Joel Kim Booster

Episode notes

(Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

Joel Kim Booster is everywhere these days.

Fire Island, the romantic comedy he wrote and stars in, debuted last month on Hulu. It’s a modern retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and the first major studio romantic comedy to center gay Asian American leads.

His latest stand-up special Psychosexual is currently streaming on Netflix. In it, Joel discusses his fascination with human sexuality, the nuances of being gay and Asian and eating at P.F. Chang’s.

He’s also starring on the new Apple TV+ workplace comedy Loot. The premise is one we’ve seen a lot in recent headlines: a tech billionaire cheats on his wife after 20+ years, and the wife bounces back by publicly becoming a charity figurehead. Joel plays Nicholas, the faithful assistant to Maya Rudolph’s billionaire divorcee character Molly Novak.

Joel’s recent successes come as no surprise to anyone who has watched his career flourish. His 2018 debut stand-up album Model Minority is subversive and compelling. He takes the stage with a very distinct stage presence: goofy, confident, even kind of preposterously so sometimes.

He’s written for well-received shows like Big Mouth, Billy On The Street, and The Other Two. Naturally, his progression into acting has been met with similar rave reviews.

Joel talks with Bullseye about his religious Illinois upbringing, the parts of his career he’s most proud of and why he loves chain restaurants. Revisit this episode as Joel Kim Booster gets real with Jesse Thorn.

This interview originally aired in September of 2018.

In this episode...

Jesse Thorn

Host

Kevin Ferguson

Senior Producer

Jesus Ambrosio

Producer

Richard Robey

Maximum Fun Producer

Daniel Huecias

Maximum Fun Production Fellow

Guests

Joel Kim Booster

About the show

Bullseye is a celebration of the best of arts and culture in public radio form. Host Jesse Thorn sifts the wheat from the chaff to bring you in-depth interviews with the most revered and revolutionary minds in our culture.

Bullseye has been featured in Time, The New York Times, GQ and McSweeney’s, which called it “the kind of show people listen to in a more perfect world.” Since April 2013, the show has been distributed by NPR.

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