NYC Hot Dog Gods Smile On Crazy Legs Conti

NEW YORK CITY, NY — Call him the "Houdini of cuisini," a "gustatory gladiator," or by his legal name. No matter the moniker, New Yorker Crazy Legs Conti is ready to represent his city on the Fourth of July by eating as many hot dogs as he physically can.

Tuesday will be Conti's 16th visit to the Nathan's Famous Fourth Of July Hot Dog Eating Contest, the Super Bowl of eating held every year in Coney Island.

“Really it’s a journey into the self,” Conti told Patch. “The stomach can fill up, the mind never can.”

While other New Yorkers prepare for the holiday in the usual ways, Conti will be preparing his body to ingest as many hot dogs (and buns) as he can in 10 minutes.

It begins with fluids. Conti drinks protein shakes, water and even ramen ahead of the competition, a common tactic to help warm up the stomach.

Conti will also be stretching to keep his body loose.

During the competition, Conti relies on a well-tested trick to help him down as many dogs as possible: He will dip the buns in Tang.

Why?

Liquids make the buns easier to swallow and the bright orange taste fights "flavor fatigue" — when you eat so much of something it becomes boring, or even repulsive, Conti says.

Conti doesn't have specific goals for his performance Tuesday, he said. Reigning victor Joey Chestnut won last year's championship with 63 hot dogs and buns, and Conti's personal best is just over 25. At his last Coney Island competition in 2021, Conti ate 17.

To qualify for the famed Coney Island competition, male and female eaters had to win one of multiple qualifying competitions held across the country, or snag one of the league's coveted "wildcard" invites reserved for talented eaters that didn't win their qualifiers.

Conti secured his wildcard spot at a qualifier in Washington D.C. in June. His qualifying competitors were hitting ever-increasing totals of 30-40 hot dogs and buns — just outside Conti's usual range.

"I feel like the hot dog gods smiled on me that day,” Conti said.

The Coney Island competition is a mind game — the crowd, the cameras and the other competitors all pose challenges to the necessary rhythm of eating.

"It's both a marathon and a sprint," Conti said.

Then comes digesting, which happens at after parties with a lot of water around.

Since eaters try to stay in athletic shape, they find ways to burn the calories off — for Conti this has been marathons and yoga. Consistent meditation helps Conti keep his mindset right.

Conti is not the only New Yorker with dreams of downing dogs to victory.

One of the woman's wildcard picks is Julie Goldberg from Queens, who met Conti years ago in Boston and trained with him since.

With 22 years of Major League Eating and 15 Nathan's championships under his belt, Conti considers himself as an "elder statesman on the circuit."

"This is my dessert, if you will," Conti said.

Conti's forte is normally foods with shells, cobs and other debris. He holds the No. 31 spot in the league, four corn on the cob championships and a buffet record, and he's attempted outlandish stunts — like eating his way out of a 70-cubic-foot popcorn box.

"I've eaten everything from A-Z," Conti said, from fried asparagus to zeppole.

His life tells a similarly complex story, now immortalized in a documentary, books, and a guest appearance on the David Letterman show. The 52-year-old has lived in New York City for almost 30 years, and between Boston and NYC he's worked behind a bar, as a nude model, bouncer, meat salesman and more, according to amNY.

He moved to New York City to pursue film and television writing, which he continues today.

Conti got his start in competitive eating on a trip to New Orleans, his favorite American city, when he embarked on an eating challenge to get free oysters.

Thirty-four dozen oysters later, Conti found himself a competitive eater.

The eating career has taken Conti places he never could have imagined — he's eaten at Guantanamo Bay, Greece, Japan and more, and he's traveled with the military to offer entertainment.

And he's watched the meteoric rise of eaters like Joey Chestnut and Takeru Kobayashi take the sport from the state fair to ESPN.

Now, in the "golden age of eating," competitive eating is a social media phenomenon and a legit means of living — Chestnut in 2022 told USA Today his net worth was over $4 million.

“We no longer have to answer, ‘is it a sport’?" Conti said.

Tuesday is more about enjoyment for Conti than a real stressful competition. Unlike his buddy Chestnut, just qualifying was the win.

Next, Conti takes on the Buffalo Wing Festival on Labor Day weekend, where a local brewer and restauranteur has made him a specialty beer.

Conti will keep competing "as long as I'm still at the table," he said. After all, it's free food and he's got to eat.