Alton Brown's 'dangerous sciencey stuff' in West Palm Beach

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — On his tour bus, food scientist and entertainer Alton Brown chatted with me about his upcoming show at the Kravis Center called, "Alton Brown Live: Beyond The Eats." The show is on Tuesday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m. tickets start at $24.

Q. What is your favorite place to eat while you are here in the Palm Beaches or will you explore?
"Well, we're not really allowed to do a whole lot of exploring. [We're] in a pretty tight COVID bubble. And so I don't get out a whole lot. And I seriously doubt that, that I'll be allowed out and about [over the next] few days. And that's just because I've got 45 more dates to play. And if I get sick, it's not a very good business model. My wife and I have already decided, Elizabeth is with me and plays bass in the band, we've already decided to come back for vacation," said Brown.

Q. What kind of dangerous sciencey can people expect?
"My tours have always been what I like to call culinary variety shows. So there's been a fair amount of music, there's comedy and then there are very large, very unusual and potentially dangerous food demonstrations of which we certainly have this time. The kind of big addition [is]... ...we're doing an actual game show within the show, that's going to involve a lot of audience participation. So that's, that's something that we've never done before. But by and large, we're following our usual model, which is for me to spend two hours doing what no one will let you do on television," said Brown.

Q. How do you become a contestant?
For this tour, it's too late because you had to of taken a quiz on AltonBrownLive.com.

"It's a tricky task. It's hard to do and we don't even tell people what they got right or wrong. So it's really tough to cheat on the test and then I get a printout every night before the show and whoever did the best in that cities [is] who gets called up," said Brown.

Q. You're known for your 'science behind the food' approach but you say you are more focused on entertaining?
"[The science] is hidden [inside the] entertainment... ...They're a few cooking processes [in the show] that hopefully, people will walk away [with] a much deeper understanding and appreciation for I might add," said Brown.

Q. How has the show changed because of COVID?
"During COVID I had another show ready to go and COVID hits [and I was] like, 'Okay, we're going to scrap it and start over.' So really everything is different and a lot of people don't realize that being a live performer on stage when everyone is worrying and mask, is really difficult because you don't know how [the show is] going. You know? You can't see people laugh, you can't hear people, so [it's] difficult... ...It's like being held up at the ATM by a very large family," laughed Brown.

Q. How do you adapt then?
"We've actually added microphones [that] are fed into my earpiece so that I can hear the audience because I can't see anything that they're doing," Brown said.

Q. But your show is based on audience interaction...
"You just have to find a workaround. You've got to find a way to minimize [those] problems and technology can help," said Brown.

Q. Is there anything I haven't asked you that you'd like to add?
"We do run a family show. And there there is a fair amount of education but mostly it's about having fun. [It's] two hours of what I can't do on television," said Brown.

Q. It's literally a billed as dangerous 'sciency' stuff.
"There's one large demonstration in particular with a device that we have built ourselves that we never exactly know what's going to happen, but the audience is perfectly safe. If anybody's in harm's way, it's me and my folks. So far so good nothing's exploded, nothing's burned down, nothing strange has happened. Strange but not dangerous," Brown said.

Alton Brown Live: Beyond The Eats - West Palm Beach