it’s the year of the beard!

My friend, Atom, has an EPIC beard that is so epic, his wife commissioned a song from Molly Lewis to celebrate it. That song is called The Year of the Beard.

I have had a beard in some form or another since the writer’s strike of 2007, when it started out as a solidarity beard, and quickly grew into an NHL playoffs beard, and finally into a “I’m lazy and this saves me literally minutes a day” beard.

I like having a beard, though I’ve always kept it very neat and short, mostly because I’ve been working on camera in some way or another, and I’ve needed to keep a constant appearance.

See, always I’ve never been able to drastically alter my appearance in any meaningful way, because for most of my life I had to either look like my headshot, or stay in continuity for the show or movie I was working on. Sure, I’ve done colors and even shaved it (which was awesome and I’d do again in a second if I could), but I’ve never been able to even consider a mohawk or sweet juggalo tattoo on my neck or bifurcating my tongue and changing my name to HISSSSSSSSS.

But I’m not really doing anything on camera at the moment, and I’m primarily working as a writer and voice actor, so what I can do, and am doing at this very moment, is let my beard just grow until I feel like doing something about it. At the moment, I don’t feel like doing anything about it until at least after JoCo Cruise Crazy, and I may even keep it through the production of Tabletop’s RPG Show, because I kind of like the idea of having a big old GM’s beard for that show.

In which the author is bearding as hard as he can.
In which the author is bearding as hard as he can.

Some people think it’s great, others think it’s horrible. I don’t particularly care what anyone else thinks, though, because it’s The Year of the Beard and mine is almost big enough to hide stuff in it.

Discover more from WIL WHEATON dot NET

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

60 thoughts on “it’s the year of the beard!”

  1. I’m not personally a fan of beards. I am, however a fan of people doing epic things because 1.they can 2. they want to. Own that epic beard good sir!

  2. Er, um… Except Anne, right? You don’t care what anyone thinks about the beard except her? 😉

  4. I’m pleased to hear it’s the Year of the Beard, because that gives credence to the fact that I just can’t bring myself to shave this ever expanding fuzz from my face. Probably it’s a winter beard, but I think it’s gaining sentience, so who knows what might become of it… o_O

      1. please don’t lie? I just cut off half my beard. PRIOR to this decision, my beard was twice as long as it is now. And as crude as it is now, 2 medical professionals have crossed the line. DUDE. love your hairy man? gogoggoo

    2. My thought exactly. For all that bluster, if Anne didn’t like it, I’m guessing it would be gone. 🙂

  8. “because it’s The Year of the Beard and mine is almost big enough to hide stuff in it.”

    You need to do this during the RPG show. In each episode or in certain scenes just put a dice, miniature, or other random thing in and have some silly “yay you won!” prize for the first person to spot it on twitter.

  9. My husband grew his first beard (he’s 50) this past November for No-Shave November. It was a thing to promote men’s health. I really liked it so much he has kept it. He wasn’t a big fan at first but once it stopped itching he got use to it. I’m sure he will shave it off sometime in the spring but it’s nice to have around for now. Since he kept it for me, I am planning to take him to a fancy-shamcy barber to have it shaved off. Straight razor, hot towel and all.

  11. Not allowed to grow one… least not if I still want wife to even look at me.
    Probably for the best. Almost 30 and I still have quarter sized random patches that don’t grow.

    Wil, on the other hand, is about two months from rocking a half Rothfuss.

    1. Rothfuss has the mountain man beard. My guy had that till we married then I had the trimming rights (him-what’s trimming??) A proper shaping and smooth cheek was all that was needed. Plus the motorcycle helmet fit better. To each their own….gotta keep each other happy.

  14. With the tight pants and similar popular men’s styles, the beard is the undeniably masculine look for the mages.. I mean ages. I like man hair. I am really good at trimming my husband’s to look acceptable for cloud computing biz and brewpub. Beards are good. Just shave the upper cheeks so loved ones can have a place to plant a smooth kiss.

  15. Pingback: Note to self… | Leigh Wright
  16. Pingback: Note to self(ie)… | Leigh Wright

  20. In my beard growing experience it takes time for a beard to come into its own. Yours is looking like a good start. Keep it up! But again, you need to grow it for you and not anyone else. Only then the beard will be epic.

  22. Love it! Always have a soft spot for doods with beards. I grew up with my dad having a moustache (occasionally he grew a beard) and it took years to get used to him clean shaven. I still picture him with a moustache when I think of him and it’s been over twenty years since he decided to be clean shaven.

  24. My work generally precludes me from having a beard. I did grow one for a few weeks over and learned two things:

    (1) It’s really, really, really grey. For the first week and a half it looked very patchy, just because my skin is very fair and the white whiskers blend right in.

    (2) My wife declared that I was allowed to have a wild, feral beard, but any attempts to trim it or rein it in were forbidden: Wild and Feral = Yes; Tamed and Metro = No.

  25. A fine start, beardling, but you need to check out “Irish Mike’s” beard on “Big Giant Swords.” I’m pretty sure that a moth flew out of it in the first episode.

  26. It pleases me greatly to see your beard, as it shows that I’m not the only one with a soul patch that does not connect to the rest of the beard.

  27. In the Occident a year of the beard occurs once every three lustras ( the previous one was 2000, the next will be 2030). Why this is so remains a mystery and is likely to remain so, unless the government comes up with big bucks so Harvard can do the research.

  28. When I saw the last Tabletop Gag Reel and saw the awesome beard you have, I thought about getting a twitter account just to ask you one question in hope you might see it. You see I thought that beard could become a copy of Pat Rothfuss and I was wondering if he had anything to do with it. Seems that’s not the case.

    So from someone with a “too-lazy-to-shave” beard as well, I wish your beard good fortune and you, Wil Wheaton, keep up the good work.

  29. The last statement about hiding things in your bread brought laughter from my heart. Mostly because I can just see you doing that. You strike me as a man who would, because you are naturally a fun guy. or seem to be from the things you say and do. My husband has a beard. It is soft and cuddly and I like it. I like hunting time. Men who hunt let their beards grow and come to think of it; their hair. I guess I like beards for the same reasons guys like women to wear dresses. It is the male and female thing. I like your statement that you don’t care if anyone else likes it or not but I suspect that you do care what Anne thinks. Whatever. Am glad you are happy with or without your beard.

  30. I just watched Molly Lewis’s video on beards! Thank you Mr. Wheaton! I must confess I am a fan of anything that brings cheer. Am off to find more videos. K

  31. Yay for beards! I finally convinced my husband to just not shave for all of Christmas break (he works in a school though not as a teacher but he still gets 2 weeks off for Christmas) he still hasn’t shaved and I am a very happy wife (also his beard looks a lot like yours)

  34. I wish I could grow a beard, but I have weird facial hair patterns that have patchy points here and there, and I can’t grow a good mustache – it looks like a high schooler trying to grow a mustache.

    But, I do take excellent care of my face and am trying to go to a wet shave, single-blade razor.

  35. I love that song…I have to show my wife!! My kids say I have the Heisenberg and she hates it, and this song pays great tribute to facial hair

  38. Been rocking a beard for 15+ years now and my wife loves it possibly even more than I do. I’m also in a ‘no trim’ phase right now, about 3 months in. Wife wants me to just let it grow (I think this is a grief reaction to the end of SoA heh).

    I was down in Grand Forks ND a week ago picking up some family from the train station. While I was waiting for the train to arrive I hit the Walmart for some groceries and some random lady walked up to me and made my entire day with 5 words: “I love your fuzzy beard!”

  39. I love my husband’s epic long Viking beard and he frequently gets compliments from random strangers. We were at dinner one night when the most adorable little girl walked by our table and said “Hi, Santa” – cutest thing ever!

  41. I had never really let mine grow at all until this winter, when I had a biking accident that, owing to surgical sites and whatnot, prevented (and still prevents, dammit) a proper shower. Without the steam pre-treatment, shaving was gonna be a bigger PITA, so I just let it ride until early December, shaved out of boredom, and then let it go again by mid-December.

    I’m not sure it’s truly thick or connecty enough to really be a Beard, but it’s definitely Something. I’m referring to it as my recovery whiskers, and I was definitely planning on keeping it through #JCCC5, but now it looks like we probably won’t get to go after all. At least it’s insured (the trip, not the beard).

    Mine is: very, very white. Which is disconcerting, Wil, because I think I’m only a year older than you are.

    Yrs in beardism,
    CF in Texas

  43. I grew a beard a couple times in the past. Aside from the fact that my wife won’t kiss me when I have one, I find that after about 48 hours of not shaving, the irritation has me wanting to claw my neck skin off with both hands. I tried just a mustache a couple times too (a look my dad perfected) but I l bare way too close a resemblance to a 70’s pornstar for that to work. Not that there’s anything wrong with being a 70s pornstar, I’m just not one and don’t want to look like one. But I’ve worn long sideburns since I was 19 though, a look I don’t see a lot of other people sporting these days, so there’s something.

  47. Would like to grow one but currently not allowed. I showed her yours thinking it would change her mind but oddly no such luck. Such a confusing species.

    Looking forward to seeing you on JoCo in a few weeks and finally getting to collect on my tabletop high five.

  50. I have a beard myself and would go so far to say that on a beard-scale it’s nearly a wheaton. It’s nice to have a beard as a DM that you can rub while leading your players in your well designed traps.

    Really looking forward to the RPG show, especially the results of your worldbuilding process.

    BTW have you ever released the background story of Aeofel?

Comments are closed.

Related Posts

Recent Posts