Joey Diaz
Joey "CoCo" Diaz (born José Antonio Díaz; February 19, 1963) is a Cuban-American stand-up comedian, actor , podcaster, and author renowned for his raw, autobiographical storytelling style that draws from his tumultuous life experiences. Born in Havana , Cuba , he immigrated to the United States at age three and was raised in North Bergen, New Jersey, where he navigated a challenging upbringing marked by family loss and legal troubles, including a period of incarceration in the late 1980s .
Diaz began his comedy career in 1988 while serving time in a Denver correctional facility, where he performed stand-up routines during movie breaks to entertain fellow inmates, eventually transitioning to professional stages after his release. His breakthrough in acting came with supporting roles in major films, including Spider-Man 2 (2004), The Longest Yard (2005), Taxi (2004), Grudge Match (2013) alongside Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, and The Many Saints of Newark (2021) as Buddha Bonpensiero in the Sopranos prequel. On television, he has appeared in series such as My Name Is Earl , The Mentalist , Eastbound & Down , Children's Hospital , and General Hospital , often playing characters that leverage his distinctive gravelly voice and intense persona. Diaz released his first one-hour stand-up special, Sociably Unacceptable , in 2016, and his comedy has been featured on platforms like This Is Not Happening .
As a podcaster, Diaz has built a massive following through unfiltered discussions of personal anecdotes, addiction recovery, and life lessons; he co-hosted The Church of What's Happening Now from 2012 to 2016, revived it as The New Testament in 2024, and currently hosts Uncle Joey's Joint and The Check-In with co-host Lee Syatt. He is a frequent guest on The Joe Rogan Experience , appearing over 40 times since 2009, which has amplified his cult status in comedy circles. In 2022, Diaz published his memoir Tremendous: The Life of a Comedy Savage , a New York Times bestseller that chronicles his path from street crime and substance abuse to sobriety and stardom. Married to Terrie Clark since 2007, he is a father and continues touring with shows like his 2026 performance 62 & Still Slinging at Seminole Hard Rock Tampa.
José Antonio Díaz was born on February 19, 1963, in Havana , Cuba , to a Cuban father and a mother of Spanish descent. His father died when he was three years old, leaving the family in difficult circumstances under the early years of the Castro regime. At the age of three, in 1966, Díaz immigrated to the United States with his mother, initially settling on the Upper West Side of Manhattan , New York City . The family later relocated to North Bergen, New Jersey , where Díaz spent much of his formative years.
Díaz was raised in a strict Catholic household by his single mother, who worked as a hairdresser and later owned and operated a bar along with a numbers racket to support the family. His upbringing was marked by a blend of Cuban cultural traditions and the challenges of adapting to American life in a working-class neighborhood. He attended McKinley School and North Bergen High School , where he began navigating the cultural shifts of his new environment, including exposure to diverse influences from school peers and the local community. Early on, Díaz took on odd jobs such as working as a dishwasher and a delivery boy to contribute to the household .
In 1979, when Díaz was 16, his mother died of a heart attack, an event that plunged him into profound emotional turmoil. Following her death, he lived with relatives while grappling with the loss and the instability it brought to his life. This period of grief and upheaval profoundly shaped his early worldview, highlighting the hardships of his immigrant roots and family dynamics.
Following the death of his mother at age 16, Diaz dropped out of high school and descended into a period of escalating personal troubles in New Jersey.
