{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}} {{Short description|American writer and comedian (born 1982)}} {{Infobox comedian | name = Elna Baker | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|year=1982|month=Jan|day=21}}<ref>{{Cite instagram |user=elnabaker |postid=CZAdzkApgfX |title=For my 40th birthday I'm trying to raise money for Magda. |date=2022-01-21}}</ref> | birth_place = | medium = Stand-up, memoirs, essays, theatrical performances, mollyblogging | years_active = 2000s–present | genre = | spouse = {{marriage|Mark Sikes|2016|end = divorced}} | notable_works = ''The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance'' (memoir) | website = {{URL|www.ElnaBaker.website}} }}
'''Elna Baker''' (born January 21, 1982) is an American writer and comedian. She has worked for the radio program ''This American Life'' since 2010, and is currently{{When|date=September 2022}} a producer{{Cn|date=September 2022}}. She has made appearances on ''The Moth'', BBC Radio 4 and ''Studio 360''. In October 2009, Penguin Books published her book ''The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance'', which chronicles her experience as a young, single Latter Day Saint living in New York City. As of April 2024 she co-hosts a podcast called Pretty Sure I Can Fly<ref>{{cite web |title= Pretty Sure I Can Fly |url= https://wondery.com/shows/pretty-sure-i-can-fly-with-johnny-knoxville-elna-baker/episode/15292-johnny-knoxville-and-elna-baker |access-date= Nov 12, 2024 |archive-date= November 13, 2024 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20241113153001/https://wondery.com/shows/pretty-sure-i-can-fly-with-johnny-knoxville-elna-baker/episode/15292-johnny-knoxville-and-elna-baker/ |url-status= live }}</ref> with Johnny Knoxville.
==Early life and education== Baker was raised as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in what she describes as a "half-Mexican, half-Mormon" family.<ref name="mm">{{cite web |title=It's a...Mexican-Mormon |url=http://www.lamama.org/archives/2003/IT%27SAMEXICANMORMON.htm |website=LA Mama |access-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180105070126/http://www.lamama.org/archives/2003/IT%27SAMEXICANMORMON.htm |archive-date=January 5, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> After age nine, the family moved to Madrid, Spain.<ref name="France"/> Their daily routine included "Bible practice," sewing lessons, and chastity instruction.<ref name="France"/> Neither profanity nor magazines were permitted in the home.<ref name="France"/> Her father is Gary Baker.<ref>{{cite web |title=541: Regrets, I've Had a Few |date=December 14, 2017 |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/541/transcript |access-date=May 9, 2020 |archive-date=August 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803153129/https://www.thisamericanlife.org/541/transcript |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= The Cereal Killers |url= https://www.powells.com/blog/author/elna-baker |access-date= May 9, 2020 |archive-date= April 15, 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190415175908/https://www.powells.com/blog/author/elna-baker |url-status= live }}</ref> Gary Baker ran Ural Boeing Manufacturing (UBM), a titanium factory in Russia,<ref name=elnabio>{{cite web |title=Elna's Bio |work=elnabaker.com |url=http://www.elnabaker.com/bio.html |access-date=October 22, 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925064043/http://www.elnabaker.com/bio.html |archive-date=September 25, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="Boeing">{{cite web|url=http://www.boeing.com/company/bios/gary-baker.page|title=Executive Biography of Gary A. Baker}}</ref> and then Boeing Tianjin Composites Company (BTC), a composites factory in China.<ref name="Boeing"/> He is currently Vice President, Safety, Quality & Compliance, Boeing Global Services.<ref name="Boeing"/>
Baker was accepted into the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.<ref name="Perry"/> When she chose the school over Brigham Young University (owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), she says her mother asked her what she would do if a lesbian tried to make out with her.<ref name="Perry"/> During her senior year at NYU, Baker was one of twelve students selected to write and workshop a show with the playwright Elizabeth Swados.<ref name="powells">{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Elna |title=The Art of Storytelling by Elna Baker |url=https://www.powells.com/post/guests/the-art-of-storytelling |website=Powells |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=October 29, 2009 |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415172953/https://www.powells.com/post/guests/the-art-of-storytelling |url-status=live }}</ref> Impressed with Baker's talent, Swados encouraged her to perform her stories live.<ref name="Swerdloff">{{cite web |last1=Swerdloff |first1=Alexis |title=Virginity and the City |url=http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/breaking/57884/ |website=NYMag.com |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=July 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090918115303/http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/breaking/57884/ |archive-date=September 18, 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> For the rest of the semester, Baker would go over Swados's home on Fridays to learn about storytelling, a mentorship that continued for the next seven years.<ref name="powells"/> When a friend mentioned a club called the Moth, Baker started to go, and suddenly got to perform on the main stage when Lewis Black had to cancel at the last minute.<ref name="Venezia">{{cite web |last1=Venezia |first1=Angelina |title=Exclusive: Elna Baker, Author of The New York Mormon Regional Singles Halloween Dance, On Humiliation and the Art of Smart Storytelling |url=http://flavorwire.com/6255/exclusive-elna-baker-author-of-the-new-york-mormon-regional-singles-halloween-dance-on-humiliation-and-the-art-of-storytelling |website=Flavorwire |access-date=April 15, 2019 |language=en |date=December 23, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180325113155/http://flavorwire.com/6255/exclusive-elna-baker-author-of-the-new-york-mormon-regional-singles-halloween-dance-on-humiliation-and-the-art-of-storytelling |archive-date=March 25, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In her memoir, Baker recounts being overweight growing up,<ref name="France"/> eventually reaching close to 265 pounds.<ref name="Yahoo Beauty">{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Elna |title=I Thought Losing 85 Pounds Would Make Me Feel Beautiful — It Didn't |url=https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/i-thought-losing-85-pounds-would-make-me-feel-124862693943.html |website=Yahoo! |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=July 24, 2015 |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415054324/https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/i-thought-losing-85-pounds-would-make-me-feel-124862693943.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Friends and family told her she would never be able to reach her dreams of being a wife and actress as long as she was "fat."<ref name="TAL589">{{cite web |title=589: Tell Me I'm Fat |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/589/transcript |website=This American Life |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=December 14, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190116100502/https://www.thisamericanlife.org/589/transcript |archive-date=January 16, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref> A year after college, however, she went to a weight clinic, began a deprivation diet, and took phentermine that her doctor prescribed.<ref name="France"/> She lost 110 pounds, and says she was startled and saddened to receive much positive attention she had not received before.<ref name="TAL589"/> Within a month, she got a job as an usher on David Letterman's show on CBS<!-- While she has referred to the show as ''Letterman Show', she could not have been an usher on ''The David Letterman Show'', because it ended before she was born, and because she has said that the show was on CBS.--> with the responsibility of seating people according to their physical appearances.<ref name="TAL589"/>
==Writing== Baker's writings and humor often relate to her experiences in New York City, coming of age as a Mormon, and the resultant abstinence from premarital sex, drugs, alcohol, and profanity.<ref name="France">{{cite journal |last1=France |first1=Louise |title=Elna Baker: Heard the one about the Mormon stand-up comic? |journal=The Observer |date=November 22, 2009 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/nov/22/elna-baker-mormon-stand-up |access-date=April 15, 2019 |issn=0029-7712 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908073121/http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/nov/22/elna-baker-mormon-stand-up |archive-date=September 8, 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> After an article she wrote for ''Elle'' magazine, she was offered the chance to write a book.<ref name="Venezia"/> To find a suitable writing environment, she applied for and was awarded residencies at both the MacDowell and Yaddo artist colonies in 2007 and 2008.<ref name="NCAC staff">{{cite web |author1=NCAC staff |title=Biographies |url=https://ncac.org/update/biographies |website=National Coalition Against Censorship |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=September 25, 2009 |archive-date=December 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227025520/https://ncac.org/update/biographies |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2009, she released a memoir called ''The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance'', named for the annual Mormon singles dance held in New York City.<ref name="France"/> Kirkus Reviews called the book "a sexy, lubricious outing by a formerly zaftig comic."<ref name="Kirkus staff">{{cite journal |author1=Kirkus staff |title=THE NEW YORK REGIONAL MORMON SINGLES HALLOWEEN DANCE by Elna Baker |website=Kirkus Reviews |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elna-baker/the-new-york-regional-mormon-singles-halloween-dan/ |access-date=April 15, 2019 |language=en |date=September 1, 2009 |volume=77 |issue=17 |page=921 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005212029/https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/elna-baker/the-new-york-regional-mormon-singles-halloween-dan/ |archive-date=October 5, 2015 |url-status=live }}</ref> ''People'' magazine gave the book four stars, calling it a "wicked-funny debut."<ref name="Perry">{{cite journal |last1=Perry |first1=Beth |title=The New York Regional Mormon Singles Halloween Dance |journal=People |date=October 19, 2009 |volume=72 |issue=16 |page=73}}</ref>
==Personal life== Baker has had cosmetic surgery to remove excess skin from her weight loss,<ref name=TAL589/> as well as breast augmentation surgery to match her pre-weight loss breast size.<ref name="Refinery29">{{cite web |last1=Baker |first1=Elna |title=What Losing 110 Pounds REALLY Looks Like |url=https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/elna-baker-weight-loss-surgery-loose-skin |website=Refinery 29 |access-date=April 15, 2019 |language=en |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415054609/https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/elna-baker-weight-loss-surgery-loose-skin |url-status=live }}</ref> She suffers from idiopathic craniofacial erythema, or chronic blushing, and for years used scarves and turtlenecks to hide it.<ref name="TAL558">{{cite web |title=558: Game Face |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/558/transcript |website=This American Life |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=December 14, 2017 |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415174440/https://www.thisamericanlife.org/558/transcript |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2017 episode of ''This American Life'', she recounted losing a television role because she looked "too nervous" on camera, an incident that made her want to get surgery to correct the problem. After learning of the procedure's side effects and moderate efficacy, however, she backed away from the idea.<ref name="TAL558"/>
Baker remained a Mormon into adulthood.<ref name="Jake">{{cite web |last=Baker |first=Elna |title=Yes, I'm a 27-Year-Old Virgin |url=https://www.glamour.com/story/yes-im-a-27-year-old-virgin |website=Glamour |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=April 15, 2019 |language=en |date=October 1, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210130724/https://www.glamour.com/story/yes-im-a-27-year-old-virgin |archive-date=December 10, 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref> At 24, she got engaged to a fellow Mormon and moved to Utah to live with him, but called off the wedding when she realized she could not have the life she wanted there.<ref name="Jake"/><ref name=Baker/> She was a virgin until age 28.<ref name=Baker>{{cite news|last1=Baker|first1=Elna|title=Guess What? I'm Not a Virgin Anymore!|url=http://www.glamour.com/story/guess-what-im-not-a-virgin-anymore|access-date=August 1, 2016|work=Glamour|date=March 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728083642/http://www.glamour.com/story/guess-what-im-not-a-virgin-anymore|archive-date=July 28, 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> She left the LDS Church after the publication of her memoir.<ref>{{cite news |title= To Be Young, Hip and Mormon |first= Alex |last= Williams |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/fashion/young-mormons-find-ways-to-be-hip.html?&pagewanted=all |newspaper= The New York Times |date= October 26, 2011 |access-date= October 27, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131021183818/http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/fashion/young-mormons-find-ways-to-be-hip.html?&pagewanted=all |archive-date= October 21, 2013 |url-status= live |df= mdy-all }}</ref>
Baker married designer Mark Sikes in 2016.<ref>{{cite podcast|url=http://hopefullywedontbreakup.tumblr.com/post/150707393423| title= Episode 13: Elna Baker & Mark Sikes| website= tumblr| host= Giulia Rozzi and Will Miles| date= February 29, 2016| access-date= April 15, 2019}}</ref> The couple later divorced.<ref name="TAL665">{{cite web |title=665: Before Things Went to Hell |url=https://www.thisamericanlife.org/665/transcript |website=This American Life |access-date=April 15, 2019 |date=January 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203062747/https://www.thisamericanlife.org/665/transcript |archive-date=February 3, 2019 |url-status=live }}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{wikiquote}} * {{Official website|http://www.elnabaker.website}} * [https://www.thisamericanlife.org/archive?contributor=8524 Baker's contributions to ''This American Life''] * [http://www.motleyvision.org/tag/elna-baker/ Series of interviews and reviews and commentaries] on Elna Baker at A Motley Vision * [https://themoth.org/storytellers/elna-baker Stories told by Elna Baker at The Moth]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Baker, Elna}} Category:1982 births Category:21st-century American comedians Category:21st-century American women writers Category:American bloggers Category:American humorists Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American women bloggers Category:American writers of Mexican descent Category:Former Latter Day Saints Category:Living people Category:Mormon bloggers Category:Mormon memoirists Category:NPR producers Category:People educated at The American School in London Category:New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumni Category:American women humorists Category:Writers from New York City Category:Writers from Tacoma, Washington Category:American women memoirists Category:21st-century American memoirists Category:Comedians from New York City