On Filming A Travel Show in Hong Kong by Ashley Yue

Hamm and Richard Ayoade, the host of Travel Man from Channel 4, on an exotic eats adventure in Hong Kong last fall. The Christmas special, Travel Man 48 Hours in Hong Kong, was aired on TV on Boxing Day in the UK (you can watch my session on YouTube, just look up Travel Man Hong Kong and click on the second video on the list). Here are some contexts on what I do. I run a local experience company called Hong Kong Food Crawlers.......

While most people expect me to tell them that Jon Hamm was nothing but as charming as his character Don Draper in Mad Men, I hate to disappoint. Hamm was quiet on set when the camera wasn’t rolling, and he seemed content scrolling through his phone in between takes. However, the one thing that imprinted in my memory the most was him asking Ayoade “do you really expect me to finish this?”, as he held a skewer of offals in his hands, looking as sceptical as ever. To be more precise, I got Ayoade and Hamm the best-seller combo at the street food shop that’s known for their offal delicacy. It was an assortment of chicken kidneys, squid tentacles, pig’s reproductive tract, duck tongues (an extra skewer added on the side, as requested by the producer), topped with sweet sauce, mustard and plenty of soy sauce.

Look, I get it. Offals aren’t everyone’s cup of tea. I certainly didn’t expect Ayoade and Hamm to like the food that I was going to feed them. After all, most westerners would frown, or their face turns simply sour when words like “offals” or “stinky tofu” come up. I’m used to that kind of reactions, but to hear someone commenting on the food you grew up with, with a sort of disdain/disgust/whatever-you-call-it in their voice, certainly caused an effect on me more than I expected. I knew the food would be too peculiar for their palates, but I was taken back when Hamm made such a comment. “Can’t you say that when I’m not around?” was probably what was circling on my mind as I stood like a baffled idiot next to these two men.

What I’ve also learned from filming with Richard Ayoade and Jon Hamm on Travel Man was that filming television is not as glamorous as one thinks. It was apparent that the two of them were exhausted from travelling and filming outside all day, and they didn’t fare too well under the heat and humidity in Hong Kong. They were both very polite and had small talks with me, and asked me various questions such as “when did you start running food tours?”, “which school did you go to?”, “Oh, you went to McGill? No wonder you have a Canadian accent”. I’m a huge fan of Richard Ayoade’s role in the British comedy IT Crowd and was surprised to find him very much an introvert, who would read his book at the corner of the street in between takes. That also explained why Hamm and Ayoade barely talked to each other while the camera was not rolling (sorry to disappoint all the YouTubers who commented how well the two get along). Oh, and Jon Hamm had an extra bite of stinky tofu and said it actually wasn’t that bad off camera. So don’t believe whatever they put on the show!........

https://medium.com/@heresaheart/on-filming-a-travel-show-in-hong-kong-with-jon-hamm