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Snackin' & Yakkin'
Bobby Baker can name 15 Charleston comics who could crush a 10- to 15-minute set.
His challenge is getting audiences into the room, and his answer is a comedy variety that mixes stand-up with sketch, improv, and music.
On Snackin’ & Yakkin’ with Big Ben Kennedy, Bobby talks about building those shows while sharing pizza, potato chips, and Root Beer. First, though, the chips become a construction project.
Pizza Chips, Root Beer, and Potato Chip Jenga
The flavor belongs on the tongue
Ben thinks the potato chips taste like pizza, although Bobby isn’t entirely sure. Ben also has a seasoning preference: he wants the flavored side against his tongue, rather than sending all that pizza dust to the roof of his mouth.
Pizza filled pretzels earn Ben’s approval too, while pizza crackers don’t quite deliver the same flavor for him. His gas-station combination is pretzels and chocolate milk. Bobby favors bold snack mix and garlicky rye chips, with potato chips as a dependable salty snack.
Then the mostly intact chips catch Ben’s attention. He attempts a stack, Bobby calls it “Potato Chip Jenga,” and the chips eventually tumble.
Cream soda and the blue raspberry question
Bobby loves cream soda, but Ben couldn’t find it at either of the two stores he tried. Root beer becomes the substitute, and Ben finds it sweeter than other name brands.
Bobby’s sweet tooth extends to cotton candy. That leads to Ben recalling childhood attempts to dissolve cotton candy into water and make flavor aide, with disappointing results.
They also discuss something Bobby heard about artificial dye changes and the difficulty of finding natural blue coloring. It’s speculation, not a confirmed farewell to blue raspberry. Bobby offers a possible consolation: “Purple Raz could be good.”
Charleston Has the Comics, Bobby Wants the Audience
Ben had watched Bobby at open mics before seeing him perform at Rossy Brown’s benefit. That recent set impressed him: Bobby went up early and hit hard, and Ben praised how much he’d improved.
Bobby sees plenty of talent around him. The missing piece is connecting those performers with people who would enjoy their sets.
A backyard becomes the first venue
His self-produced project is the Bobby Baker Show. Inspired partly by Saturday Night Live, he wants comedy followed by a musical finish that leaves everyone in a good mood.
The first show happened in a backyard. Josh Mills closed the comedy portion, with MK, Kesia, and Columbia comic Phil Carter also performing. A band opened, and a friend’s DJ set finished the night.
That show gave Bobby confidence when approaching businesses:
“I know how to do this and I have done this.”
His second show moved to the brewery that hosts his open mic after another backyard plan fell apart two weeks before showtime. The brewery supported him when the alternative was canceling.
Selling Tickets Takes More Than Booking Comics
Ben raises a frustration with venue arrangements: some businesses expect comedy to bring customers but don’t help promote the show, even while keeping food and drink sales.
Bobby puts promotion on himself because his first event had no venue partner. He personally texts Charleston contacts and leaves a long runway between shows. About 80% of ticket buyers for his first two events were friends or coworkers.
He also avoids inviting everyone to every appearance. Constant requests can wear people out.
For Bobby, the venue needs value too. Producing a successful backyard show helped him demonstrate that he could bring people through a business’s doors.
The City Lights Show Mixes Comedy and Music
At the time of recording, Bobby was preparing a show at City Lights Eastside in Charleston. He praises Candace’s enthusiastic social media presence and plans to make a promotional skit with the venue.
The announced lineup includes:
- Stan Shelby, Mona Bender, and British comic Ed Carter perform stand-up.
- TV for Kids brings roughly 15 minutes of improv.
- The three-piece band Red, Right, Return closes with music.
Ben plans to attend with his wife. He’s also curious about the venue’s Barbie bathroom, which Bobby explains is gender-neutral.
Looking ahead, Bobby wants a consistent monthly show in a room holding roughly 50 to 100 people. He’s also interested in a separate, more traditional stand-up lineup. They discuss bringing in performers from Columbia, Savannah, or Atlanta rather than exhausting the same local roster.
Marketing School, Open Mics, and Football Wordplay
How Bobby found comedy
Bobby grew up in Worcester, Massachusetts, and moved to Charleston at 24. Before that, he studied business marketing for about a year and a half, dropped out, and later returned to school for communications with an interest in film.
While working as a server and bartender, friends invited him to watch an open mic. That’s where his interest in comedy began.
Now he hosts a weekly mic at Mon with co-host Ryan Platsky.
Sketches are another itch to scratch
Bobby has worked on sketches with Liam Clancy and Dylan Cruz, who started the Mon mic before moving to Chicago for film school.
His favorite collaboration with Dylan adapts Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?” to football. Every question becomes another player’s name, so the confusion keeps multiplying.
He’s also taking a sketch class with Henry from Rip City. Bobby describes the group’s sketch, improv, and music shows as Charleston’s SNL, with Henry and Mari at its heart. His own format draws inspiration from them but puts more weight on stand-up.
TV for Kids also earns his praise, especially its geometry-obsessed Criss Angel-style character.
Horror Movies and Extremely Specific Drunk Texting
The sketch discussion leads to classic comedy, including the Three Stooges and the physical humor both men still enjoy.
Movies divide them a little. Ben loves horror, while Bobby hasn’t seen a Friday the 13th or A Nightmare on Elm Street movie. They do share an appreciation for Killer Klowns from Outer Space, and both praise Michael Clayton’s extensive movie knowledge.
Later, Bobby recalls a friend’s unusually specific drunken impulse: posting Walter White memes on Instagram. His own regrettable Snapchat night involved sending dozens of late-night messages.
That sparks a discussion about an app requiring math before allowing drunk texts. Division, they decide, could stop plenty of messages.
Creative Outlets and a Weekly Commitment
The conversation turns more personal when Ben describes a difficult period after stepping away from comedy. Without that outlet, he found it harder to sit with himself. He says treatment began in 2012 and that he’s been doing well since.
Ben still works in EMS. Even if the show grew enough to let him reduce his hours, he’d want to keep his paramedic certification.
Bobby connects creative progress with consistency. Ben hasn’t missed a weekly episode, although maintaining that schedule once meant recording three episodes in one weekend.
The snack schedule needed adjustment too. Ben now saves sugary soda and treats for recording, so meeting a guest comes with the bonus of enjoying snacks he hasn’t had lately.
The Math Test Ben Wouldn’t Stop Arguing About
Ben often calculates answers mentally, but showing every step can trip him up. Bobby recognizes the frustration with newer school math methods.
Ben recalls Nate Bargatze’s joke comparing new math to asking someone to enter through the back door, walk through the whole house, and meet at the front.
Then comes Ben’s disputed training question. A responder arrives while a woman is in active labor. One answer combines introducing yourself with asking how long she’s been in labor. Another says to check whether she’s crowning.
The class identified the crowning check as correct because time mattered. Ben objected to bundling an introduction with a potentially delaying question. He wanted to introduce himself before examining the patient.
He argued past the end of class. The story is about frustrating answer choices, not medical instruction, and Bobby immediately sees why that hypothetical got under Ben’s skin.
Bobby’s Show Has Room for More Than Stand-Up
Bobby wants Charleston audiences to see the performers he already knows can deliver. His variety format gives stand-up, improv, and live music room on the same bill.
His Instagram name is @bobbybakershow. Weekly conversations continue on the Snackin’ & Yakkin’ YouTube channel, where a comedy booking discussion can also include collapsing potato chips and a classroom argument Ben still remembers.
