Our second album “Cardio Mix” with Comedy Central Records
Posted in Announcements, News, Reviews with tags amazon, atlanta, beards, beards of comedy, cardio mix, comedy central records, itunes, laughing skull lounge, new comedy albums on December 7, 2011 by beardsofcomedyHere at the offices of Beards & Sons Inc. we are quite pleased to announce the release of our second album, “Cardio Mix” with Comedy Central Records. Comedy Central is a great company, which has of course been dying to work with us for years, and finally we have relented, to their great relief. It was recorded at the Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta this past July (2011), with 100% different material from our first CD “Comedy for People.” We believe it is the perfect comedy album to work out to, and unlike “Comedy for People” we believe dogs and buffaloes and other mammals can also get some laughs. We would like to point out, that the Laughing Skull lounge is the world’s smallest comedy club, with a fire code of 74. This means, if you only hear 74 people laughing, that means 100% of the crowd is laughing. We chose to perform at such an intimate venue, because we believe it is the closest we can get to performing for one person – you. That’s right, we recorded this album specifically for you. So it would be quite a shame if you didn’t listen.
The critical reviews have been very positive so far. Nerdist.com gave us a great review here (thanks Nerds) and we have another good review from “Under the Gun” here and then Ed Placencia gave us a killer review on his Comedy Review blog here.
Oh, and this is exciting – Cardio Mix was the most popular of all comedy albums on Rdio.com last week, and #4 of ALL overall albums (including music), coming in just ahead of Belle & Sebastian, and right behind Bell & Sebastian’s other slightly more popular album. Suffice it to say, when it comes to Rdio.com, we are both more popular and less popular, than Belle & Sebastian.
Comedy Central has written up a release to the press, which you can read with your eyeballs here.
Still not excited? Well Crave named it one of the TOP THREE comedy albums of November. WOH!
I think the point is clear – if you are a fan of the Beards of Comedy (us) then this is a must have album. If you are not a fan of the Beards of Comedy, than this is still a MAYBE have! And just remember, for each purchase of Cardio Mix on Itunes or Amazon, a baby seal in Africa is given a month’s worth of smiles. That’s a literal true fact.
You can get it on Itunes here or Amazon here . Just click on the purple “here’s” and you’ll go right to the right place.
Due to living in the future, physical copies are only available at live shows, so if you’d like to give physical copies for Xmas, you can always get it on Itunes and burn it to a physical CD. Or, you can come to a live show! We just finished our first CD release tour hitting Atlanta, Athens, Gainesville, Jacksonville, and Charleston. It was great, thanks for asking, and thanks to all of the wonderful folks who came out and brought us pumpkin pie (you know who you are Kelly). We’ve always wanted to receive pies from fans, so it was a dream come true. A CD release tour for the northeast is set for the last week in January, and midwest and west coast tours are currently in the works as well. If you would like the Beards in your home town, just organize yourself, and 5,000 of your friends, and march down your town’s main street, demanding your mayor’s head on a pike, unless he brings the Beards to your town. That’s how grass root movements work, yes?
Finally, if you are a hard core Beards of Comedy fan, and you are asking, “Hey, I love you guys so much, how can I share this with my friends?” Well, we’ve made it easy with a public Facebook event here, that is available for sharing through December 30th. Just click “attend” and you can click on the “invite friends” button, and invite as many friends as you want. Remember, everyone who shares this with a friend, receives two smiling baby African seals in the mail.
p.s. TJ did the artwork for the cover, which we here at Beards & Sons all agree is beautiful. We’re very proud of TJ, who continues to draw artwork, against all odds, and despite many setbacks and failures:
CD Cover
In closing, we would like to thank everyone who helped make this CD possible, who we have already thanked more specifically in the liner notes. Also, if you’ve already forgotten where you can get “Cardio Mix”, it is at Itunes here and Amazon here.
Video Short: “Breakfast Banditos”
Posted in Comedy, Video with tags atlanta, beards, breakfast, comedy, film, films, funny, hotels, humor, matt, ridiculous, short, sketch, swinsky, video on April 23, 2011 by beardsofcomedy
Video Short: “The Stain”
Posted in Comedy, Video with tags atlanta, bad hotels, beards, beards of comedy, comedians, funny, hotel rooms, matt swinsky, ridiculous, semen, sketch, stains, swinsky film, tours, video short, wtf, youtube short on April 12, 2011 by beardsofcomedyUpcoming Tour w/ Ticket Links (NC, SC, GA, KY, NE, MO, TN)
Posted in News, Upcoming Shows with tags beards, comedy tour, indie, rock clubs, tours on February 21, 2011 by beardsofcomedy3.22 – Asheville, NC
The Magnetic Field (beautiful new venue in the River District!)
8 PM Show / 7 PM Doors – $10 Cover
Reservations at 828 – 257-4003, or stop by the Field in person.
Special guest is Asheville Comedian and Disclaimer humorist, Cary Goff!
3.23 – Greenville, SC
The Coffee Underground (back in the Acoustic Room)
8 PM – Doors at 7:30
$5 Advance Tickets / $8 at the door
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158917
Special Greenville guest Charlie Grey, no way!
3.25 – Augusta, GA
Sky City Music Hall
9 PM Show/ Doors at 8 – $10
Advance Tickets: https://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1453322&cobrand=skycity
Special Augusta guest Brian Supan!
3.26 – Wilmington, NC
Nutt Street Comedy Room
8 PM Show/7 PM Doors
$10 advance through e-tix / $12 day of
https://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1410202
Special Guest Timmy Sherrill from Nutt Street Comedy & the Cape Fear Comedy Fest!
3.27 – Athens, GA (Tickets going fast for this one)
Merj Presents at The Rialto Room
8 PM show – 6 PM doors for Dinner/Drinks
$8 Advance / $10 day of
Advance: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158918
Special Guest Atlanta’s Jack Storz!
3.29 Frankfurt, KY
The Dragon Pub
$10 Cover through the Dragon Pub
3.30 Omaha, NE – Side Door Lounge
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158059
3.31 Kansas City, MO – Czar Bar
Ticketed through venue
4.1 Columbia, MO – Cafe Berlin
Free show! Reserve your spot at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158067
4.2 Saint Louis, MO – Pops Blue Moon
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158068
4.4 JJ’s Bohemia – Chattanooga, TN
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/158071
4.5 Zanies – Nashville, TN
Ticketed through Zanies ($5)
Special Guest Chad Riden!!
4.6-9 Atlanta, GA – Laughing Skull Comedy Festival
SkullFestival.com
Kennewick, WA with special guest, Brian Regan?
Posted in Comedy, News, TourBlog, Video on January 28, 2011 by beardsofcomedyPosted by Joe
They say you shouldn’t meet your heroes, because inevitably you’ll be disappointed. That could not have been further from the case last night with Brian Regan.
He had a show across town at a hockey arena, and came over to hang out afterward. TJ made the connection a few weeks ago, when Regan stopped in to the Laughing Skull, after a Maria Bamford show. TJ even told me we’d be in Kennewick on the same night, and that maybe he’d come hang out again, or even do a guest spot. I was just like, “Yeah, okay TJ. Brian Regan will do a giant sold-out arena, and then drive over in his tour bus to our little show and do a guest spot? Right.” Being “realistic” isn’t always realistic, because that’s exactly what happened.
I had just gone on stage when he walked in and sat down in the audience. It was 9:30, and we were expecting him at 10:15, so I was not mentally prepared for him to see my set, and I felt a noticeable “gulp” sensation from my heart region. I tried to be present, but my brain just went, “Holy shit, there’s Brian Regan!”
“Don’t botch it!”
“Quick, what are your best jokes?!”
“Brian Regan just clapped at something! That’s good right?!”
“Or is he just being nice?
“Should I cut my set short, since Brian Regan is here? He probably doesn’t want to watch comedy.”
“Or should I go long, since Brian Regan is HERE, watching comedy?”
I have no idea if I did well, or terribly. For all I know I spoke in tongues for fifteen minutes.
TJ asked him if he wanted to do a guest set and he did. He opened perfectly with some hair humor, and commented on the convex stage stool at Jack Didley’s, ” could they find a more difficult stool to balance a beer on? Maybe next time they’ll just put a little PYRAMID up here.”
It was amazing to see him live, and performing for a small crowd – several of whom didn’t necessarily know who he was. At one point, a phone from the bar rang loudly, and you could almost see him laugh at the memory, “Oh okay, comedy club.”
We sat in the audience and laughed extremely hard. He broke out into some of his classics and did his spider web joke, which is one of my favs, and frequently quoted.
Just to see him live for the first time would have been enough to make my night, let alone be on the same show. But then he proceeded to hang out and buy us drinks. When one of your heroes starts sending Patron your way, it’s a fun way to fall off the wagon.
He cracked us up for an hour, and then invited us back to his tour bus. I think we all battled the urge to go into fan mode and blurt, “Oh hey Brian, did you know that you’re the best?!”
At one point I let slip a question that was too serious for the situation, and I realized as it came out of my mouth:
“Do you run into challenges with giant theater crowds, that are different from the club challenges?”
In a completely sincere tone he said, “Well, you know, it’s hard when they sing ‘for he’s a jolly good fellow’ and carry you off on their shoulders all the time. Sometimes they aren’t listening, or they might drop you…”
Everyone laughed at my face.
Me getting owned
TJ had given him a Beards CD in Atlanta, and it was surreal to see it sitting there on his bus. Toward the end of the night he asked us to sign it.
It seems like stars often become stars, because they are stars (i.e. magnetic, talented, hilarious, etc). People with star power have the ability to give people around them a great experience, and a memory they’ll never forget, and it was nice of Brian Regan to be so generous in that regard.
Meeting your heroes is awesome.
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If you’re not familiar with Brian Regan (I’m talking to mostly my Mom here, and perhaps my Dad), he’s one of the most successful and well respected comedians in the world, and one of a very select few without a TV show, who can consistently do arenas, based solely on their stand up. Many of his jokes and mannerisms have made their way into pop-culture, and even some common parlance (“you too” and “take luck”). Most likely, you’ve heard him quoted in conversation without knowing it.
If you feel like laughing, here is a famous bit he does on the emergency room:
Great Review from the Meltdown Show in L.A.
Posted in Reviews on January 27, 2011 by beardsofcomedyTo see the whole review, complete with pictures go here: http://www.thecomedybureau.com/post/2967452657/beards-amongst-beards
Written by Jake Kroeger / the Comedy Bureau
“Beards Amongst Beards In a many parts of this vast disconnected metropolis populated by the phenomena known as “the hipster” (many of the male form sport an unruly beard), there is a thick haze of cynical intellectualism that has seeped into the cultural DNA of Los Angeles. Even within comedy and the intention to bring levity to a group strangers, an air of pretension precedes many jokes with obscure references and abstract irony. Again, many of these male “hipsters” take on the growth of a beard almost as a uniform of their general disdain for the main stream.
Though they have some mighty thick beards, the Beards of Comedy hardly come within a ballpark of the above description as they have an approach to comedy that, I believe, is welcoming to all (well, mostly all as long as you like your comedy leaning on the smarter side of the fence). As they have an album called, “Comedy for People”, the quartet of Joe Zimmerman, Andy Sandford, TJ Young, and Dave Stone collectively bring a take on America and “the South” that’s both charming, yet highly satirical much to the delight of the tight crowd at Meltdown Comics.
The comedic balance struck between the four who carry many comedy accolades with them all from Rooftop Comedy to being Atlanta’s Best Comedian via AtlantaStandsUp.com was so great that the show moved forward quite effortlessly even with the amazingly hilarious musings of comedic genius/special guest Kyle Kinane. With the fresh goofiness of TJ Young, the clever conciseness of Andy Sandford, down-to-earth truthful observations of Dave Stone, and the joyful absurdities of Joe Zimmerman (pictured at top), The Beards of Comedy put on such a damn fine show, I could have sworn that the crickets outside shut up.
Together, as hinted above, they bring a hope about “the South” that there are people, thinkers if you will, that defy the dreary stereotypes constantly made fun of by several comics including themselves and unfortunately played up by the “Blue Collar Comedy Tour”. At one part of the show, Joe Zimmerman took a guitar and TJ Young took a bucket and played a “Sad Emotional Song”, which, to me, a self-loathing hopeless romantic, was a pitch perfect barb on the popular singer/songwriter music that overwhelms indie film soundtracks today. Though being a far cry from “Git R’ Done”, I hope the Beards’ brand of comedy experiences a similar meteoric rise.
Currently on tour throughout the West Coast, the Beards of Comedy will helpfully extend their tour or simply go another one to stop by Los Angeles. In the meantime, you can purchase their album, “Comedy for People” here and stay tuned to the Comedy Bureau for what is sure to be a date with destiny back in LA to be beards that stand out from the madding crowd (of beards).”
West Coast Day 7: Update from Andy (from Santa Cruz)
Posted in Comedy, News, TourBlog, Upcoming Shows with tags bridgetown, comedy tour, portland, punchline, purple onion, rooftop, san francisco, santa cruz, west coast on January 25, 2011 by beardsofcomedySo here’s the thing: Beards Joe and TJ have been doing the blogging thus far. They are hoping that I won’t notice, and that the public will look at Dave and I like we’re assholes. Well I am not an asshole; and even if I were an asshole, Dave is a way bigger asshole. He probably won’t do one blog entry this whole trip. What an asshole.
I think this is day 7 of this tour: the quarter-month mark. Only a little over half of a quarter-month left to go. The time has flown by in a slow and grueling sort of way. As I sit now, being handsome in a hotel room in Santa Cruz, my burp conjures flavorful memories of the delicious dim-sum dinner Dave and I devoured delightfully in Dan Frandisco’s “Dina Down District.”
…Sorry, I just got a little carried away with alliteration and may have skewed some facts. But facts are secondary. What is important that is that The Beards of Comedy are getting super rich off of this tour.
At any rate, I suppose you guys want to know how the show at Purple Onion went. It was really fun. Dave ate this peanut butter cookie…I think something was wrong with it. Shortly after eating the cookie, he appeared glassy-eyed, and hungry. It was some kind of strange food poisoning that makes you really hungry. Dave said he’s dealt with it before, and thank goodness he pulled through in time for the show. There were, however, some lingering effects from the poisoning: slight delirium, laughing at his own crowd work, punching a heckler in the face…ok, the last one didn’t happen, but you were about to get really excited about this blog entry.
I told every joke that I have the funnest time doing. The crowd was basically like: “we love you no matter what, so we want you to do that thing about killing the girl with the shovel” …you know without saying it. I have an album on vinyl, “The Smothers Brothers: Live at the Purple Onion.” It’s one of ma faves, and it was cool to know that I was standing in the same spot they were making people laugh not quite as much as they did. All the Beards had a great time at the Purple Onion and Chris Garcia, our special San Fran guest spot, did a wonderful job.
After the show we trucked on over (with our feet) to Punchline, where our good friends and great comedians Karl Hess, Grant Lyon, and Sean Patton were performing. Unfortunately, I missed Karl and Grant’s sets, but I caught Sean’s and he did not disappoint as he always manages to not do. We spent the rest of the night hanging in an amazing city with friends from the small comedy world.
Before we left for Santa Cruz, we stopped by the Rooftop Headquarters and enjoyed free pizza from Ed’s birthday. They begged us to sign our album, and we obliged.
Last night’s show in Santa Cruz was also super-fun-goodtime. It was at Don Quixote’s, which had an impressive showroom. Rooftop connected us to Andy Wood from the Bridgetown fest, who was in town on some sort of surfing/soul-searching stop off before his move from Portland to LA, so we asked if he wanted to be our special guest spot and he enthusiastically said “ok.” He did great, and I was impressed by the raucous laughter that emanated from the chill beach people of Santa Cruz.
Today: a day off. What?! I know! We are going to find a laundromat near the beach or something. Who knows what could happen…probably laundry. Laundry could happen.
-Andy
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Next stop is Portland on Wednesday at the Beauty Bar. It’s the only free show of the tour, and it’s at 8 PM, with special guest Richard Bain. It’s not “free” like a free car wash either. It’s real free. Seriously, you can walk in the door without paying anything.
San Francisco Tonight at the Historic Purple Onion – 7 PM
Posted in Announcements, Comedy, TourBlog, Upcoming Shows on January 23, 2011 by beardsofcomedyPosted by Joe
In the last twenty-four hours we had breakfast in Las Vegas, lunch in Barstow, CA, Dinner in Los Angeles., and breakfast in San Francisco. We drove last night after our show, and by “we” I mean “Dave.” He took the wheel, cranked up music from “Clutch,” and stared into the dark fog like a very serious man. I was in the back, jolting up in a dream panic every few minutes, thinking that I had fallen asleep at the wheel. At one point I remember screaming (or at least thinking I screamed), “Dave, grab the wheel!!!,” and falling back to sleep.
With only nine hours in L.A., we packed it in. When we pulled in, three photographers were already waiting at Julie’s appartment for a heavy duty, two hour photo shoot for the article in Atlanta Magazine. From there we went straight to dinner with friends Charlie & Laurel & Tyler (who just moved out from Asheville), followed by the show at Meltdown, post-show at the Bigfoot Lodge, and a 1 am departure that began with a traffic jam, and ended with three hours of intense fog.
The show at Meltdown was very rewarding, and the audience was filled with friends, journalists, comics, industry, and all around fun people. To have Kyle Kinane as the special guest was icing. His beard is almost as formidable as his comedy.
Okay, so a little secret promo for tonight’s show at the Purple Onion, if you’re keeping up with this blog, and have a friend in San Francisco. Tickets are available online until 5 pm (PST) http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/138670. Enter the promo code, “BeardVIP” for half off (seven codes left at time of post).
Las Vegas Day 3 – George Maloof & His Icelandish A Cappella Trio
Posted in Comedy, TourBlog, Upcoming Shows on January 22, 2011 by beardsofcomedyUpdate from Joe
Early on in our show at Beauty Bar, Julie (our publicist from Better Than Nothin’) pointed out that George Maloof, of the Maloof brothers and owner of the Palms Casino, was right outside. I figured it couldn’t hurt to invite him in.
“Are you George?”
“Yes.”
“Beards of Comedy inside. You can come in free.”
(As if the owner of the Palms would care about a ten dollar cover).
The bouncer interrupted, “Oh, he’s got frequent flier miles here.”
Stupid bouncer, you live here. I only come to Las Vegas once, ever. Let me have my Maloof moment.
George said he was waiting for a “group,” which I took to mean he wasn’t coming in.
I went back inside thinking, “That’s cool I spoke with a Maloof brother,” before realizing, “No, that’s not cool at all.” I barely spoke to him. He didn’t give me money. I didn’t get a picture. Nothing. Fortunately, there would be a Maloof encore.
The Beauty Bar is a standing room only rock club and as the show progressed, the crowd of fifty spiraled toward rowdy. There was a magician/burlesque group up front who were loud and heckle-y. They were Kris Angel fans, and I wish I would have remembered that I randomly have Kris Angel’s number. I could have called him, handed them the phone, and yelled “mind freak! But I didn’t think of it, and they remained unimpressed with our lack of magic.
I went on last, as George Maloof walked in with three sparkling women. He approached the stage:
Maloof: “Can my friends sing?”
Me: “Who are your friends?”
Maloof: “They are an A cappella trio from Iceland.”
Me: “Sounds great.”
Maloof: (hands me one-hundred dollar bill)
Me: (I like rich people)
I introduced “the Charley’s” to a smattering of applause. The performance was awesome, and by “awesome,” I mean here a picture from their website:
I watched side stage, and was thankful that my set was going so well. I snapped some pics to document my new closer:
Afterward, George bought two Beard t-shirts, and asked me to plug the Palms. That’s when I realized we had just picked up a fourth sponsor: George Maloof of the Palms Casino, Sacramento Kings, and various other wealthy things.
Sponsor update:
Brown Paper Tickets
Rooftop Comedy
TrueShip Software
The Palms Casino
Everything I hoped for from that initial encounter happened, and it makes me happy to know that Maloof might wear a shirt with my face on it.
Today is TJ’s birthday and we are headed through the desert to Los Angeles for a show at Meltdowd, with guest Kyle Kinane. Kyle’s CD topped the charts this year, he filmed his Comedy Central presents, and he is an all around comedy beast. So come out, or tell a friend, or send TJ a birthday poke.
Blurry proof of George Maloof:
