Lily Jo Hanson (born Joe Hanson) is a writer and comedian living in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and is best known for her work on ''Current TV'', ''Smash Cuts,'' and ''Joe Goes''.

Early life

Hanson grew up in

Fosston, Minnesota Fosston is a city in Polk County, Minnesota, Polk County, Minnesota, United States. It is part of the Greater Grand Forks region. The population was 1,434 at the time of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Geography According to the Unit ...

, she graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

with a degree in English.

Career

Hanson's first television appearance was in 2005, in the first season of the show '' The Beauty and the Geek'', resulting in Hanson and partner Erica being eliminated in the second episode. In 2005, Hanson's production partner Hassan S. Ali created the ''Joe Gets'' series for

Current TV Current TV was an American television channel which broadcast from August 1, 2005, to August 20, 2013. Prior INdTV founders Al Gore and Joel Hyatt, with Ronald Burkle, each held a sizable stake in Current TV. Comcast and DirecTV each held a smalle ...

, which spanned 50 episodes and was sponsored by

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...

. The series involved Hanson exploring fish-out-of-water situations, like trips to California, Indiana, Nevada, Missouri, South Dakota, Alabama and New York state. Hanson also made the satirical series ''What's Wrong With'', the music video

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...

"Viral Superstar", and interviewed celebrities at

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's Oscars afterparty. In 2008, Hanson started "Bino White Weekly" making a rap song every week as Bino White. The topics ranged from Nintendo to Twitter to science, and each track was accompanied by a YouTube video. Hanson did this for 54 weeks, breaking

Crooked I Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked") is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a for ...

's record for weekly rap songs. In 2009, Hanson joined the cast of ''Smash Cuts'', a syndicated clip show on

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

affiliates. In 2010, Hanson started the web-series ''Joe Goes'', visiting various conventions, events, and countries to interview people. The episode "Joe Goes To Exxxotica Expo" went viral, making the front page of the ''Huffington Post'', and getting over 550,000 views combined on YouTube and Funny Or Die. Other episodes have included visits to

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, London,

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estima ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and the press junket for '' Tron: Legacy''. The show featured many people of note including

Olivia Wilde Olivia Jane Cockburn ( ; born March 10, 1984), known professionally as Olivia Wilde, is an American actress and filmmaker. She played Thirteen (House), Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on the medical-drama television series ''House (TV series), House'' ( ...

Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen OBE (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor, television producer and political activist. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage role ...

Sheryl Lee Ralph Sheryl Lee Ralph OJ is an American actress and singer. She made her screen debut in the 1977 comedy film '' A Piece of the Action'', before landing the role of Deena Jones in the Broadway musical ''Dreamgirls'' (1981), for which she received a ...

Kumail Nanjiani Kumail Ali Nanjiani (; ur, کمیل علی ننجیانی, ; born May 2, 1978) is a Pakistani-American actor, comedian and screenwriter. He is known for his role as Dinesh in the HBO comedy series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019) and for co-wri ...

Beau Garrett Beau Jesse Garrett (born December 28, 1982) is an American actress and model. She began her career appearing in GUESS advertisements in the late 1990s after being discovered by an Elite modeling agent at age fourteen. She made her feature film d ...

Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965) is an American actor, author, and martial artist. He is known for playing Connor MacManus in ''The Boondock Saints'' (1999) and its sequel '' The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' (2009), Greg Sti ...

and Bruno Kohfield-Galeano. Hanson has also appeared in March 2012 in the music video for the song by Julian Smith on YouTube "Eat Randy" featuring as "Randy". She was mentioned as a writer for

Ray William Johnson Ray William Johnson is an American internet celebrity best known for his eponymous YouTube channel and his web series on that channel, ''Equals Three''. In 2013, the channel surpassed 10 million subscribers and had over 2 billion views, making ...

's ''

Equals three Ray William Johnson is an American internet celebrity best known for his eponymous YouTube channel and his web series on that channel, ''Equals Three''. In 2013, the channel surpassed 10 million subscribers and had over 2 billion views, making ...

''. On October 5, 2017, Hanson announced an indefinite

hiatus Hiatus may refer to: *Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure *Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species ''Hiatus fulvipes'' *Globa ...

from her YouTube series Joe Goes. Hanson was absent from virtually all aspects of public life for over three years, causing fans of the series to speculate about her health, career, and identity. On March 3, 2021, Hanson uploaded a video to the Joe Goes channel, explaining the reasons for her departure from YouTube and confirming her identity as a

trans woman A trans woman or a transgender woman is a woman who was assigned male at birth. Trans women have a female gender identity, may experience gender dysphoria, and may transition; this process commonly includes hormone replacement therapy and so ...

. She also confirmed that the series ''Joe Goes'' is over and that she has settled into a writing career.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Lily Living people American humorists 21st-century American comedians People from Polk County, Minnesota American people of Scandinavian descent American transgender writers American LGBT comedians Science communicators Transgender women entertainers Transgender women writers Transgender comedians LGBT people from Minnesota Year of birth missing (living people)