Life In The Bonus Round

By Todd Newton

Often referred to as The Host With The Most®, Daytime Emmy Award-winning TV personality Todd Newton sets the autobiographical world on fire with his insightful and entertaining life story. From being rejected by a small town radio station to commanding some of the largest stages in North America, Newton's experiences will make you laugh while shining a light on your path.
Step inside the Bonus Round with this proud father, entertainer, and philanthropist as he plays for the most fabulous prize of them all: a life well-lived!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Todd Newton
• Release date: Mar 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370967391

Todd Newton

Todd Newton is one of the most respected and amiable hosts on television and is best known for his work as a Daytime Emmy® Award-winning game show host. The man often referred to by industry insiders as The Host with the Most® has awarded contestants over fifty million dollars in cash and prizes on shows such as Family Game Night, Whammy, Monopoly Millionaires' Club, and The Price Is Right Live-an interactive stage version of America's favorite game show now touring North America. In addition to his work in front of the camera and behind the microphone of his syndicated radio show, Newton is the author of multiple books, including the entertaining and inspiring memoir Life in the Bonus Round and The Host with the Most: Tales of a Tattooed Television Personality. All proceeds from the sales of Mr. Newton's books benefit his 501(c)(3) nonprofit, L.A.F. Pet Rescue.

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Life In The Bonus Round

Copyright 2018 Newton Media, LLC

Published by Newton Media, LLC at Smashwords

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your enjoyment only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

For my family. Without you there would be no words to write.

Todd Newton has the handshake of a man running for office, the smile of a televangelist, and the voice of a 1902 carnival barker. He’s one of those rare animals that chases the show business dream for the right reason: to squeeze every last drop of joy out of the audience.

-Gallagher

Table of Contents

Introduction

This Is How It All Starts

The Greatest Wiffle Ball Pitcher In The World

Follow The Yellow Brick Road

1,440 Minutes

It’s Who You Know

The Most Fabulous Of Prizes

I Want To Do It All

Reach Out And Touch A Hand

Afterword

About The Author

Introduction

This book came dangerously close to being called Confessions Of The Most Famous Man You've Never Heard Of. That title was sitting on the three-yard line with less than ten seconds remaining of the clock. Ultimately I chose to go with Life In The Bonus Round because I’m really sharing more than I am confessing. I’m not setting out to shock you, but rather to engage and interact with you as if we were seated at a round dinner table in a dark Italian restaurant. The wine is flowing and the conversation is rolling. The topic of men who opt for open toe shoes while traveling somehow makes its way to the table. I mention how I find this both alarming and astonishing. Alarming in the sense that these gentlemen more than likely believe they are somehow saving time by slipping on a pair of sandals rather than a pair of shoes with laces. Astonishing in the sense that they don’t realize I’m retching at the sight of their claw-like toenails while they seem completely oblivious to the fungal repulsiveness.

Perhaps someone else in the party claims the same critique can be applied to ladies who show up at the airport in their pajamas. I would nod in agreement. As a business traveler I have logged over two million miles and have never met someone who was late for a flight because they took the time to tie their shoes or button their pants. Hopefully then we would allow ourselves to discuss something even more intellectually numbing such as what Nicole Kidman wore to the Golden Globes.

Such observations and petty annoyances begin to appear with age, I suppose. Ten years ago I probably wouldn’t have cared what you wore but today I feel it is my place to climb upon my soapbox and speak up. So many people have stopped caring about the little things and have become resolved to the way we are told life should be. That doesn’t work for me and it sure isn’t what I want for my kids or yours. The fire has been snuffed out of a large portion of our population, but without the flame we will never evolve. How can we mend the cracks in our system if the course of action we choose is to take the easy route and settle for the status quo? It is because of this newly discovered outlook (and a handful of other choice reasons) that I decided it was time to revise Life In The Bonus Round.

Life. You can’t write this stuff. Try as even the most creative reality television producers might, reality can’t be scripted or contrived. It defies the very definition of the word! Real life is comprised of millions of micro-moments that can be deliciously unpredictable and unavoidably addictive. Life can make us laugh hysterically one minute and scare the living hell out of us the next. Still we want as much of it as we can get. The hunt for more never ends. But what do we want more of? More money? More sex? More trips to the Caribbean? More cars in our driveway? It’s almost as if life toys with our emotions by constantly dangling fulfillment and satisfaction just beyond the reach of our greedy little fingers.

For years I have been paid good money to deliver my keynote presentation, The Choice Is Yours: Six Keys To Putting Your Best Into Action. I get a kick out of seeing the faces in the audience when I explain that living your best life isn’t as difficult as many make it out to be, though your therapist may want you to believe it is. Being happy and existing in the bonus round of life is much more attainable if your days and nights are filled with more of the things that bring you joy and less of the things that bring you pain and suffering. Don’t you wish your high school algebra class was so easily explained? It’s basic math. Add to the wonderful while subtracting from the dreadful. Hate your job? Quit and do something else. Start your own business or go back to college to develop a new skill that taps into your passion. Is your spouse making your life a living hell? You’re probably doing the same to him/her. Respectfully dissolve the marriage and go rescue a dog from your local animal shelter for companionship. Sponsor a child’s education in Uganda. You’ll both be presented with a clean slate that will allow you to begin living again. Whatever your current situation may be, only you can begin the process of making it better.

Have I taken my hits? You bet I have. I’ve been way up and I’ve been way down. But as I sit in this coffee shop in Vienna’s Neubau neighborhood watching the locals stroll in and out of art galleries, boutiques, and the courtyard at Amerlinghaus, you can bet the last thing I’m thinking about is my darkest day. I’m surrounded by stunning architecture that is rich in history. I see people in love. My family is healthy. The phone in my pocket gives me access to the world and answers all of my questions. I’ve still got my hair. My friend, I’ve got no right to be anything less than grateful.

Life In The Bonus Round holds a very dear place in my heart. Originally released in 2012, this book served as my foray into the literary world and the revised edition you now hold is undoubtedly the most exposed and vulnerable I have ever allowed myself to be. My friend AJ Benza is one of the most respected gossip columnists in the history of tabloid news. Known to most for his time spent with The New York Daily News, AJ once said, Writing is deeply cerebral. A writer must find a way to open up a pathway between the heart and the brain and hope our ten fingers can type quickly enough to accurately relay our thoughts and feelings.

As someone who makes a living appearing in high definition on your television screen and under the merciless lights of our country’s most revered stages, I’ve become accustomed to vulnerability and critique. I may self-analyze a bit too much, but I came to the conclusion not long ago that I’m not the same man I was back in 2012. The fact that this book was published and distributed worldwide wasn’t a sign that I’d reached the end of my road. Not even close. I’ve matured considerably in the past several years. I’ve learned quite a bit more. Perhaps I’ve even mellowed a bit and grown into myself. That first edition was only the first round. The bell is ringing again and it’s now time for me to reemerge from my corner and dole out some new combinations.

The pages you are about to read were recorded over the course of six years. That’s a considerable stretch of time! In addition to my trusted laptop, words and ideas were jotted down on cocktail napkins, on the back of strangers’ business cards, and even in the palm of my left hand. The majority of these thoughts and memories came to me on airplanes, in hotels, and in dressing rooms all across the United States, Canada, and Europe and were then translated into book form in the comfort of my home office, usually with a scented candle burning and my dogs snoring peacefully at my feet. That is my process and the result can best be described as my life’s Greatest Hits Volume One.

Unlike more disciplined authors who adhere to a strict writing schedule consisting of locking themselves away in their study for many hours each day, I find myself writing only when the mood hits me and it occasionally strikes like lightning when I’m traveling to some exotic locale. Seeing, touching, and tasting our world is my passion. I feel the most comfortable being totally out of my element; when I can’t decipher a menu or count local currency. So it was on one of my many journeys that I began penning Life In The Bonus Round; not as a self-help book, because my way may not be the best way for you, but as a collection of awe-inspiring stories, life-changing moments, and influential people that have shaped me into someone my parents and children can (hopefully) be proud of. Frankly, those are the only people I care to impress.

I’m an avid reader and have long been intrigued by the lives of those men and women whom we label successful.. Their journeys are overflowing with valuable information and tools for growth. Great lessons can be learned from the paths they’ve taken. Jordan Belfort, who’s portrayal in the 2013 Martin Scorcese film, The Wolf of Wall Street, earned Leonardo DiCaprio an Academy Award nomination, says, "We all arrive at any particular moment in time with a history of beliefs and values and opinions and experiences and victories and defeats and insecurities and decision-making strategies-and then based on all of that stuff, our brain, working at near light speed, will instantly relate it to whatever scenario lies before it."

My editor will be quick to take her red marker and highlight this quote as a run-on sentence and she will be correct in doing so. But Jordan writes as he speaks and lives: at full speed! I argue that Jordan Belfort, like many subjects of scrutiny, must be both successful and fulfilled because it is impossible to achieve the true definition of happiness without contentment. Mr. Belfort certainly came to this conclusion the hard way. In reaching for the Golden Ring he eventually lost everything that was near and dear to him. The Hollywood tabloids and gossip rags that stack the racks of your local grocery store survive on equally as tragic stories of the rich and famous who have fallen short of their true potential because they couldn't seem to find inner joy. All this being said, I never once assumed that my story would be interesting or inspirational enough for public consumption. I’ve never been on the cover of People or the lead story on Entertainment Tonight. You, however, proved me wrong. Many years and hundreds of television episodes in my rearview mirror have shown me that my initial assumptions may have been slightly south of accurate. Wherever I may fall on the celebrity scale, there are enough good people out there who care to hear what I have to say to make me want to stand up and say it loudly and proudly.

Despite my toothy grin, which has become a staple in the caricature of the traditional game show host, I am not happy every minute of every day. I can be very hard on myself and I am not immune to bouts of sadness. I also have an abundance of joy in my heart but please don’t label me an eternal optimist. Those people always seem to be up to something and I know better. The world is full of sharks and snakes so I choose to be friendly to all while trusting of few. I keep my eyes open and my ear to the ground. In fact, my alertness to my surroundings is only topped by that of my dogs. Those two don’t miss anything.

The secret to true happiness that permits a select few to walk through life with a perpetual smile is a treasure any one of us would like to discover. What do these people know that we have yet to learn? Why do the struggles of everyday life appear to roll off of their backs like raindrops gliding seamlessly from a duck? If we are all born with the same feathers why do some quack louder than others? I don’t have the answers, but I never stop trying to find them.

Since I first picked up a microphone in 1986 I’ve presided over everything from spring break belly flop competitions in Daytona Beach, FL, to the Miss Universe pageant in San Juan. I’ve performed before audiences from Paris to Honolulu and most towns large and small in between. In researching this book I went back and read the volumes of handwritten journals I have been keeping since 1995 and uncovered an interesting fact: I’ve spent a minimum of one week in every state in America except Alaska. This exclusion is unintentional. Rest assured Anchorage, The Host With The Most® (yes, I own that trademark) will be there soon.

In spite of my skepticism of my fellow man and many of life’s most accepted philosophies, there was a common thread within those journal entires. I found that no matter what was going on in my personal or professional life, I always seemed to be having a great time!

Throughout the course of my travels as The Host With The Most® I have certainly enjoyed many blessings. I’ve indulged in the luxuries of 5-star resorts on exotic islands, but I’ve also awoken to cockroaches scurrying across my forehead in the dark, dingy hostels of Amsterdam and Buenos Aries. Wherever my travels have led me, my journals-and ultimately this book-have been in my carry-on luggage, packed neatly underneath my spare underwear, phone charger, and breath mints. Every word and emotion you are about to read stems from its own locale. What began as an intimate collection of thoughts that I wished to pass along to my two children when they became old enough to understand and benefit from them has evolved into a labor of love I now share with you.

Just as every man and woman realizes what is required to shed a desired amount of weight, so does he or she understand (at least on some level) what must be done to live the most rewarding life imaginable. It’s not a difficult formula, really. Keep your head up and work hard. Treat everyone you meet (especially yourself) with kindness and respect. Choose your battles. Be grateful for what you have and be tireless in your efforts to attain what it is you want. A lack of fulfillment is not a case of being lost, it’s a case of being lazy. Millions upon millions of dollars are spent each year by those looking to leave the undesirable version of themselves behind and upgrade to a newer, faster, better model. There is no magic pill that will transform you into someone new. You don't want to lose who you really are inside and neither do the people who love you. You just want to make a few key changes to who you are now. Perhaps what you’ve been searching for is someone to wind you up, point you in the right direction, and send you on your way down a more fruitful path. When you've had enough of not having enough, Life In The Bonus Round serves as the match that lights that fire underneath you.

To be clear, I would never attempt to convince you that the roads I’ve taken in my life are right for everyone. Far from it. I’ve made plenty of mistakes and would welcome a do over or two, but I’m not one to dwell on days gone by. The Internet is full of gurus looking to sell you a subscription to a course that claims to make you wealthy or skinny or blissful. Save your time and money! Although I have an enormous ego I am far from believing that I am the prettiest or most intelligent fish in the tank. I have, however, been gifted with incredible common sense, the gift of gab, and a gut instinct that has rarely led me down the wrong path. I don’t write checks I cannot cash. I’ve never been late for a flight. And my car has never run out of gas. I’ve also never lost the curiosity I had as a young boy. People fascinate me. I love traveling the world and discovering different cultures. I’m in a constant state of wonder. It is for that precise reason that this book shares rather than instructs. Isn’t that a far more effective way to grow? Don’t tell me, show me!

In my own quest to become the strongest and most productive me I can be, I’ve searched high and low for a book that I, a normal, everyday man with normal, everyday circumstances, could relate to. That book never surfaced so I set out to figure things out and I wrote it myself. Today, as an author as well as a student of life, I write about the things I know and read about the things I have yet to learn. The day I stop craving new information and searching for a better me is the day they tag me and bag me.

Good luck finding a textbook on the meaning of life. Believe me, it doesn’t exist. That kind of knowledge can only be obtained by incorporating the value of one experience into another. Personally, I never really learned anything until I stopped trying to know everything. Life In The Bonus Round is a collection of my personal experiences, the people I’ve met along the way, and the lessons I derived from those key moments. Pick and choose what will enhance your glow and throw the rest out with the bathwater.

I challenge you to dive into the pages that follow with an open mind. Feel free to criticize my decisions and laugh at my failures. I can take it. But if you choose to be critical at least allow yourself to consider new ways of doing things. View my journey to this point as if you were watching it on television or streaming it online. Observe without consequence. You’re safe with me. Take what has worked for me and put your own shine on it. Learn from my mistakes without having to make them yourself. There’s no sense in touching a hot stove twice.

Be brave. Shake things up a little and have some fun exploring sides of yourself that have probably been buried for far too long. Never fall into the trap of limiting yourself because of past experiences or out of fear of what may be on the other side of the door. The greatest gift we can give ourselves is permission to change our minds and take a stab at something fresh. We don’t become stronger by standing in cement.

This book is your personal invite to join me in the Bonus Round where the water is always warm, the beer is always cold, and where you’ll play for the grandest of prizes: your happiness, new successes, and overall fulfillment!

Todd Newton

The Host With The Most®

Vienna, Austria

2017

Chapter 1

This Is How It All Starts

"I had as many doubts as anyone else. Standing on the starting line, we’re all cowards." -Alberto Salazar

Could you guys hear me? I was the loudest, right?

Those questions were posed to my classmates upon returning to my sixth grade classroom after reading the morning announcements over the school’s public address system. I had won the privilege for selling the most magazine subscriptions in a local fundraiser. Perhaps a foresight into my future on Home Shopping Network and Evine, I seemed able to polish even the most boring publications with my words, thus making them impossible to pass up to all neighbors and relatives within walking distance of my childhood home. As a result of my youthful salesmanship, I would, for one week, be relaying the principal’s message, cafeteria specials, faculty birthdays, and all of Wohlwend Elementary’s other housekeeping needs. The focus, of course, being more on volume than articulation. I took the responsibility so seriously that I even laid out the entire week’s wardrobe on Sunday evening as if I would be seen as well as heard. Some things never change.

Every story contains two unavoidable and predictable components: a beginning and an end. We have no control over either; a fact that can be frightening if we spend much time dwelling upon it. But I have found that the heart of any tale, true or otherwise, is found in between the two.

Famed marathon runner Alberto Salazar certainly knows what it feels like to stand alone at the beginning of something new. After emigrating from Cuba as a young boy, Salazar became obsessed with training and went on to set numerous American records and eventually win the Boston Marathon. When I read the above quote I picture the look of determination on the athlete’s face. I imagine Alberto crouched in the starting position. I hear the rhythm of his measured breathing. I attempt to comprehend the discipline required to shut the rest of the world out as he focused solely on being the first to cross the finish line.

I have never started something that I was in a rush to finish. From early on I knew where I wanted my own race to take me. My dream has always been to do what I watched my grandmother-the most natural performer I’ve ever seen- do when I was young: entertain and make people feel good. As an amateur comedienne and improv artist (before the term became mainstream), Nana had the most genuine way of entertaining that made everyone in the room see her as a best friend. Whether it be at a Mother/Daughter banquet at the local Baptist church or at a local university before an audience of students, Eleanor Kruse knew how to put on a show that would leave them smiling.

Throughout my lifetime I’ve found various ways to carry on Nana’s legacy while also earning a paycheck. Job security and a 401k have never been promised to me, but knowing that I’ve helped hundreds of thousands of complete strangers set life’s struggles aside for a short while is all the return on investment I need. I suppose I’ve also managed to ruffle a few feathers along the way, but life is a marathon not a sprint and it has as many curves as straightaways. It’s the big picture and the finished product that count. Mr. Salazar will attest to that, I’m sure. If you don't rub a few people the wrong way you're not shaking the tree hard enough.

I entered the world at 11:17 a.m. on May 5, 1970. Richard Nixon was in the White House. The Dow Jones was hovering around 631. A movie ticket cost $1.50. Tens of thousands were protesting the Vietnam war. But on this bright Tuesday morning Anne Elizabeth Newton gave birth to a baby James Todd Newton at Barnes Jewish Hospital in downtown St. Louis, MO, as my father, grandparents, and various other family members awaited my arrival in the public waiting area. Hospitals operated differently then. Dad wasn’t allowed in the delivery room. When I finally took center stage the news was relayed by my mother’s doctor, Dr. Dworkin, who had also delivered her!

Approaching my family, Dr. Dworkin was a bit of a showman himself. Once he sauntered into the waiting room and dramatically removed his mask, he paused for a suspenseful moment before announcing, It’s a bbbbb…gggg…bbbb…gggg…BOY!

And so a life destined to be rich in pristine comedic timing began.

My father, James Michael Newton, is the son of a war veteran who would often place his young son on the bar stools of local pool halls while he hustled the likes of Minnesota Fats before my grandmother, Laura Laureen Potts, made a God-fearing man out of him. My mother, on the other hand, was raised in a home of pure innocence. The only child of Harold and Eleanor, she was everything a good girl should be. I believe my dad recognized certain motherly qualities in her that he had been the benefactor of himself as a child and was savvy enough to see into the future. Traits such as these, mixed with a little commitment and the importance of matrimony, were much higher on the list of a young person’s priorities back in the fifties.

As he tells it, Dad first laid eyes on my mother while rollerskating in the recreational center of Tower Grove Baptist Church. He was the jock and she was the cute cheerleader with the cat eye glasses. Their young courtship was a respectful one that soon led to a marriage that is still going strong after more than five decades.

My own childhood was nothing short of perfect. My mother set aside her dream of becoming a nurse in order to stay at home and raise me and my younger brother, Jarrod, while Dad put on a suit and tie and went to work every morning. Mom served up three meals a day and saw to all of our minor cuts and bruises while Dad kept us in check with the occasional whack from his wooden college fraternity paddle. Dated concepts in this day and age, I agree, but they worked fine. Together they provided us with a solid foundation that I’m beyond grateful for.

Though we resemble one another in a physical sense, Jarrod and I could not be on more opposite ends of the physical or emotional spectrums. It’s been declared many times over the years that Jarrod got the IQ while I got the EQ. I’m certain if I were to dig deeply enough into that statement I’d find a trace of insult, but I respect