“Joe is a refreshing and
seldom heard voice of the hip-hop generation
that deserves listening and watching.”
Danny Hoch
“Joe’s work offers a fresh perspective
that is both honest and insightful.”
Dr. Cornel West, Princeton University
“Joe is an inspiring voice and talent.
His work is humorous and powerful.”
Saul Williams
"Joe ain’t afraid to be entertaining,
in fact highly entertaining is what he is. Joe,
I’ve noticed, likes to take chances and
push the audience close to the edge."
Marc (So What!) Smith, Founder of the
Slam Movement and Poetry Slam, Inc.
A two-time HBO Def Poet, Joe Hernández-Kolski
is an actor/writer committed to creating work
that challenges the audience while making them
laugh. He currently lives in Los Angeles. Born
and raised in the city of Chicago, Joe has been
acting professionally since he was twelve years
old. He is a graduate of Princeton University.
As an actor, you’ll be able to see him
in the upcoming 2008 summer blockbuster Hancock,
starring Will Smith. This Spring, he will be
shooting a scene with Robert Downey Jr. in the
upcoming film The Soloist,
directed by Joe Wright (“Atonement.”)
Joe’s short film Afterschool’d,
which he wrote, produced and acted in, was chosen
as one of seven finalists in NBC’s Comedy
Short Cuts Festival. He recently opened the
“Say Word” Hip-Hop Theater Festival
at Lehigh University with his hip-hop solo show—You
Wanna Piece of Me?—with DJ Jedi
(Digable Planets, Def Poetry Jam Tour). The
show has been performed all over the country,
including the San Francisco Hip-Hop Theater
Festival and the New York International Fringe
Festival where the show received much attention
from both theatrical producers and press including
a great review in The New York Times. In addition,
Joe received glowing reviews from both Variety
and The Los Angeles Times for his dual-performance
in Center Theater Group’s production of
The Stones at the Kirk Douglas
Theatre. Joe played both Yahoo, a 15-year-old
boy in trouble with the law, and Russo, the
detective investigating the case. Currently,
he can be seen mixing it up with actors like
Esai Morales, Danny Trejo and Judy Reyes as
the host of Si TV’s Not So Foreign
Filmmakers Showcase, a nationally-televised
show dedicated to independent film. The second
season is currently airing. Before that, he
was touring with The Bomb-itty of Errors,
a Hip-Hop version of Shakespeare’s “The
Comedy of Errors.” The cast performed
in London’s West End at the famous New
Ambassadors. The show’s also been to Dublin,
Chicago, Florida and won the STAGE Award
for “Best Ensemble” at
the 2002 Edinburgh Fringe Theater Festival in
Scotland.
As a Spoken Word Poet, Joe just performed on
the sixth season of HBO’s Russell
Simmons Presents Def Poetry. He previously
performed on the season finale of the fourth
season. He currently tours around the country
with his lecture/performance entitled, “Refried
Latino Pride.” His blend of comedy, social
commentary and personal stories attracts fans
from all different backgrounds. The audience
response at colleges and universities nationwide
has been unbelievably positive. He is represented
by the American Program Bureau:
www.apbspeakers.com.
As a teacher, Joe continues to work with several
organizations throughout Los Angeles teaching
Hip-Hop Culture and Spoken Word Workshops. He
currently hosts DownBeat 720,
an open-mic for high school youth sponsored
by the City of Santa Monica. The televised version,
Downbeat Showdown, that Joe
hosts and produces, just received an LA
Emmy for “Outstanding Youth Programming.”
