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]