our collaborators: Josh Kornbluth

Josh Kornbluth
Bio | Current Project | What people are saying | Photos | PDFs of articles

Materials for Josh's College Democracy Improv Tour

playwright and performer

works include:
The Mathematics of Change
Haiku Tunnel (stage and film)
Red Diaper Baby (stage and film)
Love & Taxes
Ben Franklin: Unplugged
Citizen Josh (premiering spring 2007)

Bio
Josh Kornbluth was raised in New York City, then worked as a copy editor at a series of alternative newspapers before moving to San Francisco on May 11, 1987. While supporting himself as a temp (at his peak he typed better than 80 words per minute, with very few errors), he performed at open mikes around the Bay Area and was completely miserable. Then, in 1989, he opened his first autobiographical monologue, "Josh Kornbluth's Daily World," at Enrico Banducci's hungry id in North Beach. Since then he has created and performed several more solo shows, including "Haiku Tunnel," "The Mathematics of Change," "Red Diaper Baby," "Ben Franklin: Unplugged," and "Love & Taxes." He has also appeared in several films: the back of his head was seen briefly in "Searching for Bobby Fischer"; the front of his head (and little else) was seen for a minute or two in Francis Ford Coppola's "Jack," in which he played the pivotal character of "Cigarette Pack Man"; in addition, he had slightly more extensive parts in Lynn Hershman Leeson's "Teknolust" (he was seduced by Tilda Swinton) and Jonathan Parker's "Bartleby" (no seductions whatsoever). In 2001 a feature-film version of "Haiku Tunnel," starring Josh and co-directed by Josh and his brother Jacob, was selected for the Sundance Film Festival and then released nationally by Sony Pictures Classics; it is now available on video and DVD, and is priced to move. In 2002 Josh collaborated with the San Francisco Mime Troupe on their summer show, "Mr. Smith Goes to Obscuristan." And this past year -- on May Day, no less! -- a concert film of "Red Diaper Baby," directed by Doug Pray, debuted on the Sundance Channel; it will be available on DVD in the near future. Josh will be seen in three upcoming feature films: "Strange Culture," "Faith," and "The Darwin Awards." A book titled "Red Diaper Baby," collecting three of Josh's early monologues, has just come out in a second edition. Currently the host of an interview program on KQED-TV, cleverly titled "The Josh Kornbluth Show," Josh lives in Berkeley with his wife and son. His website is at www.joshkornbluth.com.

Current Project
Josh and director David Dower are currently developing Citizen Josh, in conjunction with the pro-democracy campus-based movement Democracy Matters. Josh will be touring the country to various chapters of the organization to improvise and workshop new material for the project.

What people are saying
"Love & Taxes is captivating and unceasingly funny. In this hilarious show, our crazed comic takes stock and kisses his assets goodbye."
- San Francisco Chronicle

"Kornbluth is a writer with great originality and depth and a spell-binding performer. What more can you expect from an evening at the theatre?"
- New York Daily News

"Endlessly energetic and very funny - healthy, hilarious, and wise."
- Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle

"Kornbluth can't be beat!"
- culturevulture.net

You can click here to visit our more extensive reviews page on Ben Franklin: Unplugged and Love & Taxes.

Photos
For photos of Josh and his work, click here. To download high-res images, please select the thumbnail you would like and, once the larger image has loaded on the right hand side, click the "Download Original" link above it.

PDFs of reviews
There are no PDFs for Josh Kornbluth. However, by visiting our reviews page you can link to full-text reviews of Josh's shows.