After
spending much of the previous year in Japan, fan Richard "Pocky" Kim returned
to his native Baltimore to help run Katsucon, working to make sure the
convention was run correctly. He was handling some convention business
late Friday night of Katsucon weekend when a staffer rushed up to him and
told Kim that he was needed to solve a problem at the far end of the hotel.
Kim was ushered to the room where he discovered, much to his shock, that
he was the problem - or rather the victim. Kim's friends, celebrating his
years of service to anime fandom, decided to offer the Marylander the highest
honor they could conceive, a celebrity roast.
Grig "Punky"
Larson started the festivities by calling Kim the "Korean Dudley Moore...He
was an only child because he broke the mold...or broke out of the mold...Under
his simple looks was a simple individual...his room in Laurel is like a
pawn shop for girls with big eyes." While Langston said that the good-looking
Kim has "girls hanging off him like a silk drape," he added that "If the
anime community had a hub, it would be Pocky - he knows everybody."
But this roast was different from most for a couple of reasons. First,
a couple of the roasters were men dressed in drag. Second, the recent former
victims of anime convention celebrity roasts were mostly complimentary
of Kim. "It actually looks like I'm going to say nice things about Richard,"
said artist Steve Bennett. "I would like to say crazy things about him
but I can't." Added animator Scott Frazier, "You feel like you're living
a day in 20 minutes with Richard - it's fun but it's tiring...the most
telling thing I can say about Richard is that Richard would not do this
to me."
After
spending much of the previous year in Japan, fan Richard "Pocky" Kim returned
to his native Baltimore to help run Katsucon, working to make sure the
convention was run correctly. He was handling some convention business
late Friday night of Katsucon weekend when a staffer rushed up to him and
told Kim that he was needed to solve a problem at the far end of the hotel.
Kim was ushered to the room where he discovered, much to his shock, that
he was the problem - or rather the victim. Kim's friends, celebrating his
years of service to anime fandom, decided to offer the Marylander the highest
honor they could conceive, a celebrity roast.
Grig "Punky"
Larson started the festivities by calling Kim the "Korean Dudley Moore...He
was an only child because he broke the mold...or broke out of the mold...Under
his simple looks was a simple individual...his room in Laurel is like a
pawn shop for girls with big eyes." While Langston said that the good-looking
Kim has "girls hanging off him like a silk drape," he added that "If the
anime community had a hub, it would be Pocky - he knows everybody."
