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Comedian and \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d standout Marcello Hern\u00e1ndez will host this year\u2019s ESPY Awards, the network announced Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The event, honoring excellence in sports performance, will be broadcast live on ABC and the ESPN app from the David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center on July 15, making it the first ESPYs in New York City since 1999. For the past 25 years, the awards ceremony was held in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started doing comedy 10 years ago, in Cleveland, Ohio, and I would take the train 12 hours to New York to sell comedy tickets on the street in Greenwich Village in exchange for stage time,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said in a statement. \u201cIt is an honor, and frankly feels crazy to be hosting the ESPYs this year in New York. I\u2019m sure the energy is going to be great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hern\u00e1ndez recently headlined the biggest Spanish-language comedy show<\/u><\/a> ever at the Hollywood Bowl as part of the Netflix <\/u>I<\/u>s a Joke Festival<\/u><\/a> in May, and wrapped up his fourth season of \u201cSNL\u201d soon after. His first stand-up special, \u201cAmerican Boy,\u201d debuted on Netflix in January.<\/p>\n He\u2019s also a sports enthusiast, having grown up playing soccer and competing at the collegiate level during his time at John Carroll University in Ohio.<\/p>\n \u201cMarcello is one of the most electric, young comedians today. His genuine enthusiasm for sports and his ties to New York City make him a natural fit to host this year\u2019s ESPYs,\u201d Craig Lazarus, ESPN vice president and executive producer of the ESPYs, said in a statement.<\/p>\n Hern\u00e1ndez succeeds last year\u2019s emcee, comedian Shane Gillis, as well as past hosts that include Jimmy Kimmel, John Cena, LeBron James and Peyton Manning.<\/p>\n