What’s In A Name? For Ed Pokropski It’s A Show About His Korean Roots

When people meet writer/producer Ed Pokropski they’re often surprised that the founder of the Asian Comedy Fest (ACF) doesn’t look as Polish as his last name might suggest. He’s used to it. The questions that inevitably follow such meetings prompted Pokropski to create a solo show that explores his experience of being a Korean adoptee. Pokropski, who works on promotional campaigns for NBC Universal, has spoken about workplace diversity, equity and inclusion in corporate settings. He also did some stand-up comedy on the side, before deciding to merge his materials into the one-man show, Ed Pokropski: Case 84: Adopted in the U.S.A.

“I just meshed those together to say, here’s my story,” said Pokropski. “Specifically the approach for this show is talking about how when I would go to a job interview—or even make a reservation for dinner—or I’m at a networking event and people have only heard my voice and seen my name, which as you know is Edward Pokropski.”

The questions he’s usually asked inevitably start with his name. How is your name Pokropski? Are you adopted? Did you know you were adopted? He did, actually. It was hard to miss.

“I broke down all the common questions, the top five, and how they kept coming,” he said. “I wondered why I was getting the same questions over and over again, and where those came from. And I wondered how the media shapes our collective understanding of things, in this case adoption. I tried to break that down through a lot of different ideas about pop culture and ideas about media and how adoption’s depicted in all those realms.”

Pokropski, who grew up in a blue-collar Irish Catholic and German neighborhood in Philadelphia, admits there was a time when he wasn’t curious about his origins. “There was a period of time when I didn’t want anything to do with Asian culture. I only wanted to focus on American culture. The idea of feeling like you are basically white, this comes up in the show. So whether it was something that I identified with or the way someone else identified me as saying I was basically white, that’s a theme that permeated my growing up and I was trying to understand what it means.”

Despite his early lack of interest, he ultimately traveled to Korea to learn about his background. That journey became part of the solo show that he’s performed in New York, Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. He often connects with communities of adoptees at the shows, although he notes that the feeling of not quite fitting in is pretty universal and wider audiences also relate to his story.

“I love when it’s a good mix of a crowd of adoptees and people who are not adopted,” said Pokropski. “Sometimes adoptees bring their family or friends, and it’s so great to have those conversations with people after the show and to hear how they felt. Everyone has kind of a different perspective on what they take from it. Adoptees tell me their story. And there’s similarities, but there’s big differences and that’s awesome. And then there are some people who are not adoptees, but they have someone in their life that is. They tell me they didn’t even think about certain things or we never had this conversation.”

Pokropski would not necessarily describe himself as a comedian. There’s a lot of pressure associated with having to be funny all the time. But he does use humor throughout his show, delivering painful truths about adoption with comic flair and plenty of pop culture references that include Superman, Free Willy and the k-pop group BTS.

‘When I think about the things that I like they are a mix of comedy and drama,” he said. “To me that’s what hits the most. “And when you find ways to infuse comedy in your storytelling it makes the dramatic moments and the poignant moments hit that much harder. And I do think it makes the comedy feel better too, because it’s a respite from the drama, so they work so well together.”

Pokropski will perform his next New York City show at 7 pm June 23 at Caveat, 21 Clinton Street.

ACF is a NYC-based international comedy fest dedicated to elevating diverse voices within the Asian and Pacific Islander community. The next ACF is in May 2024.