Paul and Storm

UPDATE: FudgieThon Flickr gallery gallery and video by attendee Joshua now available for those who missed it! (original Ustream is probably lost to the ages 🙁

What started out as a cheap stunt to gain 200 Twitter followers turned into a great party at ThinkGeek, a Ustream broadcast, Storm successfully eating an entire Fudgie the Whale ice cream cake, and so far over $3,000 being raised for a food bank (donations gratefully accepted through April 11.)

So thank you to ThinkGeek for helping pull together what amounted t0 a full-blown telethon within 36 hours, Carvel and Carvel Arlington (VA) for playing along and providing ice cream, GeekDad Matt Blum for helping out and live-tweeting the event, everyone who came out to witness the spectacle, all of our cool famous friends who spread the word much, much wider, and everyone who cheered and jeered along the way.

And last but very importantly, a HUGE thank you to everyone who was able to contribute to the charitable cause. As promised, 100% of the proceeds will go to AFAC under a 2-for-1 Feinstein Foundation matching grant, which will be put to immediate use to help feed families and individuals in need. We’re completely blown by the collective and individual generosity shown in beating the arbitrary $2,000 goal–thank you.

After the break: Paul and Storm answer some of the common questions that came up about the event.

Will the Ustream broadcast be available to watch?

Unfortunately, no. We’d never really used Ustream before, and in the frenzy to just make the event happen no one realized we had to hit a “Record” button. We’re looking for anyone who might have recorded it–please e-mail us if you did–but otherwise it’ll just have to live on as legend.

Why Fudgie the Whale?

The whole thing started because Storm was bored and decided to take it out on our Twitter following. He was going to toot something about Cookie Puss (another Carvel cake), but he couldn’t think of anything that didn’t amount to “Gosh, do you remember Cookie Puss? Ha-ha! Cookie Puss is great!”

At that poing he noticed our following was only ~200 away from the magical 10,000 mark (round numbers are pretty terrific), so he decided a moronic stunt was in order. Initially he thought the stunt would be eating an entire box of Twinkies, but that just didn’t seem very impressive (I mean, he does that nearly every day.)

So he returned to Cookie Puss, but despite Storm’s considerable appetite, it seemed like a bit much to tackle. Fudgie the Whale, however, looked to be a worthy challenge that would not kill him.

Why the charitable cause?

As word spread throughout Twitter, Facebook and elsewhere about the challenge and we quickly blew past the 10,000 follower mark, we thought that with all of the attention we were getting, it was a great opportunity to do some good. Storm and his wife have been involved with their local food bank for a number of years, and it seemed like a great fit given the nature of the event. One fan likened it to a carbon exchange for competitive eaters. (sorry; we’ve lost track of the exact quote and who actually said it!)

So did Storm not eat anything all day to prepare?

There was no fasting for Storm. After reading some interviews with Adam Richman (host of “Man vs. Food” on Travel Channel) and getting a “good luck” from him, Storm decided to make sure he got a lot of exercise and stay hydrated by drinking plain ol’ water in the 24 hours leading up to the event. He ate a regular dinner the night before, a light lunch day-of, and a granola bar whenever he felt really, really hungry until zero hour arrived.

Was brain freeze a problem?

Surprisingly, no. The key was realizing that there was no cake.

How long did it take him to eat it?

Around 35 minutes, eating at a steady pace pretty much non-stop.

Was Storm completely wasted afterwards?

Double-surprisingly, no, but what you didn’t know is that Storm’s apetite is a registered superpower. He did experience some odd tingling sensations in his joints and extremities, but that was probably just the sugar destroying his nerve endings. And there was a considerable headache the morning after, which was dispelled by coffee and a plain omelet.

Will there be a rematch?

We’ll just have to see, won’t we?