Adoption no big deal to comic from L.A.

Kevin Shea.

Kevin Shea, 30, is always amusing. That comes as no surprise, as it is his job.

A resident of Los Angeles, California, Shea is hoping to climb his way up the professional stand-up comedy ladder.

Shea is an adoptee from Korea. He says being an adoptee has never been a big deal in his life. He compares it to puberty.

"Think about the confusion when you're a teenager," Shea said in an interview in Seoul last Friday. Shea came to attend the annual conference of GOAL, the biggest adoptee-support NGO in Korea. On Saturday, he displayed his comic skills in front of more than 300 fellow adoptees participating in the conference.

"You are a teenager, and you're confused. This [being an adoptee] is just another thing to be confused about," he said. "It could be a source of emotional upset, but personally, I am not. I have other stuff to worry about."

Shea has two siblings who are also adoptees. Maybe that helped him come to terms with his identity as an adoptee.

Shea said racial issues were a bigger concern for him, and dealing with that led him to become a comic.

"Growing up in a predominantly white neighborhood, you deal with a little bit of racism," he said.

"But instead of getting angry, I made jokes back."

After finishing school, Shea got an office job, and soon realized it wasn't the job for him.

He began to perform at open mics in small neighborhoods and is hoping to work his way up to bigger stages where he could join the likes of Dave Chappelle, a famous African American standup comic.

His lifetime goal is to succeed both on and off the stage.

"It is to be comfortable, make a good living and do stand-up - and someday have my own television show," he said.

By Moon Gwang-lip Staff Reporter [joe@joongang.co.kr]