Globetrotting comedian Tom Rhodes has played all over the world, even having his own series in Vietnam in 1995, but Korea has a special place in his travel history.
“Korea is the reason I first got a passport!” he said.
“In 1988 I was dating a Korean American girl who had taken a temporary job in Seoul as a translator for the New York Times.
“A few months before the Olympics began I came to visit her for a month. I remember the excitement everyone had that the eyes of the world were about to be on Korea.”
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Tom Rhodes |
Twenty years on, he is headed to play two weekends of shows around Korea starting Friday. But after all this time, the impression he got from the experience is still strong.
“I remember the kindness of the people of Seoul, it was my first time out of the U.S. and even when I encountered people who did not speak English they managed to show me their golden glowing hearts.
“It’s strange but one thing I remember the most about that visit was that I only saw one person begging for money on the street the entire month I spent in Seoul. The man was crying and had so much shame that he couldn’t lift his head.
“I’ve often thought that that should be the universal way to beg for money because in North America our beggars have too much confidence. This left the biggest impression on me because it was not typical for people to beg for money and that Korean culture is so proud that there was so much shame associated with the act.”
Rhodes discovered he could make people laugh as a boy, after telling a story about walking in on his mom and dad in flagrante.
He started performing, winning awards in his teens and starting a successful career.
“When I started my main goal was just to headline all the cities in the U.S. Early in my career I had loads of television success which led to having my own sitcom on NBC called Mr. Rhodes.”
From then on he has been addicted to traveling the world and performing to all kinds of audiences. He has been shooting short films about the cultures and people he meets, and hopes to make his own comedy travel series one day.
He lists Paris, Rome and Sydney among his favorite places, but would like to go to northern Europe more.
“I would like to perform in Scandinavia more. Statistically Scandinavians are supposed to be the happiest people on the planet and I would like to study their way of life more, he said.”
“I’ve performed in Stockholm and Copenhagen and found them to be super intelligent people who had a firm grasp of English and knowledge of all things important.
“This past summer I played in Estonia and found it to be Hitler’s wet dream. Everyone there is tall, blonde and very good looking.”
Now he is looking forward to returning to Korea.
“I’m eager to see the country again now that I am an adult and a seasoned traveler,” he said. “For two years I lived in the Korea Town neighborhood of Los Angeles and the older Korean people always had the hugest smiles when I would say thank you in Korean.”
Rhodes has a lot on his itinerary, including taking in the Busan Fireworks Festival, Jeju Island and taekwondo matches, but something else he is looking forward to is food. He has an appetite for kimchi that would make a Korean mother proud.
“On my first visit I was blown away by Korean cuisine and have been an ardent devourer of it ever since,” he said. “I love spicy food and I’ll never forget eating kimchi for the first time. I felt like Einstein figuring out that atoms could be split.”
“Since then I will order anything that involves kimchi: Kimchi omelets, kimchi and lobster pasta, kimchi pizza. I’m tickled that I will get to travel around the country and I look forward to laughing with as many people as possible.”
Tom Rhodes plays Friday at 10 p.m. at Busan’s HQ Bar, with support from Daniel McGrath, Sir David Scraggs and Sam Hazelton, and then 8 p.m. Sunday at Tilt Bar in Pohang with Chris Tharp and Jeff Sinclair.
Seoul shows will be at 10 p.m. the Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon on Nov. 1, hosted by Albert Escobedo with support including Jeff Sinclair and Nov. 2, hosted by Rudy Tyburzcy with support including Adam Palmeter.
Tickets are 10,000 won in Pohang, 20,000 won in Busan and 30,000 won in Seoul, with details on how to order on Facebook.
By Paul Kerry (
paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)
