Things could change soon for ‘nobody’ gay comedian
by Rob Howard
Associate Editor
Joel Kim Booster is a very funny guy. You can tell from his website, his Facebook page and clips of his performance on Conan. One of his shticks is that he’s a ‘nobody’. Probably not for long. The young stand-up comic, actor and playwright is working on Birthright, a new TV series comedy.
Booster is both the writer and the star of the comedy, which is loosely based on his life. “It centers on a child born in South Korea before being adopted by white, Midwestern evangelical parents,” according to Deadline.com. “When it comes apparent to all involved that he’s gay, the young fish out of water goes in search of his birth mother in the hope they can reconnect.”
Booster hasn’t shared many details about the developing series. A native of Plainfield, Illinois, he did share some information with the Plainfield Patch, saying “I don’t want to spoil too much, but he doesn’t stay in the Midwestern town for too long. I think he’s in it for maybe the first three minutes of the show and then he goes on.
“And it’s set in Ohio. Not Illinois. I didn’t want it to feel quite so beat for beat autobiographical and I love Plainfield a lot. I don’t think I necessarily sought to portray Ohio in a bad light, but I wanted to have more leeway to have fun with that town.”
“He performs on campuses often, and has grown to understand that he carries an identity that students ‘aren’t allowed to get mad at,’” said Amma Marfo on theinterrobang.com, writing about an interview with Booster. “While his comedy may be at times provocative and include words that other comics get lambasted for, his ability to reclaim some of those uncomfortable slurs puts him in a position that his peers often can’t.
“So rather than worrying about how his material will go over, he instead laments, ‘It’s mostly just that I’m a nobody so half the time those poor children don’t know who I am and don’t care to show up for me.’”
He already has had quite a career as a writer and actor. Booster was named one of the New Faces at Montreal’s Just for Laughs festival this year, and recently performed in the Fox Showcase. He has written for Billy On The Street and the pilot Problematic With Moshe Kasher.”
He also has penned episodes and appeared on web series Kam Kardashian. As an actor, he’s appeared on web series The Outs and feature And They Call It Puppy Love. His stand-up has been featured on Logo, Comedy Central’s 7 Minutes in Purgatory and Conan.
Looking at some of his routines, it’s clear that he is edgy, sometimes over the top but always hilariously funny. His fans already know what he is like and the rest of us will find out when the series is ready to launch. It is pretty safe to say that his days of being a ‘nobody’ are limited.
Copyright 2017 The Gayly – August 28, 2017 @ 9:30 a.m.