Sports Club - Rock and Laughter, August 2013". bankstownsports.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Comedy Walks Over Sydney, 1998". pollackconsulting.com. Retrieved August 4, 2013. "Roxbury Hotel - Sydney, August to December 2013". roxburyhotel.com.au. Retrieved August 4, 2013.