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Joel Kim Booster is an actor, comedian and writer who has risen in the comedy scene in the last decade. His humor is satirical with a bold confidence that knows when vulnerability is preferred. Joel draws a lot of that vulnerability from his own upbringing. He's Korean-American. He was adopted and raised by a white family in suburban Illinois. His upbringing was conservative and very, very religious.

Growing up home-schooled until the age of 16, Booster would say he lead a pretty sheltered life until young adulthood. It helped, at times, to shield him from some of the more insidious forms of bigotry that could befall a Korean-American gay kid living in a predominately white and abundantly evangelical Christian Midwestern town.

Joel's written for Billy on the Street, Problematic with Moshe Kasher and Netflix's Big Mouth. And as a standup, he's appeared on Conan, Comedy Central's @Midnight and more. These days he's starring alongside Kal Penn in the brand new upcoming NBC sitcom Sunnyside.

Joel talks to Bullseye about his experience growing up in an evangelical household, life lessons through the lens of The Backstreet Boys and how doing stand-up allowed him to find his own lane in comedy. And then challenge it! Plus, he talks about how a changing comedy scene is making room at the table for Asian comics like new Saturday Night Live cast member Bowen Yang.

Put the kids to bed and pick up Joel's album Model Minority here. It's really good.

You can catch him on Sunnyside later this month on NBC.

This interview originally aired in September of 2018.

This month’s episode is called The Recent Calls of Annabel Phipps written by Billy Finnegan (Grace & Frankie). It's an unconventional romantic comedy where Girl meets Boy, Boy very much doesn’t notice. Girl meets bus, Boy notices… sort of.  Billy developed this project for Fox with Fresh Off The Boat creator Nahnatchka Khan. 

Stay tuned after the table read for Andrew’s interview with Billy. Billy discusses his early transition from New York playwright to LA comedy writer, the development process of Annabel Phipps, and soooo much more. Enjoy!

For more Dead Pilot Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!
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Our dead pilot this month is Birthright written by Joel Kim Booster (Comedy Central, Conan). We recorded this one live from SF Sketchfest! Birthright is based in part on Joel’s real life. This outrageous and raw pilot centers on Joel Miller. Adopted by white, Midwestern evangelical parents, Joel "knew he was gay before he knew he was Asian". When he has a falling out with his adoptive parents, he goes in search of his birth mother. He assumes she is in Korea, but finds that the truth is way more interesting...

Before the table read, listen to Ben interview Joel about what he learned during his many rounds of development on this pilot for both Fox and Comedy Central. 
  
Come catch our live show at Dynasty Typewriter on February 10th at 2pm. We'll be reading scripts from Billy Finnegan (Grace & Frankie), Colleen McGuiness (30 Rock) and Johanna Stein (Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny)!

Our cast so far includes Noel Wells (Master of None), Nichole Bloom (Superstore), David Walton (New Girl), Mo Collins ( F is For Family), Brad Morris ( Seeking A Friend For The End of The World), Ian Gomez (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), and more!!

GET YOUR TICKETS HERE

For more Dead Pilot Society episodes and information about our live shows, please subscribe to the podcast!
Make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram, and Twitter, and visit our website at deadpilotssociety.com

New to Bullseye? Subscribe to our podcast in iTunes or with your favorite podcatcher to make sure you automatically get the newest episode every week.

Singer/songwriter and three-time Bullseye guest Jerry Williams is best known by his recording name Swamp Dogg. He started in show business as a kid. He put out his first song at the age of twelve with his mom playing drums. Then, in the 60s, he was a record company man. He worked A&R, produced bands, and wrote a few R&B hits.

He adopted the name Swamp Dogg in the early 70s and put out a bunch of classics: "Total Destruction To Your Mind," "Rat On!," "Cuffed, Collared & Tagged."

His music is straightforward soul with a hilarious psychedelic lens.

These days, more and more people are getting hip to Swamp's music. His old LPs have been reissued and he's still making music! He's closing in on two dozen albums now, and just put out a new one called "Love, Loss and Auto-Tune."

Swamp Dogg tells Jesse about what's it's like to for him to still be performing today and, a time he was mistaken for being a white musician.

Click here to listen to Swamp Dogg's interview on YouTube.

A quick warning: This next segment features some frank talk about sex. If that isn't the kind of thing you want to hear, just a heads up.

Joel Kim Booster is a writer and comedian. He's written for "Billy on the Street," "Problematic with Moshe Kasher," and Netflix's "Big Mouth." As a standup, he's appeared on Conan, Comedy Central, @Midnight and more.

He's Korean American and was adopted and raised by a white family in suburban Illinois. His upbringing was conservative and very, very religious - he was homeschooled until he hits his teens, and came out to his parents about being gay in his late teens.

In this interview, he talks to Jesse about his "hot" and "dumb" stage persona, his hopes for the afterlife, and the feedback he gets from other Asian American entertainers and his Asian American followers.

Joel's comedy album is called "Model Minority." You can find out the latest about Joel on his website: I hate Joel Kim.

Click here to listen to Joel Kim Booster's interview on YouTube.

In this week's Outshot, Jesse talks about the masterwork of a four-foot-ten-inch tall, 42-year-old, barely literate, Italian immigrant who wanted to make something big.

Click here to listen to The Outshot on YouTube.

In this episode, we learn about the time Jackie Kashian’s father hit on Maria Bamford...at Jackie’s wedding. To find out how Maria reacted, take a listen. Also, if anyone books a guest-starring role on NBC’s Speechless, John Ross Bowie will not only have your back, but he’ll show you where the craft service table is on set. Plus, if you ever wondered, “What’s it like growing up in the Theater District in New York?”, you’ll soon find out.

Do YOU Know the Difference?

Areas of Expertise
John Ross Bowie: The West Wing, Stephen Sondheim and 1986 New York Mets
Jackie Kashian: Marvel Comics since 2004, Romance Novels, and Chicken.

Appearing in this episode:

J. Keith van Straaten
Helen Hong
John Ross Bowie
Jackie Kashian

With guest experts:
Comic book writer, Mark Waid.

Former baseball player and current podcaster, Bobby Ojeda.

Go Fact Yourself was devised by Jim Newman and J. Keith van Straaten, and produced in collaboration with Maximum Fun. The show is recorded at the Angel City Brewery in downtown Los Angeles.

Theme Song by Jonathan Green
David McKeever is the Live Sound Engineer.
Maximum Fun's Senior Producer is Laura Swisher
The show is edited by Julian Burrell

BOOMTIME!

One of our favorite standups in the world hit the stage on Conan last night... and destroyed. As you'd expect. The man's a genius.

Sound of Young America and MaxFun favorites Daryl Hall and Jimmy Pardo get together for an episode of Jimmy's web series over at Team Coco.

The Sklar Brothers were on Conan this week to promote their new album "Hendersons and Daughters". Their time included some lovely analysis of Google searches and the problems that may result when you start hoarding episodes of Hoarders.

Jane Espenson (writer and producer for Torchwood, Battlestar Galactica, Buffy, Caprica, and Game of Thrones, amongst others) is developing a new web series called Husbands. It’s a classic newlywed comedy about two men who are dating and, while on a trip to Vegas, wake up to find themselves married. The first episode is expected on September 13th.

Donald Glover is preparing a one-hour special for Comedy Central called "Weirdo." The special will air on Sunday, November 20th and it will be his first full hour for television.

Ben Folds will be releasing a new anthology on October 11th called "The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective".

Jimmy Pardo was recently interviewed in SF Weekly. He talked about his early relationship with Bob Odenkirk as well as his favorite advice for young comics. Characteristically, that advice is very straightforward: "[w]henever people ask me for advice on comedy and how to get started in stand-up, there's no way to get started but to do it. Write down your ideas, things you think are funny. And then do it." Pardo will be joining Dave Anthony and Greg Behrendt this week on their podcast "Walking the Room".

Just in case you missed Louis C.K.'s most recent appearance on Conan last week, here's the clip. It includes great new material about murder and one highly unusual idea for a children's Halloween costume.