Adam Barnard is joined by competitive eater James Webb! Adam and James talk his beginnings, his quest to top Joey Chestnut, Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest, and his upcoming documentary "James Can Eat".
Special thanks to 10th Ward Barbershop - Proudly serving the historic 10th Ward in Lawrenceville and surrounding areas, 10th Ward Barbershop is a full service barbershop offering quality haircuts, beard trims, and hot shaves. Schedule your appointment with Finn Balor and Corey Graves' favorite barbershop today.
Host/Executive Producer: Adam Barnard
Additional Production/Narration: Sam Krepps
Engineer: Carl Pannell
Intro Music: Carl Pannell
Outro Music/Musical Accompaniment: Enrichment
Instagram/X/Threads/Bluesky: @thisisgoober | @fndradiopod
Special thanks to 10th Ward Barbershop - Proudly serving the historic 10th Ward in Lawrenceville and surrounding areas, 10th Ward Barbershop is a full service barbershop offering quality haircuts, beard trims, and hot shaves. Schedule your appointment with Finn Balor and Corey Graves' favorite barbershop today.
Host/Executive Producer: Adam Barnard
Additional Production/Narration: Sam Krepps
Engineer: Carl Pannell
Intro Music: Carl Pannell
Outro Music/Musical Accompaniment: Enrichment
Instagram/X/Threads/Bluesky: @thisisgoober | @fndradiopod
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Foundation Radio is now an exclusive brand partner with WWE
shop dot com. Pick up all your favorite new merchandise
from Roman Reigns, Knowlledge, Coby Rhodes, I have to finish
the story La Night Rub, It's After and more using
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(00:24):
WWE shop dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Foundation Radio is brought to you by tenth Ward Barbershop,
a full service barbershop offering high quality haircuts, beard trims
and hot shaves. Tenth Ward Barbershop proudly serves the historic Lawrenceville,
tenth Ward and surrounding Pittsburgh areas. Adam Frequent's tenth Ward
Barbershop when he swings through the area and loves Ryan
kainsley'ser sharp precision on both his hair and beard needs,
(00:48):
but you don't.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Have to take his word for it.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
WWE superstars Finn Balor and Corey Graves frequent tenth Ward
Barbershop for their hair and beard needs. The team at
tenth Ward excepts walk in, but schedules fill up quickly.
The best way to see them is to make an
appointment at tense Wardbarbershop. Dot com. That's one zero th
Ward Barbershop dot com. Make sure to grab some silk
pans or hair products in shop or online while you're there.
(01:13):
Schedule your appointment today to see Kan Jordan and the
rest of the team at tenth Word Barbershop today, and
we thank them for sponsoring the program. This is Foundation Radio.
(01:38):
Here is your host Adam Barnard.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Peace World, and welcome to Foundation Radio. My name is
Adam Bernard. Thank you so much for joining me again today.
My guest is the number one competitive eater in Australia.
He competed in this year's Nathan's Hot Dog eating competition
and he's the subject of the new documentary James Can
Eat James Web.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
How are you, sir, I'm great, Thank you, thank you
for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
I appreciate your time, sir.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Now, I know at the very top I got to
know James, because I know everybody's gonna ask tell me
about the first time you knew you were able to
competitively eat or just eat an abundance.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What was that process like for you to learn that
for yourself?
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Yeah, so I guess I should start by saying I
was a pretty fat kid growing up.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
I've always liked food. I'm very lucky to have a
mother that's really great.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
In the kitchen. But to be honest, you know, being
a soccer player than a bodybuilder, my food My life
was very food centric. I love food, Like my fun is,
let's go out to eat, right, And I randomly came
across a burger challenge, and like I didn't realize at
the time the burger challenge was five k ers like
ten pounds, right, And I was like, like, not thinking
(02:48):
about it, I'll try it, like whatever, you know what
I mean. And I was, to be fair, pretty much
finished the burguy in like twenty three minutes, not realizing
that's an achievement, you know, Like I didn't realize competitive
eating this is the thing, and I didn't realize the
actual caliber or food challenge I was attempting, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
So I did that burger challenge. I thought it was
pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
I won five hundred bucks, and then competitive eaters reached
out to me and kind of explained to me the
level I just beginning as luck, the level I jumped
in at was like pretty top tier. Right then I
kind of delved into the world of competitive eating. I
did a few contests in Australia and did really well.
(03:30):
And when I mean really well, I broke all the
records and beat all the competitive eaters and stuff, right,
and that's when I realized.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
This is cool. This is a sport, Like I can
do this, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Then I came to America to mix it with the
big boys, because you know, everything is bigger and better
in America, right, and you guys take this sport very
very seriously. So that's me, man.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
That's how I got into it. And when I discovered
it was a sport, I just wanted to go hard.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Now you've been competing since twenty twenty two, I believe
I had that did correct, But how difficult was it
to get your body prepped to doing these competitions? Because
I know, and we'll talk about it a little bit later,
but I know that it's not something that everybody can do.
Like I can't imagine going to a restaurant and just
housing like seventy five wings by myself, right. That's just
like you know, listen, and I appreciate you know the
fact that you were affected as well because we come
(04:17):
from the same place. So much respect to you, sir,
But how do you condition your body to do something
like that and take that level of intake.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Really, you look to be honest. If if I had
a dollar for every.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
Time I heard or I could do that, we wouldn't
be sitting out right now.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Perspect it could be a freaking millionaire.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yes, but look to be honest.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Once I figured out this, competitive eating is a sport
like any other sport, Right, you can train just like
you go to the gym to lift more weights, to
get bigger, stronger, whatever. Right, Yeah, like there's a big
training aspect to I guess you can call it conditioning
your body. I train my jaw, I trained my stomach,
I trained my lungs, like holding my breath.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
I do a lot of breathing work. And yeah, the.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Capacity thing is massive, right, Like you said you wish
you could just turn up and house seventy five wings.
My world record's actually turning in seventy six in twelve minutes, right, So,
like one thing is being able to fit that amount
of food.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
So, yeah, you've got to stretch your stomach. You've got
to train your.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Jaw because, believe it or not, in a food contest,
you get puffed out, your jaw gets tired, your throat
gets tired. Obviously, you get full as hell. But the
other side is technique. Like, if you think about it,
let's take chicken wings. You've got twelve minutes. You've got
to practice getting the chicken off the bone. Like it's
not as easy as hey, let's just pick up.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
A bunch of food and swallow it, like, you've actually
got to work on your technique.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
So leading into chicken wing contests, for example, there's a
lot of technique practice, same as hot dogs.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I ate nothing but hot dogs for.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
The month of June, like it was deadly right, because
you're practicing your technique over and over again.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, I'm sitting here imagining as you're talking about eating
chicken wings or just pulling them apart, Like I know
how messy they can be, just sitting randomly. I can't
imagine having to do it that quickly. It's just it's
got to be a nightmare.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Point right, Yeah, Look, I think when it comes to an.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Eating contest, you've really got to break it down and
figure out how.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
It can be better than the person next to you, right, so, truthfully, like,
by the end of a chicken wing contest, your thumbs
are raw, like your mouth hurts like it.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
It's not pretty, but it's it's so much fun and
it's Look.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's worth it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Now, you know one of the big things in the
documentary you talked about there's a whole section in there
where you talk about how it's an actual sport and
the regulations that go into it. What do you what's
one piece of the competitive eating world as a sport
do you want people to take away from the documentary?
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Well, you know what, first and foremost, I want people
to appreciate it as a sport.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
That's number one.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Because look, anything with endorsement deals, sponsorships, prize money, rules,
governing bodies, TV time, that's a sport. You know, WWE
is a sport, you know what I mean? So I
want people to really I just want to make competitive eating,
I guess, as mainstream as possible because when I started this,
when I started taking this seriously, I got a lot
(07:02):
of hate. And I know a lot of competitive eaters
we get.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
A lot of hate, right, and there's not many of us.
I know. It's very niche, it's very different. But look,
if you've got a sense of humor, it's cool.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Man, Like we just want to make you laugh. We
want to put on a show and we want to
wow people, and I just want to I want us
to have the respect that I think we deserve. Right, Like,
we put a lot of Efforty, you don't just turn
up and eat turn our seventy six wings in twelve minutes,
like there's a lot of prep.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Like you've just said, there's prep.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
I want people to understand we don't just turn up
and do this because there are some people.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
That they treat it like a joke. Right, Hey, they're
still watching, so thank you for the views. So I
get that.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
I appreciate that, but just put a little bit of
a bit of respect on what we do.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
That's kind of what I want to do now.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I know you have a significant following on social media
as well. You've in the documentary you mentioned that you
have forty million views a month. How important has your
social media presence been in terms of building your brand
but also bringing attention to the competitive eating world.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
I think the best way to answer that social media
is everything.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
You could be the best look, you can have the
best product in the world, but if no one sees it,
it's no.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Good to anyone.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Right, So in terms of competitive eating being super niche
and let's be honest, there's not many of us, there's
really not. Social media is that way to amplify and
magnify what we do.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Right. Social media can be a best friend or your
worst nightmare.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Right, But as long as people are seeing I guess
what we do and kind of you know, the byproduct
is its views, right, Like people want views, people need
to be seen. Truthfully, I've had so many people that
I've met through social media become competitive eaters because they're like, well,
that's actually really cool. If this guy can do it,
(08:43):
I want to give it a go, right.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
I just want to show people that it's not a
bad thing. It's funny.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
It's fun and like anything, right, you can have somewhat
balance and you don't like I was a bodybuilder eating
out of it container my chicken and rice.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Whatever our burgers are bad? Ah, I know, not pizza, right.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
I know what I do is extreme, but you can
be somewhere in the middle. I have friends that do
like a food challenge every month or every other week
and stuff and still kind of balance the life.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
But food is fun. What we do is fun, and
in terms of marketing.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
I like to believe what I do is just a
new form of marketing, right.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I mean, anyone can be a.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Blogger and a reviewer, but can everyone be a professional eater?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Like I'm here to eat food and make you laugh
and eat in abundance and just wow people. Right, So
social media is it's key.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I know you have multiple world records as well, because
you can pet in a ton of competitions. But I
got to know what's your favorite world record?
Speaker 4 (09:39):
You know what? So I have a sweet tooth, so
it's probably.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Going to be I was hoping you're gonna say that one.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
So it's either got to be fudge or donut holes.
Donut holes because I actually enjoy donut holes, but fudge.
I'm super proud of that world record.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
So I didn't actually compete in the Fudge CONTESTEC because
I had.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Some commitments in Australia.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
So my record that I said last year was thirteen
point five pound. The winner this year got nine point.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Five pound, So I'm super proud.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Of that record because it's actually really hard to eat
that amount of fudge, let alone in a short amount
of time.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
So I think that's one of my most proudest records.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
I'm sorry, just to be clear, you said thirteen and
a half pounds of.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Fudge, Yes, sir, okay.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And if you're if you're watching right now, and if
you've never experienced like the Jersey Shore, because I'm from Philly,
so go birds first and foremost. But if you've never
been to the Jersey Shore before and you've never felt
the heft of a box of fudge, holy crap.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
What did you feel like after that?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So that was that was ten minutes of pain. I'm
not gonna lie. I thirteen and a half pound of
fudge in ten minutes. That's Look, it's it all comes with. Look,
it's like a boxing match.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah, a box that trains their butt off, puts their
body through hell, and to get punched in the face
on game day, right, I just got.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Slapped around by a pilot fudge.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Wow. Wow, that is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Now, I know you competed in this year's Nathan's Hot
Dog Eating Contest. Again, tell me about that experience and
what that was like for you this year?
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Yeah. So look it's my fourth Nathan's in a row.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
Now, I say this every year It's an experience of
a lifetime. The Nathan's Contest that weekend, you know, that
Independence weekend. I know what that means now to Americans, Right,
that's such a super important weekend.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
The significance of what that weekend is. And to be
a part of that as an Aussie, it's.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Freaking cool, man like to be a part of like
an event on the most problem arguably the most important
weekend on the American calendar. And knowing now how serious
you guys take everything, Like you guys are next level, right,
Like you guys are just down to do crazy stuff
and like to be honest. As an Aussie, I don't
really understand the hype around hot dogs. Like I'm not
a fan of hot dogs personally, but I know you
(11:56):
Americans love your hot dogs, and I understand like hot dogs.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
It's like a like you.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
See here, So to have hot dogs fourth of July, Yeah,
I mean what over a million people watched the hot
dog contest for that ten minutes, right, So to be
a part of that whole weekend, you know, to be
fortunate enough to be on the stage next to Joey Chestnut,
to be in the media hyping up the weekend and
just being a part of the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
It's that is awesome. I can't wait for next year.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, now, I know you mentioned Joey Chestnut. You're adamant
about toppling Joey and this guy is a menace, right, Like.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I've never seen anything like this.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Tell me why twenty twenty six is James Webbs's year
to be Joey chest nutt well.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Rest respect Joey honestly, like he's the goat top guy.
We spent a lot of time chatting and whatever. Like,
I respect him, I respect what he's done. But me,
I'm competitive. I want to win, and.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
That's no disrespect to my competitors. I want to be
the best. That's me. I'm a stubborn competitor from Australia,
that's me.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
So look, and I believe to be the best, you've
got to not only beat the best, but get beatenhim
by the best, right, And Joey has telled me up
more times than I can remember. But truthfully, I've beaten
a few of his world records. I've beaten him at
three consecutive chicken wing contests head to head.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
You know, Joey's twenty two years in this game.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
I'm into my fourth year, right, So Joey's got the
experience he's he looks at me and laughs.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Because he's got me, right. But that's what motivates me. Right.
The more he beats me, the more it motivates me
to want to beat him.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
Now, I'm not saying I'm going to beat him, But
what I'm saying is I'm going to try everything i
can to give him my best shot, you know, And truthfully,
when we compete against each other, it's ultimate respect. We
look each other in the eyes, we shake hands, we
give a hug, respect where respect is due. But as
a competitor, I just want to be the best.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Now, let's talk about the documentary, James Can Eat. I
got to take a look at it before a conversations day.
It's really well done. I'm very excited for the rest
of the world to see it. When does it come out?
Where can people find it and tell me more about
the experience of filming it.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Yeah, so that was to be fair to see me
back like on camera like that. That's not just an
eating challenge that goes a little bit deeper into my life.
It's it's kind of scary, it's kind of exciting. It's
it's super cool, Like, it's an awesome opportunity. I'm so
grateful for the opportunity to work a generation iron Is
as a bodybuilding nerd, massive massive thing to me. Yeah, look,
(14:19):
it's it's going to be released in August. It's gonna
be in a few places. Obviously online is where it's
most likely going to be prime and things like that.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
But to be honest, like, I can't wait.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
It's I haven't shown besides my immediate like my wife,
no one else has seen it yet.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Wow. So it's uh, yeah, it's it's going to be
super exciting. I can't wait. Now.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
My final question for you here, I want to thank
you again for your time here. Obviously, as a competitive eater,
alls you do is eat. It's a lot like me,
I talk, It's my job, so I don't do a
lot of talking outside of this. But I gotta know
because my trainer, Brad find Rgill, he asked me this
question all the time.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
What's your favorite cheat meal?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
What does James web go to when he's like, you
know what, I'm just feeling frisky here. I really want
to know what's what's your what's your cheat meal?
Speaker 4 (15:06):
To be honest, So, I'm a pizza guy. I love pizza.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
I a would eat pizza three times a day, seven
days a week if I could.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So honestly bless you, sir, pleas pizza.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
With a nice dessert. I'm a happy boy.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm going to take you to Lorenzo's and Sons and
Angelo's the next time you hear in Philadelphia, It'll be
my treat.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
So cause you just let me know when you're in
town here.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
So hey, be careful, be careful. You promise the competitive
eat on my friend listen.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Just gotta check with my wife. I got to make
sure the checking in, the savings and all the money
is good to go.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I can behave, I can promise, I could be help.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Tell everybody where you can find you on social media
because I love your reels man, all.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
The stuff you're doing on there. Like I said, there's
lots of good spots here in Philly. I got to
take you to.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
But tell everybody where they can keep up to date
with everything you have going on on social media.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Look, if you look up j Webby can eat on
any platform, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, I'll be there.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
J Webby Can Eat Jawebby. It's all there. I mean
this mug.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
You can't really miss it, right, James Webb, I want
to thank you so much for your time today and
chatting with me about this. James Can Eat James Can
Eat A premiere's Friday, August twenty second video on demand
and streaming exclusively on Prime Video. Go ahead and check
him out. I'm looking forward to seeing you win the
competition in twenty twenty six. Good sir, and I look
forward to having you back on the show. James Webb,
(16:19):
thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
I appreciate you, Lod, thank you for your tom thank
you for the opportunity, and hopefully chat soon.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
This episode of Foundation Radio is hosted, recorded, and produced
by Adam Barnard. Additional narration and production is provided by
the executive voice, Sam Crabs. Our mixing and engineering, as
well as our intro music, is by car Olpanell. Our
outro music and additional musical accompaniment are produced by Enrichment.
Follow Adam on X or Twitter or whatever and Instagram
(17:08):
at This is Goober, and follow the show on X
and Instagram at FND Radio pod find our entire show
archive at Foundation Radio dot net. This has been a
Buttz Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton proprietor
Foundation Radio is now an exclusive brand partner with WWE
shop dot com. Pick up all your favorite new merchandise
from Roman Reigns, Knowlledge, Coby Rhodes, I have to finish
the story La Night Rub, It's After and more using
our exclusive link in the show notes. Click below and
show your support today for your favorite WWE superstar at
(00:24):
WWE shop dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
Foundation Radio is brought to you by tenth Ward Barbershop,
a full service barbershop offering high quality haircuts, beard trims
and hot shaves. Tenth Ward Barbershop proudly serves the historic Lawrenceville,
tenth Ward and surrounding Pittsburgh areas. Adam Frequent's tenth Ward
Barbershop when he swings through the area and loves Ryan
kainsley'ser sharp precision on both his hair and beard needs,
(00:48):
but you don't.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Have to take his word for it.
Speaker 3 (00:50):
WWE superstars Finn Balor and Corey Graves frequent tenth Ward
Barbershop for their hair and beard needs. The team at
tenth Ward excepts walk in, but schedules fill up quickly.
The best way to see them is to make an
appointment at tense Wardbarbershop. Dot com. That's one zero th
Ward Barbershop dot com. Make sure to grab some silk
pans or hair products in shop or online while you're there.
(01:13):
Schedule your appointment today to see Kan Jordan and the
rest of the team at tenth Word Barbershop today, and
we thank them for sponsoring the program. This is Foundation Radio.
(01:38):
Here is your host Adam Barnard.
Speaker 1 (01:45):
Peace World, and welcome to Foundation Radio. My name is
Adam Bernard. Thank you so much for joining me again today.
My guest is the number one competitive eater in Australia.
He competed in this year's Nathan's Hot Dog eating competition
and he's the subject of the new documentary James Can
Eat James Web.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
How are you, sir, I'm great, Thank you, thank you
for having me.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
I appreciate your time, sir.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Now, I know at the very top I got to
know James, because I know everybody's gonna ask tell me
about the first time you knew you were able to
competitively eat or just eat an abundance.
Speaker 2 (02:15):
What was that process like for you to learn that
for yourself?
Speaker 5 (02:19):
Yeah, so I guess I should start by saying I
was a pretty fat kid growing up.
Speaker 4 (02:22):
I've always liked food. I'm very lucky to have a
mother that's really great.
Speaker 5 (02:26):
In the kitchen. But to be honest, you know, being
a soccer player than a bodybuilder, my food My life
was very food centric. I love food, Like my fun is,
let's go out to eat, right, And I randomly came
across a burger challenge, and like I didn't realize at
the time the burger challenge was five k ers like
ten pounds, right, And I was like, like, not thinking
(02:48):
about it, I'll try it, like whatever, you know what
I mean. And I was, to be fair, pretty much
finished the burguy in like twenty three minutes, not realizing
that's an achievement, you know, Like I didn't realize competitive
eating this is the thing, and I didn't realize the
actual caliber or food challenge I was attempting, you know.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
So I did that burger challenge. I thought it was
pretty cool.
Speaker 5 (03:10):
I won five hundred bucks, and then competitive eaters reached
out to me and kind of explained to me the
level I just beginning as luck, the level I jumped
in at was like pretty top tier. Right then I
kind of delved into the world of competitive eating. I
did a few contests in Australia and did really well.
(03:30):
And when I mean really well, I broke all the
records and beat all the competitive eaters and stuff, right,
and that's when I realized.
Speaker 4 (03:37):
This is cool. This is a sport, Like I can
do this, you know.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Then I came to America to mix it with the
big boys, because you know, everything is bigger and better
in America, right, and you guys take this sport very
very seriously. So that's me, man.
Speaker 4 (03:51):
That's how I got into it. And when I discovered
it was a sport, I just wanted to go hard.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Now you've been competing since twenty twenty two, I believe
I had that did correct, But how difficult was it
to get your body prepped to doing these competitions? Because
I know, and we'll talk about it a little bit later,
but I know that it's not something that everybody can do.
Like I can't imagine going to a restaurant and just
housing like seventy five wings by myself, right. That's just
like you know, listen, and I appreciate you know the
fact that you were affected as well because we come
(04:17):
from the same place. So much respect to you, sir,
But how do you condition your body to do something
like that and take that level of intake.
Speaker 4 (04:25):
Really, you look to be honest. If if I had
a dollar for every.
Speaker 5 (04:29):
Time I heard or I could do that, we wouldn't
be sitting out right now.
Speaker 2 (04:34):
Perspect it could be a freaking millionaire.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
Yes, but look to be honest.
Speaker 5 (04:38):
Once I figured out this, competitive eating is a sport
like any other sport, Right, you can train just like
you go to the gym to lift more weights, to
get bigger, stronger, whatever. Right, Yeah, like there's a big
training aspect to I guess you can call it conditioning
your body. I train my jaw, I trained my stomach,
I trained my lungs, like holding my breath.
Speaker 4 (04:58):
I do a lot of breathing work. And yeah, the.
Speaker 5 (05:00):
Capacity thing is massive, right, Like you said you wish
you could just turn up and house seventy five wings.
My world record's actually turning in seventy six in twelve minutes, right, So,
like one thing is being able to fit that amount
of food.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
So, yeah, you've got to stretch your stomach. You've got
to train your.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
Jaw because, believe it or not, in a food contest,
you get puffed out, your jaw gets tired, your throat
gets tired. Obviously, you get full as hell. But the
other side is technique. Like, if you think about it,
let's take chicken wings. You've got twelve minutes. You've got
to practice getting the chicken off the bone. Like it's
not as easy as hey, let's just pick up.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
A bunch of food and swallow it, like, you've actually
got to work on your technique.
Speaker 5 (05:36):
So leading into chicken wing contests, for example, there's a
lot of technique practice, same as hot dogs.
Speaker 4 (05:41):
I ate nothing but hot dogs for.
Speaker 5 (05:43):
The month of June, like it was deadly right, because
you're practicing your technique over and over again.
Speaker 1 (05:48):
Yeah, I'm sitting here imagining as you're talking about eating
chicken wings or just pulling them apart, Like I know
how messy they can be, just sitting randomly. I can't
imagine having to do it that quickly. It's just it's
got to be a nightmare.
Speaker 4 (06:00):
Point right, Yeah, Look, I think when it comes to an.
Speaker 5 (06:03):
Eating contest, you've really got to break it down and
figure out how.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
It can be better than the person next to you, right, so, truthfully, like,
by the end of a chicken wing contest, your thumbs
are raw, like your mouth hurts like it.
Speaker 5 (06:14):
It's not pretty, but it's it's so much fun and
it's Look.
Speaker 4 (06:18):
It's worth it, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
Now, you know one of the big things in the
documentary you talked about there's a whole section in there
where you talk about how it's an actual sport and
the regulations that go into it. What do you what's
one piece of the competitive eating world as a sport
do you want people to take away from the documentary?
Speaker 5 (06:35):
Well, you know what, first and foremost, I want people
to appreciate it as a sport.
Speaker 4 (06:41):
That's number one.
Speaker 5 (06:41):
Because look, anything with endorsement deals, sponsorships, prize money, rules,
governing bodies, TV time, that's a sport. You know, WWE
is a sport, you know what I mean? So I
want people to really I just want to make competitive eating,
I guess, as mainstream as possible because when I started this,
when I started taking this seriously, I got a lot
(07:02):
of hate. And I know a lot of competitive eaters
we get.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
A lot of hate, right, and there's not many of us.
I know. It's very niche, it's very different. But look,
if you've got a sense of humor, it's cool.
Speaker 5 (07:12):
Man, Like we just want to make you laugh. We
want to put on a show and we want to
wow people, and I just want to I want us
to have the respect that I think we deserve. Right, Like,
we put a lot of Efforty, you don't just turn
up and eat turn our seventy six wings in twelve minutes,
like there's a lot of prep.
Speaker 4 (07:27):
Like you've just said, there's prep.
Speaker 5 (07:29):
I want people to understand we don't just turn up
and do this because there are some people.
Speaker 4 (07:33):
That they treat it like a joke. Right, Hey, they're
still watching, so thank you for the views. So I
get that.
Speaker 5 (07:38):
I appreciate that, but just put a little bit of
a bit of respect on what we do.
Speaker 4 (07:42):
That's kind of what I want to do now.
Speaker 1 (07:44):
I know you have a significant following on social media
as well. You've in the documentary you mentioned that you
have forty million views a month. How important has your
social media presence been in terms of building your brand
but also bringing attention to the competitive eating world.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
I think the best way to answer that social media
is everything.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
You know.
Speaker 5 (08:02):
You could be the best look, you can have the
best product in the world, but if no one sees it,
it's no.
Speaker 4 (08:08):
Good to anyone.
Speaker 5 (08:09):
Right, So in terms of competitive eating being super niche
and let's be honest, there's not many of us, there's
really not. Social media is that way to amplify and
magnify what we do.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
Right. Social media can be a best friend or your
worst nightmare.
Speaker 5 (08:22):
Right, But as long as people are seeing I guess
what we do and kind of you know, the byproduct
is its views, right, Like people want views, people need
to be seen. Truthfully, I've had so many people that
I've met through social media become competitive eaters because they're like, well,
that's actually really cool. If this guy can do it,
(08:43):
I want to give it a go, right.
Speaker 4 (08:44):
I just want to show people that it's not a
bad thing. It's funny.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
It's fun and like anything, right, you can have somewhat
balance and you don't like I was a bodybuilder eating
out of it container my chicken and rice.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
Whatever our burgers are bad? Ah, I know, not pizza, right.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
I know what I do is extreme, but you can
be somewhere in the middle. I have friends that do
like a food challenge every month or every other week
and stuff and still kind of balance the life.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
But food is fun. What we do is fun, and
in terms of marketing.
Speaker 5 (09:12):
I like to believe what I do is just a
new form of marketing, right.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
I mean, anyone can be a.
Speaker 5 (09:17):
Blogger and a reviewer, but can everyone be a professional eater?
Speaker 4 (09:21):
You know what I mean?
Speaker 5 (09:22):
Like I'm here to eat food and make you laugh
and eat in abundance and just wow people. Right, So
social media is it's key.
Speaker 4 (09:30):
Now.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
I know you have multiple world records as well, because
you can pet in a ton of competitions. But I
got to know what's your favorite world record?
Speaker 4 (09:39):
You know what? So I have a sweet tooth, so
it's probably.
Speaker 2 (09:43):
Going to be I was hoping you're gonna say that one.
Speaker 4 (09:45):
So it's either got to be fudge or donut holes.
Donut holes because I actually enjoy donut holes, but fudge.
I'm super proud of that world record.
Speaker 5 (09:56):
So I didn't actually compete in the Fudge CONTESTEC because
I had.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Some commitments in Australia.
Speaker 5 (10:00):
So my record that I said last year was thirteen
point five pound. The winner this year got nine point.
Speaker 4 (10:07):
Five pound, So I'm super proud.
Speaker 5 (10:09):
Of that record because it's actually really hard to eat
that amount of fudge, let alone in a short amount
of time.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
So I think that's one of my most proudest records.
Speaker 1 (10:20):
I'm sorry, just to be clear, you said thirteen and
a half pounds of.
Speaker 2 (10:23):
Fudge, Yes, sir, okay.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And if you're if you're watching right now, and if
you've never experienced like the Jersey Shore, because I'm from Philly,
so go birds first and foremost. But if you've never
been to the Jersey Shore before and you've never felt
the heft of a box of fudge, holy crap.
Speaker 2 (10:41):
What did you feel like after that?
Speaker 4 (10:44):
So that was that was ten minutes of pain. I'm
not gonna lie. I thirteen and a half pound of
fudge in ten minutes. That's Look, it's it all comes with. Look,
it's like a boxing match.
Speaker 5 (10:54):
Yeah, a box that trains their butt off, puts their
body through hell, and to get punched in the face
on game day, right, I just got.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
Slapped around by a pilot fudge.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Wow. Wow, that is unbelievable.
Speaker 1 (11:05):
Now, I know you competed in this year's Nathan's Hot
Dog Eating Contest. Again, tell me about that experience and
what that was like for you this year?
Speaker 4 (11:13):
Yeah. So look it's my fourth Nathan's in a row.
Speaker 5 (11:15):
Now, I say this every year It's an experience of
a lifetime. The Nathan's Contest that weekend, you know, that
Independence weekend. I know what that means now to Americans, Right,
that's such a super important weekend.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
The significance of what that weekend is. And to be
a part of that as an Aussie, it's.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
Freaking cool, man like to be a part of like
an event on the most problem arguably the most important
weekend on the American calendar. And knowing now how serious
you guys take everything, Like you guys are next level, right,
Like you guys are just down to do crazy stuff
and like to be honest. As an Aussie, I don't
really understand the hype around hot dogs. Like I'm not
a fan of hot dogs personally, but I know you
(11:56):
Americans love your hot dogs, and I understand like hot dogs.
Speaker 4 (11:59):
It's like a like you.
Speaker 5 (12:00):
See here, So to have hot dogs fourth of July, Yeah,
I mean what over a million people watched the hot
dog contest for that ten minutes, right, So to be
a part of that whole weekend, you know, to be
fortunate enough to be on the stage next to Joey Chestnut,
to be in the media hyping up the weekend and
just being a part of the whole thing.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
It's that is awesome. I can't wait for next year.
Speaker 1 (12:21):
Yeah, now, I know you mentioned Joey Chestnut. You're adamant
about toppling Joey and this guy is a menace, right, Like.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
I've never seen anything like this.
Speaker 1 (12:30):
Tell me why twenty twenty six is James Webbs's year
to be Joey chest nutt well.
Speaker 5 (12:37):
Rest respect Joey honestly, like he's the goat top guy.
We spent a lot of time chatting and whatever. Like,
I respect him, I respect what he's done. But me,
I'm competitive. I want to win, and.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
That's no disrespect to my competitors. I want to be
the best. That's me. I'm a stubborn competitor from Australia,
that's me.
Speaker 5 (12:54):
So look, and I believe to be the best, you've
got to not only beat the best, but get beatenhim
by the best, right, And Joey has telled me up
more times than I can remember. But truthfully, I've beaten
a few of his world records. I've beaten him at
three consecutive chicken wing contests head to head.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
You know, Joey's twenty two years in this game.
Speaker 5 (13:15):
I'm into my fourth year, right, So Joey's got the
experience he's he looks at me and laughs.
Speaker 4 (13:20):
Because he's got me, right. But that's what motivates me. Right.
The more he beats me, the more it motivates me
to want to beat him.
Speaker 5 (13:26):
Now, I'm not saying I'm going to beat him, But
what I'm saying is I'm going to try everything i
can to give him my best shot, you know, And truthfully,
when we compete against each other, it's ultimate respect. We
look each other in the eyes, we shake hands, we
give a hug, respect where respect is due. But as
a competitor, I just want to be the best.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
Now, let's talk about the documentary, James Can Eat. I
got to take a look at it before a conversations day.
It's really well done. I'm very excited for the rest
of the world to see it. When does it come out?
Where can people find it and tell me more about
the experience of filming it.
Speaker 5 (13:57):
Yeah, so that was to be fair to see me
back like on camera like that. That's not just an
eating challenge that goes a little bit deeper into my life.
It's it's kind of scary, it's kind of exciting. It's
it's super cool, Like, it's an awesome opportunity. I'm so
grateful for the opportunity to work a generation iron Is
as a bodybuilding nerd, massive massive thing to me. Yeah, look,
(14:19):
it's it's going to be released in August. It's gonna
be in a few places. Obviously online is where it's
most likely going to be prime and things like that.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
But to be honest, like, I can't wait.
Speaker 5 (14:30):
It's I haven't shown besides my immediate like my wife,
no one else has seen it yet.
Speaker 4 (14:36):
Wow. So it's uh, yeah, it's it's going to be
super exciting. I can't wait. Now.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
My final question for you here, I want to thank
you again for your time here. Obviously, as a competitive eater,
alls you do is eat. It's a lot like me,
I talk, It's my job, so I don't do a
lot of talking outside of this. But I gotta know
because my trainer, Brad find Rgill, he asked me this
question all the time.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
What's your favorite cheat meal?
Speaker 1 (14:57):
What does James web go to when he's like, you
know what, I'm just feeling frisky here. I really want
to know what's what's your what's your cheat meal?
Speaker 4 (15:06):
To be honest, So, I'm a pizza guy. I love pizza.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
I a would eat pizza three times a day, seven
days a week if I could.
Speaker 2 (15:12):
So honestly bless you, sir, pleas pizza.
Speaker 4 (15:15):
With a nice dessert. I'm a happy boy.
Speaker 1 (15:18):
I'm going to take you to Lorenzo's and Sons and
Angelo's the next time you hear in Philadelphia, It'll be
my treat.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
So cause you just let me know when you're in
town here.
Speaker 4 (15:24):
So hey, be careful, be careful. You promise the competitive
eat on my friend listen.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
Just gotta check with my wife. I got to make
sure the checking in, the savings and all the money
is good to go.
Speaker 4 (15:32):
I can behave, I can promise, I could be help.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Tell everybody where you can find you on social media
because I love your reels man, all.
Speaker 2 (15:39):
The stuff you're doing on there. Like I said, there's
lots of good spots here in Philly. I got to
take you to.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
But tell everybody where they can keep up to date
with everything you have going on on social media.
Speaker 4 (15:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 5 (15:47):
Look, if you look up j Webby can eat on
any platform, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, I'll be there.
Speaker 4 (15:54):
J Webby Can Eat Jawebby. It's all there. I mean
this mug.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
You can't really miss it, right, James Webb, I want
to thank you so much for your time today and
chatting with me about this. James Can Eat James Can
Eat A premiere's Friday, August twenty second video on demand
and streaming exclusively on Prime Video. Go ahead and check
him out. I'm looking forward to seeing you win the
competition in twenty twenty six. Good sir, and I look
forward to having you back on the show. James Webb,
(16:19):
thank you so much for your time.
Speaker 4 (16:21):
Thank you.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
I appreciate you, Lod, thank you for your tom thank
you for the opportunity, and hopefully chat soon.
Speaker 4 (16:25):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (16:47):
This episode of Foundation Radio is hosted, recorded, and produced
by Adam Barnard. Additional narration and production is provided by
the executive voice, Sam Crabs. Our mixing and engineering, as
well as our intro music, is by car Olpanell. Our
outro music and additional musical accompaniment are produced by Enrichment.
Follow Adam on X or Twitter or whatever and Instagram
(17:08):
at This is Goober, and follow the show on X
and Instagram at FND Radio pod find our entire show
archive at Foundation Radio dot net. This has been a
Buttz Carlton Media production. Butts Carlton proprietor
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