The Enduring Cult of Desus & Mero
The Bronx-bred duo continue to prove they’ve mastered the art of poking holes in pop culture
by BEN BOSKOVICHTO CALL THE RISE OF COMEDIANS DESUS NICE AND THE
Kid Mero meteoric would be an understatement. In just six
years, the duo have taken a cult following on Twitter and turned
it into a budding empire of cultural commentary, which led to
a show on Viceland and now on Showtime, plus a book, God-
Level Knowledge Darts: Life Lessons from the Bronx (on sale April
14). When it all started, their reach may have been confined to
those in the five boroughs of New York City with a specific sense
of humor. But a lot has changed since Daniel Baker (Desus, left)and Joel Martinez (Mero, right) first put their Twitter fingers to
use. The medium that helped make them has devolved into an
underregulated hotbed of hate. And all the while, the Bodega
Boys have been continually rewarded for their nuanced takes
on everything from what counts as chopped cheese to Alexan-
dria Ocasio-Cortez’s grilling of Mark Zuckerberg. Who better
to talk about what it means to earn fame now than two guys
so relentlessly authentic that they were able to find success
at the bottom of the barrel of society, aka on the Internet? ROBBY KLEIN/GETTY IMAGESTHE SHORT STORIES#KNOWLEDGEDARTS46