Comedian Kwak Beom mentioned a relaxation point that lets him feel joy amid a busy life.
Recently, Kwak Beom met with OSEN at the Metacomedy building in Mapo-gu, Seoul, for an interview reflecting on his active work this year.
That day, when asked what he does to rest during downtime, he said, "I ride a motorcycle. My wife originally wouldn't let me ride, but I started again last year. When I ride, sometimes I think, "If heaven exists, is it this moment?"" and expressed great satisfaction.
Kwak said, "I'm supposed to stay still when resting, but if I don't have a half-day schedule, I go out to ride. I don't like meeting people. It kills me. I ride alone for a bit and come back, put on my helmet and don't talk to anyone," adding, "I tried doing nothing and resting for about a day, but it wasn't that. It wasn't rest."
He said he sometimes wanders the streets alone. Kwak said, "The pattern is the same, but when I was unknown I had more time to be alone, and now if I rest for a day or two my wife tells me to go far away and come back," saying he is someone who needs time alone solely for rest.
However, saying that even resting isn't really rest, Kwak said, "I don't think it's possible to sustain a prime for 10 to 20 years. I feel that I can't do that either, so I do a lot when I'm in demand, and rest when they don't call me," he laughed.
When asked if he has no other joys in life besides motorcycles, Kwak said, "Broadcasting is also a joy. No matter how much I rest, what's the use. I'm grateful to have work. It's not that I do heavy labor; I'm someone who originally likes chatting, and I think staying still at home is meaningless, so talking to someone is my healing and way to relieve stress."
Kwak said, "Working makes me happy. I like to hear how people live, talk, and joke — it seems innate," adding, "Chatting must be my calling. Usually after a talk show when you get in the car to go home you don't say anything to your manager. I start talking to my manager. It's said men usually find it hard to use more than 10,000 words a day, but I seem a bit different. I keep talking nonstop. Joking around," he laughed.
When asked through whom he thinks he got that gene, Kwak said, "If it takes 10 minutes to walk from home to the dry cleaner, it takes my father an hour. He has to do catch-up talks with the people he meets and hear what happened. I think I resemble my father. Talking to people and such," he said.
When asked what kind of comedian he wants to be going forward, Kwak said, "I've left work. I came home to eat, but my face was on a thumbnail. I hope people feel even a little happiness watching videos I'm in. I don't think I can give great happiness. I can't make someone's whole life happy, but I want to be someone who gives the small happiness of a smile while eating a meal," he wished.
Finally, when asked what kind of year he wants 2026 to be, Kwak said, "My goal for this year was 'to let people know Kwak Beom.' Even when I did Kwak Kyung-young or [Bread Songguk], they didn't know me. They only knew people who mimic 'Yeong-cha' or follow Lee Kyung-young. This year, at least they remembered me as Kwak Beom," he said, noting his modest goal had resonated.
He added, "Beyond being remembered, this year I want to be 'Kwak Beom, a really funny person.' Until last year it was just about making people know Kwak Beom, but many comments said they didn't know he was this funny, and I hope that becomes common knowledge. I want to be a funny person and live that way, making others laugh," he said, ending without losing his conviction as a comedian.
[Photo] Provided by Metacomedy
[OSEN]