Check Out Joe Hernandez-Kolski’s Story

Today we’d like to introduce you to Joe Hernandez-Kolski.

Hi Joe, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am an actor/poet/comedian and Emmy award-winning host. My goal has always been to effect social change through my work. I once read a Robin Williams quote, “To reach the largest audience, search for the most intimate truth.” That’s always fueled me. I love that moment when the energy of the entire audience shifts because they’re connected to what I’m saying, especially when it’s something uncomfortable. For example, one of the poems that I performed on HBO’s “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry” was titled “No Disclaimers.” The audience doesn’t know the title and I just keep giving disclaimers about the poem that I’m about to perform. “It’s a real rough draft, I didn’t get a chance to memorize it yet. I’m sort of a slacker so forgive me.” etc. The crowd gets more and more angry. Then I tell them that the title of the poem is “No Disclaimers,” I say thank you and exit. People are often very confused which makes me very happy.

I grew up in Chicago in a family committed to community involvement and theater. My grandparents were both city politicians (my grandma, Irene C. Hernandez, was the first Latina politician in Chicago serving as a Cook County Commissioner). My dad was a drug and alcohol therapist who grew up taking his girlfriends to the theater. My mom ran a gang intervention program and performed in community theater. Both the political and the theater bugs bit me very early on. I knew that I’d head in one direction or the other – towards DC or LA – but I wasn’t quite sure which way.

I attended Whitney Young Public Magnet High School, a predominantly African-American high school with one of the best college prep programs in the country. Michelle Obama is one of our most famous alumni. In fact, she interviewed me to attend Princeton (she was Michelle Robinson at the time, see pic below). I followed in her footsteps and went to Princeton where I majored in Civil Rights History with minors in African-American Studies and Theater & Dance.

I studied under several professors, including Nancy Malkiel, Cornel West and Toni Morrison. I found myself deeply affected by the inherent inequalities in America and I wanted to talk about them. But I also loved making people laugh so DC was out and LA was in!

I moved to LA and I immediately gravitated to the theater community, Sacred Fools Theater, Zoo District, Center Theatre Group, etc. But after about two years, I was ready for something that allowed me to express my own thoughts. I started hitting spoken word open-mics. It was a space where I could combine all of my favorite elements – political consciousness, hip-hop and comedy. In the poetry scene, my comedy allowed me to carve my own niche. I performed on two seasons of Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry which opened doors to the college performance scene. Over the years, I’ve performed at over a hundred colleges and universities (and still going!). I’ve also performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the New York Fringe, the San Francisco Hip-Hop Theater Festival and the list goes on. I’ve also spent an inordinate amount of time studying – taking improv, stand-up, singing and dance classes, including a summer studying acting at the famed School at Steppenwolf. And it’s always been very important to me to create a safe and supportive space for future artists to create so for the past twenty years, I’ve run and co-hosted Downbeat 720, an open-mic for high school performers.

Currently, I’m doing my best to stay balanced between creating my own projects and working in more mainstream fare. I just appeared in an episode of “Law & Order” in a wonderful role that feels very much like who I might be in an alternate universe (and hopefully the role will recur). I’m also doing a lot of voiceover and video game performance capture. I voiced several characters in the recent “Call of Duty Modern Warfare II” and I’m appearing in the upcoming “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor” game.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Well, I definitely don’t think it’s been a “smooth” road but I’m very grateful for that. If things went the way that I expected them to when I moved to LA, my fame would’ve immediately been pulled off a shelf, sitting there between Madonna and Leo DiCaprio’s, and it would’ve just been handed to me. I expected to book every tv and film role that I auditioned for. I was a cocky kid. If that would’ve happened, I may have never started writing my own material. I fervently believe now that the best way to move through this industry is by carving your own path. You should always have your own project that you’re working on. That way, if you don’t book the audition, instead of getting depressed, you say, “Oh good! That’ll give me more time to work on my personal projects.”

My darkest moments have led to my greatest discoveries. My mom died about twelve years ago and anyone who has lost a parent knows that your life is never the same. It sent me down a dark hole. I lost all confidence in myself and my path. My mom was my compass. The gift that she gave me when she died was that I’ve had to rebuild who I am on my own. I had to ask myself, “Is this what you really want to do with your life?” and the answer was a resounding YES. Life, to me, isn’t about perfection. It’s not about the perfect house, the perfect family, etc. It’s about how we move through a series of challenging experiences. Do they cripple us or propel us forward?

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a performer. I work at creating deeply personal pieces that are a mix of comedy and drama. Whether it’s a solo show, a stand-up set, a poem, a short film, a feature film or a tv pilot, my goal is to be brave and share those intimate thoughts that make you think I’m looking in your window late at night. Like I’m your own personal stalker. 😉

Three things that I’m proud of:

First, I’m really proud of the digital theater piece that I created for Center Theatre Group during the pandemic. I was supposed to do a series of live performances for them that got canceled. So we came up with this idea that I’d shoot a video about an artist in isolation. As the political climate changed during the quarantine, I had to change my personal narrative. The Black Lives Matter was such an important topic to discuss. I wrote, shot, edited and acted in the piece while my longtime collaborator Benjamin Byron Davis (Red Dead Redemption, Borderlands) directed it.

Second, I’m obviously proud of Downbeat 720, our open-mic for high school performers. For over twenty years, actor/beatboxer Joshua Silverstein (Drop The Mic, Declare Yourself), DJ Jedi (Digable Planets, Def Poetry on Broadway) and I have been showing up twice a month so high school students can explore their talents and their voices. Thousands of students have come through as well as numerous professional artists like Grammy-award winner Aloe Blacc, hip-hop group Jurassic Five, poet/actress Amber Tamblyn and comedian Craig Robinson.

Lastly, I’m proud of my college shows. I’ve performed at over a hundred colleges, mostly for Latine Heritage Month events which is important to me. I’ve always been insecure about my Mexican-American background. As someone who is half-Polish, half-Mexican, growing up, I often didn’t feel “Latino enough.” (What the hell does that even mean?) American culture has a way of compartmentalizing our ethnic cultures and if you don’t fit into that stereotype, you feel like you did something wrong. I love that I get to perform at schools and encourage students to JUST BE YOURSELF. Trust your gut, trust what and who you love, and break out of the constructs.

I love when a student occasionally runs up to me after the show and declares their ethnicity to me: “HEY! I’m half-Mexican half-Italian!” Students from mixed backgrounds can often get emotional at my shows because I’m talking about something that’s always bugged them but they’ve never been able to express it. I often find myself sitting with the students after the show as they share their personal experiences. That type of connection is everything to me.

Oh and one thing that I think separates me? I’m really good with names. By the end of my college show, I very often know the first name of every person in my audience. I walk around and introduce myself before my show so, as they’re leaving, I can say goodbye to each of them personally.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a damn serious kid. I remember being at my twelfth birthday party and someone asked me, “Why aren’t you outside playing?” and I told them, “I’m saving my childhood for when I get older.” I had too much shit to accomplish. I had a mother who would often say, “Mi’jo, you are meant to do great things in this world.” My goals (not goal, GOALS) were to be a famous actor by my mid-twenties, the first Polish-Mexican-American president by my mid-thirties and then I was going to end racism by my mid-forties. Yeah, obviously I had some impossible goals but they got me to pursue a career that’s been really good to me. Every day, I do my best to get up early, hit a boxing class, keep the voices of self-doubt away and keep creating. I’m much happier when I get out whatever’s inside of me – from poems to stand-up to comedy shorts to solo shows, it’s all about telling my story. We all have a unique story to tell.

Contact Info:

• Website: pochojoe.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/pochojoe
• Facebook: Facebook.com/pochojoe
• Youtube: YouTube.com/pochojoe

Image Credits
Main photo by Brian Love Order of photos: #1 – me jumping #2 – me at make up table – “Waiting for Waiting for Godot” photo by Jessica Sherman-Prince #3 – Gilmore Girls #4 – me with Laurie Hernandez – photo by Gage Skidmore (says it on the pic) #5 – Downbeat 720 #6 – Me with Michelle Obama photo by Antonio Dickey #7 – Me with my mom #8 – Me at Central Michigan University