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Mike Polk

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Mike Polk
Born
Warren, Ohio, US
NationalityAmerican
Alma materKent State University
Occupation(s)Actor
Comedian
Newspaper columnist
TV news commentator

Michael G. Polk Jr. is an American comedian, actor, TV commentator, and newspaper columnist, known primarily for his sketch comedy and viral videos.

Early life and education

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Polk was born in Warren, Ohio. After being raised in Newton Falls, Ohio, he attended Kent State University as an undergraduate and earned a degree in communications and psychology in 2002.[1]

Career

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Polk created the YouTube series Runaway Box / Man in the Box.[2] His work has also appeared on HBO, Cinemax and TNT's Inside the NBA.[3]

He sang his YouTube song "One Semester of Spanish - Love Song"[4] for Kim Kardashian on Spanish television channel Telemundo.[5][6] That video has received over 9.4 million views on YouTube. He thanked his viewers as "Spanish Mike" when the video hit 2 Million views. [7]

Some of his other work includes "Ooh Girl!" - An Honest R&B Song",[8] "The Great Office War",[9] "The Factory of Sadness"[10] and two different versions of a "Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video"[11][12] all of which have about 32 million views combined on YouTube. The tourism spoof video actually prompted Cleveland's convention and tourism bureau to solicit other videos in a 'counterattack' to Polk's not-so-flattering work.[13] Segments of the Cleveland tourism videos were also featured in the Michael Moore documentary film Capitalism: A Love Story.[14][15]

In 2010, Polk coordinated a group of local celebrities in order to record "Please Stay, LeBron", a parody of the charity song "We Are the World", in order to persuade NBA player LeBron James not to leave the Cavaliers.[16]

In 2012, Polk became a weekly contributor on The Rizzo Show – a Sunday night sports/comedy program airing WJW channel 8 in Cleveland (the local FOX affiliate) hosted by local sports media personality Tony Rizzo.[17] Polk also contributed to the sports section of the nightly news broadcast with Browns Hangover, a recurring segment providing comedic commentary after Cleveland Browns games.[18]

Polk has also worked for Funny or Die and his current[when?] comedy troupe Last Call Cleveland.

In 2016, Polk became a writer for the Plain Dealer newspaper, doing periodic columns about pop culture and humor.[19]

In 2019, Cleveland NBC affiliate WKYC channel 3 hired Polk as a feature reporter and contributor.[20] That same year – with the 2019 MLB All-Star Game occurring in Cleveland – ESPN solicited Polk to make a third "Hastily Made Tourism Video" for Cleveland, which he released on July 9, 2019.[21]

Awards

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Polk was named as one of Cleveland Magazine's Most Interesting People of 2010.[22]

In 2013 readers of Scene Magazine voted him to be Cleveland's Best Local Comedian and Best Local Author for his book Damn Right I'm From Cleveland.[23]

in 2022, Polk won three Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards in various categories in his role as commentator/host on WKYC.[24]

Bibliography

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Damn Right I'm From Cleveland (2012 ISBN 978-1-938441-07-3)

References

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  1. ^ "Kent State 'down' with entertainment this weekend". KentWired.com. Archived from the original on 2012-07-09.
  2. ^ "Mike Polk : Actor : Biography". Symfonee.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19.
  3. ^ "Video Mike Polk's tribute to TNT's coverage of the NBA playoffs". Sports.Yahoo.com.
  4. ^ "One Semester of Spanish - Love Song". YouTube. September 10, 2007. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  5. ^ "Spanish Mike at Telemundo". YouTube. January 14, 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  6. ^ "Spanish Mike en Mas Vale Tarde". YouTube. February 12, 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  7. ^ "Spanish Mike-2 Million Viewers". YouTube. January 28, 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  8. ^ "Ooh Girl!" - An Honest R&B Song". YouTube. March 14, 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  9. ^ "The Great Office War". YouTube. June 16, 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  10. ^ "The Factory Of Sadness (A Cleveland Browns Fan's Reaction To Today's Game Against Houston)". YouTube. November 6, 2011. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  11. ^ "Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video". YouTube. April 14, 2009. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
  12. ^ "Hastily Made Cleveland Tourism Video: 2nd Attempt". YouTube. April 30, 2009. Archived from the original on 2009-06-11.
  13. ^ Brett, Regina (May 13, 2009). "A counterattack on Mike Polk's Cleveland 'tourism' videos: Regina Brett". Cleveland.com. The Plain Dealer. Archived from the original on January 17, 2021.
  14. ^ "'Capitalism: A Love Story' is classic Michael Moore, but he should have trimmed his target list". Cleveland.com. October 2009.
  15. ^ "Moore's Legacy of Visual Protest in Capitalism a Love Story". HASTAC.org. Archived from the original on 2012-03-01.
  16. ^ Eakin, Marah (July 13, 2022). "'Just Show Up. Don't Ask Questions': An Oral History of the 'Please Stay, LeBron' Video". Cleveland Scene. Retrieved February 5, 2024.
  17. ^ "The Rizzo Show". 29 August 2012.
  18. ^ "Mike Polk puts in 'just as much effort' as Browns in this week's 'Browns Hangover'". fox8.com. 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2020-03-22.
  19. ^ Polk's debut column - Cleveland.com
  20. ^ Morona, Joey (2019-06-27). "WKYC Channel 3 hires comedian Mike Polk Jr. to appear 'across all news platforms'". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 2024-10-03.
  21. ^ Haidet, Ryan (July 9, 2019). "Mike Polk Jr. does it again with 'Cleveland tourism' All-Star parody video: 'Still not Detroit'". WKYC. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
  22. ^ "Most Interesting People 2010 - Mike Polk". ClevelandMagazine.com.
  23. ^ "Best Local Author 2013 - Mike Polk". CleveScene.com.
  24. ^ 53rd Annual CGL Emmy Awards Recipients - Great Lakes Emmy Awards
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