Month: July 2021

Go Away With … Yassir Lester

Jae-Ha Kim

“I don’t necessarily remember the best shows, because the bombs always hit so much harder,” said stand-up comic and “Black Monday” actor Yassir Lester. “There’s plenty of fun shows, but my worst one was in a place called Mesquite, Nevada. A woman ran up to the stage to give me the middle finger during my set and said, ‘You f—— suck!’ That, and in Long Beach one time a dude heckled me just by saying, ‘Look at you with all that acne on ya face!’ Crowd loved it and I was devastated.”

“Oh My Ghost” (오 나의 귀신님)

Jae-Ha Kim

The first half of “Oh My Ghost” is what I refer to as a laundry series. I was so disinterested in the plot that it took me months to finish, and most of it was while I was sorting and folding laundry. But all that changed in the second half when the series veered from the repetitive plot of a horny ghost wanting to bed a handsome chef, and turned into a thrilling murder mystery.

“Move to Heaven” (무브 투 헤븐: 나는 유품정리사입니다)

Jae-Ha Kim

“Move to Heaven” is a beautiful and at times brutal series that tells so many touching stories. One of the most important aspects was in how the series showed respect for the dead, even when the supposed loved ones of the deceased don’t seem to care.

Go Away With … BettySoo

Jae-Ha Kim

“My whole life, I have heard the word American as shorthand for white, Black and white Hispanic (or) Latinx,” said Nobody’s Girl singer/songwriter, BettySoo. “As a kid who never grasped fluency with the Korean language, I very much felt like a person without a homeland to claim and without a homeland to claim me. I have always felt like a Texan and an American, but as I get older, I become less convinced I will ever be seen as fully Texan nor American by others.”

“Beyond Evil” (괴물)

Jae-Ha Kim

“Beyond Evil” is one weird (in an interesting way) Korean series that centers on the search for a serial killer, who murdered multiple women — including the protagonist’s younger sister. Virtually all the major characters are suspects at one point or another, with damning evidence that has been carefully weaved into the storyline.