Alton Brown Just Confirmed His Farewell Beyond The Eats Tour Is The Real Deal

Fans of Food Network personality Alton Brown have flocked to his live tours over the years, but sadly for them the current "Beyond the Eats" tour is his grand finale.

Billed as a "culinary variety show," per the chef's "Alton Brown Live" website, "Beyond the Eats" will be his last such venture, despite its success. He recently told AL.com that he "always said" he'd do only three tours. Although he doesn't rule out doing the occasional live audience show in the future, he says he, "will never undertake something of this scope and scale," again. "I've got other stuff to do that I need to kind of move on to try to get done before I wrap up life on planet Earth, so to speak. So this is it," he says.

Brown also notes he's making this announcement in an effort to hold himself to the promise. "It's almost like I now have to honor that now that I've said it," he explains.

What to expect at a Beyond the Eats show

Brown's tours aren't some dry old cooking demo. In fact, he developed them to be the antithesis of standard shows, with plenty of humor, science, and other surprises built into the equation. Ticket holders get what they pay for, too. The show runs for 2.5 hours, and culinary assistants are chosen at random from the audience! Plus, unlike so many concerts and comedians out there, it's a "friendly for all ages" type of experience.

Indeed, past shows have included games, costumes, puppets, and even the occasional well-controlled fire. Tickets remain for the rest of the tour, which is set to hit cities like Omaha, Little Rock, Toronto, and more in the coming weeks.

The jury's still out on whether or not Brown will maintain his touring moratorium after "Beyond the Eats" wraps. It's a safe bet, however, that he'll come up with new and innovative ways to surprise and delight his fans. That's just his M.O.