The keynote on its own
Short, and built to sit inside a longer program. It works before a donation appeal, at an opening, or as the moment that gives an event its center.
Where magic meets meaning
A keynote about losing people, and laughing anyway.
Cancer took my mom. Five years later it took my dad.
I am a comedy magician, so I did the only thing I know how to do with something that heavy. I built a show about it.
"Is it going to be a downer?"
No. And I understand why you are asking, because you have a room full of people who have already had a hard year and you do not want to hand them another one.
Here is what actually happens. People laugh more than they expect to. They get a little quiet in one or two places. Then they laugh again, and they leave lighter than they came in.
I am not there to make anybody cry. I am there to say the thing everybody in that room is already thinking, and to make it survivable for forty minutes.
A short keynote, told with magic.
Not a magic show with a sad story bolted on, and not a speech with a card trick at the end. The tricks carry the message. A silk with a heart on it vanishes when I talk about the morning they were gone. A borrowed bill floats when I talk about having no ground under me. A torn napkin comes back together at the end, with the creases still showing, because that is what healing actually looks like.
Short, and built to sit inside a longer program. It works before a donation appeal, at an opening, or as the moment that gives an event its center.
I open with the story, then I come back and do what I have done since 1991. This is the one I would recommend for a fundraiser, and the reason is simple. A grief keynote ends a room quiet. A fundraiser cannot end quiet. So we end with the comedy magic and your guests go home laughing.
Two former Ohio State quarterbacks, Justin Zwick and Craig Krenzel, were kind enough to say a few words on camera after one of my shows on the 2017 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
Justin Zwick and Craig Krenzel, after a show on the 2017 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
Four other guests on that 2017 cruise were kind enough to say a few words on camera as well.
Janet Smith, 2017 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
John Joyce, 2017 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
Roger Cline, 2017 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
Darren Conrad, 2017 Buckeye Cruise for Cancer.
David Bible organized the American Heart Association fundraiser where I performed in August 2026.
Carroll put on a great show at our fundraising Gala Event. Our guest loved it! Would highly recommend Carroll Baker. Jeff C., nonprofit gala
Saw Carroll Baker at Greenlawn Cemetery fundraiser for the Crypt and he was awesome. In fact my kids (both under 10 at the time) and I thought he was much better than the headliner. Elizabeth W., Greenlawn Cemetery fundraiser
Teens through adults. It works for a room of survivors, a room of staff, a room of donors, or all three at once.
Thirty to sixty minutes, and I will build it to fit the program you already have.
If you are putting together an event where the entertainment has to mean something, get in touch and tell me who is going to be in the room, what the evening has to do, and what you are worried about. I will tell you honestly whether this is the right fit.
Or just call. I would rather have the conversation. 614-800-8909