Comedian Joel Kim Booster, fresh off a successful stand-up tour, sat down with drag icon Katya Zamolodchikova for a candid conversation that spanned the complexities of modern relationships, the nuances of friendship, and the ever-evolving landscape of personal boundaries. Their discussion, peppered with humor and sharp observations, offered a glimpse into their perspectives on love, marriage, and the often-murky waters of social etiquette.
Speaking on Grindr’s Who’s The A**hole podcast, Booster, reflecting on his recent tour, noted the shifting political climate and its impact on his comedy. “I remember after 2016, me and a lot of comics were like, ‘I’m going to get up there and speak truth to power, and boy, am I going to drag him to hell and all these things,'” he said. “And this time around I’m like, I’ve said everything I have to say about this man. And I find that the audience appetite to hear a Cheeto joke has so diminished at this point.”
The conversation then turned to the rigors of touring life. “It is a grind,” Booster admitted. “I mean, I’m gone five days out of the week probably, and then it’s usually a new city for five days in a row, and then I’m back for a couple of days and I get to reset. But it still feels like a grind because when you’re only back for two days, it’s like, what can you do?”
“Laundry basically,” Katya quipped.
The actor, 36, recently got engaged to his partner John-Michael Sudsina while vacationing in Jeju Island, South Korea and opened up about where they stand in life.
“We were very much ‘let’s just be boyfriends for 40 years,'” he explained. “But then, what do you call your 40-year-old boyfriend? ‘Partner’ felt too business-like, and ‘fiancé’ was just too much French.”
They brainstormed alternatives: “Future property,” Booster suggested. “Or ‘your sex,'” Katya quipped. The timeline for the wedding, Booster revealed, was flexible, likely a year or two out. “The main reason we decided to get engaged was that I want to throw a party, a production,” he said. “And I’m lucky enough to be in a place where I can make it happen.”
Joel Kim Booster and Katya Zamolodchikova
American drag queen
for the Grindr ‘Who’s The A**hole’ podcast
The wedding, he revealed, would be a “gay guys” affair, featuring disco house music and a focus on creating an unforgettable experience. “I don’t want it to feel like a sacrifice,” he said. “I want it to be the best f—– weekend of your life.”
When asked about the timeline for the wedding, Booster revealed, “I think it’s probably going to be one or two years, probably only because of the nature of my work. It’s very hard to plan in advance for something.” He clarified that the decision to get engaged stemmed from a desire to celebrate their relationship with a grand party. “I want to throw a party. And yes, I could throw any kind of party I want, and it doesn’t have to be connected to the wedding, but I do want it to be a production,” he said.
Booster shared a poignant moment that solidified his decision to propose. “We talked one night and we realized that in the three years that we’ve been together, both of us have changed in a lot of different ways,” he said. “And what I realized and what both of us realized is that I’m so excited to fall in love with the next iteration of him as well, and I’m convinced and I’m confident that I will be. And then the iteration after that.”
“I think once we realized that it wasn’t about stasis, it was about making a commitment to grow together and putting into work to make sure that we maintain that, I think it was like, well, why not just pull the trigger and make these promises in front of our friends,” Booster added.
The discussion between Booster and Katya offered a humorous and insightful exploration of modern relationships and the complexities of human interaction. Their candid exchanges and shared perspectives provided a refreshing take on love, commitment, and the ever-evolving social landscape.
