01x02 - Chili Eating

[bunniefuu]

How do you measure pain?

Take one hot pepper

and dehydrate it

crush it

dissolve it

boil it

filter it

draw it until the syringe is full,

and inject it into a high-performance

liquid chromatograph,

resulting in a precise

number of Scoville Heat Units.

The unscientific method?

You put it in your mouth.

This is chili eating.

- Good evening.

- Good evening!

Welcome to the town of Fort Mill.

Amazing crowd. Fort Mill! Whoo!

Oh, my God.

This is mental.

This is it. Showtime.

What the hell am I doing?

You're gonna see some stuff.

There might be bit of puking.

If you've got a weak

stomach, I wouldn't watch.

You can tap out at any point.

Suck it up, be brave. You'll be fine.

- Put it in.

- Here we go.

One, two, three

chilies!

These daredevils are about

to do the unprecedented.

Let's get ready to rumble!

A test of human endurance at the

razor's edge of sanity and stomach.

Welcome to the first ever World

Championship of Chili Pepper Eating.

Three, two, one eat!

Where else could the idea for such

a twisted tournament come from

than the American South

and a devious pepper farmer

who has built a chili empire

by obsessively breeding the

hottest peppers on the planet?

"Smokin' Ed" Currie,

the Willy Wonka of peppers.

My name's Smokin' Ed Currie.

I'm the president, founder, mad scientist,

and chef at the PuckerButt Pepper Company.

"Smokin' Ed" became a star

of the industry and a cult hero

when he set the Guinness World Record

for the hottest pepper ever tested:

The Carolina Reaper.

The Carolina Reaper's

a vicious-looking thing.

It's ugly. It looks nasty.

But, every hot sauce maker in the world

is making something with

"Smokin' Ed's" Carolina Reaper.

Check out the pollen on this boss. Look.

Our hope is to get the heat? Out of

this one into the sweet of this one,

and when these produce fruit,

we're going to change the world.

What he doesn't know

about chili isn't worth knowing.

He's a mad scientist, that's? Probably

how he'll describe himself.

It's kind of Breaking Bad with chilies.

What I'm trying to do is make

things hotter and hotter and hotter.

And when I first bred the Carolina Reaper,

the first time I ate it, it

knocked me to my knees.

Like, "I got something here."

Spot on. Ah, that's delish.

So, how hot is the Carolina Reaper?

A common jalapeño comes in at

around 3,000 Scoville Heat Units.

The Reaper?

Five hundred times hotter.

A record-breaking 1.641 million.

So, we're looking at the difference

between a tricycle and the space shuttle.

Okay? They're two totally different things.

Once Ed released his forbidden fruit

- Cheers.

- people bit.

And, like the Garden of

Eden, it opened their eyes

really, really wide.

Holy sh*t! Dude!

It hurts!

Shut the f*ck up!

The fire Ed ignited caught on quick

in the burgeoning sport

of chili pepper eating.

These brave mouth gladiators

eat hotter? And hotter peppers,

culminating every time

with the ultimate challenge:

The Carolina Reaper.

But, good old Ed ain't impressed with

these local sideshow shenanigans.

I watch these other contests.

The peppers they use just aren't hot.

The ones we grow are unlike

anything they grow anywhere else.

Ed's gonna prove it

at the first World

Championship of Chili Eating,

where champions fight champions to

become the champion of champions,

champion-ly.

We're gonna crown the

chili-eating champ of the world

and I'm so excited!

To find the best of the best,

Ed has searched the

hottest corners of the globe.

And where is hotter than Reno?

One American champion, Johnny Scoville,

has built a massive online following

by defying any limit before him.

I'm a pepper head.

Sounds like the beginning of an AA meeting.

I'm Johnny Scoville, I'm

powerless over it. I am weak.

Never doubt a man who jumps out of a plane

with ten Reapers in his mouth

and beard braids.

- I'm Johnny Scoville.

- And I'm Papa Scoville.

- And this is Chase the Heat.

- is Chase the Heat.

Johnny's YouTube channel, Chase the Heat,

is all about getting

more eyeballs on Johnny,

even if it means torturing

his 80-year-old dad.

Hey, you all right?

Holy sh*t, that was hot.

Is your heart attacking you?

- No.

- Okay, good.

He's partially crazy.? You know that.

Johnny has an amazing

tolerance for hot stuff,

but Johnny has turned into

an international sensation

to the point where his followers call

themselves Scoville Nation, okay?

You couldn't make

that stuff up if you tried.

I'm Johnny Scoville

I've competed in a lot of pepper

contests. I've only lost one.

This one in South Carolina

is exciting 'cause it's the best.

If you ask a musician

his favorite thing to do,

it's to play with great musicians,

'cause it brings out your best.

On that day, I get to play

with some pretty good musicians.

Hailing from the South Pacific is

the reigning Australian champion,

Brianna Skinner,

the Chili Queen.

A true warrior, the secret to

Brianna's success has been forged

in the fires of adversity.

I'm transgender.

When I'm up there eating chilies,

and pushing through that pain barrier,

all of that discrimination or hate,

or family people rejecting me,

that anger gets pushed

into eating these chilies.

That's what gets me through.

Brianna has transformed that prejudice.

The ability to endure red-hot pain.

She's got something that I can't fathom.

I don't know how she does it.

Just a savage. Her tolerance

is as high as anybody's.

Covered by chili.

The Chili Queen has beaten the

Australian competition? So easily

that she retired out of boredom.

In Australia, there was no

one that wanted to compete.

This opportunity is just amazing,

and I just could not say no.

No matter where you come from,

if you think you are good at chili,

come and see my Chili Queen.

Where Brianna brings heat,

never underestimate the cool

head of a British school teacher.

Sid Barber may appear? Like? Your

typical high school chemistry teacher,

but make no mistake,

she is the one to beat.

I'm a mum, I work in a

school, and I enjoy eating chilies.

After her husband signed her

up for a pepper-eating contest,

this savant of spice discovered a tolerance

that neither she nor science can explain.

People ask how. Just

chew and swallow it fast.

Get it down your neck. That's it."

Sid became a reluctant star when a

video of her shook up the internet,

putting good old Sid smack dab in

the center of the chili spotlight.

The mighty Sid!

I don't know, my life hasn't changed much.

I work in the same place,

live in the same place,

still have two kids, um,

still drive a crappy car.

Sid is brilliant. Not a brand, not an ego.

She is a humble, genuine person that

has a brilliant passion for chili.

People think you're crazy. It's

just chewing and swallowing.

What? Why are you laughing?

- I can smell that from here.

- Can you? Nice.

I can't wait to meet Sid.

I truly believe she's

gonna be one of the top two

and probably will win this. Probably.

Do you want some of this?

No, I'm all right with mine. Thank you.

Ed knows when you summon

the chili giants to the chili coliseum,

you should always invite a dark horse,

because they might just

surprise you with their kick.

I'm Bella. This is Heat 101. Welcome.

- Look at that.

- This is Bella.

Oh, man.

From their basement in Columbus, Ohio,

she and her husband run a YouTube

channel celebrating all things spicy.

- That is great sauce.

- Wow.

While this girl next door's

got pluck and passion,

she's utterly untested

in the competitive arena.

Yeah, I'm just a normal gal.

This is going to be the

hardest thing I've ever done,

and I love peppers,

but I am going up against titans.

Against chili titans.

Pitting a newcomer against

these chili titans is risky,

but who is Ed to deny a girl her dream?

Seeing all these amazing women up there.

And, you know, we have a U.K. Chili Queen

and we have an Australian Chili Queen.

I want the U.S. Chili Queen title.

Nobody has it.

It's not in existence, and I want it.

Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran,

Ed's competition will be no cakewalk.

He's set to change the

chili-eating game forever.

These competitors have no idea the pain

that is waiting for them in Fort Mill,

and that's just the way Ed wants it.

We're going? To bring the heat? Like

no one's ever brought it before.

Oh, Ed, you are evil.

I'm not an evil man. I'm a good

man, but I do evil things, okay?

I wanna see people hurting on stage.

We're just going to go, "Boom, bah-boom,

" and then give 'em the finger.

- The finger?

- We're gonna hurt 'em.

Maniacal. You get paid to

hurt people with peppers.

They thank me for it.

- I can't believe it.

- I know.

If you've never seen

this competition before,

I'm gonna explain how this works.

Every contestant will be given a chili,

and what they will need to do is

eat that right down to the stalk.

As long as they do that successfully,

they'll progress to the next round.

Next round will be a hotter

chili than the one before.

- Hey, it's Smokin' Ed!

- Hey!

There are ways in which

they cannot progress.

Firstly and foremost, they

can tap out at any point.

Number two, they cannot drink.

If they take a single sip

of this milk, they are out.

The third way in which

they can be disqualified:

We call this little area

up front "the splash zone."

It does happen where the contestants

reject the chili, shall we say.

There we go. That's how

a chili-eating contest works,

but we are nothing without contestants.

So, Fort Mill, please give a

big cheer for the contestants!

You got this!

The stage is set for

Ed's Theater of Cruelty,

and for 13 merciless rounds,

Ed will deliver a series

of diabolical surprises.

All of his peppers have

been cross-pollinated

with the demonic Carolina Reaper

Look at the size of these Scotch bonnets.

- Sweet Jesus.

- I know. Look at this thing.

turning each pepper into a

supercharged version of itself.

God, look at the size

Look at that one. Whoa!

Nothing is what it seems.

Round One: The Scotch Reaper.

Most chili eaters will

go, "It's a Scotch bonnet.

A delicious pepper."

But these are not delicious peppers.

They're very, very hot peppers.

Your average Scotch bonnet

starts at around 80,000

Scoville Heat Units.

Ed's devil bites: 300,000 plus.

Three, two, one, eat!

It's just a pepper, or so you would think.

I'm always nervous before

it starts. After your first pod,

you're like, "We're at a pepper contest.

My happy place."

Ladies and gentlemen, these

guys have finished their peppers.

Please give them a cheer.

- Round Two: The Reapernero.

- The Reapernero.

600,000 SHU.

By round two, someone's gonna throw up.

Okay? That's just the way it's gonna be.

Eat!

And, just as Ed predicted

- Oh, dear. Oh, Lord!

- w*r of attrition begins.

Ladies and gentlemen, give

Nick a round of applause.

He is out of the contest.

- Can you smell it? I can.

- I can smell it.

Smells like fear.

Vomit.

Tears.

Thunderclap headaches.

No amount of heat training could

have prepared these Chi-lympians

- for this new circle of hell.

- Three, two, one,

eat!

Oh, the headband's coming off.

So Eric's gonna just disappear off

stage and question his life decisions.

Jonathan, are you done?

We're still, technically,

on the mild peppers.

Three, two, one, eat!

Some of the people I thought were ringers

are showing signs of just being hot.

We're eating chilies that are not far

off military-grade pepper spray in heat.

I've never seen Brianna

turn that red. Is she okay?

I'm hurtin', man.

No shame. You're a winner.

Eyes watering, you're sweating

I believe in you.

back of the throat feels

like razor blades there.

Beyond normal comprehension of pain.

For the Chili Queen,

- only two ways out.

- You can get through this.

- Through

- Couple more.

or milk.

There she goes. There it goes.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I did not expect this.

Brianna is bowing out.

For people like me, in a lot of groups,

it's something? That can be difficult

She flew from Australia? For this.

but the acceptance and the support

from these people has

been absolutely inspiring.

The Chili Queen abdicating

her throne is a big surprise.

I've gotta get this sh*t

out. Got a bathroom here?

But bigger surprises await,

because where there's smoke,

there's Ed.

- Round six

- Okay.

Original Carolina Reaper.

- Wow.

- That's round six? Holy cannoli.

That's right.

Round six six six.

That's gonna hurt people. I

reckon people will drop out on that.

Since they're used to the

top level being a Reaper,

so if the midpoint of this

contest is the Reaper,

it's going to drive fear into the

hearts of all these competitors.

The Reaper has arrived

and she's early.

As recognized by the

Guinness Book of World Records,

born and bred here in Fort Mill

it's world famous, it's

grown around the world,

this is the very brutal, the

very beautiful Carolina Reaper.

Guys, from Fort Mill,

Carolina, let's make some noise.

Three, two, one, eat!

So long!

The world's hottest chili is

being fought by champion mouths,

but there's another

battle going on just below.

The worst part, by far, is

when it hits your stomach.

You get something called "cap cramps."

They're worse than labor,

and I was in labor for 38 hours.

- So they're bad.

- Eat that pepper!

And the crowd, like Ed

are total sadists.

There we go. They have

eaten the world's hottest chili.

Please give them a big, big cheer.

Any other competition

would end with the infamous.

Guinness World Record chili,

but this is not any other competition.

They think the Carolina

Reaper is the pinnacle.

This is looking to be a

hotter pepper than the Reaper.

Can I make that assumption?

That's right,

these competitors will be eating peppers

that even Guinness hasn't tested yet.

Ed and I have been friends for years

and, as advice, if he ever

offers you anything, just say no.

It's a safer option,

because the chances are,

it's just going to light you

up and knock you down.

Oh, my.

You're a bad man.

That's different in the end.

Yeah, it is.

I can't feel my face.

With a secret stash of unnamed peppers

- What do you want to call that?

- Whatever you want.

Ed has laid out seven

more rounds of untested,

- unrelenting pain.

- Can I call it the Razor?

- Peaches and Scream.

- The Heartbreaker.

From this moment forward,

our competitors are

entering uncharted territory.

Three, two, one, eat!

Crush it. Keep the noise coming, guys.

His nose is crying.

Oh, Tom. Buddy.

Well done.

And then there were six.

Hatred and pain and vitriol and evil.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Mike is leaving the building.

Oh, man!

He's filling the bucket.

- That's not pretty.

- Ew! Yuck!

Once you've eaten too much,

you're strapped in it,

and there's no getting off.

Mind over matter is everything.

You've gotta go somewhere else.

Gets to a point that there's no

happy place to find. You can't hide.

A year-and-a-half ago,

I was a telemarketer

Johnny Scoville!

and now I travel and eat peppers.

I've met people I never would've met,

I've been recognized on

the opposite side of Earth,

and it's given me the belief

that anything's possible.

Give it up for Johnny.

Yeah, that was the

hardest contest I've ever

I'm hallucinating. I'm seeing

trails of light on the sides.

I'm hearing, "Wah-wah-wah."

The leader? Of Scoville

Nation has been deposed.

Sid,

Bella

and this guy.

Ed's biggest surprise has been hiding

in plain sight this whole time,

and it's no pepper,

but a ringer.

A spoiler.

A monster.

His name

Dustin Johnson, the "Atomik Menace."

I found this guy on YouTube,

and I want to get him to the competition,

'cause you gotta see what he does.

- What is that in the bag?

- That's a bag of 50 Moruga Scorpions.

- Bag of death.

- Check this out.

No way. He popcorned that thing.

I like this guy!

Dustin literally does not feel any pain.

He is actually a chili beast, okay?

And if this chili terminator wasn't enough,

Ed has one final trick up his sleeve.

We're bringing out the biggest,

hottest pepper in the arsenal.

Weighing in at a whopping 30 grams,

it's as hideous as it is hot,

and it takes no prisoners.

These are the hottest peppers

that no one's ever eaten before,

outside of our team.

If Dustin's still in the competition,

and these extreme hot peppers

come out in the last rounds,

it's game over for everyone.

Make some big, big noise for these guys.

This is the Giant Carolina Reaper.

Get the f*ck outta here.

Three, two, one, eat!

Show 'em love! The final three.

Show 'em some pepper love!

Dig deep, Sid. You can do it.

Dustin is looking horribly unaffected.

He's not human.

What's he made from?

Dustin has a real poker

face. It's incredible.

Look at Dustin.

Dustin, are you bored?

Do we need to up the ante?

I can't believe they've done it.

I cannot believe they have done it.

I can't believe that

people are going this hard.

Ed didn't think it would come to this.

Ladies and gentlemen,

as far as peppers go, we've

reached as hot as we can get.

No one thought it would come to this.

But when you're dealing with

people who refuse to give up,

sometimes you gotta bring out

the basket.

What we have? Got in front

of us is a basket of hatred.

Each person will be given

a pepper from this basket.

Watch your breathing!

They will have a maximum of

15 seconds to eat that pepper.

They can still be chewing after 15 seconds,

but they must get all of that pepper

in their mouth within 15 seconds.

For Sid, chewing fast

isn't just a challenge,

it's her Achilles' heel.

Why?

She's got bad English teeth,

and if it goes fast, she's

in for a rude awakening.

I can't actually bite,

'cause I've got manky teeth.

I'm gonna get a bag, we put holes,

and I'll wear that on my head.

British dentistry living

up to its reputation.

I don't know? How I'll? Cope with it,

but I'm gonna give it my best.

Fort Mill, you ready for this?

Three, two, one, eat!

Dustin has smashed his, ladies

and gentlemen.? He is done.

Ten, nine

- Come on, you got it!

- seven,

Come on, Sid!

five, four,

-three, two,

-Sid, you can do it!

one.

Ladies and gentlemen, with big, big regret,

Sid will not continue in the competition.

Please give her a big, big cheer.

I can't feel my hands,

and I can't feel my face.

Keep going, girl.

For representing the U.K

Can I have a bucket?

The final titan has now fallen.

It won't come out.

And then, there were two.

Dark horse versus darker horse.

The first person to show me a clean mouth,

as in, they've chewed

and swallowed the chili

their name will end

up on a check for $1,000.

They're going to 40

and 41 chilies right now.

They're gonna be hurting.

I'm really scared? That Bella's gonna puke.

We better pull a bucket out.

Bella. Bella, look at me. Are you ready?

While it may look like

self-destruction, for Bella,

this is salvation.

Have you seen this video?

- I have.? That's not human.

- He doesn't feel pain.

Dustin's reputation I've

been studying his channels,

and if he's the Terminator,

you gotta be Sarah Connor.

I gotta get this fire makeup

on point, I'm gonna be on fire.

I've been sober for three years.

Super hot peppers turned our lives around.

This is my armor, like, my battle-ready

They replaced the

horrible aspects of drinking.

I have this inner voice

that's like, "You ain't quitting."

I channeled all the

self-destructive behavior

into something that

makes me feel in control.

Without being sober,

there would be no Heat 101,

no chili competition

no Bella.

Bella!

Can't hear you!

Dustin, look at me. Are you ready?

On my mark

It's all come down to this.

- One clean mouth

- Come on, you got it!

one thousand dollars.

Three, two, one, eat!

First one to show a clean

mouth. Bella's got the first chili.

Dustin, you've got most of yours in.

Bella, you're gonna

need to pick up the pace.

Come on, Bella!

First to show me a clean mouth.

Cleveland!

Cleveland!

Ladies and gentlemen, the winner is Dustin!

Congratulations, Dustin.

You are $1,000 richer.

You earned yourself a trophy.

Bella, brilliant, brilliant effort.

Nothing worse than coming

second in a chili-eating competition.

That girl has power. Those

chilies were not easy to eat,

and every single time, you

could see the pain on her face.

I've never seen anybody go through

that much pain, and just keep on going,

because they wanted to prove a point.

Bella.

Go, Bella.

I think what people can

learn about themselves

from putting themselves

through something like this,

the most extreme chili-eating

competition ever put on stage,

is that there are no limits

to what a person can do.

I want to give you $1,000, too.

That was the best thing

I've ever seen in my life.

All I wanted was to feel

worthy of being up there,

and that I truly was a competitor.

I proved to myself that I can do it.

So, I think it's just the beginning.

- My man.

- What's going on?

I had so much fun.

We brought to this community

the very best of the chili world.

There was no drama.

No bullshit.

It was nothing but pepper love.

Man.

Let's help each other.

Let's succeed and put out positive vibes.

It was amazing.

My husband and I discovered

there's a lot of people

that are in recovery

that have just channeled

their stuff into spicy.

They're all going through

something really similar

and all have this past? Just like we do,

and it's amazing to find that camaraderie.

- You'll have to fight over this one.

- This is a first.

We found that in this chili-head community.

We found it, and it's priceless.

Bella, oh, my God! Oh, my God!

You have my respect. Every bit of it.

I feel really good.

I wanted to be the U.S. Chili Queen,

and my husband can attest to this,

I normally get what I want.

The Buddhists say

that to live is to suffer.

And to thrive is to find

meaning in that suffering.

If they're right,

perhaps we should embrace

the things that hurt us

and walk toward the flames,

even when our whole world is on fire,

safe in the knowledge

that they will burn away

only what weighs us down.

And confident that when we emerge,

we are lighter,

we are stronger,

we are wiser,

and we are forever

the champions.