Adam Richman regularly bit off more than he could chew as host of Man v. Food. More often than not,
this resulted in hilarious results. Richman didn't always win his challenges,
but it was always entertaining to watch him give it his all.
Rarely afraid of super spicy anything, on one occasion Adam Richman was forced to quit
just two wings into a five hot wing challenge. He was attempting the rather crassly named
"Fire In Your Hole" challenge at Munchies 4:20 Cafe wherein a competitor must simply eat five
of the restaurant's spiciest wings. There was a 95 percent failure rate to the challenge,
due to the fact that the wings were coated in a sauce made from ghost peppers.
"Oh, wow. Oh, wow. You breathe it in and it's like you have a sea urchin lodged right here."
Richman was quickly reduced to panting and stumbling about behind the restaurant,
drinking milk and sucking on ice cubes, and fearing he was going to
pass out. It later emerged that the staff of the cafe had engaged in some foul play,
doctoring the recipe of the already fantastically spicy wings with a bottle of chili extract,
adding so much heat as to make the wings all but impossible to eat and likely not
even safe for consumption. The heat and spice Richman experienced was likely akin
to that of being assaulted with pepper spray used by law enforcement or in self-defense.
Richman later called what the cafe did, quote, "cavalier and very dangerous" and
was understandably upset to have been taken advantage of unfairly,
not to mention robbed of the chance to fairly take on the "Fire In Your Hole" challenge.
Now, let's never talk about said challenge again.
It's always hard to know which scenes are going to make the cut while a television program is being
filmed, and often some of the funniest and most memorable moments are those that unfortunately
end up on the proverbial cutting room floor instead of on the show. Such was the case when
Adam began clowning around in the kitchen during a visit to Rochester, New York, first imitating
Olympic speed skater Apollo Ono by "skating" back and forth on the greasy kitchen floor, and then
by "working out" his triceps by pressing down on a massive hamburger he'd soon be attempting to eat.
"Everyone who thinks that I am unathletic, I want you to know that I'm in the barbecue kitchen,
and here's my homage to the Olympics."
Knowing now how much the host of Man v. Food was suffering from depression brought on by his weight
and lack of fitness makes the clip a little less amusing when watched in its entire context.
Knowing that he went on to get leaner and healthier, however, brings solace.
In fact, Richman would eventually switch to eating multiple small 150 calorie meals daily
and exercising enough to where he stripped down to the buff and
posed with a strategically placed soccer ball for a Cosmopolitan centerfold – a
testament he was happier with his body. His turnaround was impressive.
We have all had those moments where we casually do something without thinking only seconds later
to realize how bad an idea it was. From spilling a cup of coffee when turning your wrist to check
the time to touching a hot stove to saying out loud what should have stayed quiet,
it's a common occurrence for us all. Most often, however, our little unthinking moments are not
captured by the camera. For Adam Richman, often they were. Such was the case when he casually
took a bite of a hot pepper while recording a monologue for an episode set in New Mexico.
Within a second or two, you can see that he has made a grave error. Richman's hands raise,
his shoulders tremble, his mouth is agape, and his expression clearly reads "Why!?"
Adam Richman once again put himself in danger of passing out, along with possibly going
on some sort of spirit journey, while eating a massive bowl of super spicy ramen. And actually,
drinking it is more the operative, because it was in the last minutes of his challenge
as he gulped down the fiery broth that he truly entered a circle of hell.
Apparently, thousands of people have tried to eat an entire bowl of the spiciest ramen at Orochan
Ramen, yet only a few hundred have succeeded. Richman joined the hallowed ranks of the latter,
but not without sweat and tears flowing as he took on the challenge. He first consumed the
noodles and other ingredients and then began to slurp at the remaining broth,
which is spiced with the restaurant's secret recipe.
It's a recipe that apparently other chefs have tried repeatedly to steal.
"Where did you go to learn it?"
"It's a special place, a secret place."
Richman completed the Special #2 challenge in the allotted 30 minutes,
looking hilariously miserable while he did so.
What can you really expect when a man tries to eat a 12 egg omelet other than him not finishing
said omelet, right? Such was the case when Adam Richman visited Seattle, Washington's Beth's Cafe.
As it happened, Richman sat down next to another gent also named Adam, and both attempted to take
on the Southwestern Exposure Challenge, wherein they tried to eat an omelet consisting of a full
dozen eggs and stuffed with beef brisket and other "Southwestern style fixings."
"Adams of the world, collide!"
Perhaps even more remarkable than the fact that the two Adams quite nearly completed
the Southwestern Exposure Challenge omelets is the fact that apparently
about one in ten people do finish all of the food involved. For these two eaters,
they came close before both comically threw in the towel with looks of utter misery on their faces.
The real kicker here? It turns out local Adam had once bested the mighty breakfast.
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