Joel Kim Booster explains why he’s not focused on being a frontrunner.
Joel Kim Booster has made a name for himself in the entertainment industry in recent years, most notably with his 2022 Netflix stand-up special Psychosexual, Hulu’s gay romantic comedy Fire Island, which he wrote and starred in, and his role on the TV series Loot.
“It’s hard because I’m not a person who got into this to be an advocate or a frontman or anything else — I just wanted to make people laugh,” he recently told People magazine. “Everything else is a byproduct. You can’t prioritize it. You can’t put the mission first, then the jokes, and then be successful.”
Joel Kim Boosters said it really makes him “uncomfortable” when people call him a “trailblazer” because he feels the term should be used to describe the comedians who helped pave the way for others. And especially those who came before him at a time when the LGBTQ+ community was not widely accepted. Also read – Bruce Willis’ Daughter Opens Up About His Health
“I started doing comedy at a very convenient time for someone like me,” he said. “It wasn’t easy, but there weren’t the same problems to entry as there were a decade ago.” Throughout his career, Joel Kim Booster said people he looked up to included Guy Branum, whom he described as “the godfather of gay male comedians,” and Margaret Cho, who he also played in Fire Island. “As a gay Asian man, I absorbed everything Margaret Cho did,” he said. “She has always been very quick. She didn’t wait for someone to open the door. She would knock on the door herself. That’s what I liked about her.”