The Kid Mero

Joel Armogasto Martinez (born May 15, 1983), professionally known as the Kid Mero, is a Dominican-American writer, comedian, television host, actor, and internet personality. He rose to prominence alongside fellow Bronx native Desus Nice with their Complex TV 46-episode podcast Desus vs. Mero, which first premiered on December 18, 2013. He was a cast member of Guy Code with Desus Nice. He was the co-host of Viceland's Desus & Mero talk show alongside Desus until June 2018, and co-hosted Desus & Mero which premiered on February 21, 2019, on Showtime.

Early life Martinez was born in Washington Heights, Manhattan to Dominican immigrant parents. and lived in a number of neighborhoods there; while Martinez mostly grew up in Tremont, he also spent time in Throggs Neck, Kingsbridge, Mount Eden, and Belmont, among other neighborhoods.

Martinez realized he was talented at comedy from a young age but was not particularly interested in televised comedy or stand-up comedians growing up. He attended P.S. 072 Dr. William Dorney, I.S. 117 Joseph H. Wade Intermediate School, and Monsignor Scanlan High School, from which he was expelled in ninth grade, before graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School. He then studied at Bronx Community College before briefly attending Hunter College, studying to be a science teacher while working as a teacher's assistant.

He began writing for Vice's music platform Noisey in 2012 with his first article published on November 14, 2012 - a review of Canadian electronic music duo Crystal Castles's album III. In total, he wrote 69 articles for Noisey between November 2012 and March 2014, most of which were album and mixtape reviews, and all written in caps lock.

In September 2014, Mero (with assistance) broke the world record for kazoo solo.

In December 2014, MTV announced that the Kid Mero and Desus Nice would be joining the cast of Guy Code for season 5, along with 11 other new cast members. They appeared on the first episode of season 5, which was originally aired on January 14, 2015.

On August 30, 2016, Viceland announced Desus & Mero which premiered on October 17, 2016. The half-hour show ran Monday-Thursday and ended on June 28, 2018. Mero most recently co-hosted Desus & Mero which premiered on February 21, 2019, on Showtime.

In January 2026, Mero became the new morning show host on Hot 97.

In February 2026, Mero started a podcast with Joez McFly from Jomboy Media titled Total Baseball which covered the 2026 World Baseball Classic.

Personal life Mero lives in Fair Lawn, New Jersey and is married to Heather Martinez, a teacher Heather is Jewish, and the pair are raising their children in the faith.

Filmography