For sheer entertainment value, it comes no better than the mother/daughter team of Rice & Renee, whose dynamic brand of comedy, music and variety arts keeps fans like Johnny Cash,  Kenny Loggins, Dom Deluise and Jay Leno applauding along with mass audiences throughout the world. Their Tonight Show appearance drew the same raves as shows for clients such as IBM, Honda, Ford, ARAMCO,  Caterpillar, Rockwell International and Sanrio, to name but a few. They perform at  corporate events and conventions, major fairs and festivals, nationally televised shows and comedy clubs with equal aplomb - - the intimacy of the act doesn't depend on the size of the room.

There's simply no way to attend a Rice & Renee (mother and daughter, respectively) performance and not get vigorously and personally involved. The energy level is somewhere around the 200 percent level, and the comedy is quick and fresh. Rice's juggling tricks and whip skills are unequaled and her wide-eyed jokes are riotous. Renee can play it straight to Rice's zany antics as easily as she can step into center stage and wow'em  with songs, violin playing and whip tricks. In fact, as a vocalist, Renee stands among the best, with crystalline notes that hit square on the mark every time, and song styling ability well beyond her years.

A good part of their professionalism comes from the fact that they've literally been on the road together since Joyce Rice graduated from college and became a professional entertainer. Baby Rhonda Renee was just a year old at the time, and became one of the showbiz kids who truly did grow up in the proverbial trunk.

Joyce was an Iowa rancher's daughter who won the National Baton Twirling Championship at age 17, attended Iowa State University on a baton scholarship (majoring in Home Economics), performing throughout the United States and Europe before graduating and taking her award-winning baton show on the road with the Harlem Globetrotters. It was Oklahoman Bud Carlelle, an 80-year old veteran of vaudeville, who taught the young performer the fundamentals of rope spinning and whip cracking. She quickly became one of the top performers in the business, with her unique style of tossing, catching, twirling, cracking and spinning ropes and whips. In addition to her juggling talents, she also developed into a comedienne with razor sharp timing and keen instincts.

At a very young age, Joyce's daughter Rhonda Renee started out working as a whip cracker in the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. After inadvertently wrapping a whip around her head, Rhonda decided this particular side of show business was dangerous and started studying classical violin. ("Music's a lot safer," Rhonda laughs. "Me, I didn't know any better," adds Joyce.) By the time Rhonda entered her teens she had a solo act which combined music, comedy and juggling. She followed in her mother's academic footsteps, attending Iowa State before.

Joyce was working in the Orient when representatives from the Yoshimoto Corporation saw a tape of both mother and daughter, and requested the two appear at the company's International Flower Expo in Japan. "I wasn't sure at first," Joyce admits. "Too many times the younger member of the act isn't taken as seriously. I wanted to make sure Rhonda was an equal partner if we did it." Billing themselves as Rice & Renee and writing their own material, the show evolved naturally, and Renee's musical talents were soon as important to the act as Rice's comedy and variety arts. They have thrilled audiences ever since, playing venues such as Madison Square Garden and The Tonight Show— both of which contacted Rice & Renee, not vice versa! The two have sharpened individual talents to a fine point. In addition to Rice's outstanding juggling and whip skills, she is one of the best stand-up comics on the circuit. And Renee's vocal abilities have elicited top praise from critics everywhere. Her outstanding performance of the National Anthem at Madison Square Garden and elsewhere, and her rendition of "Oh, Canada" for Canadian audiences have brought chills to the spines of thousands. The Tonight Show appearance had one of the highest ratings of the year, and the show issued an open invitation to welcome Renee back when she makes a solo singing debut.

This act is a gem. It's one of the most attention-grabbing and memorable comedy teams in the business, with added musical and variety attractions. People don't forget Rice & Renee. When the duo provided entertainment at the Golden Boot Awards, Johnny Cash sought them out to congratulate them on the show. When they performed at California's Humane Society event (attended by luminaries such as Robert Mitchum and Jane Seymour), Kenny Loggins called the show both fun and unbelievable. 

                                   Great fun. Great show. Great talent. It's all there at a Rice & Renee show!