Joel Kim Booster

Joel Kim Booster (born February 29, 1988)[1][2] is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents stand-up special.[3]

Joel Kim Booster
Born (1988-02-29) February 29, 1988
South Korea
NationalityAmerican
Alma materMillikin University
Occupation
  • Comedian
  • writer
  • actor
Years active2016–present
Websiteihatejoelkim.com

Early life

Joel Alexander Kim Booster (born Kim Joonmin) was born in Jeju Island, South Korea[4] and was adopted by an American couple as an infant.[5][6] He was raised in Plainfield, Illinois in a "conservative, white, Evangelical Christian family" and was initially homeschooled.[7][8] He went to public school for the first time when he was 16, which he described as his "first time being around non-religious people."[5] He knew he was gay from childhood but kept it a secret.[9] His senior year in high school, his parents found out he was gay by reading his diary where he had described his sexual encounters with other boys.[7] Kim Booster moved out and began to couchsurf until he stayed with a family friend.[3][8]

He studied theater at Millikin University for his bachelor's degree.[7]

Career

Living in Chicago, he took a job as a copywriter and began to perform in theater and write jokes after work.[3] Kim Booster began his stand-up career in an unconventional fashion by opening up for plays in Chicago's theater scene.[5] He moved to New York in 2014 to pursue a career in comedy.[5][8] He performed a set on Conan in 2016.[3] He then appeared in his own Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special in 2017. Kim Booster has also written for the shows Billy on the Street, Big Mouth, and The Other Two.[8]

On November 3, 2018, he released his debut stand-up album, Model Minority.[7] The material covers racism in the gay community, growing up Asian in a white community, and his own non-adherence to stereotypes about Asian Americans.[3]

Kim Booster has acted in various roles such as with Susan Sarandon in Viper Club, a YouTube original film, Netflix's The Week Of, on Hulu's Shrill starring Aidy Bryant. He co-stars as Jun Ho in the NBC comedy series Sunnyside.[10] In 2019, he co-hosted a digital series called Unsend with Patti Harrison on Comedy Central.[11]

Kim Booster is a regular panelist on the NPR show Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me! and has appeared multiple times.[12][13]

Kim Booster appeared on the December 8, 2020 episode of The George Lucas Talk Show with fellow guest Eliza Skinner.[14]

Kim Booster also co-hosts podcast Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster + Mitra Jouhari with comedian Mitra Jouhari under Earwolf.[15] Booster wrote the script for the upcoming gay romantic comedy film Fire Island.[16]

Personal life

Kim Booster is gay and often talks about his sexuality in his stand-up. He has stated that he knew he was gay before he knew he was Asian.[5] On July 21, 2020, Kim Booster announced he has bipolar disorder.[17]

He is also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America[18]

Accolades

Kim Booster was called a Comic to Watch by Variety[19] and one of Vulture's 20 Comedians You Should and Will Know,[20] and was named a Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment.[21]

References
  1. Kim Booster, Joel [@ihatejoelkim] (2020-02-27). "Democratic presidential nominees as POKEMON GYM LEADERS: jk I'm fucking thirty two years old but also if I did this it would pull huge numbers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. Kim Booster, Joel [@ihatejoelkim] (2016-02-29). "Today I have a real birthday and I've never felt more powerful. Leap Day energy courses through my body. I will destroy Sam Smith" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  3. Goodman, Elyssa; Trykowski, Tyler; Taete, Jamie Lee Curtis (2017-10-20). "Joel Kim Booster's Tough Journey from Closeted Gay Kid to 'Model Minority'". Vice. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  4. "Joel Kim Booster Is Adopting a New Asian American Identity". Glamour. 2021-05-25. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  5. Kozell, Isaac (2017-10-18). "Joel Kim Booster's Unlikely Path to Standup Stardom". Vulture. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  6. "🔊 Listen Now: 970 Transracial Adoption (w/ Joel Kim Booster)". NPR One. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  7. "Why you should be rooting for Joel Kim Booster in 2019". The FADER. Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  8. Prois, Jessica (2018-06-25). "Joel Kim Booster On Finding The Comedy In Hurtful Queer Asian Male Stereotypes". Huffington Post. Retrieved 2018-12-18.
  9. Schmit, Timaree (2017-11-01). "Asian-queer funnyman Joel-Kim Booster talks being both in the world of comedy". PhiladelphiaWeekly.com. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  10. Farwell, Eric (24 September 2019). "Joel Kim Booster Is a "Hot Idiot"—But That's Not All". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2020-05-04.
  11. Wright, Megh (2018-09-07). "Joel Kim Booster and Patti Harrison to Host a New Digital Series at Comedy Central". www.vulture.com. Retrieved 2018-12-24.
  12. "'Wait Wait' For Nov. 23, 2019". NPR.
  13. "'Wait Wait' For Feb. 29, 2020". NPR.
  14. "The George Lucas Talk Show Episode XVIII with Eliza Skinner and Joel Kim Booster". Youtube.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. "Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster and Mitra Jouhari". Earwolf. Retrieved 2021-01-27.
  16. Donnelly, Matt (2021-06-30). "Joel Kim Booster, Bowen Yang to Top Feature 'Fire Island' With Director Andrew Ahn for Searchlight (EXCLUSIVE)". Variety. Retrieved 2022-01-09.
  17. Joel Kim Booster [@ihatejoelkim] (July 21, 2020). "Hey I'm also bipolar, and it's especially troubling to me that it's only really discussed on here as a result of the episodes of high profile talents. I work and live and am medicated and am largely pretty happy because I have an incredible support system. That's that on that" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  18. https://twitter.com/ihatejoelkim/status/1293305587590033408
  19. "Variety Announces 10 Comics to Watch for 2018". Variety. June 14, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  20. Jesse David Fox, Jake Kroeger, Samantha Pitchel (2017-11-14). "20 Comedians You Should Watch". Vulture.com. Retrieved 2019-09-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. "30 Under 30 2018: Hollywood & Entertainment". Forbes. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
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