FONDLY
LOOKING BACK ON "THE DISPLAY" |
THE FIRST WEEKEND IN MAY 2003 WAS A MOMEMTOUS OCCASION IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD. YES, YOU HEARD IT CORRECTLY - "THE WORLD". KEITH "THE LEG" HANNON, IN THE MIDST OF A VISIT TO ALBANY, NY, PARTICIPATED IN THE SINGLE-LARGEST EATING SPECTACLE SINCE JOHN LENNON PILED MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF SPAGHETTI ONTO A FAT WOMAN'S PLATE IN THE BEATLES' MOVIE "MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR". IN A TWELVE HOUR PERIOD, HANNON CONSUMED: -ONE
"JAWBREAKER" SUB FROM DEPIETRO'S DELI (DESRIBED AS "SO BIG IT WILL
BREAK YOUR JAW! ROAST BEEF, TURKEY, HAM, BACON AND CRANBERRY MAYONAISE.") ON THE TWO YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THIS ARTERY-CLOGGING EVENT, CLEVERCITIZEN.COM SAT DOWN WITH HANNON IN A RARE INTERVIEW. |
CC:
Bring us up to speed on the circumstances that immediately preceeded the event
that is now known as "The Display". KH:
Well,
I had just returned from Los Angeles. I was happy to be back in upstate New York
after being gone for over four months. Now one thing about Cali is it's hard to
get the large portioned, sloppy and tasty food you get in small town NY. So I
had a hunger for that, plus, a lot of people thought I was coming back to NY a
"California Softy"; I had to put those rumors to rest. CC:
Were you in a particular mindset when you ate your first meal of a "Jawbreaker"
sub? KH:
Josh had made two things very clear: one, the "Jawbreaker" is delicious,
known for its delightful cranberry mayo. Two, no one finished a "Jawbreaker"
in one sitting. Now to me, that sounded like a challenge, so I put my game face
on, and took that sub down.... down quicker than Josh's half of sub. CC:
Any thoughts of a legendary eating performance in the near future? KH: Well, out here in LA I haven't really had anything that compares. When I was home over Christmas I put a hurtin' on the Dinosaur BBQ in Syracuse, but that was nothing like "The Display". You can't really plan a "Display", it's something that just comes over you; clutch players come up big in clutch situations ...I will be clutch again when the time comes. CC: Did you have any particular mental images or thoughts as you were completing "The Display"? KH: To be honest, the only thing in my head was "What can I eat to hold me over until I get to Dan's Place" (AKA Dirty Dan's), where "Dan's Place is Dirty, But Your Mouth Better Not Be!") <laughs>. I had a couple images of Leyland Roseboom playing "hamburger, cheeseburger" on the Violin ...that got me through the tough stretches. CC: Give us some thoughts on your surroundings: 1) 518 Hudson 2) Sadie's 3) Quail Street Market. KH: 518 Hudson had an aura about it where you knew something was destined to happen there. It had a unjustified arrogance about it, and I liked that. It was something special even though there was nothing special about it ...it's where the "Jawbreaker" gasped its last breath. Sadie's makes a mean wing, it's the kind of bar where you expect to look down into your mug of ale, then look up and see Tom Cruise and Paul Newman shooting pool. It's a bar where greatness resides when it needs to get away from it all. Everyone knows your name, even though they probably won't call you by the right one. The Labbatt's flows like the Rio Grande and the wings leave you semi-aroused. Quail St. Market: the balls of Albany... CC: Had you ever eaten like this before? KH: Well I've always been a big eater, just ask the ladies, I like to consume as much as the next guy. My grandmother use to acuse me of having a tape worm because even as a 8 year old I'd go back for a second peanut butter and jelly sandwich. But I had never eaten like that before; the planets alligned that night ..somewhere, after "The Display" ended, a child unexplicably wept. CC: What was your favorite meal out of "The Display"? KH: I'd be lying if I didn't say the Chicken Bull was the best. "The Jawbreaker" was good and is a very very close second, but that Chicken Bull just moistens me where love happens. CC: Describe your training regiment, if you indeed had one? KH: Three meals a day, and don't eat to contentment - I eat until I can't put anything else in my body. If there's room for more food, I need more to eat. Then it requires a lot of drinking, making yourself hungry so you can fit in that fourth meal around 2-3am. Run the buffet gauntlet once a month, which, in one months time, you hit up a pizza, chinese, Old Country and Italian buffet. CC: Any particular heroes or influences? KH: My father, Eugene Steven Hannon, who was famous at IBM for getting two lunches at the cafeteria on a daily basis. He would then wash it all down with a hearty glass of the Quadratic Formula. CC: What was your Immediate reaction after completing "The Display"? KH: "Take me to a hospital, this can't be good." CC: Did it change you? KH: Yes, I gained eleven pounds from it. And it proves, if you put your mind to it, your stomach can handle anything. CC: I know "The Display" has had a significant cultural impact, I have heard of people getting together in various VFW halls around the Northeast and sharing stories about "The Display". How does that make you feel? KH: I feel honored that I can bring joy to those who provided me the freedom to accomplish "The Display". In many Eastern European countries such gluttony would have resulted in imprisonment because the amount I consumed would have been 60 percent of the national food supply. The men at the VFW risked their lives to give me the right to eat as much as I can buy. They protected that right with their bodies, and the least I can do is sacrifice the well being of my own to show my appreciation for their sacrifce. My blatent disregard for my digestive system is all for their glory. CC: What sort of advice would you give the youth who have dreams to one day put on another "Display"? KH: Don't settle. You have to want it, and you have to be willing to live with the consequences of doing it. People are going to look at you differently, some might be afraid. Don't let their behaviors detract from your appetite for life. There will be critics, like medical professionals who say it's bad for you, but don't listen to them. They're jealous, they wish they had a gift like you have, silence them. |