Joel Kim Booster

In this Korean name, the family name is Kim.

Joel Alexander Kim Booster (born February 29, 1988),^[1][2] born Kim Joonmin (Korean: 김준민), is an 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
Booster in 2018
Born	Kim Joonmin (1988-02-29) February 29, 1988 (age 37) Jeju Island, South Korea
Nationality	American
Alma mater	Millikin University
Occupations	Comedian writer actor
Years active	2016–present
Partner(s)	John-Michael Sudsina (2022–present; engaged)

Early and personal life

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 studied theater at Millikin University for his bachelor's degree.^[6] He is a member of the Democratic Socialists of America.^[8]

Booster is gay and often talks about his sexuality in his stand-up. He explained he knew he was gay from childhood ("before I knew I was Asian") but kept it a secret.^[4][9] During his senior year of high school, his parents found out his orientation 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.^[7][10] On July 21, 2020, Booster publicly shared that he lives with bipolar disorder.^[11]

On September 1, 2024, Booster announced on Twitter his engagement to John-Michael Sudsina in South Korea.^[12]

Career

2012–2017: Early standup career

Living in Chicago, Booster took a job as a copywriter and began to perform in theater and write jokes after work.^[10] His standup career began in an unconventional fashion by opening up for plays in Chicago's theater scene.^[4] In 2014, Booster moved to New York to pursue a career in comedy. Recognizing the dearth of quality comedic roles in film and television for Asian performers at the time, Booster took inspiration from the careers of Mindy Kaling and Aziz Ansari and decided to focus on establishing his own brand and identity through standup as a means to break into better acting roles later.^[13][4][7] He quickly found new levels of stand up success after moving to New York, performing a set on Conan in 2016 and filming a 30-minute stand up special for Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents in 2017.^[10] 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.^[10]

2018–2021: Expansion into hosting, comedy writing, acting

In 2018, Booster's acting career began to take off. Booster acted with Susan Sarandon in the YouTube original film Viper Club and was cast in Netflix's The Week Of. In 2019, he was cast as a recurring guest character in the critically acclaimed Hulu series Shrill starring Aidy Bryant and based on the titular memoir by Lindy West and co-starred as Jun Ho in the NBC comedy series Sunnyside, which ran for one season.^[14] Meanwhile, he started seeing similar success as a comedic writer and producer during this time period, writing for acclaimed comedies Big Mouth, Billy on the Street, and The Other Two.^[7]

He is a regular panelist on Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! on NPR.^[15][16] In 2019, he started the podcast Urgent Care with Joel Kim Booster + Mitra Jouhari with comedian Mitra Jouhari under Earwolf.^[17] Booster appeared on the December 8, 2020, episode of The George Lucas Talk Show with fellow guest Eliza Skinner.^[18]

2022–present: Hollywood breakout and mainstream success

Booster wrote and starred in the 2022 romantic comedy film Fire Island, streaming on Hulu and inspired by Pride and Prejudice.^[19] It is one of few mainstream gay films with a predominantly Asian American cast, and co-stars Margaret Cho, Bowen Yang, and Conrad Ricamora.^[20] 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).^[21][22][23]

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."^[24]

Accolades

Booster was called a Comic to Watch by Variety and one of Vulture's 20 Comedians You Should and Will Know,^[25][26] and was named a Forbes' 30 Under 30 in Hollywood & Entertainment.^[27]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	The Week Of	Airline Attendant
	Viper Club	Robbie	[28]
2022	Unplugging	Phil	[29]
	Fire Island	Noah	Also writer and executive producer[19]
2023	Urkel Saves Santa: the Movie	Clerk Gary (voice)	Direct-to-video
2024	Sweethearts	Ethan

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013–2014	Kam Kardashian	Joel	Web series; also writer[30]
	Funemployed	Charlie / Backup Dancer	Web series
2016	Conan	Himself	Stand-up set[30]
2017	Comedy Central Stand-Up Presents	Himself	Stand-up[28]
2018	Comedy Central's Thank You, Goodnight!	Himself
2019	The Other Two	—	Writer and producer[30]
	You're Not a Monster	Phantom of the Opera	Voice[31]
	BoJack Horseman	Maude's Ex-Boyfriend	Voice, episode: "The Face of Depression"[32]
	Sunnyside	Jun Ho	[32]
2019–2020	Shrill	Tony	Recurring role[30]
2019–2023	Big Mouth	Charles Lu	Voice, recurring role; also producer[32]
2020	Search Party	Peter	[32]
2021	iCarly	Alexavier	[30]
	Bob's Burgers	Life Coach Dane	Voice, episode: "The Pumpkinening"[33]
	Curb Your Enthusiasm	Hulu Executive No. 1	[34]
	Santa Inc.	Jingle Jim	Voice[35]
2022	American Dad!	Geric / Gold Top Nuts Son / Grocery Store Employee	Voice, 2 episodes[28]
	Joel Kim Booster: Psychosexual	Himself	Stand-up[24]
	Stand Out: An LGBTQ + Celebration	Himself	Stand-up set[36]
	Celebrity Jeopardy!	Himself	Contestant[37]
	The Great American Baking Show	Himself	Contestant
2022–present	Loot	Nicholas	Main role; also writer[38]
2023	Glamorous	Cliff
	Is It Cake?	Himself / Judge	Episode: "That 90's Cake"
2024	RuPaul's Drag Race	Himself / Judge	Episode: "Corporate Queens"
	Industry	Frank Wade	Episode: "It"
2025–present	Love Hotel	Himself / Presenter

Discography

• 2018: Model Minority^[7]

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
2022	Dorian Awards	—	Wilde Wit Award	Nominated	[39]
	Gotham Independent Film Awards	Fire Island	Ensemble Tribute	Won	[40]
2023	GLAAD Media Awards		Outstanding Film – Streaming or TV	Won	[41]
	Independent Spirit Awards		Best First Screenplay	Nominated	[42]
	Producers Guild of America Awards		Outstanding Producer of Streamed or Televised Motion Pictures	Nominated	[43]
	Primetime Emmy		Outstanding Television Movie	Nominated	[44]
			Outstanding Writing for a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie	Nominated

See also

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