I Love You More

Erica Rhodes has a voice that sounds like a cartoon mouse, but her writing is neurotically adult and quietly ruthless about her own shortcomings. The anchor joke comes from an ex-boyfriend who told her, completely straight-faced, that he loved her more than she loved him because he loved himself so much. Her counter, that both of them probably need to love him less, sets the tone for a set about adjusting expectations downwards.

Filmed for Dry Bar Comedy at their showroom in Provo, Utah, and directed by Isaac Halasima, the 40-minute set caught Rhodes during a busy 2019. After years doing voice work on A Prairie Home Companion and appearing on panel shows like @midnight, she was establishing herself on the national club circuit, competing on NBC’s Bring the Funny and recording her debut stand-up album the same year.

Working under Dry Bar’s strict clean-comedy rules, she leans into grammar pedantry, modest domestic milestones, and dating fatigue. When she talks about depression, she interrupts her own spiral to obsess over the grammatical distinction between lying in bed and laying in bed. Her definition of finally making it as an adult isn’t the house in Malibu she envisioned in her twenties; it is owning a real wooden headboard. She talks about unhelpful advice from well-meaning parents and the strange relief of waking up without a husband, a baby, or a dog to take care of.