{{Short description|YouTube personality}} {{Infobox youtuber | name = Joseph Herscher | logo = | logo caption = | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|01|14}} | birth_place = New York City | death_date = | death_place = | nationality = | occupation = {{Hlist|YouTuber|Artist}} | website = [http://www.josephsmachines.com josephsmachines.com] | pseudonym = | youtube_handle = JosephsMachines | youtube_display_name = Joseph's Machines
| youtube_years_active = 2008–present | youtube_genre = Comical Chain-Reaction Machines | youtube_subscribers = 7.75 million<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT UPDATING stats_update BELOW --> | youtube_views = 4.72 billion<!-- PLEASE DO NOT CHANGE WITHOUT UPDATING stats_update BELOW --> | stats_update = 4 April 2026 }}
'''Joseph Herscher''' is a YouTube personality known for his channel '''Joseph's Machines'''. Herscher is a kinetic artist who specializes in making comical chain-reaction machines.<ref name="nytimes_1" /> He made his first machine, the ''Lolly Machine'', when he was five.<ref name="metro" />
He was a 2013 Artist-in-Residence at the McColl Center for Art + Innovation in Charlotte, North Carolina.<ref name=20years>[https://mccollcenter.org/artists-in-residence/ 20 years of Artists-In-Residence] McColl Center</ref>
Herscher's parents are the singer Linn Lorkin and Herschal Herscher.<ref>{{cite web |last=Langdon-Pole |first=Georgina |date=6 November 2015 |title=Machines of Seamless Chaos: On Joseph Herscher |url=https://www.pantograph-punch.com/posts/machines-of-seamless-chaos-joseph-herscher |access-date=27 December 2015 |website=Pantograph Punch |publisher= |location=New Zealand}}</ref> He was born in New York City. grew up in Auckland, New Zealand, and then moved back to New York City where he continued to create his eccentric machines.<ref name="nytimes_2" /><ref name="stuff_1" /><ref name="stuff_2" /> He is also a public speaker. Joseph created and starred in the 2015 comedy web series [https://jiwismachines.com/ ''Jiwi's Machines'']. In July 2019, he launched a new web series, ''What's Your Problem?'', co-created with Gemma Gracewood and made by Augusto Entertainment.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://campaignbrief.co.nz/2019/07/04/creative-agency-augusto-launches-new-whats-your-problem-kids-show-on-tvnzs-heihei/|title=Creative agency Augusto launches new 'What's Your Problem?' kids show on TVNZ's HEIHEI – Campaign Brief NZ|date=4 July 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-07-15}}</ref> {{as of|2021|6}}, Herscher was living in London.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I85afIyu0IU|title=The Pizza-Making Contraption|publisher=Joseph's Machines|via=YouTube|date=2021-06-10|access-date=2023-01-15}}</ref>
Many of Herscher's devices are referred to as Rube Goldberg machines.<ref name="motherboard" /><ref name="nerdist" /><ref name="stuff_3" /><ref name="stuff_4" />
Herscher is Jewish<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/73969462|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|title=Meet the Kiwi making the world's best Rube Goldberg machines|date=2015-11-18|last=Black|first=Eleanor|quote=In it Herscher plays Jiwi (for Jewish Kiwi), an inventor who lives with his sister June (Olivia Tennet) in an inherited house, creating gentle mayhem with his fantastical machines.}}</ref> and gay.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/shorts/n6tBr_GeLY8|date=13 February 2024|access-date=5 April 2024|title=Valentine's Machine - PART 1 #chainreaction|via=YouTube|first=Joseph|last=Herscher}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist|refs= <ref name="metro">{{cite web|url=https://metro.co.uk/2016/09/09/guy-invents-machine-that-lets-you-power-nap-without-faceplanting-on-the-tube-6117962/|work=Metro|title=Guy invents 'machine' that lets you power nap without faceplanting on the Tube|date=2016-09-09|last=Lynch|first=Alison|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="motherboard">{{cite web|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/inside-rube-goldberg-machine-youtube-video-artist-joseph-herschers-bedroom-workshop/|publisher=motherboard.vice.com|title=Inside the Bedroom Workshop of a Rube Goldberg Machine Artist|date=2016-03-17|last=Pick|first=Rachel|access-date=2019-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="nerdist">{{cite web|url=https://archive.nerdist.com/watch-a-rube-goldberg-machine-make-the-best-thanksgiving-meal-ever/|publisher=Nerdist Industries|title=Watch a Rube Goldberg Machine Make the Best Thanksgiving Meal Ever|date=2016-11-24|last=Hart|first=Matthew|access-date=2019-02-09}}</ref>
<ref name="nytimes_1">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/nyregion/brooklyns-joseph-herscher-and-his-rube-goldberg-machines.html|work=The New York Times|title=Who Says Machines Must Be Useful?|date=2012-01-06|last=Ryan|first=Hugh|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="nytimes_2">{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/01/08/nyregion/turning-a-page-the-joseph-herscher-way.html|work=The New York Times|title=Turning a Page, the Joseph Herscher Way|date=2012-01-06|last=Lee|first=Chang W.|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref>
<ref name="stuff_1">{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/arts/6258503|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|title=Madcap machine work goes viral|date=2012-01-15|last=Robinson|first=Michelle|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="stuff_2">{{cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/73017093|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|title=Web series Jiwi's Machines to feature Kiwi-made contraptions|date=2015-10-14|last=Yates|first=Siena|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="stuff_3">{{cite web|url=http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/73969462|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|title=Meet the Kiwi making the world's best Rube Goldberg machines|date=2015-11-18|last=Black|first=Eleanor|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref> <ref name="stuff_4">{{cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/tv-radio/73779203|publisher=Stuff.co.nz|title=Jiwi's Machines a YouTube hit based on science and laughs|date=2015-11-06|last=Kilgallon|first=Steve|accessdate=2019-02-09}}</ref> }}
== External links == {{wikiquote}} * {{Official website|https://www.josephsmachines.com/}} * {{IMDb name|4246774}} * {{YouTube|user=allonewordplease|Joseph's Machines}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Herscher, Joseph}} Category:1985 births Category:Living people Category:YouTubers from New York City Category:Comedians from New York City Category:American people of New Zealand descent Category:American emigrants to New Zealand Category:American gay entertainers Category:American gay writers Category:American YouTube vloggers Category:American male bloggers Category:American bloggers Category:American gay comedians Category:American male comedians Category:LGBTQ bloggers Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state) Category:21st-century American comedians Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people Category:Gay Jews Category:Jews from New York City