Category Archives: Reviews

Here’s what people are saying about the Beards of Comedy and stuff they’ve done, and do and stuff.

Our second album “Cardio Mix” with Comedy Central Records

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Here 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.

Great Review from the Meltdown Show in L.A.

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To 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).”

Charleston Comedy Festival Show Review

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Beards of Comedy: Fuzzy Fun at the Pour House
Laughing at the unconventional style of the four Beardsmen
by T. Ballard Leseman

There was nothing political, obnoxious, or shocking from the four fellas of The Beards of Comedy at their Pour House gig last night (Fri. Jan. 22). They didn’t holler and carry on. They didn’t over-cuss or try to gross anyone out. They didn’t put anyone down (except for the guy in the front row who was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon … but even he got a fist bump from Beardsman on the stage). They didn’t brag within their jokes and observations about how indie-cool they might be.

The stand up and sketch comedy quartet Beards of Comedy — Andy Sandford, Dave Stone, Joe Zimmerman, and T.J. Young — avoided many of the clichéd mannerism and styles of the contemporary stand-up world without coming across as arrogant, smug, or snarky. The 100-strong crowd at the Pour House loved it.

The volunteers from the Charleston Comedy Festival and the staffers at the club did a fantastic job of transforming the main room into a seated theater. It looked like a jam band wedding ceremony (or funeral) was about to commence around 8:15 p.m.

Together as a tag-team troupe for only a year and a half, the Beards performed with poker-faced confidence. Polite and well-spoken, each member leaned into self-deprecating commentary on popular American culture and the doofus lifestyle.

Sandford opened with some mild-mannered confessionals and jokes (he admitted the only exercise he does is sit-ups, and only because he spends so much time sprawled on the floor). He might have offended some dedicated K-Mart shoppers at one point. With rhythmic accompaniment from Young, his dead-pan, bespectacled imitation of Morgan Freeman reciting Wu Tang Clan lyrics (“C.R.E.A.M.”) nearly brought the house down.

Stone made fun his rural Georgia roots and the deeply hilarious Southern-ness of Atlanta culture (as a former resident of Athens, I related). He touched corny college football moments on radio, and hate crimes against agnostics, and the curious lack of Confederate battle flag bumper stickers on Lexus cars in gated communities. His experiences poking around on “the Myspace” led to big laughs. So did his bit on death metal DJs awkwardly reading PSAs on college radio.

The lankiest and nerdiest of the four, Zimmerman’s goofy demeanor relied less on a shlubby point of view. He made pretty strong argument within a funny proposal to replace bomb-sniffing security dogs and bloodhounds with grizzly bears. His stream-of-consciousness folk anthem “Sad Song” (with Young on snare drum) was hilariously pathetic.

Wide-eyed and wry, Young got big laughs poking fun at his chubby appearance and low-key demeanor. His theories on outdoor pet cats, vegetarian-raised chickens for carnivores, and the negative attitude of the Amish on doing the Electric Slide at weddings tickled the crowd.

All four Beards came together for a rhythmically-challenged closing musical number about Scientology, with Stone on snare and cymbal, Zimmerman in guitar and vocals, Young on backing vocals, and Sandford on the carefully-executed hand-claps. If they ever record an album of original songs, this weird one could be the killer lead-off track.