“Nobody would go up and do it,” Bone recollects. At the prompting of his colleagues and a free T-shirt offer, Bone took matters into his own hands and walked up to the microphone. As he took the stage, things started on the wrong foot: Foxx introduced Bone as British one-hit-wonder Billy Ocean, hurling the audience into a frenzy.
Unshaken, Bone put on his best Wanda face and pressed on with his routine: “I know y’all not used to seeing me with glasses, but I had to go get me some bi-ficals because I thought I had bought me some collared greens, but it was poison ivy. So I broke out in a rash and I couldn’t wear any of my Vicotoria Secretions.”
With “bi-ficals” Bone won over one-third of the audience. By the time he got to “poison ivy,” he had the second third going. The moment he reached “Vicotoria Secretions,” the whole place went nuts. As Bone wrapped his uproarious Wanda impression, Foxx was so impressed by it he decided to join Bone on stage to mouth the character’s trademark one-liner: “I’m gon’ rock yo world!”
Indeed, Bone’s world was never the same after that. He got his free T-shirt, but then went on to win the main Wanda competition in Dallas.
The exposure led to other opportunities in the area, including an appearance in the movie “Necessary Roughness” and a chance to hone his skills at The Steve Harvey Comedy House, where he began to perform regularly. It was there that Harvey saw Bone’s potential and took him under his wing. Yet Harvey kept it real with him—if Bone was to make it in the for-laughs circuit, he needed to go someplace else.
“He told me, ‘Nothing’s gonna happen for you here in Dallas,’” Bone remembers. “‘You’re going to just be treading water here.’”
Bone took a leap of faith, packed his bags and jumped in his 1985 Chevy pickup, determined to make the move to Los Angeles. In retrospect, he admits he didn’t know what he was in for. “Moving there was the biggest culture shock I had ever experienced,” Bone says. “Texas is very simple. But when I got to L.A., I saw so many walks of life.”
His biggest shocker came when he visited Hollywood Improv—the same comedy club that gave Jerry Seinfeld, Robin Williams, Drew Carey and Adam Sandler their first shots at stardom. “There was a guy there who was making fun of German, Polish, Jewish, Scottish and Irish people,” Bone reminisces. “At the end of his routine he said, ‘Have I offended everybody in the room?’ I was like, ‘Are you serious?’”
At that moment, Bone began to realize L.A. was a whole ‘nother monster. Comedians there had an edge he’d never seen. “I saw a level of hardcore comedy that I’d never been around,” he says. “I realized that was not for me and I did not want to go in that direction.”
Bone felt like a fish out of water, but the experience inspired him to find his own niche, his own identity in the crowded world of foul-mouthed comedy. “What I did know was the Bible and how Christians think,” he acknowledges. “I realized that could make people laugh by focusing on an area of life that I knew well. And I found that audiences loved it—most everyone has had some kind of experience relating to God, the Bible or the church. And many people don’t realize that there is so much humor in the Bible!”
Since his fateful move to L.A., Bone has not only continued to do stand-up and record his own CDs, but he has also scored opening slots on tours by the likes of Jonathan Slocumb, Chonda Pierce and Carman. In addition, he has logged television appearances on ABC’s “Less Than Perfect,” NBC’s “My Name Is Earl” and “Medium,” BET’s “Comic View,” CMT’s “20 Really Embarrassing Video Moments” and the syndicated “Comics Unleashed” with Byron Allen, among others.
This impressive résumé didn’t just happen by chance. Bone credits his growing recognition to friends who think and act like him—co-laborers in the faith who believe it is possible to be a Christian and make it in showbiz. Zachary Levi (“Chuck”) and Sherri Shepherd (“The View”) are two such colleagues. “I’ve probably written more jokes talking to Sherri than with anybody else,” Bone says. “Most of my jokes come during conversation with somebody. All I need is funny people around me.”
Today, Bone is gearing up for the release of “Thou Shalt Laugh 2: The Deuce,” a DVD hosted by comedy legend and five-time Emmy® Award winner Tim Conway (“The Carol Burnett Show,” “SpongeBob SquarePants”) that features some of the brightest talent in Christian comedy, including Bone, Taylor Mason (“Taylor's Attic”), Thor Ramsey (“Bananas”), Victoria Jackson (“Saturday Night Live”) and Daniel Nainan.
No matter the outlet or the venue, though, Bone’s mission remains simple. “I never look at myself like I’m a funny person,” he says. “I just like to have a good time. I just want to be the ringleader of the good time.”
