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Backstage with Todd Newton host of The Price Is Right Live! · Backstage at The EPC's Podcast

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to Backstage at the EPC.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Today I'm talking with Todd Newton from the Prices Right Live.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, Todd.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Nice to talk to you.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: I'm good.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: We are always excited to have you guys come back.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know we've had you guys a few times.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Are you um so you're back out on the road traveling for Prices Right Live, right?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you at today?
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_01: We love it.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the the tour kicks off here in just a couple of days.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, right now I'm I'm home here in the beautiful Florida Keys.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: I'm about 75 yards from the uh from the ocean.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: I've got a couple of rescue dogs and a couple of rescue cats floating around me here.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_01: I I just I say that they're just helping me pack, you know.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: They're helping me pack.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_00: Hopefully you don't accidentally pack one of them.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: That's right.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: But uh yeah, I'll be I'll be standing next to that big wheel here in uh in just a couple of days, and and we're excited to fire it up.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: It's our it truly is our biggest and best tour yet.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: I know that sounds cliche, but uh, we're excited for you guys to see it.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you guys don't tour all year long.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: That was gonna that's one of my questions is um is this something that runs all year long or or what's your guys' schedule look like?
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so we we tour in the spring, usually from early January till the beginning of May, and then we tour again in the fall from right about now up until mid-December.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_00: Is there kind of a certain reason for that?
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Is that just when everyone's schedule works or you know, that's just uh that's just always been the way it's it's it's been done, and uh uh it seems to work out.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think I think that having the two set tours allows enough time in between visits to particular cities uh to kind of let the soil refresh a little bit.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then when we come back in a year, a year and a half, and present new games and and new prizes, uh, it keeps people on the edge of their seats and it gives us uh a little bit of spontaneity, some things behind those beautiful doors that you haven't seen yet.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: So uh the timing just seems to work out uh really well.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: Then again, if I had my preference, I would do it every night of the week, you know, every week of the year.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_01: It never it never gets old for me.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: You know, when you're standing next to somebody when they win uh a significant amount of money or a uh a trip to Paris or that new car, you know, that that nights like that don't get old.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I'm just I'm I'm anxious.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: I I've got my new everything is pressed, we're ready to tear it up.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: So, what kind of goes into you guys setting up for a show like this?
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: You guys travel with you know uh a big trailers for these um games and stuff.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_00: What's that kind of look like for you guys?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's a kind of a behind-the-scenes peak a little bit.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're just like any any concert you may go to.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_01: They call us, we're a bus and truck type of show.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a big, wonderful tour bus that uh that the crew and I travel on and sleep on.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we we arrive in a city about six or seven o'clock in the morning.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Our incredible, hard-working crew uh gets right to work, setting up the stage and the prizes that you see uh every night.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_01: These off months allow the warehouse team to kind of put a fresh coat of paint and everything on everything and make sure it's all bright and shiny for you.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then we present what we hope is an incredible show that people never forget, anywhere from 90 minutes to two hours with no commercial breaks.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And then when the show's over, our crew gets back to work and breaks everything down, loads it into the 18 wheelers, and we hit the road to the next form.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: Truly amazing seeing all of that happen.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's awesome to watch them.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: They're they're absolute magicians, these guys and gals.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I listen, I I would love to get in there and help them with the heavy lifting, but I have my game show host manicure.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, well, of course, you don't want to it it's the moneymaker, right?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like someone's got to do the hosting.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, if I chip a nail, shows off.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So, what are there any new games uh coming this year?
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_00: Or what are your go-to ones?
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: I will I will say this.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: I will say we have some new games that uh that you have not seen yet.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't want to tell you what they're I want you to have that moment when the curtain comes up or the doors open.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_01: That's an exciting reveal.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: But I will tell you there are a couple of games that we feel like we have to play, otherwise, we'd get booed right out of the game.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: Of course.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: So Plinko will definitely be there, cliffhangers will definitely be there.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody loves yodeling along with cliffhangers.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the big wheel will certainly be there, and then some new surprises for you in addition.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so exciting.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so let's walk them through the process a little bit.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'm the marketing coordinator here, so I will be um pulling a list of ticket purchasers here in the next couple of days and sending out um an email with a registration link.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um patrons that have tickets, you can register to be one of the contestants.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: You have to be 18 or older to register.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you don't have to be 18 to come to the show, but to register for the prizes.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then they'll um so the show's at seven.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: We have registration opening in our lobby at five o'clock that evening, and then they come in, they um check in.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, or I'm sorry, they don't check in now.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: We just register, but they come and get their name tag, which is like the best part of coming.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you cannot forget the name tag.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's and and you're right.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you can register via the link that you send.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: And we also have QR codes in the lobby that we set up.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: So you can scan the QR codes, and those those are important to keep in mind because all of our contestants, as you know, are chosen completely at random, right?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: Unlike any game show that you'll see on television where there's a little bit of pre-selection involved because they have to make good TV, right?
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Correct.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Mr.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: Barker insisted when he created this show back in 2001.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_01: Bob Barker said the people in the back row should have the very same opportunity to play as the people in the front row.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: So everyone is on a level playing field.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: You just simply scan that QR code or register using your email, and then we you're in our database and we have randomizing software, and uh, the names of the contestants are spit out literally moments before our incredible announcer, Jim Grusing, calls people to come down to Contestants Row.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: And we call more people down to Contestants Row during our show than they're able to do on television.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: So we give more people the chance to play.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_01: And again, no commercial breaks, we're not limited to one hour.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: So you're going to get all of that magic that you love from TV and have loved for over 50 years now, right there in your backyard for a long time.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: And the contestants and the audience, listen, I let you all steer the ship.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: I will stay as long as you will have me up on that stage.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm in no hurry to get out of town.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: So it's going to be a special night.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I always enjoy um, you know, you can watch the show on on TV, and that's a whole, you know, experience and feeling.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_00: But when you come here and you're part of this audience, um, I've just even caught people as they're coming into the lobby and you have all these large groups, um, large and small groups.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: They all have their matching shirts.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: They come from um all all over.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: They've traveled a couple hours, they're making a whole evening of it.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: This year it's on a Friday night, which is exciting.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like you can have dinner and and come and register, and the energy is just unlike anything else.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: It is it is a lot of fun.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: It listen, it's never a bad night at the Price is Right Live.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's all of the memories from your childhood, and we hear it all the time.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's oh, as soon as I heard that music that dun dun dun reminded me of staying home sick from school and eating salt crackers and drinking seven up underneath an Afghan or watching it with staying at your grandma's house on the weekend and watching that.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, listen, I remember when when Bob Barker let his hair go from jet black to white when he came out from that hiatus and he had the white hair, it was all my grandmother and her friends talked about the card for three days.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: But it's it's all of those memories coming together in in one night, and that's why this show was created, you know.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_01: And again, I I want to stress that this is the real deal.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: We're all game show fans first, game show employees second.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: We're created by the same people that created and owned the television show.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_01: So it is 100% authentic, and you're gonna get that music, you're gonna get the lights, you're gonna get the doors, you're gonna get the big wheel, you're gonna get the sound effects, and you're gonna get the prizes.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Let's talk about the prizes a little bit.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_00: I know, um, I know that's a question like, well, what are the prizes?
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that you don't have necessarily a list, but it's very similar to the TV show, correct?
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, listen, it it changes every night, but it's everything that you want to see from the prices right.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's fabulous vacations and piles of cash and kitchen appliances, of course, and brand new cars, all of these things we give away every night at the Price is Right Live.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: And the more you win, the better it is for us.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: No game show survives, whether 50 plus years on TV or 25 years touring the country without giving away lots of prizes.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: We want you to win.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: So we want you to leave and tell everybody at work, at church, and in the neighborhood what you won the other night.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_01: So it's just really a special opportunity and a real privilege for me to be able to stand next to these contestants when they win these piles of money that they've needed, or this new car that they haven't been able to purchase, or a vacation that they just haven't allowed themselves to take, you know.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: And when a family member rushes up on that stage and they're hugging, and I can hear the things they say to each other, I just every night something happens that reinforces that I know I'm right where I'm supposed to be in life.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm a lucky guy.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great feeling.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: It's just a beautiful, beautiful experience.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, and you are um a very busy man from what I can tell on in my research, my very you know, extensive research.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um research team, yeah.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I do know that the last time you were here, the um tattoo traveler, aka you, um, made an appearance at some of our local um food joints.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um is that you know something that you kind of dive into at each of the towns that you go to?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Talk a little bit about the tattoo traveler.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: So the tattoo traveler was a uh a television show that that uh I hosted for three years.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: We started uh right after COVID ended.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was on Roku, available on smart TVs everywhere.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: And a friend of mine said, Hey man, you love to travel.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_01: I want to create a travel show, but let's make it more about the people in these destinations rather than the sites or the uh attractions and the adventures.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: And I said, Well, listen, while we're making it about the people, some of the most interesting people I've ever met have been over dinner or a couple of cocktails, you know, in some dive bar or some real character-filled 100-year-old diner or some barbecue shack off a back road somewhere.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: And to be honest with you, a lot of these recommendations came to me from the local stage hands in the various theaters that we perform in.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: If I always say, if you want to know the best burger or the best slap of barbecue ribs in town, you ask the stage hands.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: They'll tell you.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, yeah, they're gonna know.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so uh so it we did that just uh international or nationally across the country for the first year.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I wrote a book called Chug and Chow, uh featuring some of my favorite spots, 50 of them.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and then we went international with it.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_01: And we've uh been in 12 countries so far.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just got back from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Japan two weeks ago.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: So we've got some exciting episodes there.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, I've got a new book coming out in a couple of weeks called The Host with the Most that has 10 more Chug and Chow destinations.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I just listen to special moments with people.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's amazing.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we um definitely look forward to having you here again.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it a final question if you could bring back one classic game show besides the Prices Right Live, which one would it be?
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, what a great question.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_01: Boy, I'd love I I I think if I wasn't doing Price is Right Live, I think the old classic version of Hollywood Squares with Paul Lind and all those great uh those characters, uh the original match game with the great Gene Rayburn.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, uh another classic, and I guess one more would be the original gong show with Chuck Barris.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so many of those have been remade over the years and and kind of uh kind of repolished, but there are some times where you just can't beat the original, and I think those are those are three three perfect examples there.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I appreciate you so much again for joining us, and we can't wait to have you on Friday, October 16th.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: It's right around the corner.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: So um we'll see you soon.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're always having a great time with you guys.
• 14:49
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, Todd.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: We'll get you those tickets.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_01: Come on down, huh?
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_00: Come on down.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Before we go, on deck at the EPC is Hocus Pocus Interactive Movie on October 23rd, Menopause the Musical on October 29th, Trace Adkins on November 5th, and How to Solve a Murder on November 6th.
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: For a full list of upcoming shows, visit our website at theepc.org.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: As always, you can purchase tickets through our box office Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: to 2 p.m.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: and show days from 10 a.m.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: to showtime.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: You can also purchase tickets online through ticketmaster.com slash EPC.