Daniel Hirsh

Daniel Hirsh (born May 18, 1982, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin) is an American actor, voice over artist, video editor, director, cinematographer, writer, and producer. Hirsh has acted in and directed several World Premiere theatrical productions, being best known for originating the title role in a Tennessee Williams play ("Me, Vashya"). His editing work on short- and feature-length films have won awards at several festivals. Hirsh has trained as a videographer, actor, singer, and improvisational comedian, currently continuing work in Milwaukee, New York City, Atlanta and St. Louis. Working mainly with Atlanta filmmaker and entertainer Parthiban Shanmugam, other collaborators include Wade Ballance, Philip Barrett, Kevin L. Powers, and Thomas Smugala. Influenced by French videographer and university lecturer Pier Marton and screenwriter Richard Chapman, he has focused his career on narrative filmmaking, while also piecing together documentaries on energy healing, life after death and astral projection. He currently resides in New York City due to his interest in The New York Presbyterian Hospital which utilizes energy healing, and proximity to The Monroe Institute and University of Virginia, both of which partake in astral projection and consciousness research.

Editorial, Production, Direction and Cinematography Work Kent Rapeen: A True Story (2001) as Writer, Editor, Director, Producer and Cinematographer Highly Experimental (2001) as Writer, Editor, Director, Producer and Cinematographer The Writer (2002) as Writer, Editor, Director, Lighting Technician, Producer and Cinematographer As The World Turns (Episode #1.11867, 2002) as Production Assistant Between Lust and Brookings Drive (2003) as Editor, Trailer Editor and Assistant Camera With Only a Belle (2004) as Editor Chosen (2004) as Editor Apocalypse and the Beauty Queen (2005) as Editor, Title Designer and Titles & Opticals Shadow (2007) as Editor and Trailer Editor Insanity du Jour (2007) as Off-Line Editor How's Your Cart (2007) as Editing Consultant The HusBand (2008) as Editor, Trailer Editor and First Assistant Camera Motion Music (2008) as Editor, Assistant Camera and Casting Director Spectre (2008) as Editor and Cinematographer Patriot (2008) as Editor and Cinematographer Regret (2008) as Executive Producer You're Rejected (2008) as Editor, Trailer Editor, DVD Author and DVD Box Art Designer Even Cactus Goes to Heaven (2009) as Editor and Trailer Editor Bleeder (2009) as Editor and Editing Consultant Vendetta (2009) as Editor and Cinematographer Alone (2010) as Assistant Editor The Ballad of Robert and Harvey (2010) as Editor Miss Kitty & Me (2011) as Editor 3 Cats and a Man (2012) as First Assistant Editor A Letter to a Terrorist (2013) as Editor The Little Jihadist (2014) as First Assistant Editor Paper Planes (2014) as Editor Men of a Certain Age (2017) as Editor

You're Rejected propelled Hirsh, Shanmugam and lead actor George Lee Clark to national and international recognition, winning "Official Selection" from the Filmböro Film Festival, "Honorable Mention" at the Philadelphia International Film Festival & Market, "Official Selection" at the AIAFF Film Festival, and "Official Selection" at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival.

Film and Television Acting Highly Experimental (2001) as Narrator Taste the Revolution (2003) as Activist Between Lust and Brookings Drive (2003) as The Man With Only a Belle (2004) as himself Hooch & Daddy-O (2005) as Fan October Road (2007) as Townie & Bartender You're Rejected (2008) as himself Van Wilder: Freshman Year (2009) as Parent of Graduate 3 Cats and a Man (2012) as himself Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel (2016) as himself Messiah (2017) as Friend 1 Find Her (2020) as Photographer One for the Road (2021) as Restaurant Patron Broadcast (2022) as Meredith's Assistant Mob Times (2022) as Mikey Hand Soap American Mafia (2023) as Jack The First Supper (2023) as Father Pan-American (2025) as Paparazzi 1 Mr. Cuddles (2025) as Mr. Cuddles Astronaut Boy (2025) as Lex

Theatrical Acting Hirsh's acting style has been described as amusing, comic, and quirky. His complexion and physical appearance have been compared to John Belushi, Jon Lovitz, and Steve Zissis, with a comic voice comparable to Nathan Lane's. He prefers the Practical Aesthetics school of thought, pioneered by David Mamet, William H. Macy and Robert Bella; having taken a summer intensive course there in 2004, alongside Anna Chlumsky and Lucy DeVito. He has actively participated in various other acting styles and techniques.

Hirsh starred as himself in an improvised Thesis project directed by Washington University senior Lora Ivanova in 2003. I See (You See) was a one-act play starring five actors, one of which would be audience-voted to strap a video camera to their head while playing out suggestions for improvisational scenes. The piece, mostly comic, was met with positive reception.

Hirsh's most notable performance was his portrayal of Sir Vashya Shontine in Tennessee Williams' one-act play, Me, Vashya, written in 1937 during the playwright's short tenure at Washington University. The complete script was later published in the compilation The Magic Tower and Other One-Act Plays by publisher New Directions. Me, Vashya was performed as a World Premiere production with The Glass Menagerie as part of the Washington University in St. Louis Tennessee Williams Symposium in February 2004.

Hirsh's third World Premiere production, Six Seconds in Charlack, by Washington University alumni Brian Golden premiered on April 28 of 2005. Charlack was later performed on New York City's Off-Off-Broadway circuit at the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in August 2009.

Theatrical Performances

The Wizard and the Shepherdess (1998) as The Narrator All in the Timing (2001) as Don Alice in Wonderland (2002) as Humpty Dumpty Once in a Lifetime (2002) as Herman Glogauer I See (You See) (World Premiere, 2003) as himself All's Well That Ends Well (2003) as Parolles Never the Sinner (2003) as Clarence Darrow Mud (2003) as Henry Guys & Dolls (2003) as Nathan Detroit School for Wives (2003) as The Notary Me, Vashya (World Premiere, 2004) as Sir Vashya Shontine Cabaret (2004) as Herr Schultz Downsize (2004) as Walter The Fantasticks (2004) as El Gallo Six Seconds in Charlack (World Premiere, 2005) as Scoop and TSA Officer Tick, Tick... Boom! (2005) as Stephen Sondheim Hudson Horrors (2019) as Deranged Doctor Turned Patient Turned Doctor Turned Patient Backyard (World Premiere, 2020) as Sonny The Wicked Fresh Awesome Dance Party (2022) as Ensemble PimComedy: The Musical (2022) as Toby the Devil The Hourglass (2024) as Moon The Spirit of Truth (2025) as William Nelson Save the Penguins (2025) as Boss Bennett v. Board Against Magical Fraud (2025) as Brugo "The Jackie Mason Musical" (2025) as Wooley the Shlepalong

Theatrical Directed Productions Tick, Tick... Boom! (2005) A Shave (World Premiere, 2006)

Tick, Tick... Boom! was Hirsh's first major directorial debut after Washington University secured the rights from the estate of Jonathan Larson to be the third venue in the world to produce the little-known rock musical.

A Shave was the first of a World Premiere site-specific trilogy of plays written by student Lauren Dusek and inspired by the on-campus success of Downsize by Chicago playwright Christopher Welzenbach. Downsize was staged at Washington University's Mallinkrodt Center Men's Bathroom, with a maximum of only 11 or 12 audience members viewing the show at a time. The trilogy, consisting of A Shave, A Haircut and A Song, was staged in the Washington University Small Group Housing parking lot, an on-campus apartment, and a racquetball court in the Athletic Complex, respectively.

Commercial/Online/Webseries and Podcast Work

Choke-Out Offensive Co-Workers (2019) as Offensive Co-Worker Roadway: A Stress-Free Moving Experience (commercial) (2021) as Mr. Thompson Converse x Baby Keem (2022) as Scientist Wall St. Dental Spa: Exaggerated Benefits of a Smile (2022) as Man with New Smile Changeling (BBC) (2022) as Blake Lemoine Tartarus (podcast) (2023) as Brian Bipto Bit My Toe (webseries) (2023) as Wobbly, Cobalt Reparations (Young Paris music video) (2024) as Boss Mocos the Miniseries (2025) as Mayor Don Wilson Crowded Out (2025) as Three

Biographical Film

Following a divorce from Aline Gray in 2009, filmmaker Parthiban Shanmugam proposed the creation of a biographical film starring Hirsh and Atlanta singer/songwriter Debbie Aviva Kessler. The film's style would mimic My Dinner With Andre, in which the bulk of the picture was a completely improvised conversation between the two main characters, as well as footage from Hirsh and Gray's actual wedding, with a subsection devoted to Primal Therapy as the film's penultimate sequence. 3 Cats and a Man screened only once on May 17, 2012, in France. Unhappy with the outcome, Shanmugam had the film re-edited and retitled Pikuach Nefesh: Saving Daniel in 2016.