fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Joel Alexander Kim Booster (born Kim Joonmin; February 29, 1988)[1][2] is a South Korean-born American actor, comedian, producer, and writer. He co-produced and wrote for Big Mouth and The Other Two and as an actor has appeared on Shrill, Search Party, and Sunnyside. In 2022, he wrote, produced, and starred in the Hulu romantic comedy Fire Island, a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice with a main cast of Asian American actors.

Joel Kim Booster
Born	Kim Joonmin (1988-02-29) February 29, 1988 (age 34) Jeju Island, South Korea
Nationality	American South Korean
Alma mater	Millikin University
Occupation	Comedian writer actor
Years active	2016–present

Early life and education

Born Kim Joonmin in Jeju Island, South Korea,[3] Booster was adopted by an American couple as an infant.[4][5] He was raised in Plainfield, Illinois, in a "conservative, white, Evangelical Christian family" and was initially homeschooled.[6][7] 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."[4] He knew he was gay from childhood but kept it a secret.[8] 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.[6] Booster moved out and began to couchsurf until he stayed with a family friend.[9][7]

He studied theater at Millikin University for his bachelor's degree.[6]

Career

Living in Chicago, Booster took a job as a copywriter and began to perform in theater and write jokes after work.[9] His stand-up career began in an unconventional fashion by opening up for plays in Chicago's theater scene.[4] He moved to New York in 2014 to pursue a career in comedy.[4][7] He performed a set on Conan in 2016.[9] He then appeared in his own Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents special in 2017. Booster has also written for the shows Billy on the Street, Big Mouth, and The Other Two.[7]

On November 3, 2018, he released his debut stand-up album, Model Minority.[6] 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.[9]

Booster has acted in various roles such as with Susan Sarandon in the YouTube original film Viper Club; on Netflix's The Week Of and on Hulu's Shrill starring Aidy Bryant. He co-starred as Jun Ho in the NBC comedy series Sunnyside, which ran for one season.[10] In 2019, he co-hosted a digital series called Unsend with Patti Harrison on Comedy Central.[11] He is a regular panelist on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on NPR.[12][13] In 2019, he started the podcast Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster + Mitra Jouhari with comedian Mitra Jouhari under Earwolf.[14] Booster appeared on the December 8, 2020 episode of The George Lucas Talk Show with fellow guest Eliza Skinner.[15]

Booster wrote and starred in the 2022 romantic comedy film Fire Island, streaming on Hulu and inspired by Pride and Prejudice.[16] It is one of few mainstream gay films with a predominantly Asian American cast, and co-stars Margaret Cho, Bowen Yang, and Conrad Ricamora.[17] The film received positive reception and was noted for its cinematography, faithfulness to Pride and Prejudice, and depiction of a loving friendship between Howie and Noah (played by Yang and Booster).[18][19][20]

In 2022, he released a stand-up special on Netflix called Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual. Abbey White of The Hollywood Reporter described the special positively: "...Psychosexual offers a hilariously biting deconstruction and reconstruction of Booster’s identity onstage; a repudiation not only of himself as a representative or “role model” for his various communities, but an affirmation that as a comedian, his only job is to tell jokes — regardless of whether that speaks to any community at all."[21]

In September 2022, he performed at Life is Beautiful in Las Vegas alongside EDM Artist and Actress Freya Fox , and comedians Atsuko and Andrew Lopez.[22] Fox, despite not being a comedian, participated in Booster's set by playing a game of "Guess The Comment: Kim Jong-Un or Joel Kim Booster? [23][24][25][26][27]

Personal life

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.[4] On July 21, 2020, Booster publicly shared that he has bipolar disorder.[28]

Accolades

Booster was called a Comic to Watch by Variety[29] and one of Vulture's 20 Comedians You Should and Will Know,[30] and was named a Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment.[31]

Discography

• 2018: Model Minority[7]

Filmography

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013–2014	Kam Kardashian	Joel	Web series; also writer[32]
2013–2014	Funemployed	Charlie / Backup Dancer	Web series
2016	Conan	Himself	Stand-up set[32]
2017	Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents	Himself	Stand-up[33]
2018	Comedy Central's Thank You, Goodnight!	Himself
2019	The Other Two	N/A	Writer and producer[32]
2019	You're Not a Monster	Phantom of the Opera (voice)	[34]
2019	BoJack Horseman	Maude's Ex-Boyfriend (voice)	[35]
2019	Sunnyside	Jun Ho	[35]
2019–2020	Shrill	Tony	Recurring role[32]
2019–2021	Big Mouth	Charles Lu (voice)	Recurring role; also producer[35]
2020	Search Party	Peter	[35]
2021	iCarly	Alexavier	[32]
2021	Bob's Burgers	Life Coach Dane (voice)	[36]
2021	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Hulu Executive #1	[37]
2021	Santa Inc.	Jingle Jim (voice)	[38]
2022	American Dad!	Geric (voice)	[33]
2022	Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual	Himself	Stand-up[21]
2022–present	Loot	Nicholas	Main role; also writer[39]
2022	Stand Out: An LGBTQ + Celebration	Himself	Stand-up set[40]
2022	Celebrity Jeopardy!	Himself	Contestant[41]

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	The Week Of	Airline Attendant
2018	Viper Club	Robbie	[33]
2022	Unplugging	Phil	[42]
2022	Fire Island	Noah	Also writer and executive producer[16]

See also

• Koreans in New York City
• LGBT culture in New York City
• List of LGBT people from New York City

References

External links

• Joel Kim Booster at IMDb
• Official Instagram

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