# I'm going to see Alton Brown live **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 9, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317 "2025-03-09T00:31:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/1 "2025-03-09T00:31:29Z")
My wife got tickets for Alton Brown’s road show in Concord, NH on Tuesday 3/11. Anybody see him before? How is his show? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/2 "2025-03-09T00:41:59Z")
I’ve seen him twice, and I actually have tickets to see his new show next month, probably the same show you’re seeing. He’s a lot of fun, combining interesting stories about cooking with machines worthy of a mad scientist. In the first show I saw he had a jet powered ice cream maker, in the second he had a huge chicken fryer. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/3 "2025-03-09T00:55:28Z")
I was a big fan of Good Eats and saw him in Spokane a few years ago. Overall the show was Meh. Lots of music and other things that had nothing to do with food or cooking. I think at the time he was trying to branch out in different new directions. I haven’t seen or heard much of him since. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/4 "2025-03-09T01:06:28Z")
I saw one of his live shows, seven or eight years ago. I’ve been a fan of Brown’s since _Good Eats_ first premiered, and I enjoyed the show a great deal. That said: > [@dolphinboy](#): > > Lots of music and other things that had nothing to do with food or cooking. This was also true. IIRC, the show was built around three or four segments, each of which was, at best, tangentially related to food (but which I did find very fun). If you go in expecting that it’ll be a 90-minute-long _Good Eats_ episode, you may be disappointed. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/5 "2025-03-09T01:11:37Z")
A co-worker saw him just recently and couldn’t stop raving about it. He spoke directly with her husband in the audience. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/6 "2025-03-09T01:15:10Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > If you go in expecting that it’ll be a 90-minute-long _Good Eats_ episode, you may be disappointed. I certainly didn’t expect it to be a 90-minute Good Eats, but I expected to learn something I didn’t know. It was a pure entertainment show and not at all what I expected. I really didn’t know what to expect. Shame on me for not finding out what his live show was all about ahead of time. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/7 "2025-03-09T01:38:28Z")
I’ve seen him twice, both times an awesome show. My daughter still re-lives the story of his aunt’s chocolates. I’m sure he’ll tell it again, that alone was worth the price of the show. He’s also signing books at Gibson’s before the show. I wanted to go and bring my collection of his books but have plans Tuesday evening. ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/8 "2025-03-09T03:11:08Z")
I saw him live in Toronto about 8 years ago, still have the t shirt. I thought the show was great. ---
**Author:** ![Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a88e4f/32.png) [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/9 "2025-03-09T15:06:02Z")
I’ve seen him twice, too. I remember a bit where he was discussing how temperature impacted taste, and had a wheel to create a random drink to demonstrate the point. I enjoyed both shows, but haven’t bothered to go the last two times he was in town. (It apparently was still awful, according to the audience volunteer that was on stage.) ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/10 "2025-03-09T23:23:08Z")
Cool! I see he’s coming to Detroit. I remember reading a thread here several years ago that he was kind of an asshole in person, in a “don’t meet your heroes” type of thread. I think he’s moderated quite a bit in recent decades, so if I can justify it, I think I might give this a try. I’ll keep subscribed to this thread for a couple of weeks, though, to see what I can gleen. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2025, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/11 "2025-03-09T23:34:33Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I remember reading a thread here several years ago that he was kind of an asshole in person, in a “don’t meet your heroes” type of thread. I saw him at a promotional appearance for his first cookbook, in 2002; he spoke for about a half-hour, then signed autographs. I got to chat with him for a few minutes during that, and he certainly seemed very personable, at least on that evening. However, I’ve also read that he can be intense and sarcastic, which may make some people feel like he’s a jerk. As with anything where someone says, “I met a famous person, and they were an asshole,” it may depend on the day – there are times when most of us can get asshole-ish, and if a random person happens to get their sixty seconds of experience with you when you aren’t at your best, they’re going to go away thinking, “jeez, that Kenobi guy is a real asshole.” OTOH, if most people who encounter Famous Person X say that they’re an asshole, there’s probably something to that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/12 "2025-03-10T22:07:50Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > As with anything where someone says, “I met a famous person, and they were an asshole,” it may depend on the day – there are times when most of us can get asshole-ish, and if a random person happens to get their sixty seconds of experience with you when you aren’t at your best, they’re going to go away thinking, “jeez, that Kenobi guy is a real asshole.” Especially when you dig deeper into the story, and it turned out famous person was out to dinner with his kids, and balked when the fan demanded they all line up for a selfie or something inappropriate and intrusive like that. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2025, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/13 "2025-03-10T22:10:37Z")
I seem to recall the issue was that he made some homophobic comments during his show. ---
**Author:** ![DoctorJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctorj/32/2904_2.png) [@DoctorJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DoctorJ)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/14 "2025-03-11T00:30:48Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > However, I’ve also read that he can be intense and sarcastic, which may make some people feel like he’s a jerk. I’ve met him twice and this was my impression. When I met him the second time (about ten years ago) I was doing a local radio food show and he was kind enough to record an ID for it, but did point out that he usually charged about $1000 to do those. I know he tends to get cranky when people approach him and he’s with his family, but that’s understandable. Otherwise he’s not especially warm, but he’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/15 "2025-03-11T15:34:49Z")
> [@Balthisar](#): > > I seem to recall the issue was that he made some homophobic comments during his show. Anything’s possible, and I do know that Brown was a conservative Christian for much of his life. I’d be curious if there are any good cites about him saying things like that – either because he does (or did) hold anti-gay views, or went overboard in making funny, sarcastic remarks at some point. OTOH, his Wikipedia entry also includes this: > [@](#): > > Brown said in a December 2014 interview in [_Time_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_(magazine)) that he “could no longer abide the [Southern Baptist Convention](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Baptist_Convention)’s indoctrination of children and its anti-gay stance” adding that he is now “searching for a new belief system.” ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/16 "2025-03-11T15:44:26Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I saw him at a promotional appearance for his first cookbook, in 2002; he spoke for about a half-hour, then signed autographs. I got to chat with him for a few minutes during that, and he certainly seemed very personable, at least on that evening. Seconding that I met him at meet and greet before one of his lives show, and he was super nice and funny. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/17 "2025-03-14T01:36:09Z")
Well, I got our tickets, and a babysitter! Can’t wait. I saw Penn and Teller again in December, the Violent Femmes last year, and now Alton Brown next month. My bucket list is filling up fast. Uh, that’s probably not actually a good thing, if I reason about it… ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2025, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/18 "2025-12-13T16:55:55Z")
Bumping this thread because I _think_ it’s the most recent about Alton Brown. He recently started a YouTube series called [Alton Brown Cooks Food](https://www.youtube.com/@AltonBrown). So far he’s released four episodes on cooking turkeys, sweet potato pie, standing rib roast and gluten-free sugar cookies. It reminds me very much of his old show. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/19 "2025-12-15T16:09:00Z")
I’ve watched the first 3, and it’s a boiled down version of the old show - no funny props, and he does exactly one dish/recipe. And he’s eliminated the unusual equipment requirements and expensive hard to find ingredients too - the old Good Eats recipe for standing rib roast required buying a huge clay pot, now you just put it in an oven. I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2025, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317/20 "2025-12-15T16:10:25Z")
He still has the camera in the refrigerator, though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-going-to-see-alton-brown-live/1015317.md?page=2)