Guests

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The Cooking with Jack Show and its affiliate series Jack on the Go feature a revolving door of guest characters. These guests are often unsuspecting churchgoers or acquaintances whom Jack has coaxed into joining his kitchen escapades, likely under the impression that they’re appearing on a channel with the clout of a culinary giant like Babish. In reality, most viewers tune in out of morbid curiosity or sheer schadenfreude, as Jack’s popularity peaked in the early 2000s.

Many guests seem uncomfortable with their role as props in Jack's internet cooking spectacle and vanish after a single episode. Some attempt to endure and become recurring characters but eventually grow weary of Jack’s antics and what critics describe as his “surface-level friendships.” More often than not, they quietly disappear after one or two videos, never to be mentioned again, as if erased from the show's narrative altogether.

Bradley Michael Smith

Bradley Michael Smith
Appeared on	Assorted Jack on the Go videos Wing Wars
Status	Deceased

Bradley Michael Smith appeared on assorted Jack on the Go videos, including one Wing Wars video.

Smith died on 1 September 2021 off COVID-19 symptoms.

Appearances

• "Richie's Hot Wings, White House, TN - WING WARS" - 29 June 2016
• "Burger Republic - Nashville, TN (The Gulch)" - 21 December 2016
• "The Donut Burger - Embers Ski Lodge" - 8 February 2017

Charles Caputo

Charles Caputo
Appeared on	Michigan fishing trip Fish Hook
Status	Alive Making fishing videos (without Jack)

Charles Caputo is a fisherman who once collaborated with Jack on the Fish Hook channel focusing on fishing. He believes Jack to be a wuss. It is believed that Jack and Charles had a fallout, allegedly when Charles had the audacity to enable comments on his own channel - something Jack viewed as a mortal betrayal of his self-proclaimed YouTube wisdom.

Charles had initially sought Jack's advice on starting his channel, likely lured by Jack’s inflated subscriber numbers and self-aggrandizing claims of expertise. Jack, who peaked during the early days of YouTube and has since plummeted into irrelevance, quickly assumed control of Charles' channel like some delusional media mogul. Instead of letting Charles run a fishing show that focused on actual fishing tips and techniques, Jack dragged the content in his favourite direction: food reviews. Any time Jack appeared, fishing was sidelined for trips to fish-themed fast-food chains—because, for Jack, nothing screams “expert fisherman” like reviewing fish tacos.

Jack’s paranoia about online "trolls and haters" runs deep. He has long disabled comments, likes, and dislikes on Cooking with Jack to shield himself from criticism, which he stubbornly interprets as baseless harassment rather than feedback. Naturally, he expected Charles to follow suit and run Fish Hook with the same dictator-like approach.

But Charles dared to defy Jack. After listening to his fans during his livestreams, Charles enabled comments in his subsequent videos and audience engagement flourished. Jack, ever the egotist, likely took this as a personal slight - a rejection of his "master plan". Unable to tolerate someone diverging from his playbook, Jack appeared to distance himself, effectively ghosting Charles and ending their collaboration. In the end, it seems Charles realized that the only thing Jack could reliably catch was a fast-food combo meal, and no friendship is worth destroying your channel's integrity over.

Edgar Garcia

Edgar Garcia
Appeared on	Texas BBQ Wars
Status	Alive Remained in California
Alias	garfam8

Edgar Garcia is a veteran of the Pizza Wars.

Edgar reunited with Jack for the 2023 California tour.

Joe Chavez

Joe Chavez
Appeared on	Burger Wars
Status	Alive Estranged from Jack

Joe Chavez is an ex-friend of Jack who toured in the Burger Wars.

Chavez has since distanced himself from Jack, and has publicly posted about his distaste for him online, occassionally appearing in the chat of Pink Chicken & The Lazy Man livestreams. Jack remained oblivious to this however, and attempted to a desperate extent to reunite with Chavez for the 2023 California tour, spamming his social media with requests to "split a burger for old time's sake". The requests were ignored and Chavez has blocked Jack since.

Jack bugging Chavez on an entirely unrelated post.

Appearances

• "Thanksgiving - Chocolate Pecan Pie" - 5 November 2010
• "El Tepeyac- East LA, CA" - 3 Decemeber 2010
• "Chili John's - Burbank, CA" - 4 January 2011
• "Wood Ranch BBQ - Cerritos, CA" - 18 February 2011
• "King Taco - Long Beach, CA" - 25 March 2011
• "Tommy Pastrami - Huntington Beach, CA" - 9 April 2011
• "DinDin-A-GoGo - Los Alamitos" - 13 May 2011
• "G Burger - La Habra, CA" - 17 September 2011
• "Flappy Jack's - Orange, CA" - 16 November 2011
• "Christmas - Biscochitos" - 9 December 2011
• "Frantone's - Downey, CA" - 15 February 2012
• "Stacked - Cerritos, CA"
• "Red Robin - Cypress, CA"
• "Pee Wee's Famous Hot Dogs - Huntington Beach, CA"
• "Beachwood BBQ, Seal Beach, CA (Paul's goodbye video)"
• "El Arca #2 - Stanton, CA"
• "Thanksgiving - Deep Fried Turkey"
• "You're Vegan Me Crazy - Part 1 Ford Fiesta Mission"
• "You're Vegan Me Crazy - Part 2 Ford Fiesta Mission"
• "Maximum Mexican Burgers - Grilling"
• "Burger King Satisfries - Food Review (free SATISFRIES 10/12 & 10/13)"
• "Pig Out - Ford Fiesta Mission"
• "Buffalo Wild Wings - WING WARS"

Chaves also appeared on every Burger Wars episode up to #33.

Leslie Woods Ellis

Leslie Woods Ellis
Appeared on	Cooking with Jack
Status	Alive Running her own YouTube channel
Aliases	HE ELLIS WAY

Leslie Woods Ellis, who runs the YouTube channel "The Ellis Way TN", is a Hobby Lobby haunter who now makes crafting videos with Jack's media maverick guidance from The Jack Pack.

Louis Austad

Louis Austad
Appeared on	Wing Wars
Status	Deceased
Aliases	Louinator59

Louis Austad, also known as Lou, was a veteran of the Wing Wars. Lou had a mildly successful YouTube channel called Louinator59 where he uploaded travelling content. He was also a member of the right-wing Facebook knockoff Gab.

Lou died in November 2020, and Jack made a special tribute video for him after the fact. According to Jack on a livestream, Lou died off a three-times enlarged heart.

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Jack's tribute video for Lou.

Mitch Healey

Mitch Healey
Appeared on	Texas BBQ Wars
Status	Alive Estranged from Jack

Mitch Healey is a realtor and a veteran of the Texas Barbeque Wars. Mitch has not appeared in Jack's videos since the COVID-19 pandemic, and is assumed to have cut ties with Jack.

Rick Chavez

Rick Chavez
Appeared on	Taco Wars
Status	Alive Still in contact with Jack

Rick Chavez appeared in a couple Cooking with Jack videos and some Taco Wars videos. He is not related to Joe Chavez.

Chavez intended to reunite with Jack in the 2023 California tour, however he bailed on the last second.

Robert

Robert
Appeared on	Cooking with Jack
Status	Alive Estranged from Jack

"Robert" briefly appeared on a few episodes of Cooking with Jack. Beyond his brief stint on Jack's show, little information about him exists. According to Jack, Robert eventually relocated to Florida and has not kept in touch since their last interaction.

Jack has also alluded to Robert streaming video games on Twitch in his spare time, though this claim remains unverified.

Despite the determined efforts of detractors, no traces of Robert's online presence, nor his last name, have ever been uncovered. This has led to a popular theory that Robert may have mastered operational security (OPSEC) to an impressive degree, particularly given the scrutiny that comes with being associated with Jack. Some believe Robert’s digital invisibility reflects a conscious effort to distance himself from Jack’s controversial online persona.