Things My Beard Can Lift

Hey, radio-lovers! Thanks for listening to me on The Roe Conn Show! In case I totally blew the interview, here’s what I’m doing: I’m lifting heavy objects with my beard every Friday, and the more money we raise for Chicago’s Off the Street Club, the heavier that item will be! I’ve lifted toys, trophies, lead weights, and a mountain bike, and I won’t stop until we raise $5,000 for the kids of West Garfield Park! Want to help– or just see my beard and my face violently separated? Here’s how:

– MAKE A DONATION: First and foremost, your tax-free donations to Chicago’s oldest boys and girls club is what this is all about. Any donation is appreciated, but the more you give, the more I’ll lift!

– HAVE CUPCAKES DELIVERED TO YOUR HOME OR OFFICE: Baking for The Taking is a special friend of the beard and will deliver a dozen of them anywhere in Chicago for just $25– and they’ll donate $10 of that directly to Off the Street Club! It’s a delicious way to donate!

– SEE IT LIVE: I’m going to lift at 40 POUND GYRO CONE at Wild Dogz Restaurant in Evanston at 1pm Friday, March 20th! Be there live for a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see something really, truly horrible happen when a man pits moustache versus meat in an incredible feat of strength!

– TAKE A PICTURE: Finally, if you’re completely broke (and in this economy, who isn’t?), you can still help! Just download this beard, cut it out, put it on, and upload a picture to Facebook! I’m donating a dollar for every person who proves what his or her beard can lift to get the word out, and it won’t cost you a dime!

Thanks again to The Roe Conn Show for putting me on the air, and thank YOU for visiting!

UPDATE: Video of the lift!

Yes, that IS an Easy-Bake Oven

Hey, everyone! The Beard will make a special appearance this week in Time Out Chicago: here’s hoping some duct-tape wallets will show The Beard some love!

Special thanks to Christopher Piatt, Jake Malooley, and Michael Jarecki for the shoot!

Wow! Lift 3 is in the can! For my 20-pound lift, Steve and the rest of the WGN stagehands went nuts finding random stuff for me to lift, all snug and secure in one of the world-famous “Bozo’s Grand Prize Game” buckets! The items included:

• A can of shaving cream
• A massive candle
• A CPD-issue nightstick
• Mickey Mouse gloves
• A foam microphone
• 24 ping-pong balls
• A bottle of  fake vodka
• Several tribbles
• Flags from the United States, France, and Germany
• and 2 5-pound stage weights to put us over the top

Best of all, some kids from Off the Street Club came out to lend a hand: OTSC’s current Boy and Girl of the Year, Dashawn, age 13, and Deasha, age 13; plus Davion, age 8 and Ashanti, age 8. I couldn’t have done it without them!

Here’s the piece that aired live, straight from the WGN Morning News website!

Good times! Thanks to Larry Potash, Paul Konrad, and Kathryn Janicek for getting us on the air! If you liked the segment, send them a thank you!

UPDATE: Some behind-the-scenes pics courtesy of Beard Wrangler Will Kelly.

Here it is: the first cut of the Beardumentary by Katelyn Bogucki!

Wait, what? Beardumentary? Oh, yes. Katelyn contacted me the day I launched ThingsMyBeardCanLift.com to ask if she could document the process, so she’s been there from the beginning, recording all the ridiculousness. Here’s her bio:

Katelyn is a senior at DePaul University, majoring in journalism and digital cinema. Throughout her course of study, she has documented a variety of interesting characters and has shared their stories through print and video.

She considers Eamon an interesting character and has enjoyed chronicling the beard lifts. After graduation, Katelyn hopes to find a job in media so that she can keep telling stories.

Katelyn would like to thank Morgan Gemeny for assisting her during the filming process.

Zoomdoggle: Beard + Weight = Cash (for charity)

Examiner.com: Eamon Daly takes the mustache for charity meme a step further: he will endeavor to lift successively heavier objects using only his beard, all to raise money for the Off the Street Club.

Dave Makes: I had the pleasure of meeting a man named Eamon Daly and his incredible super-powered beard. Now he is harnessing the power of his beard for charity… Go make a tax-deductible donation now so we can all see Eamon’s magnificent mane tested to its limits.

Well, we couldn’t keep it a secret any longer: my third official lift will be Friday, February 27th on WGN Morning News! I’ll be joined by some of the kids from Off the Street Club, so there will be plenty of help on hand when my beard fails in catastrophic fashion live on television.

You can help make my worst nightmare come true! Donate today!

UPDATE: WGN is running promos already!

Thanks to Abie for talking to me this morning on Ireland’s i105-107 FM! The man sports a pretty good beard himself, so it’s always a delight talking to a man who knows his beards!

Go ahead and add your lifting suggestions in the comments!

Did you know the beard has its own Facebook group? Join today and invite your friends! There’s going to be a special Facebook-only beard event next week, so sign up today to participate!

The Beard made an appearance in London’s Metro newspaper this morning:

By the way, PayPal also accepts pounds sterling!

The Official Star Wars Blog: Sure you can pick up your Millennium Falcon and R2-D2 models with ease, but can your beard pick them both up all by itself? Yeah, we didn’t think so. But Eamon Daly can, and he’s doing it for a good cause.

BuzzFeed: I always found facial hair to be pointless and unnecessary, so it’s nice to see someone doing something useful and productive with their beard.

The Ridiculant: People do some strange things in the name of charity – but we think we’ve just found our new favourite… we eagerly anticipate what object will be the next to feel the awesome might of his facial hair.

Thanks, Internet! The Beard loves you, too!