Tony Baker wins 2012 San Francisco Comedy Competition

In what appeared to a hotly-contested five-way battle in the finals, Tony Baker emerged as the champion of the 37th annual San Francisco Comedy Competition.

Tony Baker, born in Michigan and raised in Chicago, makes his comedy base in Los Angeles.

The SFCC Facebook page said four finalists still had a shot of winning it all on the final night Saturday, but said of the winning Baker: “With a “smooth jazz” delivery complimenting self-effacing material on such topics as his humiliation at the hands of his children as well as a fear of ghosts, muggers and even clowns, the 35-year-old Chicago transplant who took up comedy just four years ago prevailed over Mike Merryfield’s amazing ability to talk about women in a seemingly castigating way while yet succeeding in getting them to laugh at themselves.”

The final order of finish:

1. Tony Baker, from Los Angeles
2. Mike Merryfield, from Menasha, WI
3. Prashanth Venkataramanujam, from Chicago/Los Angeles
4. The Greg Wilson, from Dallas
5. Dave Williamson, from Miami

Congrats, Tony!

Here are a couple of clips of Tony Baker onstage, doing his thing.