- (crowd) Five, four, three, two--
(triumphant music)
- I've always loved the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest,
as a kid, I always used to wake up early
on the 4th of July to watch seemingly normal
human beings devour 40, 50, 60 hot dogs.
I was transfixed.
It's such a simple thing to see how many hot dogs
you can eat and it's so American and it's
something that I've always wanted to try.
So, I just found out I'm going to be in the
Nathan's qualifier for the Hot Dog Eating Competition.
On the surface, I have no place in this competition
and I just want to see if I can
put up a respectable number,
10 hot dogs in 10 minutes.
- [Voiceover] Is Nathan's paying you for this?
- Nathan's is not paying me for this (laughs).
I just want to do this.
(playful music)
This is where champions are made.
I'm relatively confident in my goals.
I can't really train-train
like these competitive eaters
that, like, stretch their stomach,
it just doesn't seem healthy at all,
especially for a novice.
So, I'm just gonna eat hot dogs
at every opportunity.
Cheers.
(playful music)
Well,if I would normally order one hot dog,
I'd order three or four now.
A casual trip to the supermarket,
buying enough hot dogs for a family of ten.
I have to pick up my pace.
I'm up to four hot dogs.
I'm eating them pretty fast.
I spent a lot of the work day in the bathroom.
- [Voiceover] Is Matt here?
- What I'm starting to think about is--
Forgot the buns.
- -the buns.
It's a lot of bread.
What the top competitors do,
they'll take the buns and they'll soak it in water
and they just eat it.
It looks really simple.
Ugh.
This is the shitty part.
I did the dipping of the bun in
water for the first time and--
Ugh.
It was easily one of the most disgusting
things that's every hit my palate.
Every part, every inch of my body was revolting
against the entire idea.
Ugh.
It's gonna be a problem.
The whole bun situation really has me pretty down.
My friend's coming now.
My dad's gonna be there.
I really need something to pick up my spirits.
So, I decided, I'm gonna go to Coney Island.
Go to the first Nathan's.
Go where the champions eat.
I remember what it was like again
to enjoy the hot dog, before all this, and it was great.
(children playing)
I think I'm ready.
(hip hop music)
- Yeah, what size shirt.
- Uh, medium, yeah a medium is probably fine.
(crowd cheering)
I'm the only person I think who brought a cheering section.
- The boys have to over-under at 7 1/2.
- I think they're half supporting me,
half waiting to see if I throw up.
- Matthew, right here, buddy.
You know I'm going to put you right here.
(crowd cheers)
- (crowd) Seven, six, five,
four, three, two, one,
(classical music plays)
(crowd cheers)
- Kiebus!
- (crowd) Kiebus, Kiebus, Kiebus
- I'm about to vomit, I feel my gag reflex
just (gagging sound).
The seventh hot dog, two and a half minutes left
and there's no way I'm going to get to 10.
My friend's said the over-under at 7 1/2 hot dogs,
all I have in my mind now is getting to eight.
There's 30 seconds left, the only way
I'm going to get the over-under
is if I soak the bun harder than I've ever
soaked a bun before.
I just dip is fully in that like,
32 ounce cup, and I just try to shove it
as far in my mouth as I can.
- [Voiceover] Stop eating, what's in your mouth counts.
- And, I got it down.
- He lost and he lost badly.
Matthew the Stomach Kiebus with eight.
(crowd cheering)
- He got the over.
- I got the over.
Oh, I feel like garbage.
I feel pretty bad.
(triumphant music)
I'm happy I did it,
but it's not something that I wanna do again.
I could not respect competitive eaters more
than after this whole experience.
You say to yourself, I can do exactly what they can do.
You can't, you just can't.
It's not possible, you can't do it.
I learned first hand.
(wind blows)
(metal creaks)