Beardyman: ‘One man artistic powerhouse’

For the uninitiated, Beardyman is a hard act to explain. Half beatboxer, half improvisational comedian, half technical wizard, half DJ, he’s a one-man artistic powerhouse. His One Album Per Hour show is based on the premise that he performs ten songs in one hour, the titles and genres of which are all suggested by the audience.

Having seen videos online of songs made at previous shows (with titles the likes of “lemon scented sunset” and “Gareth the my little pony is a slut”) I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. Turns out for the most part that I was right – but to say that I wasn’t surprised would be to understate just how surprising Beardyman’s talent is.

His music is made up of largely his own vocals, which sounds fairly kosher until you hear the incredible repertoire of sounds that he is somehow able to produce as a beatboxer. He combines these (thundering basslines, intricate drums and any number of random sounds) looped and overlaid, with a selection of synths from no fewer than four iPads, laptops and keyboards in front of him, along with his own actual singing. The premise, let alone the resulting sound, is mind blowing enough.

but to say that I wasn’t surprised would be to understate just how surprising Beardyman’s talent is

This show started with an improvised jam about Beardyman’s student drug-taking days, and how we – the audience – should not take all our drugs just yet. This was based on two false assumptions. Firstly, that the audience was actually made up of students and secondly that Warwick is a fun enough university for drug taking to be commonplace.

Regardless, musically it was a great taste of what was to come. The beat started off as glitchy hip-hop, but towards the end he pushed up the tempo and brought in a guttural neurofunk bassline, ending the tune as a drum and bass banger.

What followed was Beardyman performing tunes suggested by the audience. Sadly the Boar’s suggestions were not picked, however that was, on balance, probably because they were rubbish. My personal favourite was “David Bowie’s kitchen”, in the style of 80’s Bowie, which – there was a theme emerging – transitioned at the end into drum and bass. Honourable mentions must also go to “Opening of the Middle Earth Olympics”, “Baldness as a hobby” and “DMT me”.

Beardyman’s fierce wit and intimidatingly broad knowledge of music genres meant the show was always hilarious

Beardyman’s fierce wit and intimidatingly broad knowledge of music genres meant the show was always hilarious and always sonically interesting. He even paused to tell a particularly entertaining anecdote about how he once got into a fight with Michael McIntyre.

Towards the end, a loud and burly middle aged fan tried to take ‘audience participation’ to the next level, spending the last 15 minutes loudly proclaiming his love for Beardyman whilst dancing enthusiastically in an otherwise seated audience.

The biggest limitation, in my opinion, was probably the scope of titles given to him, which says a lot about how talented he is. Although he showed a tendency to veer towards either shoegaze at one end of the spectrum or drum and bass at the other, the show was extremely musically impressive and a testament to what can be done when technology is placed in the right hands.

he once got into a fight with Michael McIntyre

I would definitely recommend seeing Beardyman if given the chance. You will not see a show like this from anybody else on the planet.