Gutbusters | |
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Country | United States |
Language | English |
Gutbusters is a 2002 Discovery Channel documentary following the efforts of three competitive eaters seeking to gain entry into the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest. [1] [2]
The documentary follows three members of the competitive eating community. The program documents the training and one stop is at J&R’s Steakhouse in Long Island. The restaurant gives eaters one hour to eat a 76 ounce steak and one portion of a side order: the meal for free if they can accomplish the task. [3] [4] The show also follows eaters in other states who compete eating crawfish, hot dogs and pancakes. [5]
The documentary also introduces International Federation of Competitive Eating founders Richard and George Shea and details their efforts to establish eating as a sport. A second installment of Gutbusters, about the IFOCE in Alaska, also ran on Discovery Channel. The show featured: “Hungry” Charles Hardy, Dale Boone and “Crazy Legs” Conti. [6]
The documentary, produced by Original Productions, features Edward "Cookie" Jarvis, Don Lerman and Kevin Lipsitz [7]
Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi is a Japanese competitive eater.
The Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest is an annual American hot dog competitive eating competition. It is held each year on July 4 at Nathan's Famous' original, and best-known, restaurant at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island, a neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City.
Competitive eating, or speed eating, is a sport in which participants compete against each other to eat large quantities of food, usually in a short time period. Contests are typically eight to ten minutes long, although some competitions can last up to thirty minutes, with the person consuming the most food being declared the winner. Competitive eating is most popular in the United States, Canada, and Japan, where organized professional eating contests often offer prizes, including cash.
David "Coondog" O'Karma is a competitive eating champion, entertainer, and writer from Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. He was formerly a member of the IFOCE, but is now the director of a Competitive Eating organization called the Association of Independent Competitive Eaters (AICE).
Nathan's Famous, Inc. is an American company that operates a chain of fast-food restaurants specializing in hot dogs. The original Nathan's restaurant stands at the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. The company's headquarters are at One Jericho Plaza in Jericho, New York, part of Oyster Bay, New York.
Bob Shoudt, also known as "Humble Bob" or "Notorious B.O.B.", is an American competitive eater from Royersford, Pennsylvania.
Joseph Christian Chestnut is an American competitive eater. As of 2022, he is ranked first in the world by Major League Eating.
Tim Janus is an American entertainer, media personality and retired competitive eater known in the competitive eating community as "Eater X". He was a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). He performed in contests wearing a painted mask and once stated, "I'd eat anything. One of my goals in life is to eat everything in the world at least once. I'd eat a roll of pennies if I thought I could set a world record. Some day I hope we make contact with beings from other planets. I'd love to eat alien."
Horsemen of the Esophagus by Jason Fagone is a nonfiction book about the sport of competitive eating and the outsized American appetite. Horsemen follows three American "gurgitators" during a year on the pro eating circuit: Ohio housepainter David "Coondog" O'Karma, South Jersey truck driver Bill "El Wingador" Simmons, and Manhattan day-trader Tim "Eater X" Janus. Horseman makes stops at 27 competitive eating contests around the world, including the Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest at Coney Island and includes an interview with Nathan's champion at the time, Takeru Kobayashi.
Takako Akasaka is a Japanese competitive eater from Osaka, Japan. She is considered the most successful female competitive eater in Japan.
Eric James "Badlands" Booker, also known by his online pseudonym BadlandsChugs, is an American competitive eater, rapper, and YouTuber. He holds seven Major League Eating recognized world records, three Guinness World Records, is a three-time Nathan's Lemonade Chugging Contest champion, and competed in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year from 1997 to 2018.
"Krazy" Kevin Lipsitz is a competitive eater from Staten Island, New York, and is affiliated with IFOCE, the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Known for his bear hat and charismatic eating style, Lipsitz has competed in events across the country, and appeared on the Gutbusters television special, which aired on the Discovery Channel in 2002. He is the former American pickle eating champion.
Major League Eating (MLE) is an organization that oversees professional competitive eating events and television specials. MLE's stated mission is to maintain a safe environment for all events, to create a dynamic and enjoyable fan experience, and to help sponsors develop, publicize and execute eating events in a wide variety of food disciplines. The league airs its annual Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog Eating Contest on ESPN.
Crazy Legs Conti is an American competitive eater. In 2011, he was ranked 21st in the world by the International Federation of Competitive Eating.
Matthew Kai Stonie is an American competitive eater and YouTuber. Stonie won the 2015 Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, dethroning 8-time defending champion Joey Chestnut. Stonie has gained fame from his YouTube channel, to which he uploads video footage of his eating challenges.
Dale Boone is an American competitive eater who holds several records for, among others, devouring pelmeni and hot dogs. Having been featured on numerous television programmes, he has proclaimed himself "Mouth of the South". Boone claims to be the great grandson of Daniel Boone.
Kevin Thomas Strahle, better known as the L.A. Beast, is an American professional competitive eater who hosts a challenge-based channel on YouTube. Strahle started making videos in his hometown of Ridgewood, New Jersey, before moving to Los Angeles, California. After several years at his home in California, he moved back to his hometown of Ridgewood. As of 2024, his channel has over 2.9 million subscribers & over 500 million total views. In addition to his online presence, he has made appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Today Show Australia and Tosh.0.
Miki Victoria Sudo is an American competitive eater. She won the women's competition at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest every year from 2014 to 2020, unseating Sonya Thomas, who had won the women's competition since its inception in 2011. She captured her ninth title in 2023.
Carmen Cincotti is an American competitive eater and holder of multiple records in Major League Eating, who earned $10,000 for his second-place finish in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2017 in which he ate 60 hot dogs in ten minutes, twelve fewer than repeat champion Joey Chestnut. From August 2018 to June 2019, he was ranked number two in Major League Eating.
Edward “Cookie” Jarvis is a retired competitive eater and a member of the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE). He is a real estate agent, married father of two, and cancer survivor. When Cookie Jarvis became a competitive eater in 2001, he was 365 pounds, and retired in 2006 reaching 525 pounds. His best finish in the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest came in 2003, when he set an American record of 30½ hot dogs in 10 minutes. This put him in second place behind Takeru Kobayashi.