Glorified Fry Cooks
The Joy of Pancakes is a live entertainment and arts company founded in 2023 by pancake art pioneer Daniel “Dr. Dan” Drake and designer-artist Wella “Wellamade” Kelly. We specialize in prestige pancake art, using colored batter, fine-tipped bottles, and nearly two decades of experience to turn breakfast into a performance.
We flip custom pancakes in real time: portraits, pets, logos, memes, abstract concepts, inside jokes—you name it. Dan’s work has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Hell’s Kitchen, Nickelodeon’s Kids’ Choice Awards, and more. His pancake videos have racked up hundreds of millions of views, and his live art has been showcased at events from Disney’s D23 to IGCF UAE to demonstrations across Asia. He’s the most experienced live pancake artist in the world, hands down.
Wella brings a rare mix of artistic instinct and human insight—an industrial and graphic designer by trade, with a gift for branding and hospitality. She refines the presentation and brings heart to every interaction, elevating the experience from delightful to unforgettable.
With a philosophy that celebrates mistakes (“they’re delicious, after all”) and a warmth only seasoned Midwestern weirdos can provide, The Joy of Pancakes is quickly becoming the gold standard in joyful, interactive entertainment.
Book us. You’ll taste the difference.
Finding Our Joy
Before pancake art took over his life, Dan Drake was just a 19-year-old fry cook pulling graveyard shifts at Courtesy Diner in south St. Louis, Missouri. It was a crash course in multitasking and banter, slingin' slingers to the city’s bartenders, burlesque dancers, and insomniacs. Every now and then, the cooks would drop little ears onto pancakes to resemble a certain cartoon mouse, just to make the kids smile (and maybe earn a better tip).
One slow night, Dan had a thought: if you could do mouse ears, why not more? Why not faces? Characters? Art? He started experimenting. Pancakes became canvases. Customers took notice. One left a $17 tip, and Dan was sold: every order from then on came with a custom design.
Word spread. Friends from the local music scene came by just to see “the pancake guy” in action. Challenges started rolling in: portraits, classical art, the occasional bit of anatomy. Dan said yes to everything. For the next five years, he sharpened his skills on a flat-top griddle in a fluorescent diner.
Then came the moment that changed everything. A regular named Brent asked for “your finest pancake,” and Dan delivered his go-to design (a mushroom power-up) while hamming it up for the camera. Brent posted a collage online. It quietly circulated. Then it exploded. Seven months later, Dan was flipping pancakes live on The Today Show, and the world’s first professional pancake artist was born.
Over the next seven years, Dan toured the globe. He made pancakes for celebrities, appeared on TV shows, taught classes, and helped build an international community of pancake artists. From breakfast with Katy Perry to a backstage John Cena portrait at the Kids' Choice Awards, he poured himself into the work—always saying yes, always chasing the next joyful moment.
In 2022, Dan chose to part ways with the company he'd helped build. With his fiancée and creative partner Wella “Wellamade” Kelly, he began a new chapter. Together, they founded The Joy of Pancakes—a love letter to the art form, to community, and to doing things with your whole heart.
They’re now building something wild and beautiful: a pancake art food truck; a traveling creative kitchen for spreading joy wherever they go.
We hope you’ll come along for the ride.
