[Sportschosun, Kim So-hee] Comedian Lee Seon-min opened up about the despair he felt when 'People Searching for Laughter' was canceled, and why he later turned to YouTube.
On the tvN variety show 'You Quiz on the Block,' which aired on the 12th, Lee Seon-min, who rose to fame as a breakout comedian 10 years after his debut, appeared and spoke with host Yoo Jae-suk.
That day, Yoo Jae-suk looked back on Lee Seon-min's past and asked, "You were the runner-up in the 2016 SBS open recruitment for comedians, but unfortunately, 'People Searching for Laughter' was canceled just one year after you passed. How did you feel?"
Lee Seon-min seemed to find it difficult even to revisit that time, and he spoke candidly about how he felt.
He said, "I felt completely lost. I debuted in my late 20s and turned 30, and suddenly I was someone whose job had disappeared. After the final taping, I cried my eyes out."
He had worked hard to become a publicly recruited comedian after chasing his dream, but less than a year later, the program he belonged to disappeared. Losing his workplace overnight, just as he had turned 30, left Lee Seon-min feeling helpless.
Yoo Jae-suk nodded along and related to what Lee Seon-min was saying. He said, "At the time, no one could have imagined that comedy programs would disappear, so there was probably no way to prepare for what came next."
In fact, many people around Lee Seon-min were urging him to take a new path. Looking back, he said, "A lot of people around me suggested other things."
Some of those suggestions were unexpected. Lee Seon-min drew laughter when he said, "One professor even said, 'I'll get you placed in a company through connections.'" Yoo Jae-suk also burst out laughing at the word 'connections,' even though the situation had been serious at the time.
His family also encouraged a practical choice. Lee Seon-min said, "My father told me to come home and prepare for the civil service exam." He added, "When I heard that, I told him, 'Dad, it's too disappointing to end things like this. I want to show something before I leave,' and that led me to the world of YouTube."
In the end, the cancellation of 'People Searching for Laughter' became not an ending, but a new starting point for Lee Seon-min. When the familiar stage of broadcast television disappeared, he set out on his own to find a new stage on YouTube.
He cried in frustration and despair at the time, but his decision not to give up and to find his own path later became the turning point that changed his life. The YouTube work he started then has now spanned 10 years and become the solid foundation that shaped the Lee Seon-min of today.
Lee Seon-min later spoke honestly about how his income had changed.
Yoo Jae-suk asked, "Popularity and income usually go hand in hand, and I heard your income increased tenfold after you became a hot star."
Lee Seon-min explained, "If you just hear that, it sounds like I'm making a huge amount of money, but it's ten times my income right before 'People Searching for Laughter' was canceled."
He also warmed hearts by revealing that he had given his parents generous gifts with his increased earnings. He bought a massage chair for their home and gave his father a used SUV for his 70th birthday.
Lee Seon-min said, "I put a massage chair in my parents' home and bought my father a used SUV for his 70th birthday," adding, "My mother's 70th birthday is in October, but honestly, I already think I've given her a gift. I brought a senior comedian to my parents' home."
The 'senior comedian' Lee Seon-min was referring to was Yoo Jae-suk. Yoo's visit to his mother's home was, in itself, a huge gift, and Yoo Jae-suk laughed at the remark.
Yoo Jae-suk said, "Your mother hugged me especially tightly," recounting the moment and drawing laughter.
Lee Seon-min replied, "How could I possibly give a gift like that?" but added, "Still, I want to give them a good gift."
Kim So-hee, Sportschosun
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
