Joel Kim Booster

And, like, up till this point, like... I didn't know that standup would be like a place for me. Cause like when I was in high school, like the biggest name in standup comedy was Dane Cook and no disrespect to Dane Cook made me laugh, but like nothing about what Dane Cook was doing said to me, Oh, this is for you. You know? And like,

every time I'd been to a comedy club, it was like, I'd never felt like, you know, the joke straight. Yeah. No, I never felt like in on the joke with them. I felt like a part of the joke. So, um, and then I went and started seeing like really like all comedy in like bars in Chicago and like real and seeing people like Beth and Kumail and like, you know, people who were in Hannibal in Chicago.

every time I'd been to a comedy club, it was like, I'd never felt like, you know, the joke straight. Yeah. No, I never felt like in on the joke with them. I felt like a part of the joke. So, um, and then I went and started seeing like really like all comedy in like bars in Chicago and like real and seeing people like Beth and Kumail and like, you know, people who were in Hannibal in Chicago.

And I was like, Oh, this is what standup could be. I was like, I had no idea. And so I started doing it and doing well. And it slowly became like it started as this outlet for me to be like, get creative, get creative again and like sort of like, you know, feel like myself on stage. And then it just slowly took over and became way more interesting than anything else I was doing.

And I was like, Oh, this is what standup could be. I was like, I had no idea. And so I started doing it and doing well. And it slowly became like it started as this outlet for me to be like, get creative, get creative again and like sort of like, you know, feel like myself on stage. And then it just slowly took over and became way more interesting than anything else I was doing.

So I moved to New York like two years in to like really pursue it and like.

So I moved to New York like two years in to like really pursue it and like.

way you've lived a thousand lives it's crazy like you're just mastering talents and then moving on no i mean like you're mastering these skills and then you're like well i'm at the top and it's boring up here i actually wasn't at the top when i moved to new york in chicago in fact a lot of people told me they were like you're too green to go to new york yet like you haven't done yeah xyz show in chicago you haven't done this theater in chicago blah blah blah

way you've lived a thousand lives it's crazy like you're just mastering talents and then moving on no i mean like you're mastering these skills and then you're like well i'm at the top and it's boring up here i actually wasn't at the top when i moved to new york in chicago in fact a lot of people told me they were like you're too green to go to new york yet like you haven't done yeah xyz show in chicago you haven't done this theater in chicago blah blah blah

And the thing about that for me was is I kind of like figured this but like I moved to Chicago or to New York with a bunch of like the top people in Chicago at the time like people many classes above me. And the thing is no one gives a shit what you did in Chicago once you moved to New York. Yeah. You know, like we all started from zero. Yeah.

And the thing about that for me was is I kind of like figured this but like I moved to Chicago or to New York with a bunch of like the top people in Chicago at the time like people many classes above me. And the thing is no one gives a shit what you did in Chicago once you moved to New York. Yeah. You know, like we all started from zero. Yeah.

And for me, I was a lot closer to zero than some of these other people I moved with. So it wasn't as big a blow to the ego. I was like, oh, I'm going last at the open mic. That's my life in Chicago, too. No, I love that about you. Yeah.

And for me, I was a lot closer to zero than some of these other people I moved with. So it wasn't as big a blow to the ego. I was like, oh, I'm going last at the open mic. That's my life in Chicago, too. No, I love that about you. Yeah.

Yeah. And I always tell people move a little bit before you're ready.

Yeah. And I always tell people move a little bit before you're ready.

yeah before before the people you know above you say that you're ready or before you even feel ready right i think it it behooves you like you know to have like the base skill set but like you know i no one thought i was ready to move to new york and i'm so glad i moved to new york because i got a lot better a lot quicker yeah and like really you know honed in on um things and um yeah and the rest sort of history like i was in new york um grinding it out like doing a lot of open mics and just like slowly over time there like

yeah before before the people you know above you say that you're ready or before you even feel ready right i think it it behooves you like you know to have like the base skill set but like you know i no one thought i was ready to move to new york and i'm so glad i moved to new york because i got a lot better a lot quicker yeah and like really you know honed in on um things and um yeah and the rest sort of history like i was in new york um grinding it out like doing a lot of open mics and just like slowly over time there like

um started doing like festivals there was a time in comedy where every major city had a comedy festival yeah and like that was like a really exciting time in comedy i'm so lucky i came up when i did because it really did feel like the golden age of stand-up comedy and um so cool because like so many people were into it and like i don't know like there was the economy for every major city to have a comedy festival which is not the case anymore yeah and like

um started doing like festivals there was a time in comedy where every major city had a comedy festival yeah and like that was like a really exciting time in comedy i'm so lucky i came up when i did because it really did feel like the golden age of stand-up comedy and um so cool because like so many people were into it and like i don't know like there was the economy for every major city to have a comedy festival which is not the case anymore yeah and like

And, like, it's so funny because what I was doing back then in, like, 2014 was, like, considered alt comedy because I was, like, a marginalized identity talking about my life on stage.