Alton Brown, popular cooking show creator, brings variety show to Wharton
How can a cooking show fill up the 2,500 seat Wharton Center and give everyone an enjoyable evening?
Alton Brown, creator of TV’s “Good Eats,” “Cutthroat Kitchen,” and ” Iron Chef,” who is bringing his “Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats – The Holiday Variant” to Wharton on Saturday, says that it’s really not a cooking show.
“I call it a culinary variety show. There’ll be comedy, music and even a game show," he said. "I started doing these touring shows in 2013 and I used a model based on the variety TV shows popular in the '70s that I used to love. Lots of different acts, jokes, music and skits.”
Brown is known for his wit, humor and smart take on cooking. He does two of these stage shows a year and they are always popular. This one is a big production that plays in 30 cities and travels with three buses, a semi-trailer and assorted dogs (owned by the 12-member cast and crew).
For fans who have seen him on TV, be prepared to see another side of the celebrity chef when he visits Wharton.
“I always sing and play guitar in my shows and have a band on stage," Brown said. "And I’m married to my bass player. I do things in the road show that they won’t let me do on TV.”
Interest in food programming on media of all kinds has exploded over the years. Compare watching a slick episode of “Top Chef” with tuning in on Julia Child rustling up French delicacies on black and white TV in the '60s. It’s a whole different world.
“Well, there’s about a thousand channels on TV now”, says the fast-talking, high-energy Brown. “And food has kept up with new media. Eating is something we all have to do, so everyone is interested.”
One of the reasons for the recent success of cooking shows is they have been turned into competition shows – similar to sporting events. Brown says, “That’s right, 90 percent of the shows are now competitions. It's not my personal cup of tea, but I have plowed those fields.”
Brown was born in Los Angeles but grew up in Georgia where his father was in the radio business. The chef received a degree in film at the University of Georgia plus a degree from the New England Culinary Institute. He immediately began producing cooking shows.
So instead of being an award winning chef, he is a TV producer and host.
“That’s my background, but I am a pretty good recipe developer and cook and I went to culinary school,” he said.
Now the chef has shows on Netflix, The Food Network and the Cooking Channel.
Although Brown enjoys working on television, he said he prefers the live stage.
“TV cameras suck your soul out of your eyeballs. Audiences give back to you," Brown said. "You can see them reacting to the entertainment. We also use volunteers from the audience who come on stage, and they add a lot. On an emotional level, I prefer the stage tours.”
Food is always trending with different dishes and cuisines. What does Brown predict for cooking trends in 2023?
“I think we’ll continue to see proliferation in the international cuisine," he said. "People have tasted Thai food now, and I think more and more people will be cooking it at home. There is always a new spice or technique that becomes popular. (The spice) Chili Crunch was never known a few years ago and now there are new recipes everywhere.”
Cooking might be getting fancy and complicated, but it seems Brown wants to stay with the traditional. When asked about his favorite breakfast on Christmas morning, he said, “Fresh baked cinnamon rolls (no nuts) and a decent cup of coffee. It’s a special thing”.
IF YOU GO
“Alton Brown Live: Beyond the Eats – The Holiday Variant”
Where: Wharton Center, Cobb Great Hall
When: 8 p.m. Saturday, Dec 3
Tickets: Starting at $30. For information and tickets: whartoncenter.com or calling 1 800 WHARTON
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Alton Brown brings culinary variety show to Wharton on Saturday
