Joey Diaz

Jose Antonio “Joey” Diaz was born on February 19, 1963 in Havana, Cuba. Moving to New Jersey at the age of three, his first encounter with stand-up comedy was in Colorado at age 25 when he took a local stand-up comedy class. His first routine was at Comedy Works in Denver in 1991. In 1992, he won the Beck’s Amateur Comedy Competition. In 1995, Diaz moved to Los Angeles to work on his career. He continued to tour as a supporting act for various other comedians in the coming years.

In 1998, Diaz starred in his first feature film BASEketball and got a part in NYPD Blue. He continued to act, starring in Analyze That (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004), Taxi (2004) and The Longest Yard (2005) as well as getting various TV appearances in shows like Law & Order, ER, Cold Case, and My Name is Earl.

Although he quit comedy in 2009 to become a car salesman, he still occasionally continues to work in the entertainment industry. Diaz co-hosted a podcast, Beauty and Da Beast from 2010-2012 and launched his own entitled, The Church of What’s Happening Now, which has over 500 episodes to date.