Recently, on Nov. 3, I went to see Alton Brown perform live at the Midland Center for the Arts with my family. Brown was the narrator and host of Iron Chef, Cutthroat Kitchen and creator of his own show, Good Eats. As well as a chef, Brown is a musician, actor, comedian, author and cinematographer and during his live performance we saw every bit of his lineup.

To start off his event, Brown walked out on stage and with the assistance of his band, consisting of another guitar and some drums, began singing a song about food. In fact, every song was about food, but they were all very catchy and enjoyable. Additionally, Brown himself was very good on the guitar, way better than I even anticipated.

Brown, taking on his comedian side, kept the entire show funny and interesting to watch, however a few  jokes seemed a little harsh. The whole event featured only two food items, but everything else was so well timed and orchestrated that the two hour show was memorable and plenty of fun. To complement his comedian side, there was a large screen behind him playing scenes from short videos that he had made and he even made several jokes about how he got the shots, one of which including a miniature American Girl table.

To break up the show, Brown would occasionally bring out the band again and would begin another comical piece about food, my favorite of which being about his struggle as a child to get an Easy-Bake oven. What followed afterwards can only be described as magical. An eight-foot beast of machinery clambered out onto the stage and the expressions of the audience were flawless.

Brown, comedian cook and musical cinematographer, was a blast to watch perform live in the Midland Center for the Arts and I truly hope he makes another return visit. The combinations of comedy and cooking with the well-timed musical segments made the show very memorable and well worth the ticket cost. If I would summarize the entirety of the performance into just a number, I would give the entire event an eight out of 10; everything was very well coordinated and well timed, but the sheer lack of food was a little underwhelming and a few jokes seemed a little too negative. Good job, Brown, but next time bring more ingredients.