Meet The New Shows: “Whisker Wars”

Welcome to the world of competitive bearding.

Bearding is a sport. (Also, apparently a word.) In the world of competitive beard and mustache growing, the competitors view themselves as Olympic-caliber athletes, only they don’t luge or leap great heights or run really quickly. Instead, they grow the longest, wildest, and bushiest beards in the entire world. Welcome to “Whisker Wars”. The unlikely show comes from the mind of Thom Beers who has made a career crafting compelling television out of less than interesting sounding subjects. Specifically, crab fishing in “Deadliest Catch” and equipment hauling in “Ice Road Truckers.”

“Whisker Wars” profiles a group of men as they travel the country in search of top honors in a host of competitions, from the National Beard and Mustache Championship in Bend, OR to the World Competition in Norway. With Germany the reigning champion, over 80 local U.S. chapters attempt to come together to form Beard Team USA. Series personalities include Jack Passion (Calif.), a world beard champion and author of “Facial Hair Handbook;” Myk O’Connor (Brooklyn, NY), a member of the Gotham City Beardsmen Alliance; and Bryan Nelson and Allen Demling, of the Austin Facial Hair Club. Since the show doesn’t premiere until August, you have plenty of time to start growing.

Here’s a brief peek at the upcoming show. See you in August:

“Whisker Wars” premieres on IFC on Friday, August 5th @ 11 PM ET/10 PT