May 5, 2004
Crazy Legs Conti at The TriBeCa Film Festival
Last night, I went to see Crazy Legs Conti: Zen and the Art of Competitive Eating at the TriBeCa Film Festival (it really seems like I'm living at the film festival these days, no?). The film follows, Crazy Legs Conti in his transformation from fan of competitive eating to a professional eater. His goal is to compete with his heroes on the eating circuit and to eat at the annual competition at Nathan's in Coney Island. If you thought I had an obsession with food, you're nuts, because some of the footage in this film is insane. Conti tries to eat sticks of butter, eats 34 dozen oysters in 3 hours, and eventually goes on to eat 18.5 hot dogs.
Before the opening of the movie last night, Crazy Legs attempted to eat out of a "Popcorn Sarcophagus" but could "only" eat about 8 cubic feet. For shame Crazy Legs, for shame. After the movie, he joked that it was the first time he applied chapstick directly to his tongue.
As troubling as the subject of the movie is - men are stuffing themselves with tremendous amounts of food - it is also oddly fascinating. Conti is a charismatic competitor in the "new mold" of competitive eaters. Fit, trim, and eating everything in sight. Sure, Conti was occasionally employed as a sperm donor, but now that he's a pro, he only cleans windows and eats for a living. The movie has him as the 16th ranked eater on the pro-circuit today.
More information:
- Crazy Legs Conti, official movie site
- Crazy Legs Conti profile at the I.F.O.C.E.
- TriBeCa Film Festival listing for "Crazy Legs Conti"
- Oddly Enough News - "Competitive 'Eater' Sets Popcorn-Eating Challenge"
Posted by tien mao in Movies at 7:38 AM
I love the fact that they have rankings on the professional eating circut. I hope crazy legs can crack the top 10 soon. Your "for shame" comment was hilarious too!
If there is a gummy bear/worm division on the pro eating circut, I'm very confident I could place highly in my weight class!
Posted by: Justin at May 5, 2004 9:23 AM
justin, you are very similar to crazy legs. maybe only in the fact that you both wear shorts at all times.
i don't think there are any weight classes in competitive eating. if you take a look at the ifoce rankings, you can see that there are all shapes and sizes. the top two eaters are both under 150 lbs - and #2 is a woman.
Posted by: tien at May 5, 2004 9:32 AM
ooh. i so could so the gummy bear contest, too.
Posted by: corie at May 5, 2004 11:07 AM
you should have seen the picture of his belly after the oyster eating he did. it was insane. he looked like he was pregnant - no joke.
Posted by: tien at May 5, 2004 12:04 PM
I love how the Nathan's champ is that tiny Japanese kid. Dream on, Crazy Legs!
Posted by: Jen at May 5, 2004 12:51 PM
as some sort of tribute to crazy legs, i just stuffed a white castle burger in my mouth, eating it in one bite.
Posted by: tien at May 5, 2004 2:23 PM
Sticks of butter, yum. Hey do you know when the Nathan's eating contest is in Coney Island? I would love to check that out...
Posted by: Chris at May 5, 2004 7:38 PM
chris, the nathan's contest is every year on july 4th. i've never been, but it gets packed.
Posted by: tien at May 5, 2004 8:16 PM
I'm a little late on this one, but another great resource for info on Crazy Legs:
http://topicmag.com/000007.php
Posted by: Anna at September 5, 2004 10:27 AM
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Anna: I'm a little late on this one, but another great resource for info on Crazy Legs... {read on}
tien: chris, the nathan's contest is every year on july 4th. i've never been, but it ... {read on}
Chris: Sticks of butter, yum. Hey do you know when the Nathan's eating contest is in Co... {read on}
tien: as some sort of tribute to crazy legs, i just stuffed a white castle burger in m... {read on}
Jen: I love how the Nathan's champ is that tiny Japanese kid. Dream on, Crazy Legs!... {read on}
tien: you should have seen the picture of his belly after the oyster eating he did. i... {read on}
corie: ooh. i so could so the gummy bear contest, too.... {read on}
tien: justin, you are very similar to crazy legs. maybe only in the fact that you bot... {read on}
Justin: I love the fact that they have rankings on the professional eating circut. I ho... {read on}