Jo Koy American Comedian Born 1971 in Tacoma

Jo Koy is an American stand-up comedian, actor and screenwriter. He was born Joseph Glenn Herbert on 2 June 1971 in Tacoma, Washington, and has worked under his stage name for more than three decades. His career has moved from small clubs and open mic nights to Netflix specials, a podcast, feature films and, in 2024, a turn as host of a major televised awards ceremony.

Early life

Koy's father was an American serving in the United States Air Force who was stationed in Japan, where he met and married Koy's mother, a Filipina. A stepfather, Fredrick Harrison, also helped raise him. The family lived in Spanaway before settling in Tacoma. Koy first went to Spanaway Lake High School and later transferred to Henry Foss High School in Tacoma.

After he finished school, the family relocated to Las Vegas. Koy enrolled at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, but left without a degree so that he could concentrate on stand-up comedy.

The stage name comes from a family nickname. According to his own account of the story, he was discussing possible stage names with a cousin in 1989 when an aunt called him to dinner using the Tagalog word for "my" after his first name. He misheard the last syllable as "Koy", liked how it sounded and kept it.

Career

Koy began by performing at open mic nights and then won regular bookings in Las Vegas, including a spot at Catch a Rising Star inside the MGM Grand. To build his own audience he later rented the Huntridge Theater in the same city and sold tickets to his shows by going door to door.

A long run of appearances on the late-night talk show Chelsea Lately brought him wider recognition in the United States. He later became a frequent guest on The Adam Carolla Show and started his own weekly podcast, The Koy Pond with Jo Koy, in which he talks through topics with other comedians.

His stand-up has been released through Comedy Central and Netflix, and he has had six comedy specials in total. In 2019 Netflix released Jo Koy: Comin' in Hot, recorded in front of a crowd of roughly 8,000 people at the Blaisdell Arena in Honolulu. That year he also closed the Aspen Laugh Festival in Colorado with two shows at the Wheeler Opera House. His Just Kidding world tour, planned for 2020, took him to the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. In June 2020 Netflix released Jo Koy: In His Elements, a special built around Filipino American comedians, DJs and B-boys.

On screen, Koy appeared in Easter Sunday in 2022, a film for which he is also credited as a writer and in which he holds the top billing. In 2023 he took a role in the animated film The Monkey King. In July 2022 he joined film producer Dan Lin at the Rise for Comedy festival, where the two helped raise a $75,000 donation for the nonprofit Search to Involve Pilipino Americans.

In 2024 Koy hosted the 81st Golden Globe Awards. His opening monologue drew considerable criticism from commentators, and he addressed the reaction in a television interview afterward, saying that he had enjoyed the experience despite the backlash and that hosting differed from his usual stand-up work. In 2025 he took part in the Riyadh Comedy Festival, an event that a Human Rights Watch researcher publicly criticized.

Recognition

Koy received the Asia's Most Influential Philippines award in 2021. In 2022 he was named among the "75 Most Influential Filipino-Americans" in a list published by the Blogtalk with MJ Racadio program. He has named Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg, Chris Rock and Steve Martin among his comedic influences.

Personal life

Koy was previously married to the Filipino American singer Angie King, and the couple have a son, born in 2003. His mother's sister, Evelyn Magluyan, was the first Filipino gymnast to compete for the Philippines at the Olympic Games. As of 2023 Koy lived in Los Angeles. He has also been described as a practitioner of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and in 2023 he received a traditional hand-tapped tattoo from a Filipino tattoo artist in Baguio.