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Joe Hernandez-Kolski is an American actor, spoken word poet, comedian and hip-hop theater artist. He appeared on the fourth and sixth seasons of HBO's Def Poetry Jam .
Hernandez-Kolski was born in Chicago, the son of Philip Edmund Kolski and Cynthia Marie Hernandez-Kolski. He is the oldest of two children. He began acting professionally as a child in Chicago, working with Chicago Actors Ensemble and Profiles Performance Ensemble. His first professional theater production was the Chicago premiere of Matt Williams' Between Daylight and Boonville. [1]
Hernandez-Kolski graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School. [2] He then graduated from Princeton University with a degree in history. [3]
Hernandez-Kolski moved to Los Angeles and acted in several theatrical productions, including the long-running Zoo District production of Mikhail Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita . [4] Around the same time, Hernandez-Kolski began performing in the spoken word poetry scene.
In 2002, Hernandez-Kolski was cast in American Stage Theater Company's production of The Bomb-itty of Errors . [5] This production led to a long-running series of performances, including a run at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (where the cast received the Stage Award for "Best Ensemble"), The Helix (Dublin) and the Ambassadors Theatre (London). [6]
In 2004, Hernandez-Kolski debuted on the season finale of the fourth season of HBO's Def Poetry Jam then appeared again in the sixth season. [7] [8]
Hernandez-Kolski was chosen to warm up the crowd for Hillary Clinton's speech at the 2015 National Council of La Raza annual conference. [9] Hernandez-Kolski currently tours around the country with his performances titled, "Refried Latino Pride" and "Cultural Collisions: Commentary for a Changing America." [10]
In addition to his solo work, he performs regularly with his comedy partner, comedian/beatboxer Joshua Silverstein. In addition to their live performances, they co-hosted Si TV's Not So Foreign Filmmakers Showcase and shot a political/comedy digital series for MiTu, Pocho Joe & Silverstein. [11]
Hernandez-Kolski hosts Downbeat 720, an open-mic for high school youth sponsored by the City of Santa Monica. [12] The televised version, Downbeat Showdown received the Los Angeles Emmy for "Outstanding Youth Programming." [13]
Hernandez-Kolski's first solo hip-hop theater show You Wanna Piece of Me? was published by the University of Michigan press in a hip-hop theater anthology, Say Word: Voices from Hip Hop Theater. [14]
Hernandez-Kolski has a guest role in the 2016 Netflix series Gilmore Girls [15]
Martha Plimpton is an American actress and member of the Carradine family. Her feature-film debut was in Rollover (1981); she subsequently rose to prominence in the Richard Donner film The Goonies (1985). She has also appeared in The Mosquito Coast (1986), Shy People (1987), Running on Empty (1988), Parenthood (1989), Samantha (1991), Small Town Murder Songs (2011), Frozen II (2019), and Mass (2021).
Yasiin Bey, formerly known as Mos Def, is an American rapper and actor. A prominent figure in conscious hip hop, he is recognized for his use of wordplay and commentary on social and political issues, such as police brutality, American exceptionalism, and the status of African Americans in the United States.
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Laura Elizabeth Metcalf is an American actress and comedian. Known for her complex and versatile roles across the stage and screen, she has received various accolades throughout her career spanning more than four decades, including four Primetime Emmy Awards and two Tony Awards, in addition to nominations for an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and three Golden Globe Awards.
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Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry, better known as simply Def Poetry Jam or Def Poetry, is a spoken word poetry television series hosted by Mos Def and airing on HBO between 2002 and 2007. The series features performances by established and up-and-coming spoken word poets. Performances also include special appearances by well-known actors and musicians, as well as occasional performances by Mos Def himself. Co-created by Bruce George, Danny Simmons, Deborah Pointer, Stan Lathan, and Russell Simmons, the show is a spin-off of the popular Def Comedy Jam which began airing on HBO in the 1990s. As with Def Comedy, Simmons appears at the end of every episode to thank the audience.
Lemon Andersen is an American poet, spoken word artist and actor. He is sometimes credited as Lemon. He is the author of County of Kings and the subject of the documentary Lemon. In his November 2011 TEDYouth talk Please don't take my Air Jordans, Lemon's performance of the title poem by Reg E. Gaines is followed by his own spoken-word riff on the influence of Gaines, Etheridge Knight, and other poets on his creative growth as a poet and spoken word artist.
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Marc Bamuthi Joseph is a spoken-word poet, dancer, playwright, and actor who frequently directs stand-alone hip-hop theater plays.
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The Sacred Fools Theater Company is a Los Angeles–based theatre company and nonprofit organization. Founded in January 1997, the company is a member organization of the LA Stage Alliance.
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Bryonn Bain is an American poet, actor, prison activist, scholar, author, hip hop artist and professor of African American Studies and World Arts & Cultures in the School of the Arts and the School of Law at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
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