Tony, Emmy award-winning performer Poetri to speak at Victor Valley College

Tony and Emmy award-winning performer Poetri will share his contagious energy and powerful words during a free performance Thursday night at Victor Valley College.
Tony and Emmy award-winning performer Poetri will share his contagious energy and powerful words during a free performance Thursday night at Victor Valley College.

Tony and Emmy award-winning performer Poetri will share his contagious energy and powerful words during a free performance Thursday night at Victor Valley College.

Poetri is a writer and producer who has worked on “Russell Simmons Presents Def Poetry Jam” on HBO and Broadway, for which he was a featured player as a prominent Def Poet, according to The Poet’s List.

Poetri has also written and appeared in over 150 commercials for clients like Nike, NFL Films, the Los Angeles Lakers, Snickers, Reebok, BET and Arby’s.

Poetri can be heard reciting poems on all KCAL 9 commercials for Lakers basketball. He has worked with such legends as Curtis Mayfield, Bootsy Collins and Nona Hendrix, as well as some of today’s stars like LL Cool J, and Malcolm-Jamal Warner.

He is the voice on Non-Stop-Pop on Delta Airlines and one of the first poets in this new generation to smash the theory that “poets don’t make any money.”

He has traveled all over the U.S. and parts of the world, including performances at the Australia-Sydney Festival and New Zealand-Auckland Festival.

His shows have been seen on numerous stages, including but not limited to The Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the Apollo Theatre in New York City, the Clay Center in West Virginia, and the Fox Theatre in Atlanta.

He has appeared on “The Today Show on NBC,” “Showtime at the Apollo” and VH-1 PSA’S for Black History Month.

His major appearances include “The Horse Whisperer” alongside Jennifer Love Hewitt, and a recurring role on the EMMY Award-winning show, Starting Over, the Snickers digisodes “Instant Def” alongside the Black Eyed Peas, as well as the reality documentary “Black.White.”

Poetri will perform from 5 to 7 p.m. on Thursday at the college's Student Activities Center at 18422 Bear Valley Road in Victorville.

For tickets, visit facebook.com/VVCedu.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at 760-951-6227 or RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Tony, Emmy award-winning Poetri to speak at Victor Valley College