Jo Koy

Joseph Glenn Herbert (born June 2, 1971 ), known professionally as Jo Koy, is an American stand-up comedian and actor.

He was a frequent panelist on E!'s late night show Chelsea Lately.

He has since had a total of six comedy specials released by Comedy Central and Netflix.

In 2024, Koy hosted the 81st Golden Globe Awards.

Koy was born to a Caucasian father who was in the United States Air Force stationed in the Philippines when he married Koy's Filipina mother.

His family moved from Spanaway, Washington, to Tacoma, Washington, and then to Las Vegas soon after he finished high school in Tacoma.

He originally attended Spanaway Lake High School and then moved to Foss High School in Tacoma.

They moved to Las Vegas to be near his ailing grandmother.

Jo Koy enrolled in the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, but dropped out to pursue stand-up comedy.

Koy has said that his stage name comes from a nickname his family gave him when he was growing up.

Koy's monologue as host of the 81st Golden Globe Awards was met with criticism from viewers and critics with many describing his jokes as "painful", "unfunny", and "cringeworthy".

Chelsey Sanchez of Bazaar described his monologue as "awkward" and "distasteful".

Shirley Li of The Atlantic wrote, "practically every joke failed to land, mostly because the punchlines were dated or obvious".

In 1994, Koy began his stand-up career at a comedy club in Las Vegas.

Soon he moved from open mic night to a regular spot on the show Catch a Rising Star at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.

After performing at the MGM Grand Las Vegas, he rented the Huntridge Theater and went door to door to sell tickets to his comedy shows.

A talent coordinator from Los Angeles spotted Koy and landed him his first television appearance on BET's ComicView.

He has appeared in two seasons of Comic View.

Koy has starred in other TV stand-up specials like Jamie Foxx Presents: Laffapalooza! Jo Koy has won the Showtime at the Apollo, performed in front of troops in the USO Tour, can be seen on various VH1 I Love the '70s, 80s, 90s, truTV's World's Dumbest... and New Millennium episodes, Amp'd Mobile phone commercials and received a second invite to the Montreal comedy festival Just for Laughs, the series for which he was awarded Canada's prestigious Gemini Award.

Koy was also a regular guest at Chelsea Handler's roundtable discussion on E!'s Chelsea Lately.

He has also appeared on Carlos Mencia's Punisher Tour performing stand-up comedy.

In 2005, He performed on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Koy started a podcast together with comedian and TV host Michael Yo on July 23, 2012, called The Michael Yo and Jo Koy Show.

Koy has also appeared on over 100 episodes of Chelsea Lately as a season regular roundtable guest.

Other appearances include The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, @midnight with Chris Hardwick, VH1, World's Funniest Fails, The Joy Behar Show, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Last Call with Carson Daly and Jamie Foxx: Laffapalooza.

Today, the comedian tours across the US and can be heard as a weekly guest on the podcast, The Adam Carolla Show.

He joined the PodcastOne family and hosts the weekly podcast, The Koy Pond.

Koy has done two highly rated and successful comedy specials on Comedy Central: Don't Make Him Angry and Lights Out.

His third comedy special, Jo Koy: Live from Seattle is a Netflix Original, and was released worldwide on March 28, 2017.

It was said during his stand-up routine in Phoenix, Arizona, on September 22, 2019, that back in 1989 he was talking to his cousin about making a stage name when his aunt called him to come to dinner, shouting "Jo Ko, eat!"

(Ko means "my" in Tagalog, so Jo Ko means "my Jo"), which he misheard as "Koy," and, deciding that it was a good name, has used it ever since.

Koy credits his mother for his comedic and acting talents.

He frequently tells stories about her in his comedy shows.

She encouraged him to participate in school talent shows and to hold impromptu performances for his family and friends.

This led to performances at a Las Vegas coffee house and inspired a move to Los Angeles.

Koy released another Netflix special titled Jo Koy: Comin' in Hot on June 12, 2019.

On February 23, 2019, Koy performed two shows on stage at the Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, Colorado, for the closing night of Aspen Laugh Festival.

On June 12, 2020, Netflix released Jo Koy: In His Elements, a comedy special featuring Filipino American comedians, DJs, and B-boys.

On July 28, 2022, Koy, alongside film producer Dan Lin appeared in the Rise for Comedy festival, where they raised a $75,000 donation to the nonprofit Search to Involve Pilipino Americans (SIPA).

On December 21, 2023, Koy was announced as host of the 81st Golden Globe Awards.