Amusing the Zillion

“Notorious BOB” and Larell Marie Win Nathan’s Hot Dog Qualifier

March 24, 2013 by Tricia

Bob Shoudt AKA Notorious BOB at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier, Coney Island. March 23, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

On Saturday in Coney Island, Nathan’s Famous celebrated the reopening of their Boardwalk eatery and Coney Island’s Opening Weekend with the first hot dog eating qualifying round of the season. The winners were Bob Shoudt AKA “Notorious B.O.B.,” who ate 36 hot dogs and buns in 10 minutes, and Larell Marie AKA The Real Deal, who ate 17. They will return to Coney to compete on July Fourth, when separate men’s and women’s hot dog eating contests are held in front of the original Nathan’s at Surf and Stillwell, which is being rebuilt after Sandy.

Compared to the hugely attended and tightly choreographed July 4th event televised on ESPN, the qualifier had a refreshingly impromptu air. A couple of “Bunettes,” the ladies who flip the cards indicating the number of franks consumed, had to be recruited from the audience, which consisted of a few hundred people. The event was the first-ever hot dog qualifier held in Coney Island, according to contest organizer and emcee extraordinaire George Shea.

Larell Marie AKA The Real Deal on her 3rd hot dog at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier, Coney Island. March 23, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

It was the first qualifier we’ve attended in more than a dozen years. In 2001, we followed Ed “Cookie” Jarvis, Don “Moses” Lerman and “Krazy” Kevin Lipsitz on the hot dog eating circuit, starting with the season’s first qualifier at the Meadowlands, on assignment for a travel magazine. It turned out to be the year that Kobayashi stunned everyone by eating 50 hot dogs and buns on the Fourth of July, doubling the record of the previous year. The article was called “Bet on the Thin Guy.”

After winning yesterday’s qualifier, Shoudt tweeted: “Since 7/4/07 only one man besides myself has won the Nathan’s hotdog eating contest at Coney Island, just sayin’,” He’s referring to current champ and record holder Joey Chestnut, who ate 68 hot dogs and buns in last year’s contest.

If you’re interested in competing in a Nathan’s Famous qualifier, visit Major League Eating to register. Contests are being held in 12 cities, including Savannah, Miami, Las Vegas, St. Paul, Pittsburgh and Boston, before heading back to the New York metro area for qualifiers in Queens and the Meadowlands.

George Shea at Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest Qualifier, Coney Island. March 23, 2013. Photo © Tricia Vita

Photo of the Day: Miss Coney Island Meets Miss Coney Island

March 21, 2013 by Tricia

Lefty Lucy, Vice President of Miss Coney Island USA and Dancing Doll Miss Coney Island, May 26, 2012. Photo © Tricia Vita

Looking for a photo of the Tilt-A-Whirl in action, we came across this unpublished pic from last summer that’s too delicious not to share right now. On the left is Lefty Lucy, winner of the Miss Coney Island 2011 title at the burlesque beauty pageant and now Vice President of Miss Coney Island USA. “Miss Coney Island” on the right is the dancing doll whose motto is “Don’t Postpone Joy” and “25 cents to fall in LOVE.”

Coney Island USA’s burlesque beauty pageant was started by Bambi the Mermaid in 2003. Miss Cherry Delight is the titleholder for 2013. The dancing doll known as Miss Coney Island made her debut on Jones Walk in 1998 after a previous career as an Indian Princess automaton at Connecticut’s Danbury Fair. Now located in a window on West 12th Street near the entrance to the Wonder Wheel, the dancing doll and her dancing cat open for the season on Coney Island’s Opening Day, March 24th. Lefty Lucy is teaching a workshop on stage kittening this Saturday at the New York School of Burlesque.

ATZ has previously interviewed both Miss Coney Islands here and here.

First Sign of Spring in Coney: Cars Go up on Wonder Wheel

March 19, 2013 by Tricia

The Wonder Wheel Cars Were Put Back on the Wheel on Saturday. March 17, 2013. Photo © Bruce Handy via Coney Island Photo Diary

After being rolled out of winter storage last week, the Wonder Wheel’s cars were put back up on the wheel on Saturday. The annual ritual is the first sign of spring in Coney Island. Being there to see the 24 cars go up, the Swinging ones first and then the Stationary, is like seeing crocuses bloom before your eyes. The date the cars go up is subject to the vagaries of wind, weather and work schedules. This year, we managed to miss seeing it once again! Luckily, Coney Island photographer Bruce Handy was on the Boardwalk when the brackets went up around noon, followed by the red and blue cars. You can see a slide show of his set here. The Wonder Wheel and the rest of Coney Island’s rides go for their first official spin of the season on Palm Sunday, which is just five days away.