Competitive Eating-Stage Persona
What is your competitive eating stage persona?
The best way for me to say that is I'm "Ian the Invader" and that's in quotes. Capital INVADER, I'm just kidding. And what I do is, I basically come out with my helmet, and I've got the shoulder pads and the fur and stuff like that. That I wear it at some events. Usually it's at the winter events and the bigger ones where a lot of people are going to be at. Just because of, it kind of makes you stand out you know. It's kind of like we're these characters in this normal thing or this sport of competitive eating. If we didn't have characters then it would be a whole bunch of fat guys or thin guys, or people eating around a table, a whole bunch of food. And that's neat, but it's always good to have someone you can either laugh at or relate to, or think of as neat.
How did you come up with your competitive eating persona?
It was one of the first times I met Arnie Chapman and we were trying to come up with a name for me, a nickname, because it seems like a lot of eaters do have there nicknames or whatever. We were trying to find things that would go well with Ian and we were like, Invasion or the Incubator, I could go on for the bottomless pit, I mean just whatever. And Arnie was like "Ian the Invader" and I was like, "Yay, because I invade buffets". And at the time I hadn't really done anything but I was known for getting kicked out of buffets and stuff in the Kentucky area and things. And it really seemed to mesh and with the horns and things, that's where I kind of got the idea to do the whole “Vikingish” or whatever, because I'd done a lot of research papers and stuff through middle school and grade school and things so each year I changed just a little bit of the report and added stuff to make it fit my grade and get an A or B. So it always stood there with me.
What is your competitive eating persona best known for?
I get recognized a lot in the contest whenever it's different, there's the fur, it's just big, and it's bulky, and I think that a lot of people see that think that's just Joe Blow in glasses that stands around like, I'm going to eat now. It's just something, it's just someone say, ah, I like the guy in the horns, it's like wrestling characters; you got Sting that paints his face, or Stone Cold, he's bald but he had the goatee, and he's always saying “what”; it's just little things like that it makes you different, it helps you stand out, so for me being known for anything, it's just eating food I guess.
How is your competitive eating persona viewed by fans?
Fans love the helmet. Fans love the helmet. Especially women, and I don't know why that is.
