When he was growing up in Southern California, Addi Somekh wasn't quite sure what to do with his life. But he knew from a young age that he wanted to "spread warmth" and make other people happy. On this week’s episode, the unusual story of how Addi’s quest to do just that set him off on a worldwide mission to make people laugh.
Guatemala
Addi first started making balloon hats at parties as a part-time job when he was in college, but after practicing a ton and perfecting his techniques, his skills quickly surpassed those of, say, a clown you’d hire for your kid’s birthday party. Many people described what he did as art, and some felt like the hats he made for them were like natural extensions of their bodies!
After meeting an aspiring photographer named Charlie Eckert (who took all the amazing photos you see), the two hatched a plan to travel around the world, making hats for people and documenting their encounters. While changing money in an airport in Ghana, they met another guy named Andy, who ended up following them and making a documentary about their travels.
But what at first seemed like merely a fun and quirky adventure quickly turned into something much more meaningful than any of them ever could have imagined!
Rajasthan Desert, India
Kenya
St. Petersburg, Russia
In Nicaragua, people told them that the balloons evoked sentimental memories of their traditional hats made from feathers of birds that have now gone extinct. After entering an African village, they were immediately introduced to the chief, who viewed the headdress as an important cultural symbol and requested hats for himself and his wives. And in places like the Balkans and the Middle East, they suddenly found themselves serving as unofficial ambassadors of peace!
East L.A.
Listen to the latest episode of Far From Home to hear the surprising and amazing story of how Addi was able to use balloons to cross all sorts of language and cultural barriers:
Then check out more of Charlie’s impressive photos on the Balloon Hat website, view a gallery of some of Addi’s balloon art displays, listen to his balloon bass music, and watch episodes from The Unpoppables, his reality TV show. Finally, here’s a link to the Balloon Art Brigade, the organization he founded to train young people to twist balloons in homeless shelters and nursing homes.
And in case you’re interested, here’s the TED talk he gave last year on “Balloon Art and the Mysterious Nature of Joy:”
I originally produced several shorter versions of this story that aired on public radio many years ago. Thanks to my editors, Margo Melnicove at The World, Andrea deLeon at NPR, and Leda Hartman at The World Vision Report, who all contributed to making this a better piece.
Until next time, thanks for listening!
Scott
Nomadic family in Mongolia
This podcast includes the following music track: Investigations Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License