Joel Kim Booster Loathes Katya's Movie Recommendations (Part 1) with Katya

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Joel Kim Booster Loathes Katya's Movie Recommendations (Part 1) with Katya"

Released on October 15, 2024, "The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya" features a candid and engaging conversation between hosts Deborah and Baldwin, alongside special guest Joel Kim Booster. This episode delves into Joel's multifaceted identity, challenges in the entertainment industry, critiques of recent films, the impact of nepotism, and the complexities of modern dating and substance use.

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1. Introduction to the Episode

The episode kicks off with Deborah announcing the return of "Bald and the Beautiful" and introducing the special guest, Joel Kim Booster. Joel's presence promises a deep dive into his personal and professional experiences in the entertainment world.

2. Guest Spotlight: Joel Kim Booster

Joel Kim Booster opens up about his diverse identity, stating, "I'm gay and bipolar. Cause I needed another thing. I'm Asian, I'm gay, I'm adopted. I'm bipolar. I'm physically dyslexic." (02:39) This multifaceted identity sets the stage for a conversation that touches upon personal challenges and triumphs.

3. Navigating the Theatrical World

A significant portion of the discussion revolves around Joel's experiences with stage directions and his aspirations in musical theater. Struggling with terms like "stage left" and "upstage," Joel shares his fascination with staging:

"Most vapes contain seriously addictive levels of nicotine and disappointment. Know the real cost of vapes brought to you by the fda? Hi divas." (01:50) (Note: This appears to be an advertisement and is excluded from the main content summary.)

However, focusing on the main conversation:

Joel expresses his ambition to revive classic musicals, mentioning, "We're looking for a venue. It's happening in January, though. It's happening." (04:18) His collaboration with Shea Coulee, whom he reenacted roles with in high school, highlights his commitment to revisiting and revitalizing beloved theatrical productions.

4. Critical Reviews of Recent Films

Joel and Deborah engage in a spirited critique of recent cinematic releases, particularly targeting the live-action Mario movie. Joel bluntly states:

"I hated the Mario movie. And yes, I'm an adult man, so, like, it's not for me, you know?" (06:42)

Their discussion emphasizes the importance of meaningful storytelling over mere references to original game elements. They lament the lack of depth in Disney's current villains, yearning for characters with true malice rather than those symbolizing internal struggles:

"They can't give us Ursula anymore. They know that actors are stupid. They know that actors are stupid, and they cannot." (07:12)

5. Exploring the Horror Genre: Torture Porn Films

The conversation shifts to the horror genre, with a focus on "torture porn" films like Terrifier, Human Centipede, and the Saw series. Deborah shares her evolving perspective:

"It's torture porn is so realistic. It really, like, it really, it really, like, seriously takes." (10:41)

Joel adds nuance by differentiating between gratuitous violence and films that incorporate meaningful narratives:

"Some of the Saw movies, I do think, touch on, like, the narrative of those movies. Keeps it afloat in a way that other torture porn movies don't." (19:57)

6. Nepotism in Hollywood: The "Nepo Babies" Debate

Joel and Deborah tackle the contentious topic of nepotism within the entertainment industry. Joel articulates the inherent advantages that privileged individuals possess while acknowledging the necessity of merit:

"I'm sorry, I worked a little bit harder than Margaret Qualley. I don't know if that's crazy to say." (22:10)

Deborah reinforces the notion that talent must still shine through, regardless of one's background:

"Yeah, you gotta be good." (23:38)

Their discussion underscores the balance between recognizing systemic advantages and celebrating individual achievements.

7. Hollywood Dynasties and Legacy

The duo explores the allure of Hollywood dynasties, citing examples like the Hedren and Clooney families. Joel muses:

"They're really not star-heavy movies. Yeah, they really aren't." (27:53)

Deborah adds her admiration for multi-generational legacies in the industry, highlighting the enduring influence of established families.

8. Modern Dating and the Art of Kissing

Transitioning to personal relationships, Joel and Deborah delve into the intricacies of modern dating, particularly focusing on kissing techniques. Joel humorously critiques the perception of vaping:

"Vaping makes you look like a nerd. Get out of the street with your Tamagotchi ass. Vapor puffer." (58:10)

Their banter evolves into a discussion about the subjective nature of kissing, with Joel asserting:

"There is an objective standard for a good kiss." (42:24)

Deborah challenges this notion, leading to a playful debate on the qualities that define a memorable kiss.

9. Substance Use: Vaping, Smoking, and Beyond

A significant segment of the conversation addresses substance use and its ramifications. Joel shares his personal journey with smoking and vaping:

"I smoked from the time I was 15 until the time I would... ended up in the emergency room with pneumonia. Really, really bad." (54:15)

He discusses the prevalence of vaping in Los Angeles and its impact on social interactions, emphasizing the dangers of substances like fentanyl:

"That's why I have truly naloxone in every room." (50:02)

Deborah and Joel also touch upon the societal perceptions of different drugs, advocating for responsible use and awareness.

10. Closing Remarks and Tease for Part Two

As the episode nears its conclusion, Deborah and Joel reflect on their lengthy and candid discussion, setting the stage for a continued conversation in the next installment.

"We went so long. So we get to split up this episode. See you next week for part two with Joel Kim Booster." (60:05)

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Notable Quotes:

• Joel Kim Booster: "I'm gay and bipolar. Cause I needed another thing." (02:43)
• Deborah: "I have a very strong fear of clowns who had beards." (09:54)
• Joel Kim Booster: "They can't give us Ursula anymore. They know that actors are stupid." (07:12)
• Deborah: "Yeah, you gotta be good." (23:38)
• Joel Kim Booster: "Vaping makes you look like a nerd. Get out of the street with your Tamagotchi ass." (58:10)

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Conclusion

This episode of "The Bald and the Beautiful with Trixie and Katya" offers a raw and insightful exploration of Joel Kim Booster's experiences and perspectives. From the challenges of navigating the theatrical world to critiques of modern cinema and discussions on substance use, the conversation provides listeners with a multifaceted view of life in and around the entertainment industry. Tune in next week for part two, where the dialogue with Joel Kim Booster continues to unravel more personal and professional insights.

Transcript

[Baldwin]

This episode is sponsored by our friends at Green Chef, the first certified organic meal kit company. Green Chef brings the flavors of fall to you with fresh seasonal organic produce in every box. Plus premium proteins like organic eggs, sustainably sourced seafood and antibiotic and hormone free chicken. Even better, you don't have to guess what to make with your farm fresh items. With Green Chef's easy to follow recipes and pre measured and prepped ingredients, you'll be serving up a restaurant worthy meal in no time. With so many delicious fruits and veggies, ripe and in season, fall is the perfect time to dig into squash, cranberries, Brussels sprouts, green beans, maple and pumpkin. Ooh, pumpkin.

[Deborah]

Deborah.

[Baldwin]

You'll find these whole foods and more in Chef crafted recipes designed to celebrate the season. I made their Turkish Spiced Chicken tacos with lemon honey, crema, sug slaw and pistachios last weekend. It was so amazing that I literally ran out to the balcony and yelled at my neighbor Greg who was watering his plants across the street. I screamed at the top of my lungs about how great it tasted. And now, well, Greg is super into sug slaw and even put a long review of the Green Chef recipe on the front page of the neighborhood newsletter. So what are you waiting for? Be like Greg and go to greenchef.com bald50 and use code bald50 for 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next two months. Again, that's code bald50reenchef.com bald50 to get 50% off your first box plus twenty percent off your next two months. Green Chef the number one meal kit for eating well. This is the sound of your ride.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Home with dad after he caught you vaping.

[Deborah]

Awkward, isn't it?

[Baldwin]

Most vapes contain seriously addictive levels of nicotine and disappointment. Know the real cost of vapes brought to you by the fda? Hi divas.

[Deborah]

As you know, Tritzi is on break.

[Baldwin]

So I'm solo here on the podcast.

[Deborah]

To tell you that we are bringing.

[Baldwin]

You more Bald and the Beautiful live shows this fall. That's right. We're going to be in Baltimore, Providence, Columbus and a whole bunch of other east coast cities that I don't have on the script in front of me. But all tickets and info will be@trixian katyalive.com so get your panties in check for the best damn podcast you've ever seen.

[Deborah]

Wait, I'm just stopping right there because this is the thing that I do that I hate. I have to introduce you first before we start talking. Welcome Back to another riveting episode of Bald and Beautiful. I am bald.

[Baldwin]

He's beautiful.

[Deborah]

Please welcome Joel Kim, Booster.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Hello.

[Deborah]

So you're gay and bipolar.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I'm gay and bipolar. Cause I needed another thing. I'm Asian, I'm gay, I'm adopted. I'm bipolar.

[Deborah]

What else?

[Joel Kim Booster]

I'm physically dyslexic.

[Baldwin]

It's great.

[Deborah]

Wait, really?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah.

[Baldwin]

Physically.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Physically dyslexic. So it is a real thing? It means I have no natural instinct for left and right. So I am constantly still doing this. Get out. Like, all the time, dancing Choreo. It's a nightmare for me.

[Deborah]

Well, I can't. I still can't get stage right or stage left. I don't know what that is. I still don't know what it is.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Try. Try not knowing left and right already and then being asked to, like, put yourself in. Like, you know, like, it's just not.

[Deborah]

Take two steps to stage left, and I'm like, just point.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Just point.

[Deborah]

I still don't know what it is.

[Baldwin]

No.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And then I hate it. What is it? What is it? Stage. So stage. Okay, so stage left is if you were on the stage looking at the audience. Looking at the audience.

[Deborah]

It's to your left.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah.

[Deborah]

So as the director, it's to my right.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Right, right, right, right. So they're making it because they know that actors are stupid. They know that actors are stupid, and they cannot.

[Deborah]

And then downstage and upstage is tough, but that I know because it used to be, like. So downstage is towards the audience.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Towards the audience upstage.

[Deborah]

So upstage, stage right is going back into the left. No, no, to the right.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Wow. I don't know. I don't know. And I'll never have to know.

[Deborah]

Who cares?

[Joel Kim Booster]

I will never. Yeah. I don't think I'll ever be put in a position where I have to do that.

[Deborah]

Would you be in a Broadway show as a singer? As a lead male singer.

[Joel Kim Booster]

So here's the thing. Like, my entire career has been one long con to get stunt cast in a musical. Like, I want to be famous enough. Little shot. And can I tell you, I actually think. I think we can talk about this. It's in the early stages of right now. We're looking for a venue. It's happening in January, though. It's happening. Shea Coulee and I went to high school together.

[Baldwin]

Get out.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yes. We were in my senior year. Her junior year, we were in Little Shop of Horace together. I was Seymour. She was Audrey, too.

[Deborah]

Get out of here. The plant.

[Joel Kim Booster]

The Plant.

[Deborah]

Okay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And I. For years, we have been joking about, like, oh, we should do, like, a charity remount. But this is like, pre Drag Race, we were. We had this idea, and then post Drag Race, we were sort of, like, toying with it. And then, like, right. Pre Pandemic, Bob the drag queen was like, I want to produce that. And now he's much too busy to do it. But I was talking to this producer at O Mary who produced O Mary, and he was like, I want to do something with you. He was like, do you have anything quick and dirty that we could do? And I was like, quick and dirty?

[Baldwin]

Quick and dirty.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I was like, you want something quick and dirty?

[Deborah]

Quick and dirty.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You want something quick and dirty? Like, let me tell you this plan that I have, and it's me and Shay reprising our roles. And it was so funny because at the same time I was texting Shay, I was like, I cannot wait to see what the drag version of Audrey 2 is. I was like. I was like poison Ivy but pop star. And at the same time, Shay texted me Poison Ivy through the Rihanna lens. And I was like, wow, that is.

[Baldwin]

That's cunty. So perfect.

[Deborah]

That's cunty.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Like, it's gonna be great. And we're gonna cast it with a lot of, like, drag queens and queer. And I don't know if you know who Murray Hill is. I do. In New York, we're really trying to get him to play the dad. And it's early stages of planning. It is happening.

[Deborah]

Who's gonna be Audrey?

[Joel Kim Booster]

That's the question. That's the question. And it's like, do we get a CIS girl? Do we get a drag queen? Do we throw Marcia, Marcia, Marcia a bone? Do we throw Taylor Joy? Oh, yes, yes.

[Deborah]

Anya, Taylor Joy.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Anya Taylor Joy actually kind of might slay. That's the problem with her. Slay. That's the problem with her.

[Baldwin]

She always slay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

She always does slay. Except, I will say, as Peach, the Mario movie.

[Baldwin]

Oh, I didn't see the Mario movie. Why did that have to happen?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Terrible.

[Baldwin]

Why does Sonic the Hedgehog.

[Joel Kim Booster]

If you want to watch the Mario movie, just watch your nephew play Mario. It is a much more enjoyable experience than watching the Mario movie. And I will say this. Did you ever see the Mario movie in the 90s? The live action Mario movie? No, it's impossible to find. My boyfriend had to find it on German Netflix. We used a VPN to find it. And here's the thing that I will say, it is a historic flop. Like it is not a great movie. I will give it that.

[Deborah]

But is it watchable?

[Joel Kim Booster]

It's definitely watchable. It's definitely watchable. I would. I would recommend watching it even. Because here's the thing that's interesting about it is I would much rather have an adaptation that takes a big swing and like, really changes the world or really brings something to the world that the director and the writers are bringing, rather than the Mario movie we got, which is like, oh, isn't like, look at the reference that we're, you know. Oh, I get that reference. Oh, yeah, that's from Donkey Kong. You know, like, I fucking hated the Mario movie. And yes, I'm an adult man, so, like, it's not for me, you know?

[Deborah]

Yeah, I don't think any movie needs to be like, I think if you're going to make a movie, you might as well just make it really, really good.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, that seems like the logical.

[Deborah]

Like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

No, I mean for children's movies too.

[Deborah]

Like, that's. You have to make children's movies watchable for adults.

[Joel Kim Booster]

For adults too. Yeah. And they use. I used to think. I do think that used to happen a lot more than it's happening now. Because you know what I'm fucking sick of with Disney right now? I am so fucking sick of the lack of villains in Disney movies. Because, bitch, every fucking villain in every major Disney movie now is like your self esteem, you know, like. Or it's like. It's like. It's truly like, they cannot give us an Ursula anymore.

[Deborah]

They can't just deliver on pure evil.

[Joel Kim Booster]

They can't give us Jafar. They don't. They're too afraid to like, give us a real villain. It's always like your lack of belief in yourself. You know, it's like, fuck you. Fuck you. Like, give us the singing and dancing villains that are fierce, that we root. That we end up as little gay children rooting for over the ingenue.

[Deborah]

I agree. And get. You know, there's a film that I just watched where there is. No, I don't think there's any better example of a villain that is so villainous and so sadistic. Have you ever seen the terrifier movies?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay, I only know about this movie because of you. Because of you. And I won't.

[Deborah]

I'm talking. I'm gonna. This is the part where I'm gonna talk at you for a little bit.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Please go ahead because.

[Deborah]

Oh, God. The people listening to this are gonna probably just shut this off right now. The third one there's been Three terrifier movies.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And this is the Clown. The Clown.

[Deborah]

This is the Art. The Clown. First one is very bad. The second one is even worse. And the third was fantastic. And this is. It's a sadistic clown who.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It's torture porn is what you're selling.

[Deborah]

I want to say it's hostile and Saw are torture porn.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Human Centipede for me was where I really had to. Because here's my thing. If I wanted to watch a movie where two young girls scream in agony for 90 minutes, then, yeah, you know, I'd watch the Gilmore Girls. I don't need. I don't need human fucking centipedes for that.

[Deborah]

Yeah, it's. You know, I don't. For some reason, I don't group this film in because there's a plot or. There's definitely a plot. Well, I'm going to. Oh, this is a spoiler, I suppose.

[Joel Kim Booster]

But, babe, no one's seeing these movies. No one is seeing these movies.

[Deborah]

I'm going to.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I'm selling these movies for truly literal years on this very podcast. I'm a listener, I'm a fan. I have never once heard you talk about this movie and said, put it on the queue, babe. I'm going to. This is.

[Deborah]

Okay, major spoiler alert right now. I saw a sneak peek of this film. It's not out yet, but it probably will be by the time this airs. Anyways, there it is. It is very much torture porn, I would say. It's a gore. It's a. It's like a gore. A feast of gore.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay.

[Baldwin]

Feast of gore.

[Deborah]

It's a gore glut. Gluttony of gore. Torture porn is like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

There's an art to that. There is an art.

[Deborah]

Torture porn is so realistic.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. I think that it is about the girl screaming.

[Deborah]

Yeah, it's about the. It's like. It's a. There's a realism to torture porn where it really, really, like, seriously takes. It takes itself very seriously trying to depict very ultra realistic violence. Right. Like, there's a really squirmy kind of like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

But this is so schlocky. This is like buckets of blood. And it's kind of. The art is in, like how they did it. Yeah, Like.

[Deborah]

Yeah. I mean, it's like. So, for example, like a couple, a man and a woman are having.

[Baldwin]

Taking a shower.

[Deborah]

They're fucking in the shower.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay.

[Baldwin]

And Art the Clown comes in with a chain.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Not as easy as the movies make it seem.

[Deborah]

No, no. Stand up sex too is very challenging. And then, you know, the clown bus through with the chainsaw. And the chainsaw got like they, you know, he hacks the girl up into several pieces and then he sticks the.

[Baldwin]

Chainsaw up the guy's ass.

[Deborah]

And it's like none of this is implied. It's all very, very, it's right there up the ass. And then you see the dick and balls get sawed off and it's just like endless in your face. Crazy. And the packed audience cheered afterwards. They cheered afterwards.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You know I get that though because I would see that movie in a theater in a way that I would not watch alone with my partner. Like, I just like. Cause there is a catharsis when you're watching it with a group. Yeah. Where you are just like I could see myself getting excited.

[Baldwin]

This episode is sponsored by our friends at Green Chef, the first certified organic meal kit company. Green Chef brings the flavors of fall to you with fresh seasonal organic produce in every box. Plus premium proteins like organic eggs, sustainably sourced seafood and antibiotic and hormone free chicken. Even better, you don't have to guess what to make with your farm fresh items. With Green Chef's easy to follow recipes and pre measured and prepped ingredients, you'll be serving up a restaurant worthy meal in no time. Green Chef is celebrating the most wonderful time of the year when the air becomes crisp and we don our light jackets that are only useful for nine days out of every year as we start to see witches, ghosts and ghouls appear on our neighbors lawns. Why not celebrate the arrival of fall with some seasonal fall dishes from Green Chef? With so many delicious fruits and veggies ripe and in season, fall is the perfect time to dig into squash, cranberries, Brussels sprouts, green beans, maple and pumpkin. Ooh, pumpkin Deborah. You'll find these whole foods and more in Chef crafted recipes designed to celebrate the season. Embrace the cozy vibes and dig into no fuss. Recipes designed to make eating clean a decision that feels good and tastes even better. Plus, every week features rotating options to suit a variety of lifestyles including the science backed Mediterranean Diet, Keto plant based, gluten free, Calorie smart and more make clean eating manageable with 15 delicious, quick and easy meals to choose from every week, each ready in 25 minutes or less. I love saving time in the kitchen with premium ingredients that arrive prepped. Many even come pre chopped and ready to cook like pre measured sauces, spices and dressings. I made their Turkish spiced chicken tacos with lemon, honey, crema sug, slaw and pistachios last weekend. It was so amazing that I literally ran out to the balcony and yelled at my neighbor Greg, who was watering his plants across the street. I screamed at the top of my lungs about how great it tasted. I expected him to be annoyed, but he proceeded to ask me what suge slaw was. I replied, well, it's a delicious spiced green sauce originating from Yemen, made with herbs, lemon, garlic, olive oil, chilies and spices. It's orgasmic. And now? Well, Greg is super into shug slaw and even put a long review of the Green Chef recipe on the front page of the neighborhood newsletter. So what are you waiting for? Be like Greg and go to greenchef.com bald50 and use code bald50 for 50% off your first box plus 20% off your next two months. Again, that's code [e-mail] bald50 to get 50% off your first box plus twenty percent off your next two months Green Chef the number one meal kit for Eating well. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. You can't enter your neighborhood supermarket without seeing 450 items that are pumpkin spice flavored. In case the pumpkin spice sausage wasn't enough of a clue, I'll break the news to you that spooky season is upon us. It's that special time of year when we pop some buttery popcorn, invite that hot barista from the coffee shop over, and watch the vintage laserdisc copy of Mommy Dearest. Barbara Please, Please Barbara. And why do we look forward to the scene with Faye Dunaway running at her daughter with the wire hanger? It's because we all love to be scared. Whether it's for a campy 80s film about how insane Joan Crawford was or one of the new horror movies about creating a hot clone of yourself before your arms fall off, the act of being scared is ridiculously fun. But what if our fears don't involve the ghost of Joan Crawford haunting the set and terrorizing Faye Dunaway? What if those fears are real and not quite as fun as watching campy horror while snuggling under a blanket with your significant other? Therapy can be a wonderful tool for facing your fears and finding ways to overcome them. Because sometimes the scariest thing is not facing our fears and consequently being held back from living your best life. Therapy can help you face your fears in a healthy manner and eventually work to overcome them. I used to harbor a very strong fear of clowns who had beards. The clown part was fine and the beard part was fine, but when the Two are combined. It's the stuff of nightmares. Well, after years of therapy, I can now safely visit my Uncle Douglas in Medford, who became a full time birthday party clown after retiring. His stage name is Chuckleberry Finn. And if he decides to put on his costume at Thanksgiving, complete with red beard, I no longer find myself picking up the steaming hot turkey and throwing it at him in self defense. All because of therapy. I love BetterHelp because you can schedule sessions whenever and wherever it's most convenient. It's designed to work with your crazy life no matter how busy you are. BetterHelp never interferes with my burgeoning baked potato delivery service, which is great because I don't have time to drive to a doctor's office. I'm too busy making sure my customers get their baked potatoes hot and fresh. Listen people, if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Overcome your fears with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com bald today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.com Baldwin have you.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Seen the substance yet? All right.

[Deborah]

Oh my God. Are you. Motherfucker. Are you.

[Baldwin]

Listen, motherfucker.

[Deborah]

Have I seen the fucking substance?

[Joel Kim Booster]

I feel like water wet. I feel like we can't talk because it's so new. I want people to see it. I really do think that like we can't get into too many of the specifics. No, no, no.

[Deborah]

We gotta do spoiler spoiler alert on this one because I don't. I wouldn't want my experience spoiled of it because when I. The trailer came out many months ago and I heard some buzz from can about it and I was looking forward to this film a long. For a long time, maybe even a year or something. It was like the trailer came out and I was like, oh, this looks interesting. And I could not wait to watch it. And when I. I saw it in a packed theater, probably. No, by definitely, definitely the most wonderful movie going experience I've ever had.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Really?

[Deborah]

Oh yeah. I mean it was magical. Then I saw it again and then I watched her other two.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I don't know if I could see it again.

[Baldwin]

Did you. Did you hate it?

[Joel Kim Booster]

No, I really liked it. I really liked it. I do. I am not like a gore person, but it's utilized in such a way that like it's almost commenting on. It's like, I hate to be that person, but it's almost commenting on gore itself. And, like. And I think that the movie, the Met, like, the sort of POV of the movie is so strong because it isn't just a killer clown, like, eviscerating people with a chainsaw. There is, like, a point to it.

[Deborah]

Yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. I mean, in the same way that, like, honestly, I don't put Saw in the same category as Hostile or some of those other movies either. Some of the Saw movies, I do think, touch on, like, the narrative of those movies. Keeps it afloat in a way that other torture porn movies don't. Yeah.

[Deborah]

Like, I just rewatched Saw 10, which has a. I've not seen all of them. I know some of them are much worse than others. But saw10 has a very clear. Is a very clear revenge plot.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Right?

[Deborah]

Like, the guy gets. He gets. He gets got. He gets swindled, and then he gets revenge on all these people who, like, tried to. Whatever. And it's very systematic. And it's like. And it's like, you know, it's very clear cut. It's very satisfying, and it makes sense. And there's. There's a clear. Like, there are clear villains and there's a clear victim, even though he's the whatever. Do you know what I mean? Like, it's actually very watchable. It's disgusting. Yes. It's absolutely disgusting. But it's. Yeah. I don't know, this substance.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I. I mean, to me.

[Deborah]

Yeah. I mean, there's. And also there is a. There's an irony. There's like a kind of an elephant in the room. I think I've been. Because I've been watching, like, gobbling up every little bit of press that all the actors and the director have been doing. It's like.

[Baldwin]

Well, she took the substance.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Like, I don't.

[Deborah]

I don't mean to be disrespectful at all.

[Joel Kim Booster]

All.

[Deborah]

But there is a Met. There's like a. There's like a un. Kind of unspoken, like, meta. The quality to it that I'm like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

They're not trying to think of, like, a similar example where, like, it would be like. I don't know, it'd be like if Alec Baldwin did a movie where he, like, shot someone accidentally and then had to do press about it. And everyone's sitting there like. But, you know, it really.

[Deborah]

It got me. I'm like a. I have become a huge fan of Margaret Qualley, Andy McDowell's daughter.

[Baldwin]

Well, first of all, what do you think?

[Joel Kim Booster]

I did not know that she was Andy's daughter. Oh, yeah.

[Deborah]

Andy McDonald's daughter. What do you.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I don't know. She was Andy's daughter. What do you.

[Deborah]

Any thoughts about Nepo babies?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Do you care?

[Deborah]

Does it matter?

[Joel Kim Booster]

I think that there's an obvious advantage that a lot of Nepo babies have. But the thing is, it's like, if we're gonna go after Nepo babies, then I think we have to go after any sort of privileged kid that starts with an. Because, like, the thing is, like, when I was coming up, like, I was coming up, there are comedians that I know and love and who I think are brilliant and deserve the success that they had. But the fact is that while I was busy working 50 hours a week at a day job because I had to have health insurance and pay my student loans and my rent and then going to do open mics after that until 2am I had friends who didn't have to work or could work as a dog walker or could work as, you know, a temp or a nanny or something like that because they didn't need money to live. And it is. You just have to acknowledge. And I don't think that there's anything wrong with acknowledging that. I'm sorry, I worked a little bit harder than Margaret Qualley. I don't know if that's crazy to say. Like, clip that, clip that, clip that. That's our episode title.

[Deborah]

Fuck that Nepo bitch.

[Joel Kim Booster]

But the thing is, I do feel, though, there is, like, a certain element too, though, where you gotta show up if you're gonna be a Nepo bitch.

[Deborah]

Also, you just have to be good.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You just. You just have to be good. But the problem is, in this business, this is what I tell everybody who, like, wants to break in and is like, oh, but I'm so talented. And I don't know why it's struggling. It's like, babe, everyone's talented in this town. Every single person.

[Deborah]

Everybody's hot, everybody's young, everybody's talented.

[Joel Kim Booster]

So, like, use what you got to get in the door. Like, and if it happens to be because your Judd Apatows, your dad, then God bless you, you know? But just be good.

[Deborah]

Yeah, you gotta be good. And then, I mean, there also is. On the flip side, I do appreciate, like, the romanticism of, like, a Hollywood dynasty like Tibi Hedren. Or, wait, who is it?

[Baldwin]

So it's Melanie Griffith.

[Deborah]

Ingrid. No, it's Dakota. Melanie and Ingrid Bergman. Not. No, Tibi Hedren. Tibi.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Hedren.

[Deborah]

Tibihedron. And then Ingrid Bergman. Isabella Rossellini.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Something like that.

[Baldwin]

Control room.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. Type fast.

[Deborah]

I love when there's, like, three. I love it when there's three.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Well, the Clooneys famously, too. Dynasty. Hollywood Dynasty.

[Baldwin]

Who?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Rosemary Clooney. What? It was his, like, great aunt, I think.

[Deborah]

Oh, really?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Deborah]

Hollywood. Hollywood Dynasty.

[Joel Kim Booster]

There's a couple of really good. I think there's some great examples. I think Maya Hawk is usually pretty good in what I see her in. I think so. See, Bacon is great.

[Deborah]

I was just going to say she's great. She looks exactly like Kick and Kevin Bacon. Exactly. She's great. Although I gotta. This is so funny. I saw Smile twice. I'm ashamed of it. But there is a scene in that horror movie where her. She's a therapist and her boyfriend says to her, I googled mental illness. To her, she is a licensed therapist.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Oh, my God.

[Deborah]

And her boyfriend's. Because boyfriend is like, babe, listen, you're crazy because I googled mental illness and you're showing signs of it.

[Joel Kim Booster]

So I auditioned for Smile 2 several times.

[Deborah]

You didn't.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I actually got. I got pretty close. But part of the audition for Smile 2 is you just had to do the Smile.

[Baldwin]

Oh, my God.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Like, you had to do a take where you'd, like, look up and. I can't do it now. I can't do it now. It's too embarrassing. If I can find the clip. If I can find the clip, I will email it to you and you can just, like, insert, like, a little bit of my version of the Smile. It was so embarrassing. And I was on. I was on vacation. I was, like, in a house in ojai with, like, 12 of my friends upstairs screaming, like, in front of my laptop, like, trying. I'm going to try. I'm going to try. I'm going to try really hard.

[Baldwin]

I'm going to try. How do I do it?

[Deborah]

It's so. It is really corny. It is really corny.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It is really corny.

[Deborah]

I feel like it's like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And I think you. Part of it is, like, hiding.

[Deborah]

It's not this. It's a. It has to be like. But it's not. It can't be like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It's got to. You got to hide your bottom a little bit, too.

[Deborah]

I. I cannot. Mine is so bad. I cannot do it. I cannot. It's such a stupid.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I mean, I'm sure that's why I didn't get the part. They said, we can't yeah, we can't with these two.

[Deborah]

Beautiful. Yeah, nobody would ever believe the.

[Baldwin]

Oh, God, it's. It's such a. Oh my God.

[Deborah]

I don't know. I love that movie so much.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Well, you know what? And this is the thing. Like my next movie after, like, I'm gonna write a movie honestly, like, if I ever have a hope of writing a movie that will end up in theaters and actually make money, it's gonna. It's going to be a mid budget horror movie.

[Baldwin]

Okay, but why mid budget?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Because the thing is, is look at Smile. Megan.

[Baldwin]

Megan.

[Joel Kim Booster]

The one with her head Malignant. None of these movies. These movies were made for cheap and for two reasons. The reason I like this model is A, they get to do goofy shit like Malignant was goofy as fuck that. And B, they're the only movies casting unknown people in the leads.

[Deborah]

Yeah, that's true.

[Joel Kim Booster]

They're like not star heavy movies. Yeah, they really aren't.

[Deborah]

Yeah, it's. It is true. I mean, I. So the director of the Substance, Coralie Farja, has her first film is called Revenge. And I watched it yesterday for.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I heard it's great. I heard it's amazing.

[Deborah]

Great. It's great. I don't know any. I've never heard of any. But Matilda Lutz I think is the lead. Never seen her in anything. Don't know who she is. It's so bloody. It's. It's. I mean, it's really cunty.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You know who. I'm pissed I didn't get called in for who in the Substance, that gay fucking nurse at the beginning.

[Baldwin]

You would have killed that.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Are you kidding me?

[Baldwin]

You'd be a perfect candidate.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I'd love.

[Deborah]

Just one more.

[Baldwin]

One more test.

[Deborah]

Hold on.

[Joel Kim Booster]

One more.

[Baldwin]

Just.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I have something that can.

[Deborah]

It's long, isn't it? Seven days. That would have been me. I would have been perfect for that guy.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Oh, my God.

[D]

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[Deborah]

This episode is brought to you by Squarespace.

[Baldwin]

It is said that life without passion.

[Deborah]

Is like peanut butter without jelly.

[Baldwin]

It's pretty great on its own, sure, but together it's bliss. Everyone in life is passionate about something. Some people fix cars. Some people make pottery alongside the ghost of their boyfriend. Others leave their big job in the city to move back home and save their parents mulled Apple Cider company while simultaneously falling for the middle school dork who is now a hunky apple cider press repairman. For me, I've always been deeply passionate about competitive dog grooming. After years of practice, I can now turn any dog, large or small, into one of the golden girls. Want your Bichon Frise to look exactly like Blanche Devereaux? I can do it with my eyes closed. So I ask you this. What is your passion? And don't you think that the entire world needs to learn about it from.

[Deborah]

Your very own website.

[Baldwin]

Now is the time to sign up for an account at Squarespace. What is Squarespace, you may be asking yourself. Squarespace is the industry leading tool where you can make websites for pretty much anything, including how to properly turn a Shih Tzu's tail into that of a mermaid for a nautical themed dog grooming competition. And if you want to launch your website with an entire line of merch depicting chow chows as pandas, boom. Squarespace has your back. Squarespace has a massive portfolio of product features for whatever website you're looking to launch. And after you've launched, let's say you need help with marketing. Well, Squarespace has so many features to help drive sales and engage your audience with creative email campaigns that you'll be making a ton of money and flying to Compete in the 2025 Italian dog grooming Championships in Milan. And if you have some extra knowledge.

[Deborah]

That you think you can turn into.

[Baldwin]

Some extra cash, say some detailed information about how to deal with excessively angry Pomeranians, Squarespace can help you post online courses. That's right, Squarespace has all of the tools you need to create and sell your very own course and even set it up to be a one time payment and or subscription. You can even make checkout seamless for your customers with simple but powerful payment tools. The site can accept credit cards, PayPal and Apple Pay and offer customers the option to buy now and pay later with Afterpay and Clearpay. So go ahead and check out squarespace.com for a free trial and when you're ready to Launch, go to squarespace.comball to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. Again, that's squarespace.com bald to save 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain, this episode is brought to.

[E]

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[Deborah]

I mean, would you take the substance? I mean, how old are you?

[Baldwin]

30?

[Joel Kim Booster]

I'm pushing 40. Okay, thank you very much.

[Deborah]

Where are you pushing it towards.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Pushing it off.

[Deborah]

Wait, what exact 38?

[Joel Kim Booster]

30? No, I'm turning 37 soon. So listen, hey, that's late 30s.

[Deborah]

Yes, late 30s. Pushing 40 is 39, which is not a real age.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay, okay.

[Deborah]

39 is like a novel.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I always thought once you were in your late 30s, you were pushing 40. Because you're like getting closer to it.

[Deborah]

I think pushing 40 is like the.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Year of 39 anyways. 37. We'll say 37 for posterity sake. I don't think so. Because you know what's crazy? Okay, this is crazy. So I have been, I have been a presence online since like 2016, when my first Conan clip went viral, of course. And when your first clip goes viral, you're in the comments. You want to know what everyone is saying. You want to know everything, everybody.

[Deborah]

You're reading them.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I don't often anymore because this is the thing. After almost 10 years of reading the comments, I now know all six reasons why people hate me. You know, like that's the thing every. I know at least like on the, on the non conservative, like the homophobia.

[Deborah]

And the conservatives that doesn't like that.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Bounce off me like whatever, who cares? But like in terms of like gay people and normal people, like I know the six reasons why people hate me. Everything they say always fits in one of those six lanes. And so because of that, it's never new. It's never new and it's not interest. It like truly has drained the interest from me to look at it anymore because I'm like, oh, none of these people are saying anything new. Except the newest one is on some of my videos. I'm getting a lot of his plastic surgery looks crazy. He needs to fire his plastic surgeon. Why is he doing so much work to his face? He's fucking up his face. Why is he fucking up his face like that? Please slow down on the plastic surgery, bitch. I haven't even gotten Botox yet. I haven't even gotten Botox. Look at, look at this, look at this.

[Deborah]

That is like that. What a veiled. What a compliment in the form of an insult.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It's so weird. I don't know what about my face is giving filler or Botox or anything.

[Deborah]

Well, they're trying to comfort you but they're like throwing a jab. But they're secretly. But it's also like caressing your cheek.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, it's like, sorry I look the same that as I did 10 years ago. Like not my bad.

[Deborah]

Sorry I'm not ugly. You ugly.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You know what is crazy in LA is that like. And I, to full disclosure, I talk about this on stage right now. I have a whole bit about it. But like Gen Z. I don't know if which and if you are quick.

[Deborah]

See that's a Gen Z. We also got a shout out to Gen Alpha. Gen Alpha.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Gen Alpha.

[Deborah]

But can we clarify exactly which. What is the Gen Z cut off? Because I always get confused. I believe I'm a millennial.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay, so the oldest Gen Z, Gen.

[Deborah]

Z was born in 1997.

[Joel Kim Booster]

She's 27. 27, okay.

[Deborah]

Oh, shit.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, they're not aging well. Okay, I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

[Baldwin]

Really?

[Joel Kim Booster]

They. Listen, I love getting in. I love getting in an argument with a Gen Z person because they always love to go back to my age. They always love to be like, oh, but, Joel, you're like, you're pushing 40. You're pushing 40. Like, why are you arguing with me? You're pushing 40. And it's like, yeah, bitch, I know. That's why I look like this. What's your excuse? You know, like. And I read this article. It's because of the vaping, and it's because of the. All the TikTok skincare that they're doing. They're doing too much. And then here in la, I think there's a very specific problem that goes on where I'll get hit up on Grindr by someone who doesn't have their age listed. And I'm thinking 34, 35, tops. And then they come back with 24 because they're. It's the steroids. Oh, yeah. And it's the filler.

[Deborah]

Yep, yep, yep, yep.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And between the two, like, when you give your face the look of plastic surgery, it does. It can look good. But I just assume that you're at an age that you're getting plastic surgery.

[Deborah]

Yeah.

[Baldwin]

I saw a clip of I was.

[Deborah]

Watching Drag Race in my sewing studio the other day, and then it ended.

[Baldwin]

And then the show came on, and.

[Deborah]

I'm like, what is it? It was Sylvester Stallone in the show called Tulsa. And I was like, this voice is, like, sounding like it was like this dude, a mouthful of marble speaking, and I look up and I'm like, huh? I mean, sorry. I mean, I guess if we're making fun of stars, we have to say sorry. But whatever. He's so rich and whatever.

[Baldwin]

Doesn't matter.

[Deborah]

But it's just like that face. That dude is like 80. Check his age. I think he's probably 70.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Way he has any idea you exist.

[Deborah]

Exactly. And he never will. He never, never should. And he's better for it. But whoa. I mean, men's. Men's work in Hollywood is wacky.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It is crazy in la. The thing is, here's. People always love to talk about how LA has the hotter people than new than, say, New York. I Think that is completely wrong. Completely wrong. Because I think that what really they're saying is there's one type of hot in LA that everybody wants to look like, and in New York, there's a lot of different kinds of. I agree.

[Deborah]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I agree. I thought. I've been of the opinion for a while now that I think NL this is just a theory and it's probably wrong, but there. That the most attractive thing, the most attractive quality you could have is not necessarily hotness. It's novelty. It's that you. They haven't fucked you yet.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Sure.

[Deborah]

So that's. So you are more attractive. You know what I mean?

[Joel Kim Booster]

No, absolutely. And I think too, like, LA is such a monkey's paw situation, because in LA you can have sex with some of the hottest people you will ever meet and it will be so bad because they have never been given a note in their entire lives. And you are like. You are fucking an Adonis and you're like, no one has ever told you that this doesn't feel good.

[Deborah]

Yeah. Or that this kiss thing is a little bit strange or whatever that, like. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, that. Yeah. I mean, would you rather, if you had to have.

[Joel Kim Booster]

If you had to kiss somebody who was bad, a bad kisser? Which, by the way. Wait a minute, you go, you go. Here's the thing, though.

[Deborah]

There's only two people in a kiss, so what is a bad kiss?

[Joel Kim Booster]

No, I. I'm not down with that. Okay? No, everybody, every. There is an objective standard for what a good kisses. I'm sorry. There is. There is an objective standard for a good kiss.

[Baldwin]

Okay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And if you had to have a bad kisser, would you rather have someone who gives you nothing, who's just. Who's just doing this the whole time, or eat your face or fully.

[Deborah]

I would absolutely go for the face eat.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Deborah]

The enthusiasm.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Right. At least. That's passionate.

[Deborah]

Yes.

[Joel Kim Booster]

At least you can interpret that as passion.

[Deborah]

Yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

The other one, I'm like, what are you hiding?

[Deborah]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. What's the. With the. What's the. There's nothing sexy about reticence because then it's like, it gives a flavor of like.

[Joel Kim Booster]

That is a common kissing technique that I experience in la.

[Deborah]

Really?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yes. They give you. They won't let you in. They. They will not let the right one in.

[Deborah]

So many walls up.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It is so crazy.

[Deborah]

Intimacy coach. They need an intimacy coach. Yeah, I know. I had. I had a very, very satisfying sexual encounter with a guy and in. In somewhere in Europe on tour and he almost. At one point, he, like. It got so intense, the eating of the face. Like, it was like. Almost like the. The monster at the end of Smile, where, like, the mouth is just almost gonna, like, envelop my whole. And he was a. And it was really crazy, but I loved it.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I see. My problem with it is mostly vanity because I do have adult acne. And every. I cannot get out of when someone's eating my face. I'm like, well, here comes the breakout. Here comes the breakout. I was like, I don't know where that mouth has been. There's breakouts.

[Deborah]

I mean, the mouth is absolutely a sewer.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. Oh, God. Especially if you go, like. If you're in these downtown raves with a dark room and they come out, you don't know where the mouth is.

[Deborah]

So wait, are you. So are you kissing in a dark room? What's the laugh for? We're talking about gay stuff.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. If you can't respect our culture, then you need to leave. You need to get out.

[Deborah]

You need to go into a dark room and, you know.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. I mean, I guess the kissing happens before you go in the dark room, and then once you're in the dark room, you're on to other things. I think I have probably made out at least a little bit prior to, like, you know, engaging in other things. But I will say, and I'm sure you understand this now, it is no fun anymore to be in a public gay space.

[Deborah]

I have never really. No, I. What?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Again, what?

[Deborah]

I can't think. I have been. I have. There have been very few instances where I've been in a public sex scenario where there are more than three. I'm trying to think where there's more than three. I think. I've never been to an orgy.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay.

[Deborah]

Oh, never been to an orgy. I am, too.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Even in. Even in your most. Even when you were hanging with Tina, you never went to an orgy?

[Deborah]

Especially not that.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Because. Really? Yeah.

[Deborah]

Because when you're dealing with drugs, especially meth, you get. There's. So You're. You're opening up the door to so many outrageous variables. It's not worth it, I guess, because.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I will say my only experience with men who are using tea is when I've seen it happen at an orgy. And I've never. Never once. It's so strange. It's not in my, like, in the, like, outer circles in my social circle, at least from what I know.

[Deborah]

Okay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And it's very possible that. That I just don't know about it and it's happening.

[Deborah]

I think it's that one because I've. What I've. What I've observed in LA at least, I mean I don't know about everywhere else, but it's still like the drug that is very. Not admitted, not talked about.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Sure.

[Deborah]

People are totally fine and open about like G.K.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Molly.

[Deborah]

Molly, yeah. Everything else. I don't know what else there is.

[Joel Kim Booster]

2C, 2C, B, anything like any kind of psychedelic acid, mushrooms, et cetera.

[Deborah]

All that stuff is like. It's very. There is no stigma at all to it.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I will say I have a lot of friends who put G on the same level as T, which is crazy to me because I will self admit like I have not been drunk since 2022 because I prefer G and I know the thoughts and opinions on it. But the thing is, I do think there's a lot of confirmation bias around G because the only people at the party that you know who are on G are the people who are violently falling out and ruining the party for everyone. Meanwhile, you don't realize that 70% of us are setting our timers and responsibly. I've never fallen out. And I'll tell you one other thing. I would much rather deal with a friend who's lightly falling out because they get a little sleepy than someone who's blackout fucking drunk trying to get them out of my bar.

[Deborah]

No. And then they're. Yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Pulling TVs off the wall like pissed.

[Deborah]

In themselves, shitting themselves.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Truly. I had a friend who forgot which hotel. He's rich. I forgot which hotel in New York he was staying at and just checked into the Standard because he couldn't remember how to get home.

[Deborah]

Like. Yeah. I mean I think alcohol, that's my.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Thing is like I get. If you are going to be sort of a purist about substances, then let's be consistent.

[Deborah]

Yeah, sure, sure, sure, sure.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And let's be real about like what we're dealing with here. Everybody should be doing it responsibly. Everybody should never be doing it alone. Like et cetera. I don't want to. I'm not advocating for anything but I'm just saying.

[Deborah]

It really sounds like you are though.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I know, but like some of those, like if you're type A, like G is for spreadsheet people. G is not for some of like it's not for some of these loosey goosey like girls who like. Because it is totally counterintuitive to every other substance you've ever done. If G is you do it. I don't feel it. You wait an hour, you do it. I still don't feel it. You wait an hour, you do it. Suddenly you feel it. But with every other substance it's like, I don't feel it. Let's do more. Wow.

[Deborah]

So you can get in a lot of hot water really quick. Yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

You have to trust the process. And that is the, that is the thing. Yeah.

[Deborah]

What most I, the, the, the thing about my experience with G is that it's, is that it's always in. Used in concert with tea.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Oh, really?

[Deborah]

Yeah. Like every tweaker I've known does them both.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Interesting.

[Deborah]

Yeah. Because it's like there's a.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Properties, it's a downer and then aphrodisiac.

[Deborah]

And it's because obviously math is the most potent stimulant you can get your hands on. And then G the counteracts it, but they both synergistically create that aphrodisiac quality.

[Joel Kim Booster]

And the thing is, any drug user, any casual drug user in LA right now who is looking down on people who do meth. I'm sorry, we're all doing a little bit of meth. We're all doing a little bit of meth. I'm sorry. Look at the testing, look at the testing on the Molly. Look at the testing on the coke. Look at the testing on any of the drugs you're doing. And none of it is pure. A lot of it has meth in it. And, and look at the.

[Deborah]

If you just, if you just google the most commonly prescribed medications for children, teenagers and adults, I'm sure that some version of amphetamine salts is probably around 20 to 30. Oh yeah, it's top 20.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It's a full on shortage. And my boyfriend, who actually needs it, who, who really, really does, I'm not like, just. I'm not one of those people who's like selling my boyfriend's Adderall. Like he really needs it so that.

[Deborah]

I can get it to sell it.

[Joel Kim Booster]

But no, he actually, he really does need it and in a way and it's like impossible for him to find and it's really frustrating. And the reason why there's a shortage is because everyone's afraid to do coke because of fentanyl. And it's like one of those things where it's like, oh, you've taken the wrong lesson. It's like, oh, we're too afraid to do coke because of fentanyl instead of not doing anything.

[Deborah]

It's so crazy. That is so evil to Me, it's crazy. That's the real horror movie happening is that you're at a party, you wear in a leather jacket, you got slicked back hair and you're 26, you're really hot, and then you go into the bathroom, you do a little bump and then you have. You're having a little cocktail and all of a sudden, boom, you're dead.

[Baldwin]

Fentanyl?

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. And that's so bad. That's why I have truly naloxone in every room. I don't know these bitches that are coming over, I don't know, what if they've tested their shit? I don't know what dealers they're coming from.

[Deborah]

Just because, because I've been to rehab and like a few times and there's like, it's. It's almost like salt and pepper at this point. But every room's a kitchen, so it's like everywhere. But it's like, so.

[Baldwin]

It's so scary.

[Joel Kim Booster]

No, it is. And I am like, I'm so glad that, like my partner, my partner is six years younger than me and he started partying way before I did. Like, I started probably partying in the way that I party now around, like 26, 27. He started when he was like, that's.

[Deborah]

A really responsible age.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Oh, well, because I was too poor to afford to do it the way I wanted.

[Deborah]

But you were also raised really religious.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Well, yeah, but I moved out when I was 17.

[Deborah]

Okay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

So, like, I, you know, I've been on my own since I was 17. So that has nothing very little to do with it. In fact, had I had money at that point, I think my life would have gone a much different way. But, like, luckily I started doing it when I was like, pretty, like, had a good handle on myself and et cetera. And he started when he was younger. And we're reaching the end point, I think, together.

[Deborah]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Like, we are both now sort of like, we don't need to go to every party. Like, let's have a game night. Let's like, you know, it doesn't, like. I would much rather. Because the fact of the matter is with LA is you are forced, forced when you go to these parties to be surrounded by people who, you who are horrible. And I resent, I resent having to be surrounded by people who are horrible for the sake of being where in a downtown warehouse so I can have a little fun and dance to music that I like.

[Deborah]

Now, you gotta explain to me the.

[Baldwin]

Appeal of this warehouse party. That's about 400 degrees.

[Deborah]

Like the oven on broil and like, packed like sardines with people who are.

[Baldwin]

On the brink of unconsciousness.

[Joel Kim Booster]

How many of you have these have you been to?

[Deborah]

I will say no.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay.

[Deborah]

It's just I get the reports after.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of them can be that way. A lot of them are the samey. Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, whatever. I'm usually parked outside unless the DJ is someone that I really love. Like Trixie Mattel.

[Deborah]

Yes. Oh, my God. Wait in line.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Where's my camera? Trixie? Unless it's Trixie Mattel, you're camped out. You know, I like. I love house music. I love disco house music especially. So it has to be upbeat. Like, do not play me this rainbow road ass fucking last lap music at the end.

[Deborah]

What does that mean?

[Joel Kim Booster]

What is this, like, this electronic music that is just like, you know, it's like pots and pans bullshit. Like, I don't like it. Yeah, but. But I'm always just outside.

[Deborah]

Okay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Used to be vaping. Now smoking.

[Deborah]

Yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Oh, we can talk about this.

[Deborah]

Let's talk about. Talk about it.

[Joel Kim Booster]

So. Smoked for seven years. Smoked from the time I was 15 until the time I would. Oh, no, no. Smoke from the time I was 15 to the. So eight years. I smoked from 15 to 23.

[Baldwin]

Okay.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Ended up in the emergency room with pneumonia. Really, really bad. So you had decided to quit.

[Deborah]

Decided.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Quit cold turkey. And honestly, it was the easiest decision I made.

[Deborah]

Because of the illness.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Partially because of the illness and partially because I was just at a point in my life where I was like, you know what? I'm done. Flash forward 10 full years, I meet my boyfriend, and it's post pandemic. And I really do feel like pre pandemic, you weren't seeing vapes. You would see juuls. You'd see juuls. But in the amount that you now see vapes out and about, the disposable. Vapes, diable. That was not a thing pre pandemic. And now they're everywhere. And he got me into them, but.

[Deborah]

They are truly everywhere.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Everywhere.

[Baldwin]

Every.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Every game.

[Deborah]

Your grandmother's vaping.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah.

[Deborah]

Your grim. Like you go to an open casket funeral that courts.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I was when I was vaping, ingesting, I'm sure a hundred times more nicotine than I am smoking my three or four cigarettes a day now. I swear to God.

[Deborah]

Now the thing I want to. Oh, o. I want to. You know how they make like the New York Times or whatever they like.

[Baldwin]

Correction from last week's article. Blood is not blue.

[Deborah]

Also, nicotine is not. Not in. Of itself that bad. Like, the chemical nicotine. Like, nicotine is actually, like, stimulating.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yes. Keep going, Keep going.

[Deborah]

Yeah, I think that's it.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Okay. I was gonna say it is all the other stuff in it. And in fact, I think a lot. They've some studies because it's all fresh and new. I think the chemicals in disposable vapes and. Vapes and stuff like that, that it's a lateral move from smoking. And in fact. In fact, might be worse because you are ingesting more than you would normally because it's all day, every day. You're inside, you're at the movie shirt.

[Deborah]

I'm on planes.

[Joel Kim Booster]

I'm on planes, committing a felony. Blowing my vapor into the fucking, like, toilet.

[Deborah]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Also that I can taste. Beach day. Get the fuck out of here.

[Deborah]

Yeah. Pink Skittles.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Get that.

[Deborah]

Yeah. 37 years old. Like, oh, my pink Skittle.

[Joel Kim Booster]

So I got my wisdom teeth. My wisdom tooth out. Cause I was only born with one. And I had to. I had. How is that process? Because I'm evolved.

[Deborah]

Cause I'm, like, nearly perfect.

[Baldwin]

Whatever.

[Deborah]

Now I'm perfect.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Had my wisdom tooth out. Had to quit. My boyfriend and I were finally like, okay, this is it. We're gonna stop. And then I did pretty well. We were doing the nicotine patch. He struggled a lot worse with it because I'm on a very high dose of Wellbutrin, which is a smoking cessation aid in general, anyways. And so I wasn't feeling as bad. Meanwhile, we go to Korea. Every moment I am not with him, I'm like, I'm gonna go to 711 and get us some drinks. Do you want something? Smoking, smoking, smoking. Thinking he doesn't know at all. Okay. Thinking he doesn't know at all.

[Baldwin]

You can't hide cigarettes.

[Joel Kim Booster]

No, no. And he hates it. He hates it. He makes him nauseous. The smell makes him nauseous. It's truly disgusting.

[Deborah]

It is for people who don't smoke.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Except. Except. Okay, let's say this. Let's be real here about smoking for a second on this podcast, because we don't talk about this. Smoking makes you look cool and sexy. Okay? And those two things alone, they offset the health issues.

[Deborah]

I'm gonna disagree with you.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Vaping makes you look like a nerd. Get out of the street with your Tamagotchi ass. Vapor puffer.

[Deborah]

Like, tantalizing.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah. It looks so stupid.

[Deborah]

It looks really weird. I. They're the kind of vaping I remember going to. I went to treatment in Arizona where people. This was back in, like, this is almost 10 years ago ago. Like, not. Not like six, seven years ago. They were doing carburetor vapes. Like, do you know the rigs? The rigs, they look. Literally look like it's like this big.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Deborah]

And they're like. And then plumes, like, enormous plumes of vape smoke, like. Like engulf the whole room. It's like. It's wild.

[Baldwin]

It's almost, like, competitive.

[Deborah]

It's like. It's crazy, crazy, crazy. But I think you're right. The. The little flume or the colorful.

[Joel Kim Booster]

They have the. I think it's geek bar now. Has all the metrics on the side. The little, like, screen. It is a Tamagotchi.

[Deborah]

Yeah, it is. It's.

[Joel Kim Booster]

It's very fucking door.

[Deborah]

You have, like, a girl's toy. Put it away.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Like. And I'm saying that now as a smoker because I don't want to see it anymore. I don't want to see it. I want to get started on it again.

[Deborah]

Outlaw them.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, but the thing is, no one's checking that.

[Deborah]

Nobody's checking.

[Joel Kim Booster]

No. And if you go in and you don't look like a cop.

[Deborah]

Oh.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Like, I go in, I walk into my crop top, and they're not. They're like, okay, here they are. You know, I mean.

[Deborah]

You know what really rattled me, though, is that David lynch, the director, announced that he has emphysema from years and years of smoking.

[Joel Kim Booster]

Yeah, I think about that. I think about that a lot. It's sad that, like, that I gave myself asthma. I gave myself asthma in my late teens, early 20s because of it. And it's why I can't do cardio. Like, cardio. I mean. Yeah, no, it's just about lifting. Whatever. Yeah, but, like, it's fine. But, yeah, you know, it is strange, but. So you've never done group sex.

[Deborah]

My lovely conversation with Joel Kim Booster. We went so long. So we get to split up this episode. See you next week for part two with Joel Kim Booster.

[D]

Sa.