Brooklyn’s 50 Funniest People: Gordon Baker-Bone
Gordon Baker-Bone
When we met Gordon Baker-Bone briefly, he confronted the obvious: “It’s a kind of weird name.” He doesn’t shy away from things, is the point—in life or in standup. “If you’re annoying, I’m going to go after you,” he says of his crowd. But if this makes it sound like Baker-Bone is something other than completely amiable and talkative, that would be wrong. You can see Baker-Bone headlining at clubs across the country, and in Brooklyn at places like the Knitting Factory. And you’ll note a lot of his material still comes from TV. “I like TLC because they have two of my favorite shows I love to hate,” he says, one of which is Toddlers in Tiaras. He suggests they should be called “prosti-tots—that’s an adorable word. You can use it.”
When was the first time you remember making someone laugh? What happened?
I was in my 9th grade algebra class trying to make other students laugh. Don’t remember exactly what I said but I got half the class to laugh except for this cute girl, Monique Perry, who called me an idiot. I took her to homecoming junior year, so I guess I wasn’t that much of an idiot. Boom!
What is the toughest part about being on the comedy scene in Brooklyn today? What is the best?
Certain parts of Brooklyn crowds are really sensitive in my opinion which makes it a little bit tough…it’s mostly the people in Brooklyn that don’t know who Sallie Mae is and they don’t know her street name, Navient. The best part about Brooklyn is its diversity.
Who do you find funny?
Patton Oswalt, Dave Chapelle, and my Uncle John. He owns a liquor store in Newark and he was the dude that always made me laugh honestly. There are too many to name but it’s a ton of others too.
What was the last time you laughed so hard you cried?
I recently showed my friends a terrible tattoo I got of my ex-girlfriend when I was 17 that covers about 25% of my back. Haven’t heard the end of it but it’s all been some of the funniest shit I ever heard in my life
What are your goals for your comedy career?
Bring back BETs Comic View and develop my web series HaterBot into a show and and write a movie about slavery.
What is your favorite knock-knock (or otherwise goofy) joke?
Why was 6 afraid of 7? Cause 6 witnessed 7 commit a terrible murder and cover it up!
To see 49 more of Brooklyn’s funniest people, click here.
Photo by Nicolas Maloof.
