The Pabst Theater in Milwaukee really is a beautiful place for a show.
It’s old and historic and actually pretty cozy considering how many it seats, which worked well for the living room feel I think they were aiming for with this show. Again, I give you a crappy photo:
As some of you know, my other half also does marketing and development for a theater. That said, I found the sponsorships and partnerships as it related to the Alton Brown event a success. Essentially, a local book store brought Alton and offered the cookbooks, partnered with the theater (and the restaurants) to make it a possible. The book store owner was the one who essentially got to lead his show, which had to both be incredibly cool for her and great awareness for her local store.
With each ticket came a signed cookbook – Good Eats 3.There was also the option to stay after the show to get your cookbook personalized, but I am not kidding, the line was HOURS long and we were too tired to wait.
And then, the show started. It was really informal – house lights on – and very consumer driven. Alton sat on stage with his iPad and took questions via email. I liked that he encouraged people to get out their phones and participate, something usually frowned upon while in a theater setting. It worked really, really well and it seemed as though people – of all ages – were engaged the entire time.
The topics varied from specific episode-related questions to questions about his life and ideas and future. I was surprised when he jabbed at Food Network a bit.
Awhile back, Alton wrote a Fanifesto, which he acknowledged and then subsequently broke one of his rules about talking on the phone with people. Funny story: Someone in the front row didn’t show up. He asked the guy next to the seat where his friend was, called that friend and called him out on leaving and empty seat in the front row on his voicemail. Toward the end of the show, the friend called back and Alton razzed him about his whereabouts. Pretty funny. And seriously, what a great story for the guy who didn’t show. After all, he did get to have a personal conversation with Alton Brown on the phone.
Alton was the perfect mix of funny and snarky asshole (clears throat), just as I assumed he’d be. I was worried going in, for whatever reason, that I might think he was a jerk and then never want to watch him/use his recipes/read his cookbooks again. But really, he was as I expected and he’s still one of my favorite foodies.
I think we like Alton so much because he makes cooking logical. The theories, the way things work and the way he explains techniques makes sense to me. I find myself using his recipes and techniques very frequently in my own kitchen.
All in all, Alton Brown night was a blast. I’d do it again.
