Born and raised in New York City, Danny Hoch, whose name rhymes with "rock," attended the High School of Performing Arts where he began his studies in theatre. After studying in London, he worked with a high-octane theatre troupe in NYC's jails and high schools.
He developed his unique brand of solo performance or monologues, where he portrays a dozen or so characters of all ages and backgrounds in one piece, usually 90 minutes long. These solo shows eventually became cult classics, which were taped for HBO and as a feature film.
Five of these tour-de forces have been performed all over the U.S. and the world, as well as other plays written by Mr. Hoch. He has garnered several awards for both writing and performance, including the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, 2 OBIE's, a USA Ford Fellowship, a Creative Capital Award, the CalArts Alpert Award in Theatre, and several Sundance Institute Fellowships.
In 2000, he founded the Hip-Hop Theater Festival to promote and support Hip-Hop Generation arts and artists, which is still in existence today. He has worked with lauded theatre artists and has also worked in film and television alongside talented actors and directors.
His writing has been published in various publications, including the New York Times, Village Voice, The Nation, Harpers, American Theatre Magazine, and several books. He has mastered scores of accents, both regional and international, and speaks fluent Spanish.
He has performed his solo shows in 5 Latin American countries, using different accents. It is reported that very few people know what his regular speaking voice actually sounds like. At the High School of Performing Arts, Danny Hoch went to school with notable celebrities such as Jennifer Aniston and Marlon Wayans.
Last year, he was seen on Broadway in a play by Woody Allen and Ethan Coen, alongside Steve Guttenberg, Marlo Thomas, and Marc Linn-Baker.
