A FEAR DUMP Ft. Joel Kim Booster | Episode 166

The incredible and hilarious Joel Kim Booster is here this week!! Joel and Drew talk being labeled as an “alt comedian”, getting unsolicited notes on Fire Island, how Joel met his fiance on vacation, college quidditch teams, managing call centers, eating salad with confidence, Drew gets extremely jealous that Joel was on The Great American Baking Show, and so much more. Shop Billie in-store and at https://www.mybillie.com https://www.mybillie.com/ Joel IG: https://www.instagram.com/ihatejoelkim/?hl=en Joel Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@joelkimbooster?lang=en Follow The Comment Section on IG! https://www.instagram.com/thecommentsection/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy https://acast.com/privacy for more information.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:31Speaker 01

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• 1:03Speaker 02

  And an action movie would be fun, too. You know, I'd love to be in a big, stupid, like, I'd love to, actually, I really want to be like the IT, like, the tech hacker guy in the van while they're, like, doing the thing and be like, I'm in, you know?

• 1:15Drew Afualo?

  Like, guys, you're gonna want to see this.

• 1:18Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

• 1:22Drew Afualo?

  I see it now. It's perfect. The vision is so clear to me.

• 1:31Drew Afualo?

  Hey, everyone, and welcome back to another episode of the Comment Section Show. Sorry, me, your fave, everybody knows me. Who cares about me? Onto the guest today. We have the iconic, the talented, the legendary Joel Kim Booster. Woo!

• 1:45Speaker 02

  Thank you so much for having me.

• 1:46Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh, thank you for coming to the show.

• 1:48Speaker 02

  I'm so excited. I hope your listeners know that you do shoot in a haunted elementary school.

• 1:53Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I do.

• 1:54Speaker 02

  Many different sets.

• 1:55Drew Afualo?

  Right. I'm a man of many hats, you know? I'm also the principal of a haunted school. So, you know, I'm so busy. I was like, that's why I moonlight as a TikToker. That's my main job. But I'm glad you said haunted elementary school, because the last person who, every time they go look, they get scared over there, because it's obviously scary.

• 2:15Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 2:16Drew Afualo?

  But they're, one of my friends told me, she goes, "It looks like porn."

• 2:21Speaker 02

  Wow, that's a little fucked up that I went to Hansdale Elementary School and then some it's like a Rorschach test, you know, like whatever you see is like what you are inside, I guess.

• 2:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you found out ENFJ over there.

• 2:36Drew Afualo?

  Well, I'm so excited to have you. I think you're an icon.

• 2:38Speaker 02

  Oh, thank you so much.

• 2:39Drew Afualo?

  And I've been trying to nail you down for a while.

• 2:41Speaker 02

  Oh, my gosh.

• 2:42Drew Afualo?

  Right. I've been chasing Joel for a minute.

• 2:44Speaker 02

  I'm so honored. And I'm a little horny now.

• 2:47Drew Afualo?

  Nipples hard.

• 2:48Speaker 02

  Love to hear that. Nail down and chase.

• 2:51Drew Afualo?

  Period. But obviously, I know you as a very successful producer, writer, actor, obviously, stand-up comedian, speaking of a man of many hats. But I do, for people who aren't unfamiliar with your lore, I would like to know how you got into entertainment, how you got into show business in general.

• 3:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, listen, I have always loved attention, like we all do.

• 3:12Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 3:12Speaker 02

  And I was like a little ham as a kid. And I remember seeing my sister in a school play. And like, I was like, I don't know, like six. And I was just like, I want to do that. And literally, from that point forward, that was all I was ever wanted to do, really. Like, there was a brief moment where I wanted to be a youth pastor. So.

• 3:34Drew Afualo?

  You said.

• 3:34Speaker 02

  That was a brief moment.

• 3:35Drew Afualo?

  Don't know what that was about.

• 3:36Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And then I came out and quickly shift gears back over to wanting to be an actor. And like, I went to theater school.

• 3:45Drew Afualo?

  Love.

• 3:46Speaker 02

  For performance, like musical theater, I did like, one summer of professional, like summer stock musical theater, and realized very quickly, I did not like it enough to want to do it.

• 3:55Drew Afualo?

  Really, T?

• 3:56Speaker 02

  Well, because here's the thing, like, I realized, like, I'm an okay actor, I was an okay singer, could not dance to save my life, physically dyslexic, do not know left from right. And I was like, oh, I'm not good enough at this specific area. Like, because the thing is, I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, and like, Broadway, and like, musical theater, and like, community theater, like, that kind of stuff was like, my only access to, that's like, my only conception for how you would be an actor.

• 4:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, like entertainment, right.

• 4:25Speaker 02

  Doing musicals, and like, doing that stuff, and being on Broadway. And I soon realized, like, oh, I'm not good. Enough at this, like I was good enough to get into the school and I was good enough to like, you know, get parts in high school and stuff like that, but like on a professional level, I was like, I'm not gonna be competing with people who could actually like blow the roof off this place.

• 4:41Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, you're like, this isn't my team.

• 4:43Speaker 02

  As an, as a, and like, as a young person, as a twenty something and like trying out for Broadway roles, you're only ever gonna get cast in the ensemble and that's if you can dance, you know?

• 4:52Drew Afualo?

  Right, I see.

• 4:53Speaker 02

  So I'm fucked. So I went back to school.

• 4:55Drew Afualo?

  Oh, drop that dream.

• 4:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so I went back to school and I changed my major to playwriting.

• 5:02Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 5:03Speaker 02

  Um, because I was like, you know, I've always been interested in writing as well and I um, had started to write like, uh, plays that I would direct at school in the student theater. And that's, and it just felt more sort of, um, I don't know, gratifying to me in a lot of ways, because I was, because like I did my first one and everyone was like, wow, that was so great. And like, no one had ever reacted to me that way after seeing a performance of mine. So I was like.

• 5:29Drew Afualo?

  You're the high I've, the high I've been chasing.

• 5:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And no, honestly. And so, uh, for the rest of school, I, I was doing that. I was still like, uh, taking performance and acting classes and stuff like that, but just like sort of dropped the dance in the scene. And, um, and was just writing and like, I went, I moved to Chicago because my first full-length play right out of college was being produced as a part of the Fringe Festival out there, which

• 5:53Drew Afualo?

  So cool.

• 5:53Speaker 02

  was cool. And I just stayed and there's a, there's a really vibrant like storefront theater scene in Chicago. It's really amazing. And, um, the more I got successful in the scene and the theater scene in Chicago, the more frustrating it would get, because like I would be doing these like really like indie like plays, like at like sixty seat theaters.

• 6:15Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 6:15Speaker 02

  Getting paid like twenty-five bucks a performance, like that kind of thing.

• 6:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 6:19Speaker 02

  But then as I slowly started to like get, you know, more successful in that area and get called into like shows at Steppenwolf or The Goodman or something like that, like the big theaters. This was like, hmm. Fifteen years ago, like, so it wasn't, we were not having the conversations about diversity and casting that we're having now. And so the more higher up the parts that were, the less interesting they became. They became more about like, just like caricature-y and like, just not interesting parts, you know? And so, um, I was working on a play called Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche as a writing assistant. It was an original play and it's exactly what it sounds like.

• 7:00Speaker 02

  The comedian Beth Stelling was starring in that play and she's like a, a pretty big comedian, especially if you're a comedy nerd like right now. And she was the one who was like, you know, you write and you perform, you should try stand-up if you're really frustrated with like, you know, what you've, the parts that you're getting called in for. She was like, you can just like, do it yourself. And she was the first person to suggest that. And like, up till this point, like, I didn't know that stand-up would be like a place for me. Cause like, when I was in high school, like the biggest name in stand-up 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.

• 7:38Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly, yeah.

• 7:40Speaker 02

  Every time I'd been to a comedy club, it was like, I'd never felt like, in on the joke.

• 7:45Drew Afualo?

  That disgusting, straight white guy energy, yeah.

• 7:47Speaker 02

  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 alt comedy in like bars in Chicago. And like real, and seeing people like Beth and Kumail and like, you know, people in, who were in Hannibal in Chicago. And I was like, oh, this is what stand-up 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 like outlet for me to be like,

• 8:14Drew Afualo?

  Get creative again.

• 8:15Speaker 02

  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, uh, to like really pursue it and like,

• 8:27Drew Afualo?

  The way you've lived a thousand lives is 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. It's time to find something else.

• 8:40Speaker 02

  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, X, Y, Z 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, is no one gives a shit what you did in Chicago once you moved to New York. You know, like, we all started from zero. 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.

• 9:19Drew Afualo?

  No, I love that about you. I love that you're like a deep end diver.

• 9:24Speaker 02

  And I always tell people, move a little bit before you're ready. Before the people, you know, above you say that you're ready, or before you even feel ready. I think 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. And like, really, you know, honed in on, um, things and, um, yeah, and the rest is 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.

• 10:03Speaker 02

  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,

• 10:12Drew Afualo?

  That's so cool though.

• 10:13Speaker 02

  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, not the case anymore.

• 10:23Drew Afualo?

  And it gives you the ability to kind of like, uh, even, I feel like when you do comedy at the time that you were doing it, it was like, it was coming out of this like Dane Cook like era where it's like all straight white guys, I fucking hate my wife, type energy. And then you were right there where it's blossoming into so much more.

• 10:41Speaker 02

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

• 10:50Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:51Speaker 02

  Um, and it's so funny.

• 10:51Drew Afualo?

  Cause you weren't talking about hitting your wife.

• 10:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, I was referred to a lot as an alt comedian and I came up with a lot of like true, actual alt comedians like Julio Torres.

• 10:59Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 10:59Speaker 02

  And like, people like that. And like, it was so funny, cause like, what Julio was and is doing is alt. Like, it is very much left to center. What I was doing was like standard, like storytelling, like, you know, observations about my life and the lives of others. And it was just happened be- because I was gay in Asia and people lumped me in with the, the Brooklyn alt scene and.

• 11:19Drew Afualo?

  They put you under other.

• 11:21Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, and the thing is, is I, I did feel more comfortable doing those rooms.

• 11:25Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, totally, for the audiences.

• 11:26Speaker 02

  For the audiences.

• 11:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 11:27Speaker 02

  You know, because like, it was like people who were like into comedy and like comedy nerds and like were not, like, were just interested in like, are you funny?

• 11:35Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, not, can you, how bad can you punch down for forty minutes straight? Yeah.

• 11:39Speaker 02

  Um, yeah, and at one of those, uh, comedy festivals in Portland, I randomly, that's where my eight, my manager saw me. For the first time, at like performing a ten minute spot at a gay bar, bar in Portland. And like, I got back to New York and he called me and he was like, let's meet. When I'm in New York and, um, I, I saw your set and I really enjoyed it. And this is what I will always say to people. Who asked me like, what can I do to really like make it? Like, how did you get where you are? Like, how did you do it? And the thing is, is I always say like, you cannot create the moment that the door opens for you. All you can do is be ready for when that moment happens and be prepared. Because when I sat down with that, my manager, who's still a manager to this day.

• 12:22Speaker 02

  He said, the set was great. Do you have, um, a tape of you doing like fifteen minutes? Do you have a spec script? Like a, a writing sample? Do you have like X, Y, Z things? And I was able to say like, no, no, truly, but like, the thing was, is I was sitting at my day job on my lunch break, writing that script.

• 12:40Drew Afualo?

  Look at you.

• 12:41Speaker 02

  You know, running around the city with like my my fucking digital camera, like making sure that I got those clips. And I was able to say like when he when he sat down with me, like he was basically saying like, are you ready to go? And I was able to say, yeah, like, let's do this. Like, here's all my my my multitudes in front of you.

• 12:58Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 12:59Speaker 02

  And so like, that was really and like, everything else like just sort of like started to happen right after that.

• 13:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 13:06Speaker 02

  And so, yeah, it's just like you can't, you you have to be, you know, it's so random how it happened. Like, you know, of all the places for him to be hanging out that night, like watching the show.

• 13:16Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 13:17Speaker 02

  And like, yeah, it's just like, it's so random, but you control how prepared you are for when it happens.

• 13:23Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 13:23Speaker 02

  You know, and it's hard. It's hard to do that work when no one's asking you for it yet.

• 13:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, it's hard to keep going.

• 13:29Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 13:29Drew Afualo?

  And doing it. I've, it's not the same by any means either, but I've I feel like for mine, I've told people something similar. But more specifically, in the same kind of vein, I've been like, you have to like really want to do it.

• 13:41Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:41Drew Afualo?

  Because like, sometimes people are like, I'll just quit my job and just do this full time.

• 13:45Speaker 02

  No.

• 13:45Drew Afualo?

  Don't do that. Right? Don't don't do that. I'm like, I remember.

• 13:49Speaker 02

  Baby, no, not in this economy.

• 13:50Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, not in this economy, especially not in this economy. And I've told people before, I'm like, don't do that. Like, because if you really want to do it, you'll make time.

• 13:57Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:57Drew Afualo?

  Like, you'll find the time to do it, to keep going, to keep pursuing, regardless of what people say or do or whatever.

• 14:04Speaker 02

  And I mean, like, you say it's different, but like, it is very similar being like what you do with social media and stuff like that. Because like, listen, you were putting stuff out on the internet before anybody gave a shit about you.

• 14:15Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, that's true, yeah.

• 14:16Speaker 02

  And and it takes like a lot of time to build that momentum and get to where you are now. And like, I think like, I'll respect you for that because like, I tried to do the social media thing and during lockdown, like, I was like, oh, I need to pivot to TikTok. And boy, do I not, that is a different skill set. That is a different skill set that I do not possess, and so I respect you all the more.

• 14:38Drew Afualo?

  My brain is rotted from the inside of tar on the inside of my brain. Crack it open and like melted chocolate on the inside.

• 14:44Speaker 02

  But like, no, I don't, I don't, I don't have it. So, um, you know, um.

• 14:49Drew Afualo?

  I think that's wonderful, though. I do have a question. When it comes to writing, did you notice a big difference when you wrote for like theater? Stand up and like the movie like movies or TV shows like is there a main difference other than obviously like? Subject matter.

• 15:04Speaker 02

  I will say like um. Stand up is very different. I use a very different part of my writer brain for stand up than I do when I'm writing scripts. I will say like the like the transition from like plays to screen writing like wasn't that big of a leap. Like you can be a little bit more dynamic and a little bit, you know, in certain ways and you can be a little bit more experimental and theater like. Sort of like the confines of like theater make it really exciting to write for because like. It's like if you want to do something really interesting and this is my thing about theater now is like. I don't want to see a play where it's just like two people talking and like somebody's cutting vegetables and doing laundry like like these like.

• 15:42Speaker 02

  Cause I'm like, this could be a movie, like anything that I'm like, this could be a movie like what makes it so immediate and so special as a play as a piece of theater? Like, cause it's like I see so many plays where it's like, oh, you wanted to be your screenplay, you know? What about it like makes it special in this space like in front of a live audience, you know, like what can you do like work around that? And so I, you know, it's it's different in that regard, but like the fundamentals are the same in screenwriting and playwriting.

• 16:13Drew Afualo?

  And then for a stand up, you said you use a completely different.

• 16:15Speaker 02

  Yeah, cause it's like I go up and I like, I'm not somebody as a stand up who like sits in a coffee shop and like writes down the jokes verbatim in my notebook. And then goes on stage and says them, you know, word for word from the notebook. Like I write down little like premises and ideas and thoughts and things like that. And then so much of my writing process as a comedian is about writing on stage like I get up on stage and like I have very little. Idea where I'm going when I'm working out new material and so much of it is about like working in conversation with the audience. Figuring out what the joke is and what the angle is and what the funny thing about whatever I'm talking about is. And like I it's just I record every set and I listen to it back and I said, oh, hey, that hit and then I write it down, you know, and then I like start to like craft it.

• 16:58Speaker 02

  A little bit more. So it's a little bit less precise than I think like.

• 17:01Drew Afualo?

  There's like a little bit more room to play improv.

• 17:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:04Drew Afualo?

  Kind of. Oh, that's so interesting.

• 17:06Speaker 02

  Cause I do, anybody who's seen my show, like I do a lot of crowd work.

• 17:09Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:10Speaker 02

  Um, which is my, one of my favorite things to do.

• 17:12Drew Afualo?

  I've seen a lot of your crowd work on TikTok.

• 17:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 17:14Drew Afualo?

  And it wasn't posted by you, someone else was just clipping it.

• 17:17Speaker 02

  I love to hear that, cause I don't know how. And, um, yeah, and I think like, the thing is about like, this is like, we are living in the moment where every comedian is posting crowd work clips. Like, everybody's got to, and I understand that like, it's a necessity. I'm very lucky that I did not come up in an age where I had to post content of myself doing stand up, whether it be a joke that you're burning for the internet or crowd work that you're posting because you have to put out like a new clip every week and you don't want to burn that material.

• 17:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 17:47Speaker 02

  But I see a lot of crowd work where I'm like,

• 17:51Speaker 02

  okay, if the audience member that you're talking to is getting the bigger laugh and is being funnier than you are, then you're posting an L on your timeline right now. Like, even when I'm doing crowd work, like, I am in control. I make sure that I'm saying the funny thing.

• 18:04Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly.

• 18:05Speaker 02

  In response to whatever they're saying.

• 18:07Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 18:07Speaker 02

  Not like letting them be the interesting.

• 18:10Drew Afualo?

  You working me at my show?

• 18:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, it's like, and I like, listen, that has happened to me before too, but I don't post it online. Nobody needs to know.

• 18:19Drew Afualo?

  That's why I take it back.

• 18:20Speaker 02

  Needs to know.

• 18:23Speaker 02

  So, yeah.

• 18:23Drew Afualo?

  That's actually so true.

• 18:25Speaker 02

  I have a lot of sympathy for comedians who are coming out now who, who, who, who need to do that, but I'm also like, baby, like, let's, let's, let's really examine the material that we're posting here.

• 18:34Drew Afualo?

  Also, I feel like, cause I've loved stand up for so long, like, that's been one of my favorite art forms of entertainment for a long time. And unfortunately, when I started loving stand up, a lot of the comics didn't age well over time, where I was like, right, okay, that's a bummer. Um, but now, like you said, I, there's been a whole new wave of comedians who are not, you know, making punching down jokes all the fucking time and being offensive for the sake of being offensive. Which I find refreshing and thankful, I'm thankful for, but I think a lot of times, like what you said about TikTok, sometimes, as wonderful as it is, it also can poison the well in a lot of ways. So now, anyone who tells a joke that makes anybody kinda.

• 19:16Drew Afualo?

  Thinks they can do stand up and then on top of that, they think stand up, all stand up is, is purely just crowd work.

• 19:21Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:22Drew Afualo?

  And nothing more.

• 19:23Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 19:23Drew Afualo?

  Which I was like, you're crazy.

• 19:25Speaker 02

  Well, and it's interesting, like, talking, I mean, like, we, we talked about it earlier, but it is a different skill set.

• 19:30Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 19:31Speaker 02

  And I feel like, I feel bad for a lot of these people who got, came up doing front facing, like comedy videos on TikTok.

• 19:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 19:39Speaker 02

  And now we're being asked, or think it's expected of them to do stand up in tandem with that, because the touring is really lucrative. You know, like, it's a great way to, you know, to, to get money doing what you love, but it is like, it's so different. And I, I recently was on a show where I was backstage and this very, I found out, like, very big TikToker was hosting the show. And it was funny, cause he had no fucking clue who I was and I had no idea who he was. And, um, but he was like, talking to me and he's like, yeah, this is the first time I've ever performed live in front of an audience. And I was like, oh.

• 20:12Drew Afualo?

  That's crazy.

• 20:12Speaker 02

  Interesting. And of course he bombed.

• 20:14Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 20:15Speaker 02

  And it was like.

• 20:15Drew Afualo?

  How long was the set?

• 20:16Speaker 02

  It was like fifteen, twenty minutes.

• 20:18Drew Afualo?

  Damn.

• 20:19Speaker 02

  It was rough.

• 20:19Drew Afualo?

  First time, twenty minutes?

• 20:21Speaker 02

  I know, exactly. And my thing was, is like, I didn't blame him, I blamed the producers. I was like, he should never have been put in this position in the first place.

• 20:28Drew Afualo?

  Right, exactly.

• 20:29Speaker 02

  They don't understand, they think like, oh, this person has a lot of followers and is funny online, he'll be great to get butts in seats.

• 20:35Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, exactly. Yeah, exactly.

• 20:37Speaker 02

  And then they throw him into the deep end.

• 20:39Drew Afualo?

  And then it's just a tragedy.

• 20:41Speaker 02

  It is. And it's just like, it's a different thing. I know people who do both, but they will, they will cop to this. They don't, it's a, they use different skill sets to do both, you know?

• 20:51Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 20:51Speaker 02

  And so, yeah, I feel, I feel bad. I, I think it's happening less now, I'm seeing it less.

• 20:57Drew Afualo?

  Because it's been so public, the floss, yeah, exactly.

• 21:00Speaker 02

  But, yeah, it, it is interesting.

• 21:02Drew Afualo?

  No, you're so real for that.

• 21:03Speaker 02

  Whole different world and I, I think like, it's okay that we, we, you know, see them that way.

• 21:08Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and yeah, I agree. And there's also no shame in it either, like, being a TikToker, like, and it's funny you say that because I, I have been sprinting away from stand up for so long because I'm so afraid to find out I'm not good. Like, I'm so afraid, cause I, I love stand up so much and I was like, I don't want to do that and bombing live would kill me.

• 21:24Speaker 02

  Right.

• 21:24Drew Afualo?

  And I've toured live. I've toured live many times, but that's like my podcast with my sister. So it's all improv. There's no like planned anything. We take audience submission things and then we make jokes about them on the fly and then do crowd work too. It's like a kind of a twofer. So I've done that multiple times, but I, the only thing I've ever done is five minutes for Caleb. I opened for Caleb. But um, he, he was like, please do it. Please do it for me. Like, please, like, I'll help you. I'll help you write it. So he like helped me so much. Um, and I think it went pretty well for my first five, but I was so, I tell everyone when I tell them about that, I'm like, I never get nervous. I never get nervous doing this. I never get nervous talking on stage, performing live, none of it.

• 22:04Drew Afualo?

  That was the most nervous I have ever fucking been. I was, I read it a thousand times. I was like sick to my stomach. Had fear dump right before.

• 22:13Speaker 02

  Yeah, oh.

• 22:14Drew Afualo?

  A mess.

• 22:14Speaker 02

  That is, that will follow you when you've been doing it for 14 years. But like, it, it is, um, I mean, if Caleb was helping you, then I'm sure it was great.

• 22:25Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I know.

• 22:25Speaker 02

  And in his crowd too.

• 22:27Drew Afualo?

  Right. When I told Sabrina that, she goes, oh, I bet he was a tough critic. And I was like, oh yeah. There were some jokes I told him where he literally was like, anything else? And I was like, yeah, I got so many other jokes. Yeah, of course.

• 22:42Speaker 02

  I mean, but like you were smart starting with five, like

• 22:44Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 22:45Speaker 02

  This poor kid, like, starting at

• 22:46Drew Afualo?

  That's why I said 20 minutes.

• 22:48Speaker 02

  I, you know, it's a, you really do not realize how long five minutes is.

• 22:54Drew Afualo?

  No, for real.

• 22:55Speaker 02

  You're up there.

• 22:55Drew Afualo?

  I agree.

• 22:56Speaker 02

  And it's like, whoa, uh, this is, this is a long time.

• 23:00Drew Afualo?

  You're like, yeah, you're talking so fast and you look and it's like a minute 40. You're like, right. So I have four minutes and 15 seconds left. Okay. And I remember too, when I, uh, when Caleb asked me, he's like, do you want me to add you to the poster and like all that stuff? I was like, honestly, no. If you're cool leaving me off, because it was just Caleb and Friends. Um, I was like, because I want to find out if I'm good. I feel like if I, my fans will come and I, I love them and I know, I believe them that they think I'm funny. But I was like, but I want to perform in front of people that are not my audience. I just want to see like if I'm good.

• 23:29Speaker 02

  It is like, that's so real. Because like, quite honestly, like post movie, post like special and stuff. Like that, like it's, I came up when I started touring and headlining in 2016. It was based off of like my one appearance on Conan and that was pretty much it.

• 23:47Speaker 02

  And, you know, I would be performing at these clubs for people who had no idea who I was. And I would have to come out there every single night and like really prove myself and really like win them over. By the first 10 minutes or I was screwed. And like that made me such a strong writer and like such a, like, word economy and all these things and like getting to the punchline faster and like, cause you have to get to that punchline fast if they don't know who you are.

• 24:15Speaker 02

  They're just sitting there waiting for you to make them laugh and like, um, so you learn that. And then like now, there are moments on stage where I'm like, that wasn't that funny? I don't trust you. I was like, you like me and that's good, but like also I think you're being a little charitable.

• 24:35Drew Afualo?

  You're like, that was made at best. I don't know why you guys are laughing.

• 24:37Speaker 02

  I love doing like, my favorite thing to do is like a secret headlining spot at like the store or something like that where like nobody, everybody just shows up and has, and again, like, it's like having these moments where like, most of those people don't know who I am either. Like they ain't watching Fire Island. I ain't showing up on their algorithm. Um, and so it's like, it's like really necessary for me to do that. Because like, it really does pinpoint those spots where it's like, oh, that was a fan. That was, there was a gas leak in the audience. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 25:07Drew Afualo?

  I'm on at the end of the night. I opened first, I did my five and then Chris Fleming was after me.

• 25:12Speaker 02

  Oh my god.

• 25:12Drew Afualo?

  I know, for real. And then Caleb closed, obviously. And like, for Chris, after I did my five, I was like so nervous when I got off the stage. I thought I did pretty well. And then Chris Fleming came up to me and he was like, this was the first time he and I had like ever met in person. And he was like, that's your first time ever? And I was like, yeah. Um, yeah, I was like, I hope it was okay. And then he was like, I think you killed for your first time. That's awesome. And I was like, oh, thank you.

• 25:37Speaker 02

  Coming from Chris Fleming, that's huge.

• 25:39Drew Afualo?

  Listen, etched in the, it's literally, I play it like a memory to falsely.

• 25:43Speaker 02

  Great, it's like,

• 25:44Drew Afualo?

  For real.

• 25:44Speaker 02

  Makes me believe that standup can be funny and interesting, you know?

• 25:48Drew Afualo?

  You're so mean. He literally, I, I put it, we're just talking about Chris Fleming. I, I put a, a bit of his that he posted about, but he called, he was talking about SNL 50 and he called Jimmy Fallon. The sme to Lorne Michaels, Captain Hook.

• 26:09Drew Afualo?

  And then he said Stephen Colbert was up there like, here's Jelly Roll. Like, he's just so ashamed.

• 26:17Drew Afualo?

  Dude, he's one of the funniest people. I literally said, I want to study you like Jane Goodall. I just want to live amongst the apes for a little bit, you know what I mean? Just hang out, see how they interact and pick ticks out of each other's hair. That's how I feel watching your crowd work, honestly. Your crowd work is some of the best I've ever seen.

• 26:32Speaker 02

  Thank you, thank you.

• 26:32Drew Afualo?

  Which is so funny. And I'd love to know, what's your, do you have like a favorite crowd work story?

• 26:37Speaker 02

  Um, yeah, actually I do. It's, um, so one of the, when, again, going back to 2016, when I first started touring, the only time I've ever done a comedy club and bombed pretty much all six shows for an hour straight, every night, was Phoenix, Arizona, the week before the 2016 election. And, um,

• 26:59Drew Afualo?

  Who hates you? That puts you up right there.

• 27:01Speaker 02

  I was, um, doing this club and I was the last minute replacement for the comic who was supposed to be headlining that week.

• 27:07Drew Afualo?

  Oh, no.

• 27:07Speaker 02

  And I was sitting there and like, all the old, the old comics, like Tabletoppers and Poster was still up. And I was sitting at the bar before my first show there. And this is, like, before my first show, this guy's standing at the bar, ordered a drink, looks at the Tabletopper and turns to the bartender and goes, this guy isn't too much of a faggot, is he? And I'm sitting there and the bartender knew I was the replacement.

• 27:27Drew Afualo?

  You're like,

• 27:27Speaker 02

  And she was like, oh, well, actually, we have a different comedian than that one. Um, and like, I was just like, well, here we go.

• 27:37Drew Afualo?

  He said bad news for you.

• 27:38Speaker 02

  And then, to make matters worse, the opener they had chosen for me, his closer, involved getting the audience to chant "Lock her up" in unison with him. And I was like, and of course, he was one of these guys who's like, I think they're both bad. I think they're both bad. But like, you know, he chose to end that way. And then I come on stage and they're like, immediately like, you know, my entire person is politicized because of him. And so they're just like, sitting there. And it was so rough. But like, midway through that run of that, uh, of that week that I was there, I was like, talking about, I have the joke about how I'm adopted, but my older brother, who's biological to my family, is also gay. And we were, I was like, talking about that. And I was talking about like, I guess it's nurture, you know, like, and, um,

• 28:24Drew Afualo?

  That's my theory.

• 28:25Speaker 02

  This woman shouts out from the crowd, "You wouldn't have been gay if you were breastfed." And I, I turned, and what a gift, because of all that entire week of bombing, this was the funniest I was the entire week, the only time I ever got the crowd on my side, because I turned to her and I was like, "I did not realize there was a scientist in the audience." And I was like, "Gotta talk to you." And I spent probably like 15 minutes interrogating this woman about like where she was getting this, and like what is the science behind it, and like what is the belief system that led her to that? And again, like even this conservative like crowd that hated me, hated her more.

• 29:02Drew Afualo?

  He said, "Got you, bitch." He said, "I only needed to be one."

• 29:06Speaker 02

  It was the only time I had like ever gotten the audience that week on my side for that like short 15 minutes. And then of course they went back to hating me once they got back to the material. But like, I, like, I have a joke about her, like that I, you know, right, you know, that ended up in my, my first special. And like, again, like I look back on that and I was like, "She was a gift sent to me from heaven." Because.

• 29:26Drew Afualo?

  A reward.

• 29:27Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, truly.

• 29:28Drew Afualo?

  For those six days.

• 29:30Speaker 02

  And I, I still like, man, I have so many scars from Phoenix. They tried to get me, they did get me to go back a couple of years later by like luring me in by being like, "Oh no, this one, this show's in historic downtown Phoenix, which is like the Brooklyn of Phoenix." And let me be clear. Let me be clear. There is no Brooklyn in Phoenix.

• 29:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, for real.

• 29:50Speaker 02

  Like, and historic downtown Phoenix, I'm sorry, you forget that like the entire West Coast is so new that historic downtown Phoenix looks like a Chipotle.

• 30:00Speaker 02

  There is nothing that feels like historic about it at all, because I'm like, "Oh, this was like from the 70s." Like, it's like, this is, this is, this place hasn't existed long enough to have history.

• 30:10Drew Afualo?

  The wallpaper in Taco Bell.

• 30:11Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 30:12Drew Afualo?

  It's like right after that, so what is that, 2010?

• 30:14Speaker 02

  And of course, those shows were bad too.

• 30:17Drew Afualo?

  And Bob knows also.

• 30:18Speaker 02

  Never, never going back. It's never, ever.

• 30:20Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, that has to be like, one of the worst places to do that shit.

• 30:24Speaker 02

  I will say like, Tempe, pretty cool, you know, um, but.

• 30:29Drew Afualo?

  But something about.

• 30:30Speaker 02

  Shant be going back to Phoenix anytime soon.

• 30:33Drew Afualo?

  I shall not.

• 30:34Speaker 02

  I ordered a Greek salad at a restaurant in Phoenix, and you know what they brought me out? A bowl that was like, a third full of tzatziki, then cucumbers, and then feta on top of that, and then more tzatziki on top of that. And I was like, this is disgusting. This is all the same texture.

• 30:48Drew Afualo?

  This is a bowl of shower cream.

• 30:49Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was like, yeah, you gave me soup. Like, um, this is not a salad. What do you think a salad is?

• 30:56Drew Afualo?

  You said racism. Fucked up Greek salads. Can you believe it?

• 30:59Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 31:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, don't go to Phoenix. That's all they have there.

• 31:02Speaker 02

  Can't recommend. So sorry to disrespect anybody who lives there currently or who's from there who loves it, but, um, it's just not, you know, not every city is for everybody, you know?

• 31:09Drew Afualo?

  No, you're right. You're right. Have you noticed any, I love asking people who have done, who are stand-ups, like, successful stand-ups, if they have like a joke that they notice hits in every city, or like, just a general theme? And ones that never hit, or you found out only hit in certain cities?

• 31:25Speaker 02

  Uh, yeah, I mean, like, I will say, like, I haven't really bombed since Phoenix.

• 31:30Drew Afualo?

  Thankfully.

• 31:31Speaker 02

  Thankfully, um.

• 31:32Drew Afualo?

  You're too good.

• 31:33Speaker 02

  And so like, most of the material, and I don't change the material really, switch it up for, for audiences. I never have even. And like, I'm very proud of that, that I've gotten some really nasty, like, very specific to me jokes, like, to hit and land. But you do have to like, really like, get them on your side first, and sort of like, get them to trust you, and then you can do the weirder shit. And that's the stuff that, like, right now especially, I love to do the most. And like, I have a joke right now that, like, is, the buildup to it is that, like, I am in love with a horse. And, you know, bestiality is tough, especially in this climate. And, um.

• 32:11Drew Afualo?

  Judgment everywhere.

• 32:12Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. And that joke, um, unfortunately, you know, it really does hit with some of them, if I'm performing for like, an alt comedy crowd.

• 32:20Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 32:21Speaker 02

  You know, who expects it to be weird?

• 32:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 32:23Speaker 02

  And is like, again, like. I think like, there's a difference in a crowd that's like comedy literate because they already know what the obvious punchline to a joke is.

• 32:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 32:33Speaker 02

  And so like, we're all trying to stay ahead and like honestly, the internet has made it really hard because like, you like tweet out a joke and it becomes a meme and it becomes disseminated around and everyone, no one knows who started the joke.

• 32:44Drew Afualo?

  That's exactly what Caleb's told me.

• 32:45Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 32:45Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 32:45Speaker 02

  And it's so frustrating because like you do that obvious punchline of the joke you wrote and people are like, oh, that's from the meme. And you're like, no, it's not bitch, it's from my standup.

• 32:53Drew Afualo?

  It's from a meme, I'm gonna kill myself.

• 32:54Speaker 02

  No, literally. And like, um, it's not always super helpful because if you're performing for a comedy audience that has seen like maybe one or two comedy shows in their entire life, they don't even know what the obvious punchline is yet.

• 33:05Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 33:06Speaker 02

  So if you're trying to go to step two and stay ahead of it.

• 33:09Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 33:09Speaker 02

  You just left them behind and they're confused, you know?

• 33:12Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, no child left behind.

• 33:13Speaker 02

  Uh huh. And so, I prefer to perform for crowds that have seen a lot of comedy and like love comedy and like,

• 33:19Drew Afualo?

  That's tea.

• 33:20Speaker 02

  have a lot of context for it.

• 33:21Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 33:21Speaker 02

  Um, and then like, you know, you do have to sort of like, um, when I'm performing here in LA, especially at some of these clubs where it's a lot of tourists and it's a lot of people who've never seen comedy before.

• 33:30Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 33:31Speaker 02

  I do have to like stay cognizant of that and they maybe like, I don't change the joke too much, I just maybe like will, um, stop a little bit before it gets to step two, you know?

• 33:42Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. There's like certain parts you can leave out, yeah. You're like, they only need the top stuff, they don't need the, the underbelly.

• 33:48Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 33:49Drew Afualo?

  But that's what makes comedy the best, in my opinion, I think. Uh, so I want to pivot to Fire Island.

• 33:55Speaker 02

  Okay.

• 33:56Drew Afualo?

  I would love to talk about Fire Island and just like how that, how it came to be that project and how it like kinda got off the ground and then obviously the reception of it.

• 34:03Speaker 02

  Yeah, I mean, um, it started as like, we would go to Fire Island and I would, I remember the first trip to Fire Island, I brought Pride and Prejudice with me. And I would be reading it on the beach and like kinda look up and be like, wow, this is like really similar to what we're dealing with this week. And everyone was, and it started as a bit, I was like, I'm gonna write like a gay Pride and Prejudice set on Fire Island and they were like, throwing shit at me like boo, like no, um, that's a dumb idea. And I, um, every year we would go, uh, every summer we would go, I would read a different Jane Austen book. It was like my, my like tradition and like I

• 34:40Drew Afualo?

  That's so cute.

• 34:40Speaker 02

  Um, just like it got in my head more and more and it was like, I'm gonna do this eventually. And so it was sort of a dare. Like my friends were like, okay to do it. And I wrote like a 30 minute pilot spec script. Um, that was loosely the same story that would end up in the movie. And it was just like, um, you know, it was gonna be seven episodes and every episode would be a day on the island.

• 35:03Drew Afualo?

  Mm-hmm.

• 35:04Speaker 02

  And I took that out and no one wanted to.

• 35:09Speaker 04

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 35:15Speaker 05

  Love the crown molding.

• 35:17Speaker 04

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 35:20Speaker 05

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet.

• 35:24Speaker 04

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 35:28Speaker 05

  No FiOS? Yeah, no thank you.

• 35:31Speaker 04

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay, bye-bye.

• 35:34Speaker 06

  Get Verizon FiOS because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 35:38Speaker 00

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• 36:09Speaker 01

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• 36:42Speaker 02

  No one was interested. Again, we were talking before we got on mic a little bit about like, people being like, this is a little niche. And it's like, okay, I know what you really want to say. But um.

• 36:53Drew Afualo?

  And it's a slur.

• 36:54Speaker 02

  Yeah. And um, but then, you know, I met with Quibi, R.I.P. Quibi. And say what you will about Quibi, they were taking some big swings. And I was one of those swings. And they were like, actually, though, can you make this into like, a movie that we can then cut down into 10 quick bites? And so I developed it there at Quibi, got the green light there. And we're supposed to start shooting summer of 2020. And yeah, and we were like in pre-pro, we were like trying. And then there was like a moment before we really knew what deep shit we were in as a country. Like, we were like, maybe we shoot it in North Carolina and like shoot it, like cheat it for Fire Island. Like, you know, go to one place where that's open. And like, it quickly became apparent that it was just not gonna happen.

• 37:36Speaker 02

  And then Quibi shut down in December. And we were like, well, shit. But they were very kind. They gave us the script back right away. They reverted the rights back to me.

• 37:46Drew Afualo?

  Oh, that's really nice.

• 37:47Speaker 02

  Cause they were like, we believe in this and we want it to happen if it's not gonna happen here. And so we took it out and Searchlight was pretty quick to like scoop it up. And and and I really didn't have to make, I didn't make that many changes from Quibi to Searchlight. It was like a pretty completed package already. And of course, like little like edits here and there as we started to cast and like, you know, originally Margaret Cho's character was like an older game man.

• 38:12Drew Afualo?

  We love Margaret here.

• 38:13Speaker 02

  It was like, um, I think I can say this. It was supposed to be Alan Cumming, but then he had to drop because he had to shoot something in Scotland. Which of course, we realize now was traitors. Oh, it all worked out exactly as it was supposed to work out. Because it was like, Alan would have been amazing, but like Margaret was, made it so much her own. And we like, it was so funny. She reached out to Andrew and I and our people and the studio. And her reps were like, she would love to be a cameo in this movie. She would like, you know, this was right after it was announced with me and Bowen starring. She was like, she would love to. And we, and we just found out we needed to replace this part. And we were like, oh, like.

• 38:55Speaker 02

  This could be really easily rewritten. I wouldn't have to change that much at all to make this fit Margaret.

• 39:00Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 39:01Speaker 02

  And so we met with her and like rewrote, you know, the part to fit her and um yeah, and we did that with a lot of the people that we cast. Like once we had, once we had like certain people on board, like um you know, we rewrote a lot of it for them to be specific. And it was a really wonderful process and a really quick process, which is not normal.

• 39:20Drew Afualo?

  Mm hmm.

• 39:20Speaker 02

  Um because they needed to, thank God for Bowen being the busiest man in Hollywood, I have to say. Because that made it so like, they were like, we gotta rush this through, we gotta get this shot before Bowen goes back to SNL.

• 39:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 39:33Speaker 02

  And so I'm very lucky in that regard. The best experience filming of my life, like just getting to make something with my best friends.

• 39:40Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 39:40Speaker 02

  And like all of these wonderful people, very like low budget. Um so we were like making a lot of concessions, like let me tell you, that rain scene.

• 39:51Speaker 02

  When Keira Knightley shot her rain scene in Pride and Prejudice, I bet the water was heated. Um and I can tell you.

• 39:58Drew Afualo?

  Cause she has money like that.

• 39:59Speaker 02

  Yeah. Uh it was not heated and it was September, it was the middle of the like, it was like 2am in September in New York. Um so it was like 40 degrees outside and we were walking through this freezing cold rain. And at one point, the medic, we were sitting in this warming van in between takes and the medic came to take my temperature and he was like, we have to take a longer break because this temperature is so low, it does not register on this digital thermometer.

• 40:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. Um his lips are blue. He's hypothermic.

• 40:27Speaker 02

  In the like FEMA like tinfoil blankets, like shivering. And so like poor Andrew like had a lot of different shots planned for that scene. And they were like, mm, you're gonna have to get it in like a couple, you know? And um so it's like.

• 40:41Drew Afualo?

  Bring them back to living body temperature.

• 40:42Speaker 02

  Moments like that, I was like, I'm making a movie.

• 40:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 40:46Speaker 02

  Um so it was really, it was really exciting and I'm, I'm, you know, really grateful to the response to it too, you know?

• 40:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was gonna say, what was that like seeing the response to it?

• 40:55Speaker 02

  It's, I mean, it's crazy. Listen, not everybody loved it and that's fine, but it is like, I mean, talk about the comment section. I like, I was in the comment section for a while and it's so funny because my, my partner and my now fiance, then boyfriend was like, he's gotten so good, like now even, I'll be sitting on the couch and he just can tell from my face, he'll be like. Put it away. Get out, get out of the comments section.

• 41:15Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, me too. That's crazy, you say that same.

• 41:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, and he's just like, no, no, no, you don't need to be reading whatever you're reading right now.

• 41:22Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 41:23Speaker 02

  It's not important. And, um, but for the most part, like-

• 41:26Drew Afualo?

  That's good, we need that.

• 41:27Speaker 02

  I saw a lot, no, we, I don't, trust me, I do.

• 41:29Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 41:30Speaker 02

  I, I, like, for the most part, like, people were really, you know, positive about it. I will say, like, no one is more willing to give me a note on that movie than a drunk gay guy at a gay bar. The way they love to come up to me and say-

• 41:42Drew Afualo?

  I have some notes.

• 41:42Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, and I'm like, okay, well, it's in the can, I'm not contacting Hulu to, like, re-cut the movie.

• 41:48Drew Afualo?

  Wait, let's, let's edit the movie, actually.

• 41:53Drew Afualo?

  What's the most common piece of advice you get for it?

• 41:55Speaker 02

  Um, I think, like, people don't like that, like, um, Bowen ends up with James, like, people don't like that, like, he gets a happy ending, they're like, that's unrealistic.

• 42:06Drew Afualo?

  Art is meant to provoke emotion.

• 42:07Speaker 02

  I know, and I'm like, I'm making a rom-com here, like, of course, somebody needs to have a happy ending, and like, my character is a little bit more ambiguous, like, what happens to them? And I liked that. I like being able to show both sides of, like, you know, like, sometimes you go on vacation and you meet someone, and it's like, you're there for life, that's how, that's what happened to me. I met my fiancee on vacation-

• 42:26Drew Afualo?

  Sweet.

• 42:27Speaker 02

  In, in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, like, having a gay old time. And like, and I brought him back to the real world and made him my real boyfriend.

• 42:33Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 42:33Speaker 02

  And then, like, sometimes you have a really intense, like, you know, week with someone, and it, and that's where it ends, you know? And like, I wanted to just kind of show, like, both sides of that happening in the movie. And I think, like, people are like, but that's not realistic, and I'm like, yeah, but sometimes love isn't realistic. You know, like, what happened to me and my partner, like, that was so unrealistic.

• 42:53Drew Afualo?

  Exactly, yeah. Well, also, I love that the notes are like, I just feel like he should have ended up with, like, I feel like, I like how those are the notes, like, they're just like, okay, well, art's meant to make you feel something, so-

• 43:05Speaker 02

  Right.

• 43:05Drew Afualo?

  At least they're not like, I hated it.

• 43:07Speaker 02

  Well, and it's funny, I get negged a lot by guys, too, like, um, the amount of times I've heard, like- I don't care what anyone else says, I actually really liked your movie. And I'm like, okay, well, you could have said nothing.

• 43:19Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, or you could have just said, I liked your movie, yeah.

• 43:23Speaker 02

  But I think like, especially with like, other gay men, like, there is this idea, I think, people have of me, that I have a much bigger ego about the movie than I do.

• 43:30Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 43:31Speaker 02

  There's this need to like, oh, let's bring him down a little bit before we like.

• 43:35Drew Afualo?

  Right. They're like, not too much, it was alright.

• 43:37Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I mean, truly. And I don't think people realize, like, I'm like, pretty chill, like, whenever someone's like, oh, like, I meet someone and they're friends, like, you know, he, he was a Fire Island guy, and they're like, oh, sorry, I haven't seen it, like, and get weird about it, and I'm like, I don't, I actually prefer that, like, it's just fine. And like, you can, like, you don't have to do this theatrical performance in front of me, of like, oh, sorry, I haven't seen your movie, like, I'm like, I don't care. I don't care, I don't need that.

• 44:03Drew Afualo?

  Also, you're a comedian, so that's a bold move for them to make. That's a bold move, to, to try and nag you. That's crazy.

• 44:09Speaker 02

  It is, it is pretty crazy. Um, nagging in general is so wild, like, when LA opened up, and that day that it opened up, I was in High Tops in WeHo, and they have some bomb salads at High Tops in WeHo, I will say. It's, it's random, but they do. And I was eating this buffalo chicken salad, standing up, it was packed because LA had just opened, and this guy comes up to hit on me, and his opening line, though, was, um, wow, you really don't eat that salad confidently. And I was like, okay, new insecurity just dropped. Like, what? I was like, I didn't even know there was a right way to eat salad, like, let alone that I wasn't doing it confidently. And then he proceeded to try and hit on me, and I was like, no, like, you started off on.

• 44:49Drew Afualo?

  I thought you were bullying me.

• 44:50Speaker 02

  A crazy place, and like, it was so, it's so wild, like, and I'm sure, like, you know exactly what I'm talking about.

• 44:57Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, men nagging.

• 44:58Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I don't know why people think that this is a viable plan.

• 45:02Drew Afualo?

  I know, what's, what's the plan after?

• 45:05Speaker 02

  To talk to them.

• 45:06Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, if I end up standing here longer, what happens after?

• 45:08Speaker 02

  No, you just hurt my feelings. I don't want to talk to you anymore.

• 45:13Drew Afualo?

  Hey, fuck you.

• 45:16Drew Afualo?

  That's so funny. What's your sign?

• 45:18Speaker 02

  I'm a Pisces through and through.

• 45:20Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 45:21Speaker 02

  Archetypical.

• 45:21Drew Afualo?

  Are you February, March Pisces?

• 45:23Speaker 02

  I'm a leap year baby. I'm a February 29th Pisces.

• 45:26Drew Afualo?

  Ooh.

• 45:27Speaker 02

  So a little extra.

• 45:28Drew Afualo?

  Extra special. Extra, extra special. Well, that makes sense that you were like, you just hurt my feelings.

• 45:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 45:34Drew Afualo?

  Wake up now.

• 45:35Speaker 02

  And I feel it deep.

• 45:37Drew Afualo?

  Do you know your big three?

• 45:38Speaker 02

  So because of I'm adopted, and unfortunately, this is a scary thing to say in this time. My original birth certificate is nowhere to be found. And so there is no birth time that I can access.

• 45:53Drew Afualo?

  Choose your own adventure.

• 45:54Speaker 02

  Yeah, we've kind of determined, so I'm a Leo moon, which is fucked up. And then I think like, there's like two, there were two options based on like where the stars were on the day I was born. Like if I was born during the day, then it was this. And if I was born at night, which they think based on the description of my rising is Gemini. Like that is, I guess I'm giving Gemini outwardly.

• 46:20Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 46:21Speaker 02

  But inside I'm like, I'm a Leo.

• 46:25Speaker 02

  But I really do identify, everything I've ever read about being a Pisces, I'm like, oh, you nailed me.

• 46:30Drew Afualo?

  Right. I also think you, yeah, I think that's why you're a really good writer too, because you're very emotional.

• 46:36Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:36Drew Afualo?

  And very like aware, like emotionally cognizant and aware of others and like how they move in this space. That's probably why you're such a good writer.

• 46:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 46:44Drew Afualo?

  I bet. It's observing.

• 46:45Speaker 02

  The, you know, like constantly dreaming and constantly imagining and constantly living in a different like world, basically.

• 46:52Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I thought you might have Virgo in your chart because you're such a hard worker.

• 46:56Speaker 02

  Oh, I mean.

• 46:56Drew Afualo?

  Because you're just pounding the pavement.

• 46:58Speaker 02

  Well, you know, I do identify as a puff puff too.

• 47:01Drew Afualo?

  So maybe it's in there.

• 47:02Speaker 02

  Maybe it is in there.

• 47:03Drew Afualo?

  Well, speaking of puff puff, I actually have some fun facts about you.

• 47:06Speaker 02

  Oh, no.

• 47:07Drew Afualo?

  If we'd like to talk about them. This first one says that you were on your college's quidditch team.

• 47:12Speaker 02

  Yep.

• 47:13Drew Afualo?

  You sure were. Proudly. What was your-

• 47:16Speaker 02

  Not proudly.

• 47:17Drew Afualo?

  What was your position?

• 47:18Speaker 02

  I was a beater. I was a beater on the play for Half Puff. It's so funny, like, my first class in college, and it is sort of like, it's tough to talk about now because it's like, RIP Harry Potter.

• 47:28Drew Afualo?

  I know.

• 47:30Speaker 02

  It sucks.

• 47:30Drew Afualo?

  Thanks a lot, turf.

• 47:31Speaker 02

  I know. And, um-

• 47:33Drew Afualo?

  Sorry, I said that so- I said that so, like, I hate J.K. Rowling.

• 47:37Speaker 02

  Oh, but, I mean- And it's just, it's like, you could have been the most beloved children's author in history. And now your legacy is, like, terrorizing trans people.

• 47:46Drew Afualo?

  I know.

• 47:48Speaker 02

  It's so wild. Like, you did this to yourself.

• 47:49Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 47:50Speaker 02

  But, my first class, uh, my first, like, um, seminar in college was about, um, Joseph Campbell and the hero's journey through the lens of Harry Potter. And so, we were all sorted our first week in college into houses. And, like, literally, like, if you were late, you would, she would be like, five points deducted from Half Puff. And whoever won as a house at the end of the semester would get up a half-letter grade.

• 48:15Drew Afualo?

  Damn.

• 48:16Speaker 02

  I know. It was for shit like-

• 48:17Drew Afualo?

  That's a good-ass prize.

• 48:18Speaker 02

  Doing, like, like, answering a question in class. You'd be like, five points to Gryffindor. And I was like, this is bizarre. I'm in college.

• 48:26Drew Afualo?

  And you're competing, huh?

• 48:27Speaker 02

  But, she was like, it was like, it does follow the hero's journey, like, you know? So, like, I was learning about Campbell, you know? But, it was just like goofy. Like, she made us make wands at one point, and I was like, how does this have to do with the reading?

• 48:41Drew Afualo?

  You know? Now, that's an art school, if I've ever heard one.

• 48:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 48:44Drew Afualo?

  And so, did you enjoy the Quidditch team experience?

• 48:46Speaker 02

  I mean, I did. I had fun. It was like, you know, it was like, um, a way to be athletic for people who were not athletic. And, um, it was, yeah-

• 48:54Drew Afualo?

  But to feel included.

• 48:55Speaker 02

  Yeah, I know. My roommate broke her arm playing Quidditch.

• 48:59Drew Afualo?

  Why? Or how?

• 49:01Speaker 02

  Well, listen, it was a contact sport at times, and she got contacted, and-

• 49:05Drew Afualo?

  Sometimes you're a beater, and sometimes you get beaten.

• 49:07Speaker 02

  Exactly. Were you a beater, or were you beaten?

• 49:12Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 49:14Drew Afualo?

  The text that says your first cat was named Rock Hudson.

• 49:17Speaker 02

  Yep, um, we had a naming convention for all our pets growing up where they were all old Hollywood names, like, so we had like Marlena Dietrich and Errol Flynn and like, those were like the names of our pets and stuff like that. And, um, yeah, my mom brought this cat home and it immediately bonded to me. And so they're like, okay, Joel, this is your cat. Like, what do you want to name it? And I was like eight and I was like, Rock Hudson, down. And, um, they were like, great. And like, I don't think my parents were even aware of the like secret gay life of Rock Hudson. And I certainly wasn't aware, but I think I intuited it. You know, and, um, I, yeah, and so I had a cat named Rock Hudson growing up and, um,

• 49:58Drew Afualo?

  And was he a nice cat?

• 49:59Speaker 02

  Oh, he was, he was a cat who thought it was a dog. Like literally would follow my dogs outside in the backyard and like, just sort of like trot on, and every time like they would go to the front window and bark at somebody, he would be there like, sort of like, trying to make the same noises. It was so cute. Um, and he was so affectionate and so great. And like, um, yeah, I loved him.

• 50:18Drew Afualo?

  Did you have a lot of pets growing up?

• 50:20Speaker 02

  Uh, four dogs, uh, five cats, two birds and a lot of fish.

• 50:24Drew Afualo?

  Okay, Noah's Ark.

• 50:25Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 50:26Drew Afualo?

  Okay.

• 50:26Speaker 02

  And we, and, and not, I think the most we had concurrently was three dogs, three cats and one bird. Um, but like over the course of my time.

• 50:36Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 50:36Speaker 02

  At home, that, that was, it was that number. Um, so it was a lot. And my mom was a home health nurse and most of them were strays that she would like find on her route and like pick up and like my dad would be like, you cannot bring another animal home.

• 50:51Drew Afualo?

  My mom would do the same thing, actually. That's why, you know, I love that you said that because I had a lot of family dogs growing up too. At least more than the average household. I feel like most times when, when you talk to people, they're like, I had one dog.

• 51:01Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:01Drew Afualo?

  For 20 years.

• 51:02Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:02Drew Afualo?

  I was like, I had like eight.

• 51:04Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 51:04Drew Afualo?

  When I was growing up, which is not a good thing, but like the naming convention thing you said, um, it's so funny because my mom, like, me and my two siblings all have the same initials. We're all DTA.

• 51:15Speaker 02

  Hmm.

• 51:16Drew Afualo?

  Um, so we're all, my mom likes D names. So like for the animals, she would always ask like, okay, what should we name this dog? And my sister and I would both be like, I think we should name it this. I think we should name it that. She'd be like, perfect. Okay. Um, his name is Duke. So like she, she would literally have the meeting and then pick the name. So like,

• 51:35Speaker 00

  Like a real boss does.

• 51:37Drew Afualo?

  Yeah. She's like, well, I paid for the dog. So his name is actually Desi. Um, but I did have a snow, I had a husky named Desi Arnez.

• 51:43Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 51:44Drew Afualo?

  Like, that was his real, real name. Yeah. And,

• 51:46Speaker 00

  Exactly fitting with what my family was.

• 51:48Drew Afualo?

  Exactly. And if you're wondering if I was six and I, I liked Desi Arnez, I didn't. Um, I suggested something else and she said, perfect. His name is Desi. And then she did that to me all through our high school. Every time we got a new dog. And it was funny because she got, uh, my parents got my sister a bulldog for her birthday one year because that's what she really wanted. And she wanted to name it like Taco or something. Um, she had a very specific name picked out. And then my mom goes, what's his name? And she goes, I think it's Taco. She goes,

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• 53:18Drew Afualo?

  Or we could name it Duke. And then guess what his name was?

• 53:22Speaker 02

  Duke.

• 53:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 53:25Drew Afualo?

  Which I was like, I love that. I love when parents are like, what do we think? What do we think? That's stupid. I'm gonna pick this. Instead, I'm gonna pick this name.

• 53:33Speaker 02

  Listen, you don't listen to the children.

• 53:35Drew Afualo?

  No.

• 53:35Speaker 02

  They don't know nothing.

• 53:37Drew Afualo?

  You don't know.

• 53:38Speaker 02

  I'm with you.

• 53:41Drew Afualo?

  Also, it says on here that you used to work for Groupon corporate.

• 53:43Speaker 02

  I was the 70 somethingth employee of Groupon, actually.

• 53:48Drew Afualo?

  Wow, you are old.

• 53:49Speaker 02

  It was my first job out of college. I was a customer service temp. I started as a temp there.

• 53:54Drew Afualo?

  Damn.

• 53:54Speaker 02

  Answering phones for people who bought Groupons and had problems. And by the time I was 25 and left that job to move to New York, I was managing call centers in Virginia, Ohio, and Texas.

• 54:07Drew Afualo?

  Damn.

• 54:07Speaker 02

  And like remotely from Chicago, but I would have to go every quarter and like visit these call centers. And it was so funny because I was very young. And it's just this thing of like, back then, that was like early startup culture. Where it was like, everyone was sitting on a yoga ball. There's free snacks in the kitchen. There's a ping pong table, you know, like, it was like the golden age.

• 54:25Drew Afualo?

  Everyone's seen jobs in the garage, yeah.

• 54:26Speaker 02

  Groupon, Google tried to buy Groupon for $6 billion while I worked there. And they said, no. They said, actually, we think we can get bigger than that. And I was like, even then, I was like, okay. I was like-

• 54:39Drew Afualo?

  Real confident.

• 54:41Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was like, do you know what we do here?

• 54:45Speaker 02

  And yeah, and so it was like that thing of like, when you start at a company that early that grows that fast, like they just start promoting you. Even though I was like a child and like-

• 54:56Drew Afualo?

  Even though you're eloquent.

• 54:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, and I like-

• 54:58Drew Afualo?

  You said 25 managing three call centers.

• 55:00Speaker 02

  I like, and the thing was, is that when I had to go visit these call centers, the like 40 something year old guys who like ran the floor on these call centers, who were like the actual managers on the ground, hated me. Because here I, like this twink coming in, like being like, actually, did you hit your numbers? And like, they literally despised that they had to report to me. And I loved it.

• 55:24Drew Afualo?

  And naturally, I loved that.

• 55:27Drew Afualo?

  Was that the worst job you've ever had, you would say?

• 55:29Speaker 02

  Uh, no.

• 55:31Drew Afualo?

  What would you say is the worst job ever?

• 55:32Speaker 02

  Um, I worked, actually, you know, technically, Gravon was not my first job out of college. My first job out of college was a place called Total Attorneys and it sucked because it was this place where like, it was not a scam, but it was just like, do you need a DUI attorney, a divorce attorney, uh, this attorney, whatever? And they would fill out these forms and then they would, uh, we would call them and they would think that we were, because we were called Total Attorneys, the person who was gonna give them legal advice. And a lot of these people were in jail, like in processing, holding, whatever, and they needed immediate help. And our business model was like, oh, we'll connect you with one of the attorneys in our network. And like, just basically, and they'd be like, oh, so I could have just Googled this? And like-

• 56:14Drew Afualo?

  Oh, so you're useless?

• 56:16Speaker 02

  Yeah, and it was-

• 56:17Drew Afualo?

  Hey, why do I need you for that?

• 56:18Speaker 02

  Heinous. It was just a heinous job. And I worked from like four to midnight, like that shift. And it was just like, so you were getting like, you really were getting the DUIs that were like, people in jail.

• 56:28Drew Afualo?

  Shit.

• 56:28Speaker 02

  And like, yeah, it was dark.

• 56:30Drew Afualo?

  Oh my god, horrifying.

• 56:32Speaker 02

  And then I switched over and that was definitely beyond anything else, like the worst job I've ever had.

• 56:36Drew Afualo?

  And then you started cracking the whip over at Groupon? Yeah, you started working it like the Navy over there. In your mid twenties.

• 56:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:45Drew Afualo?

  Uh, it says that you were homeschooled until high school?

• 56:47Speaker 02

  Yup, I was homeschooled until I was a junior in high school.

• 56:50Drew Afualo?

  Damn.

• 56:51Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 56:51Drew Afualo?

  How was the homeschool experience?

• 56:52Speaker 02

  Bad. Um, I mean, I was homeschooled for religious reasons primarily. They did not want me learning about sex revolution. And, um, they sent me to school when I was sixteen, junior year of high school. And within the first month of coming, of going to school, a public school, came out of the closet, smoked weed for the first time, smoked a cigarette for the first time, drank for the first time, sucked a dick for the first time, chokulated for the first time, like did it all. It's like you cannot keep a child under lock and key-

• 57:17Drew Afualo?

  Damn, they unleashed you on the world.

• 57:19Speaker 02

  And then give me a little bit of freedom? It was like over.

• 57:22Drew Afualo?

  Too much slack on the leash.

• 57:23Speaker 02

  Over, yeah.

• 57:24Drew Afualo?

  I like how you were like, I don't know how long outside time's gonna last.

• 57:27Speaker 02

  No-

• 57:28Drew Afualo?

  I'm gonna get it all in now.

• 57:29Speaker 02

  It's all happening in October, okay?

• 57:31Drew Afualo?

  Sucking a dick by night.

• 57:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, so, yeah, it was like, it was, it was honestly like the best thing that ever happened to me was being able to go to public school because I don't know where I'd be like when I, that was the, that was the period where I was like, maybe I should be a youth pastor. Um, so like going to public school and like be like tasting freedom and like really becoming who I am and myself and being able to like be who I wanted to be.

• 57:54Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 57:54Speaker 02

  Was like life-saving, I think.

• 57:56Drew Afualo?

  Damn, oh my god.

• 57:58Speaker 02

  I know exactly what my life would have looked like if I were a youth pastor. I would have been on the DL, on Grindr, hooking up with musical theater majors home on break behind the Target in my Subaru. You know, like that is that, what, that is the picture of that life. And I know that because I was a musical theater major home on break.

• 58:15Speaker 02

  Behind the Target.

• 58:16Drew Afualo?

  Saw a lot of them. I frequented those many vans.

• 58:20Speaker 02

  Don't recommend.

• 58:21Drew Afualo?

  That's crazy. Well, I'm glad you went to public school then. What a stark jump to for them to be like, not even put you in private school, but put you in public school.

• 58:29Speaker 02

  No, it was, it was tough.

• 58:30Drew Afualo?

  Real deep end.

• 58:30Speaker 02

  It was like, honestly, like, cause I was like, really like, I want to go to college and like, I need to take the ACTs and like prep for that. And like, at this point, no one was like managing my, my schooling at home.

• 58:43Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 58:43Speaker 02

  Like my parents both went back to work, so I was just like home chilling, like reading and like.

• 58:48Drew Afualo?

  That was your school?

• 58:49Speaker 02

  Getting the math answers out of the back of the book and like not learning at all. So by the time I went to public school, I was like light years ahead of people in reading and writing, but so far behind in math and science.

• 59:01Drew Afualo?

  Wow.

• 59:01Speaker 02

  It was like really jarring for me. And like, I didn't learn, I, I, I just actually told my partner this, but like, I really didn't understand how to do homework or study for tests until I was probably a sophomore or junior in college. Like that skillset was like just lost on me.

• 59:14Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 59:15Speaker 02

  I did not know how to study. I was like a terrible test taker. Great, like any writing portion, like nailed it.

• 59:21Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 59:22Speaker 02

  Like, that's it. But like, taking a test and doing like homework, I was like, wait, but like, I just was at school for eight hours. And now I have to do it more like.

• 59:29Drew Afualo?

  What do you mean I have to take this home?

• 59:31Speaker 02

  Yeah, I was like, I did not, like, it was just so strange. I was like, why aren't we doing this in school? Like, why were we talking about this shit? You know, like, um, but yeah, so it was, it was a rough transition, um, academically for me in a lot of ways, but, um, I figured it out eventually.

• 59:45Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, obviously. Well, you're, obviously you're incredibly intelligent, but also I feel like you're so self-aware. Like you're like, I feel like I need like real school. You're like a junior and I still going, I think I need to go to real school. I need help in real school.

• 1:00:00Speaker 02

  Well, a big part of it was, a big part of it was, is I got this job working at a Cold Stone. My sophomore year of high school.

• 1:00:07Drew Afualo?

  Damn, you're on those marble slabs?

• 1:00:08Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah, oh yeah, the GEA is what it's called, thank you very much. The technical term for those slabs.

• 1:00:14Drew Afualo?

  Don't want to disrespect your craft.

• 1:00:15Speaker 02

  The Cold Stone at this time was like the Underground Railroad for gay teens in my high school, basically, like they all worked at this Cold Stone. And so like, that was like my first intro, because they were like, I would be telling them like, what I was doing in homeschooling, and they'd be like, that's crazy. You need to go to school if you want to go to college. And so that job really influenced like everything.

• 1:00:39Drew Afualo?

  Shout out Cold Stone.

• 1:00:40Speaker 02

  You know, like, I went to school because I was like pressured by Cold Stone creamery employees to do so, and um.

• 1:00:49Drew Afualo?

  That gay people worked at Cold Stone.

• 1:00:50Speaker 02

  Yeah, exactly.

• 1:00:50Drew Afualo?

  Bullying me into going to high school.

• 1:00:51Speaker 02

  Exactly, and the best thing that ever happened to me.

• 1:00:54Drew Afualo?

  All's well that ends well, you know? You said, hey, a win is a win. Okay, and here, all right, here it says, in 2016, you made your late night stand up debut on Conan, obviously. But what was that like? I would love to know what the call was like getting to do it.

• 1:01:10Speaker 02

  I remember getting the call, I was in Portland, actually sleeping in a hostel, in a bunk bed in a hostel, and I was like doing a show out there, and I had just done like a showcase for TBS. And like, in LA, actually, and like, it was, like a really, it was like, I had like, really crafted this five minutes of stand up material, and like, like, I knew, like, it was like, all of my best jokes that from like, the however many years I'd been doing stand up at that point, like four or five, and like, I knew that it was like, just a killer set, and I crushed that showcase, and from that showcase, they, the Conan booker was in the audience, it was like, we want you to do that exact set on Conan.

• 1:01:53Speaker 02

  And yeah, a couple, it was like a couple of weeks later, I did it, and like, it was life changing, it really was.

• 1:01:58Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, I was gonna say the reception after, I'm sure it was crazy.

• 1:02:01Speaker 02

  No, it really was, like, I.

• 1:02:04Drew Afualo?

  On YouTube.

• 1:02:04Speaker 02

  I don't think anybody like the response from like the Asian community, the Asian community, the gay community, the adopted community, you know, it was like a big deal, um, because like so many, uh, people had not seen anything like me.

• 1:02:18Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:19Speaker 02

  Yeah, uh, yeah, in 2016. I'm, I'm very grateful that I'm not the only one holding the torch by any means now.

• 1:02:25Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:25Speaker 02

  You know, and it wasn't at the time either.

• 1:02:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:27Speaker 02

  But like, you know, there's just like, there's so many of us now and it is like really demonstrative of like the breadth of our experience as like queer people or people of color, whatever, what have you.

• 1:02:38Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:39Speaker 02

  And like, I'm so glad that like, you know, I'm, for the first time in my life, I'm on lineups with other gay comics, not the only one. With other Asian comics, not the only one. And like, it just feels great because it's like, yeah, me and Mateo Lane, who started like a week apart from each other in Chicago. And we're friends in Chicago when we were coming up and we're friends now, obviously. But like, we had this moment where like early on, we realized we were not getting booked on the same shows because people assumed that we were just like the same person, basically. And we were like, fuck that.

• 1:03:09Drew Afualo?

  Right. You guys look so much alike.

• 1:03:11Speaker 02

  No, and it was like, we talk about completely different stuff.

• 1:03:13Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:14Speaker 02

  Uh, our material did not overlap at all.

• 1:03:16Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:16Speaker 02

  It really like bonded us together and they like made us like really good friends because we were like, okay, this is bullshit.

• 1:03:23Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:03:24Speaker 02

  We don't agree with this. And like, we started like demanding to do shows together because we were like, we're friends and like, we are different and like.

• 1:03:31Drew Afualo?

  And there's crossover in our audiences.

• 1:03:33Speaker 02

  Exactly, yeah.

• 1:03:33Drew Afualo?

  Well, no, you're so real for that too, because I just had Grace Kuhlenschmidt on not too long ago. And she was telling me that like one of her favorite things is being on cards with like all gay people, like all people in the community, like people that she's a people I have things in common with, like our communities have things in common with, like, she's like, I don't have any interest in like going into like straight spaces and like being on those cards. Like, I don't want to be the token on other, other lineups. I want to be around people that are like-minded. And we all like have things in common. I think that makes a lot of sense too, because.

• 1:04:05Speaker 02

  Well, and there's an audience for it now too, that didn't quite exist when I was starting out.

• 1:04:10Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 1:04:10Speaker 02

  Like, it was like, and now like you don't have. To.

• 1:04:14Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:15Speaker 02

  Anymore because like the internet has made it possible for you know like if you're seeking out a queer comedian, you can find a treasure trove of us on the internet now and like seek out and find us and like, I perform in a lot of different rooms.

• 1:04:29Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:04:29Speaker 02

  But like um it is so refreshing to be on the lineup of all gay comedians and like I can do one of those shows like once a week and they're packed and sold out, you know, and like.

• 1:04:39Drew Afualo?

  And good natured.

• 1:04:40Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:40Drew Afualo?

  They're always really fun and they're down to laugh.

• 1:04:42Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:04:42Drew Afualo?

  For the most part, which is nice. I was like, I think when I did Caleb's show, I was gonna do one later on in the year uh for another comic that's really famous, but I like she asked me to do something too, but I my schedule overlapped, so I couldn't do it. But um I was also nervous to do it because her audience and my audience are very different. And so I was like, I I'm not, I didn't get enough reps in, I don't think. Like I was like, I need to workshop this set a lot more and get like kind of cut my teeth on it a lot more before I take it in front of an audience that I know is not gonna like.

• 1:05:15Speaker 02

  You're gonna need to really work, get work to get them on your side.

• 1:05:19Drew Afualo?

  Exactly. So like I was like, I think there is a world in which I can tailor this to that kind of room, but I haven't had like.

• 1:05:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, well, I mean, all respect to you for being self-aware enough.

• 1:05:28Drew Afualo?

  I was like, I don't wanna bomb.

• 1:05:29Speaker 02

  People would not.

• 1:05:30Drew Afualo?

  I know, I was like, I don't wanna go and do it. And then like, especially because a lot of my five is about white people and like my own experiences with them and like peace and love and unity.

• 1:05:41Speaker 02

  There's many of them in the room.

• 1:05:42Drew Afualo?

  Yes, yes, there's many whites behind the camera, peace and love and unity. Uh but I was like, the audience I'll be performing in front of is older and white and probably conservative. So I'm like, you know.

• 1:05:53Speaker 02

  Yeah, don't put yourself in a position like.

• 1:05:56Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, we're and then I was telling my team too, I was like, and then if I do it and I fucking bomb, I'm never gonna wanna do that again, which I don't wanna scare myself out of doing it either.

• 1:06:05Speaker 02

  Especially early on, you need to win, you need to like feel the win a little bit, like to like to lead you through those moments of bombing, you know?

• 1:06:12Drew Afualo?

  And I and I honestly like, I feel that way so intensely about that, about stand up, because I'm like, that's your only job.

• 1:06:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:06:20Drew Afualo?

  Is to make them laugh. That's it. Like they sit there and wait to be like to laugh and be entertained. And I was like, and if I can't do that, what am I worth?

• 1:06:30Speaker 02

  Right.

• 1:06:31Drew Afualo?

  So I was like, and I

• 1:06:33Speaker 02

  Still a lot, but you know, slightly less.

• 1:06:36Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, exactly. And I think that was the best move for me because I was like, I'm gonna workshop it a lot more and then get better at it. Especially because I know you've done multiple specials, like memorizing an hour of material is crazy.

• 1:06:52Speaker 02

  Yeah, it feels that way now, but like, once you're there, it will feel like second nature.

• 1:06:58Drew Afualo?

  I, you fascinate me. Like, I was like, that is so, like, to stay on subject, stay on time. I like go off book a lot and that wastes time.

• 1:07:06Speaker 02

  Right, right.

• 1:07:06Drew Afualo?

  Before my prepared material.

• 1:07:08Speaker 02

  Well, because like, I'll tell you what, like, when I was coming up in New York, again, like, very, like, big time where a lot of people were trying to do stand up. And so I would wait like upwards of two hours to do 90 seconds of material at an open mic. And like, when you've got 90 seconds, you learn what 90 seconds feels like and you learn how to get three jokes in, three punchlines in, get your word economy down. And like, and that is a skillset that I've kept with me and that I think like a lot of these, a lot of, I think that's like the big issue with some of the like TikTokers that we've talked about.

• 1:07:40Drew Afualo?

  Right, yeah.

• 1:07:40Speaker 02

  Is they don't have that innate sense of like getting to the punchline, you know?

• 1:07:45Drew Afualo?

  Totally.

• 1:07:45Speaker 02

  It's very like meandering and like sort of like telling a story, but not writing punchlines around certain moments in the story.

• 1:07:53Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:07:53Speaker 02

  It's just like, oh, like, I saw this comic recently and I was just like, this is a good, interesting story, but you've done nothing but tell the story. You know, like, you've done nothing to juke it up.

• 1:08:03Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, hit me with some jokes, yeah.

• 1:08:04Speaker 02

  Makes, what's, what's your POV on what happened to you, you know?

• 1:08:08Drew Afualo?

  Right, yeah.

• 1:08:09Speaker 02

  And like, tell me that. And like, that's what's missing, I think, from a lot of what I see in young comics today.

• 1:08:15Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, and I, and you know what's funny is like, when I was practicing with Caleb, I would like read him my jokes, but I would read it. Like, at first he told me, just write them as if you're saying them. Write them all out and then send that to me and then we'll work it back from there. Because it's better to just get it all out and then wean back. But he was telling me to like, you gotta get to the point. Like, it's gotta be quicker. So let's cut out this part, let's cut out this part. Because I'm a yapper. So that's why I was like, no, those are great notes for me. Because then I'll Go off book too much and you like you were saying it's like you don't even get to the good parts to your jokes. Cause honestly, my five minutes, I think I went over like s- I think I did like six minutes, like thirty seconds or something. But I left out my last like three jokes because I was talking too goddamn much in the beginning. So I was like, gotta tailor, gotta gotta wean it back.

• 1:09:00Drew Afualo?

  But that's why I'm taking all the nuts I can from you on the many accomplishments you have. Okay, last one says in twenty twenty two, you were a contestant on the Great American Baking Show.

• 1:09:10Speaker 02

  Uh huh.

• 1:09:11Drew Afualo?

  Now, Joel, you have no idea what that show means to me, specifically the Great British Baking Show and I'm so dead serious.

• 1:09:18Speaker 02

  I mean, I got Prue and Paul and um we were in the cu- English countryside in the te- the tent.

• 1:09:26Drew Afualo?

  I need you to know I have butterflies.

• 1:09:27Speaker 02

  And it was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had, even though I kind of flopped at the final. Um, like.

• 1:09:36Drew Afualo?

  Hey, but you made it.

• 1:09:37Speaker 02

  I made it, baby. Uh, everybody did, but um it was like, it was just like a one episode thing, one off thing like. And it was like Marshawn Lynch, me, Darcy Carden, um, like it was a really.

• 1:09:49Drew Afualo?

  Putting you and Marshawn Lynch in the same tent.

• 1:09:52Speaker 02

  I know, it was crazy.

• 1:09:53Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:54Speaker 02

  But I had a lot. It was like so much fun. And the thing is, I was really reticent to do it because when they called me, I was like, I don't bake. I've never baked a day in my life.

• 1:10:02Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:10:03Speaker 02

  Now, like, I don't know that I could do that show. And they were like, listen, like, this is not nailed it. Like, we're not here to like see you flop. Like, we don't want anyone to feel embarrassed. They they have culinary producers on that show and they have them on the main show too. And they aren't there to like do it for you, but it was a lot of like, hey, does this consistency look right? Can I put this in the oven now? And they'd be like, yeah, yeah. And so like, I had a lot of help and a lot of prep time. Like, I basically met with those producers beforehand and they were like, so what would you want to bake if you could bake? And then we will sort of find a recipe that you can do that is close enough to what you have in your head.

• 1:10:38Drew Afualo?

  That's what I need.

• 1:10:38Speaker 02

  And like, yeah, and it was really great. And so I didn't actually practice ever, but I did watch the YouTube videos many times over. And uh, yeah, and I I got I got a handshake from Paul in the first round.

• 1:10:50Drew Afualo?

  Oh, and period.

• 1:10:51Speaker 02

  Um, and that's all I really needed. That was that was that was the win for me.

• 1:10:55Drew Afualo?

  I've never felt like true.

• 1:10:59Drew Afualo?

  Almost sinister jealousy that I just felt. I'll be so real. I, I, I, I felt a little evil twinge in my spine just now. Clock it though.

• 1:11:09Speaker 02

  You'll get there.

• 1:11:10Drew Afualo?

  I caught it.

• 1:11:12Speaker 02

  I believe you.

• 1:11:13Drew Afualo?

  I'm honest to God, so jealous, like I, when I tell you I love that fucking show. That's the only show, I never watch anything new, for whatever reason. I watched them, I watched it kinda like when Chris Fleming was on the show, he said, I'm a culture scavenger. So he's like, so, you know, 10 years after everyone stops loving it, I go and I rifles through it like a raccoon. That's me too.

• 1:11:33Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:11:33Drew Afualo?

  So I watch it like after everybody else does. And so, but The Great British Baking Show, that is the only fucking show.

• 1:11:39Speaker 02

  That's appointment television, yeah.

• 1:11:41Drew Afualo?

  Each September, I said, fire it up.

• 1:11:43Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:11:43Drew Afualo?

  Put it on the fucking TV.

• 1:11:44Speaker 02

  You gotta, it's so relaxing.

• 1:11:46Drew Afualo?

  It's the best show in the, it's just, and also the fact that they compete for nothing.

• 1:11:50Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:11:50Drew Afualo?

  I love it.

• 1:11:51Speaker 02

  Truly, just for the love of the game and that, that.

• 1:11:53Drew Afualo?

  Exactly, for the love of the game, that's it. They, they compete for that fuck ass little tin and that's it. That glass thing and that's it.

• 1:12:00Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:12:01Drew Afualo?

  Oh, I love it. Me getting passionate, I was going to talk to Paul and Prue, but like, like on, like together and I was like, oh my God, I'll freak out. And then they were like, actually, they, they're not gonna be in LA, whatever, um, like for this show. But they were saying I could do it virtually and I was like, I just feel like that's a little too hard.

• 1:12:19Speaker 02

  No, you want the handshake.

• 1:12:19Drew Afualo?

  I need the energy.

• 1:12:20Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:12:20Drew Afualo?

  Sorry, need to see in person. Sorry, invite me to the show, but you had a fun experience.

• 1:12:25Speaker 02

  I did, it was, it's a, it's a really fun experience and they make it really fun.

• 1:12:30Drew Afualo?

  That's so awesome.

• 1:12:30Speaker 02

  For you and Paul and Prue are great and like, um, yeah, it was just a blast.

• 1:12:34Drew Afualo?

  Oh, that's so fucking cool. I always say too, I'm going out round one, like easily, I can't bake for shit, I can't cook at all really, but I mean, I can cook, but I just like, don't like to.

• 1:12:43Speaker 02

  Well, you'll be on the celebrity version like me.

• 1:12:44Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 1:12:44Speaker 02

  And then nobody goes.

• 1:12:45Drew Afualo?

  Where they hold my hand and they give me training wheels.

• 1:12:47Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 1:12:48Drew Afualo?

  But I was like, but the parts where you stand and make jokes the whole time, I'd kill it that.

• 1:12:54Drew Afualo?

  Put me in that part.

• 1:12:55Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 1:12:56Drew Afualo?

  And then someone else, my body double could be in there making this stuff. We'll just hire The Rock to do it. He and I are built the same, about the same.

• 1:13:05Drew Afualo?

  Okay, so I also want to talk about your new show.

• 1:13:08Speaker 02

  Love Hotel.

• 1:13:08Drew Afualo?

  That you have on Bravo called Love Hotel. Yes, we would love to talk about it, please, Alice.

• 1:13:15Speaker 02

  Um, it is, it is Bachelor in Paradise meets, um, the Housewives, basically. It is literally, um, four housewives, um, and a bunch of men. And we say unleash them upon them. And it's, it's, it's, it's really going to be a fun show. And it's like a really interesting, I, I love that they're taking the housewives out of their natural environment and putting them in this different setting because

• 1:13:40Drew Afualo?

  Right.

• 1:13:40Speaker 02

  you're used to seeing the women in conflict with one another. And on this show, like, they really do become this like sisterhood. And like, there's plenty of drama on the show.

• 1:13:50Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:13:50Speaker 02

  But it's all between the women and the men. Very little between the women. And it's so nice to like, get to see them like, sort of, be, you know, um, sort of there to support each other and not there to like, um, you know, do the, the drama that you normally see on Housewives for our benefit. You know, it's just like, they were in a, you know, out of their element. And so they, they really did sort of like, hold on to each other because they were all like, doing this new thing. And so that's like a fun, um, aspect of the show that I think people can look forward to. And like, uh, it's, it looks really luxe. It looks really different from, um, the Housewives shows.

• 1:14:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:28Speaker 02

  It's just, it's a new, it's a new thing. And I think like, they picked four really funny ladies and like, yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's funny. I think it gets real a lot of the time.

• 1:14:38Drew Afualo?

  Nice.

• 1:14:39Speaker 02

  Um, you know, I, yeah, I, it's, it's, it's gonna be interesting. And it's the first time I've ever done something like that.

• 1:14:46Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:14:47Speaker 02

  Because like, Trudy, the reason I got this job is because I was originally offered Trader season three. And I turned it down. And it was so hard because I love Traders. I love it so much. I've seen every international English speaking season. And, but I was like, I don't want to be a contestant on a reality show. That's not like, you know, like Bake Off is one thing.

• 1:15:10Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:10Speaker 02

  But like, it was for charity.

• 1:15:11Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:15:12Speaker 02

  But I also was like, you know, I didn't want to work necessarily with an editor who was not maybe looking for my best takes. And like, and my boyfriend, my fiancee put it out, he told me this, and I think it's a great point. Traders is so huge, especially this season that just aired, the season I would have been on was so huge. That I run the risk of being known, especially to a lot of straight people, as that guy from Traders. And I don't want, I didn't want that, you know, like I want, like.

• 1:15:38Drew Afualo?

  That's so real.

• 1:15:39Speaker 02

  Yeah, and so I was like, but I was like, you know, sort of like clocking what Alan was doing. I was like, I would host a reality show. And they were like, oh, that's interesting you say that. We have this one that we think you'd be really great for. And I'm a huge Bravo fan. And so it was, yeah, it was, it was easy, sort of like, yes to make.

• 1:16:01Drew Afualo?

  Like a lateral move.

• 1:16:02Speaker 02

  Yeah, and like, again, like, I, Tefari Williams, our EP and showrunner, taught me how to do that job. Like, I had her in my ear the entire time. And she came from like Queens Court and Bachelor Nation and stuff like that. So she was a pro. She knew what she was doing. She didn't know the Housewives, though. And so like, we were like a really great team of like, I was like, I know this world, you know that world.

• 1:16:24Drew Afualo?

  You're a perfect duo.

• 1:16:25Speaker 02

  Yeah, yeah. And so, and she was amazing. And I think she created a really incredible show.

• 1:16:29Drew Afualo?

  Ooh, honestly, Bachelor in Paradise mixed with Housewives, the Bravo girls are gonna eat that shit up.

• 1:16:35Speaker 02

  And I hope they continue to do it because there's so many iterations of the show I'd love to see. I'd love to see Heather Gay on the show. I'd love to see like Sonia on the show. You know, there's so many single women in the Bravo world that I think like, everybody needs to see, like, sort of be able to like, have their pick of these guys, you know, it's just so fun putting them in the power position a little bit.

• 1:16:55Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my gosh, yeah. The amount of things I quote from. Housewives. I don't even watch Housewives, really.

• 1:16:59Speaker 02

  Well, it's really easy. If you're spending any time on the internet.

• 1:17:02Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:17:03Speaker 02

  You know.

• 1:17:03Drew Afualo?

  Exactly.

• 1:17:05Speaker 02

  Um, certain things.

• 1:17:06Drew Afualo?

  I was explaining that to my fiance the other day. I was like telling him, cause there was some joke that he made. It was like a, a clip from a soundbite or something. And I was like, you know, that's from Housewives. And he was like, really? And I go, a lot of things that people quote now are actually quotes from Housewives.

• 1:17:23Speaker 02

  I like, my boyfriend referenced Who Gonna Check Me Boo recently. And I was like, that's Housewives. Yeah, that's Housewives. And he, it's like the one thing, the one show I'm allowed to watch without him. Um, and so I've actually picked up a lot of Bravo shows that I normally didn't watch, cause I'm on the road and I'm like, oh, I can't watch our show without him. And so I'm watching Below Deck now, babe, like, you know, and I'm.

• 1:17:46Drew Afualo?

  You're all a Ben Vanderpump.

• 1:17:47Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 1:17:48Drew Afualo?

  So funny. I know. My sister and I's one for a while was, I wanna have a baby. I don't, I don't. It's like, Kim, I wanna travel. Hilarious. Joggers was another one.

• 1:18:02Speaker 02

  Joggers. September, uh, spring, summer.

• 1:18:08Drew Afualo?

  Well, how exciting. You're just putting on every hat you can find, girl. You are conquering the wall.

• 1:18:13Speaker 02

  Trying, I'm trying.

• 1:18:14Drew Afualo?

  I'm so happy for you.

• 1:18:15Speaker 02

  Multi hyphenate to my bones.

• 1:18:18Drew Afualo?

  And fucking period. Uh, I wanna ask you, as we kind of wrap, well, first I would like to ask you, is there anything that you haven't done yet? That you are looking forward to, to maybe doing one day? It seems like you've conquered every medium.

• 1:18:32Speaker 02

  Yeah, I'm trying to think, like, I would love, uh, to do two things. Be in an action movie and be in a horror movie. Those are like two things I would love to do. Especially horror. That's like, that's priority number one for me is like, I would love to be murdered. Um, like, please daddy murder me. Um, and like, I, you know, um, have had a couple of opportunities come up that haven't worked out or haven't aligned yet. But like, I'm really waiting for that. And I'm, again, it might be like something that I'm like, maybe I need to write this myself, you know?

• 1:19:00Drew Afualo?

  Period.

• 1:19:01Speaker 02

  And, um.

• 1:19:02Drew Afualo?

  And you can, and you will.

• 1:19:03Speaker 02

  And an action movie would be fun too. You know, I'd love to be in a big stupid, like, I'd love to, actually, I really wanna be like, the IT, like, the tech hacker guy in the van. While they're like, doing the thing and be like, I'm in, you know?

• 1:19:16Drew Afualo?

  Guys, you're gonna wanna see this.

• 1:19:21Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 1:19:22Drew Afualo?

  I see it now. It's perfect. The vision is so clear to me. That's so cool. That is so sick. I would love for you to do that, especially horror. I think you'd be great in horror.

• 1:19:31Speaker 02

  Oh, I, you know, I'm a scream queen, baby.

• 1:19:32Drew Afualo?

  Yeah, absolutely. Okay. And then my next question for you would be, do you have any advice for any aspiring artists? Especially because you've done so many mediums, so many forms of entertainment. Do you have any advice for aspiring creatives now? Like whether they're pursuing, it's acting, writing.

• 1:19:49Speaker 02

  I mean, I said it earlier in the podcast. It's just be prepared for when your moment arises, you know? Like come to the table ready. And it's, and it's, it, it, remind yourself that like you're doing this work now for free on your own time. And it's an investment in yourself, you know? Like it is not useless busy work. It is an investment in yourself. And so, um, just push yourself to do it. It's really hard to do. It's really hard to self-structure and self-motivate to do that kind of, to write an entire script when no one's asking for it yet. It's hard because writing sucks, man. Like I love having written, but writing?

• 1:20:29Drew Afualo?

  The act of doing?

• 1:20:30Speaker 02

  No, no, no. It's tough. And so, yeah, just push through and like make sure you're making those investments in yourself.

• 1:20:37Drew Afualo?

  I also too, I want to say, first I want to give you your flowers just for being like such a trailblazer. I think you've blazed so many trails, just doing what it is you've been doing for as long as you've been doing it too. Like, and I mean, in all the different forms that you've conquered. Like, I just think you're so fantastic and wonderful. Um, and I also think too, I feel like you're a shining example of like creating art for the sake of creating art. It's not necessarily to gain anything. It's not to like, I want to be the most famous actor in the world. I want to be the best, most famous director in the world. Like you're literally making them because they matter and like that's what you really want to put out in the world. And I think the universe has a way of rewarding creatives like yourself, which is clearly it has because you're so talented.

• 1:21:14Speaker 02

  I mean, the thing is, is like, I am so grateful every day. I never imagined I would be. Where I am at and that's actually like what my struggle is and it's a champagne problem again is that like I am now moving the goalposts for myself because like you know like my my goals were very modest when I started out.

• 1:21:34Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:21:34Speaker 02

  And I've accomplished a lot of those goals now and so now I'm trying to be like, okay, but like what's next? What's reasonable for me to expect for myself like what you know like and so it is about like it is I'm so grateful and I'm so blessed to be in the position that I'm at but like it is now like a lot of like thinking of like, okay. Um, so I did that and now what?

• 1:21:56Drew Afualo?

  You're like, I need to re-motivate myself.

• 1:21:57Speaker 02

  Yeah, no, it's true. It's real.

• 1:21:59Drew Afualo?

  No, but I think that that speaks to your spirit as an artist like you constantly you're looking for inspiration, which I think is a beautiful thing. And when I had Alana Glazer on, she was telling me too, like, uh, it's wonderful to like take breaks in between projects and stuff because you get to go live life and that's what refills your cup.

• 1:22:14Speaker 02

  Exactly.

• 1:22:15Drew Afualo?

  As a creative.

• 1:22:15Speaker 02

  And that's the thing about stand-up too, is that like I it's harder now because like when I was struggling, when I was working 50 hours a week at a day job and then going to do these shitty open mics at night in New York, like I was writing material.

• 1:22:27Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:22:28Speaker 02

  All the time because I was miserable.

• 1:22:30Drew Afualo?

  Yeah.

• 1:22:30Speaker 02

  And now that I'm happy.

• 1:22:33Drew Afualo?

  Nothing.

• 1:22:33Speaker 02

  Yeah, like it's tough.

• 1:22:35Drew Afualo?

  It sucks. Yeah, the goalposts do keep moving like you just said, but I think you're so incredible and talented and I'm so glad you came on the show.

• 1:22:42Speaker 02

  Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun.

• 1:22:44Drew Afualo?

  Oh, my God, it was. It was a key. I love you. I think you're amazing. And thank you all so much for tuning into this episode of the comment section with my fave Joel Kim Booster. For those who maybe are born yesterday and don't know you, where can everybody find you?

• 1:22:56Speaker 02

  Uh, I'm at I Hate Joel Kim on Instagram. I got there before anybody else could and um, yeah, yeah, that's all post like if I'm touring, that's where the dates are, etc. So, yeah.

• 1:23:07Drew Afualo?

  Amazing. Thank you so much for joining us on the show. We fucking love you. And thank you all so much. Don't forget, new episodes of the comment section drop every Wednesday. You can stream the audio on all streaming platforms, but the video list for free and exclusively on our favorite platform, Spotify. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you to my amazing guest, Joel Kim Booster, and I'll see you next week. Bye.

• 1:23:36Speaker 04

  Welcome to 215 Maple Drive. We just put this property on the market.

• 1:23:42Speaker 05

  Love the crown molding.

• 1:23:43Speaker 04

  Oh, wait until you see the walk-in closets and the bathroom tile.

• 1:23:47Speaker 05

  Does it have Verizon FiOS? You know, 100% fiber internet.

• 1:23:51Speaker 04

  No FiOS, but it looks like it's got cable. Let's check out the kitchen.

• 1:23:54Speaker 05

  No FiOS? Yeah, no thank you.

• 1:23:58Speaker 04

  Don't you want to see the rest? Okay, bye-bye.

• 1:24:00Speaker 06

  Get Verizon FiOS, because when you're moving, it's 100% or nothing.

• 1:24:05Speaker 00

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