Introduction
Joel Kim Booster (born February 29, 1988) is an American actor, comedian, and writer. He is best known for his Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents stand-up special.
Early life
Kim Booster was born in South Korea and was adopted by a white American couple as an infant. He was raised in Plainfield, Illinois in a conservative, Evangelical Christian family and initially was home schooled. 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." He knew he was gay from childhood but kept it a secret. 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.Kim Booster moved out and began to couchsurf until he stayed with a family friend.
He studied theater at Millikin University for his bachelor's degree.
Career
Living in Chicago, he took a job as a copywriter and began to perform in theater and write jokes after work. Kim Booster began his stand-up career in an unconventional fashion by opening up for plays in Chicago's theater scene. He then moved to New York in 2014 to pursue a career in comedy. He performed a set on Conan in 2016. 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.
Kim Booster has appeared with Susan Sarandon in Viper Club, a YouTube original film, Netflix's The Week Of, Hulu's Shrill starring Aidy Bryant, and the third season of TBS's Search Party.
On November 3, 2018, he released his debut stand-up album, Model Minority. 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.
As of March 2019, he also co-hosts a digital series called Unsend with Patti Harrison on Comedy Central. He is also a writer for The Other Two, which premiered in January 2019.
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.
Acclaim
Kim Booster was called a Comic to Watch by Variety and one of Vulture's 20 Comedians You Should and Will Know, and was named a Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment. Comedy Bang! Bang! host Scott Aukerman thinks he is cool.