Jeremy Auman is the face behind the counter at the longtime Lawrence fixture Joe’s Bakery, 616 W. Ninth St.

He keeps the zingers coming all day.

A customer asks for biscuits and gravy and a long-john doughnut.

“We don’t serve anything here that’s bad for you because it makes you feel good,” Auman says.

He’s worked for Joe’s owner Brad Rettele for about a year, and before that, Auman’s been a regular on the Lawrence restaurant scene.

He’s also recognizable as one of four founding members of the Card Table Theatre, which is set to play its traditional Victor Continental comedy sketch show Friday and Saturday at Liberty Hall.

You grew up in Riverton. How did you end up in Lawrence?

I transferred to (Kansas University) from Fort Scott Community College in 1992. I went to school here from 1992 to 1995, until I earned a degree in theater.

Jeremy Auman, local actor and cook, bags an order at Joe's Bakery, 616 W. Ninth St., where he makes sandwiches, hot dogs and doughnuts during his time off the stage.

I started working professionally as an actor with a local touring company for a couple of years. I wanted to start my own theater company. Me and a buddy had always wanted to go to Boston or Chicago, or something like that, but after awhile we realized we had a lot of that here, so we just decided: “Oh, the heck with it, let’s just start this company here.”

So we did that for a number of years and started producing stuff on our own until he moved to England. Then I kind of slowed down. I still do a lot of work with the alternative theater at the university.

Where all have you worked on the Lawrence restaurant scene?

From 1999 to 2003, I ran a shop, Round Corner Cheese & Salami Shoppe. Then I owned my own restaurant for about two years, The Hole in the Wall Grill, near Ninth and Iowa streets. But when the smoking ban hit, it really hurt my business because it was a pool hall.

I got out of the restaurant business altogether. My friend Brad Rettele bought Joe’s Bakery, so I decided I wanted to help expand their lunch counter. I think my biggest contribution has been that we do hot dogs now. That’s something I brought in – Nathan’s or gourmet-style and all-beef hot dogs.

Jeremy Auman peers through a doughnut.

What is a typical day like for you at Joe’s?

I absolutely have to be here by 7 a.m. I usually come in earlier than that. There will be somebody here, usually Brad finishing up the morning doughnuts. I will come and finish up setting up the front of the store.

I set up the doughnuts, then I will start making sandwiches for the day. I will make enough sandwiches to last through lunch, and then usually after lunch I will make another round of sandwiches and refresh the case for the rest of the day. I also work the counter, too. Usually about 8 to 9 a.m. is the busiest.

You still do plenty of producing, acting and directing besides your bakery job. Growing up, did you want do to one over the other?

It’s funny. All I ever wanted to do was play baseball, but I wasn’t really good enough. What I was good at was acting. What I was good at was cooking food. So those two became sort of a marriage together.

One thing I like about this is the face-to-face contact with the customers. And that helps fulfill probably a little bit of my acting needs, too, to have that contact day-in and day-out.

I like to hear about Joe’s Bakery years ago and how people used to come here when they were kids. I got this jar here. When people come in and start telling me their long-winded stories about how they used to come eat doughnuts at 2 in the morning, I make them pay me a nickel.

What is the most critical issue Lawrence faces now?

I love Lawrence in general. I think that it’s at a really key point right now. We’re struggling with how much growth do we want. One thing I hate about this town is the cost of living is so high. And it’s really hard to find wages that are conducive to living here. I do think that’s something to work on, but I think that generally the city seems to be aware of these same things.