The quarter-final she survived
Season eleven of America's Got Talent premiered on NBC on 31 May 2016 and ran its quarter-finals from 26 July to 24 August. Hernandez performed in the first quarter-final week, entered in the season's records as a 13-year-old comedian from Lancaster, California.
Her advance is recorded in an unusual column: the results table marks her as having gone through on the online public vote rather than on the main result of the night. What the table does not preserve is the material itself — no source gathered here records a single joke she told.
The semi-final
The semi-finals ran from 30 August to 7 September 2016. Hernandez appeared in the first of them and was eliminated. That places her in the last rounds of a season built from thousands of auditions, and one step short of the ten acts who reached the finale on 14 September.
The finale drew 14.41 million viewers and a 2.8 rating among adults aged 18 to 49, figures that put the show among the most-watched programmes of the American summer. Everything Hernandez did that year happened in front of an audience of that order.
The season of young winners
Season eleven was judged by Howie Mandel, Mel B, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell, and hosted by Nick Cannon. Golden buzzers went to the opera singer Laura Bretan, the singer and ukulele player Grace VanderWaal, the jazz singer Sal Valentinetti, the singer Calysta Bevier and the burlesque dancer Dorothy Williams, with four more pressed by guest judges for the magician Jon Dorenbos, the contortionist Sofie Dossi, the malambo group Malevo and the singer Jayna Brown.
It was a season in which the young did unusually well. VanderWaal won it at 12. Bretan reached the final at 14, Dossi at 15. The mentalist duo The Clairvoyants came second and Dorenbos third. Hernandez, at 13, was squarely inside that age band; she was simply working in the one discipline that almost never survives it.
No comedian in the top ten
The ten acts who reached the end of season eleven were a singer, a mentalist duo, a magician, an opera singer, a vocal group, a contortionist, a mime, a juggler, another singer and a jazz singer. Not one stand-up comedian is among them.
That is the context for a semi-final place at 13. Stand-up is the hardest act on a variety show to convert into votes: it cannot be rehearsed into spectacle, it depends on writing rather than on risk, and a ninety-second slot leaves almost no room to build. Reaching the semi-finals with it, at an age when most comedians have not yet started, is a harder line to draw than the placing suggests.
What is documented — and what is not
Firm: her age of 13, her act, her home town of Lancaster in California, her appearance in quarter-final week one, her advance on the online public vote, and her elimination in the first semi-final week of 2016.
Not documented in the sources gathered here: her family, her schooling, how she began performing, where she had played before the show, the content of her sets, and what she has done since September 2016. There is no Wikipedia article in her own name. She appears inside the season eleven tables, which is where this record ends.
Watch: Lori Mae Hernandez on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Issy Simpson | United Kingdom | Runner-up on Britain's Got Talent 2017, aged 8 | Age 8 |
| Ned Woodman | United Kingdom | Stand-up comedy in the Britain's Got Talent 2017 final | Age 8 |
| Ryland Petty | United Kingdom | He reached a live semi-final in Britain at nine and another in America at | Age 9 |
| Kadan Bart Rockett | United States | Magic act, America's Got Talent season 11 semi-finals (2016) | Age 10 |
| Lori Mae Hernandez | United States | Stand-up comedy, America's Got Talent season 11 semi-finals (2016) | Age 13 |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- Listed as a 13-year-old comedian from Lancaster, California in the season 11 records
- Advanced from quarter-final week 1 on the online public vote
- Eliminated in semi-final week 1; the season was won by Grace VanderWaal, aged 12
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- No family, school or early-career detail in the sources gathered here
- No record of the material she performed on the show
- Nothing documented about her after September 2016, and no Wikipedia article of her own
Questions people ask about Lori Mae Hernandez
How old was Lori Mae Hernandez on America's Got Talent?
Thirteen, during the 2016 season. No source in this record gives a date of birth.
Where is Lori Mae Hernandez from?
Lancaster, California, according to the season 11 contestant records.
How far did she get on AGT?
The semi-finals. She advanced from the first quarter-final week on the online public vote and was eliminated in the first semi-final week.
Did Lori Mae Hernandez win America's Got Talent?
No. Season 11 was won by Grace VanderWaal, a 12-year-old singer and ukulele player.
Did she get a golden buzzer?
No. The season's golden buzzers went to Laura Bretan, Grace VanderWaal, Sal Valentinetti, Calysta Bevier, Dorothy Williams, Jon Dorenbos, Sofie Dossi, Malevo and Jayna Brown.
Is Lori Mae Hernandez on Wikipedia?
Not with an article of her own. She appears in the results tables for America's Got Talent season 11.
Where is Lori Mae Hernandez now?
No source in this record states this. Nothing after September 2016 appears here.
Who are Lori Mae Hernandez's parents?
No source gathered for this record names her family.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Lori Mae’s story?
How far did Lori Mae Hernandez go on America's Got Talent?
How did she get out of her quarter-final?
Who won that season?
Sources
- America's Got Talent season 11 — quarter-final, semi-final and finale results — Wikipedia, 2026-09-22
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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