Beardyman

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Darren Foreman
Born	May 14, 1982 (1982-05-14) (age 26) Brighton, East Sussex, UK

Darren Foreman (born 14 May 1982) alias Beardyman is a beatboxer from Brighton, East Sussex. He is currently the UK beatboxing champion.^[1]

Beardyman at the UK Beat Boxing Championships

Foreman moved to Brighton in 2001 to study at the University of Sussex. After seeing Rahzel play live, he started beatboxing at an improv show in 2002. He was given the nick-name “Beardyman” because at the time, he had a beard.

He has gigged and recorded with Klum-Z-Tung as part of MC/beatbox duo The Gobfathers. Together, they presented Get Lucky TV's 'The Freestyle Show” in 2005. He has worked alongside Grooverider, Shy FX, Killa Kela, Jazzy Jeff and Andy C to name a few. He battled to become UK Beatbox Champion 2006 and retained his title in 2007 making him the first beatboxer in UK history to win 2 championships in a row.^{[citation needed]}

Beardyman often uses humour as well as beatboxing in his act. He has impersonated Elvis, dressed as a monkey on stage and once posed as an Austrian climate change lecturer before breaking into his set, with over 1 million views on YouTube. Beardyman also features in the Funky Sage ringtones in which he plays a floating head who beatboxes and gives good advice. His video "Kitchen Diaries" which features him combining beatboxing with cooking has been viewed more than 2 million times on YouTube.^[2]

Beardyman has somewhat of a cult following, with many of his supporters sporting the phrase "Deus Ex Barba" - latin for "God out of beard". This is a reference to the phrase Deus Ex Machina. This has mainly spread over the internet, on websites such as YouTube or MySpace. There is also a very fanatical, though lesser known following who follow Foreman's teachings as religion. They are known as "Barbists" (not to be confused with barbers) and at the last count numbered at 43 worldwide.

During November 2006 he took part in a series of children's choir charity concerts called Young Voices appearing in Manchester, Birmingham, London and Belfast.

On 10 February 2007 he made an appearance on the second episode of the BBC One show When Will I Be Famous.^[3] Despite winning over the studio audience and two of the three judges, he came second in a public vote. On the same day, he was on also on the Channel 4 show Homemade where he was profiled as the weirdest beatboxer around.

Beardyman supported Groove Armada on their UK tour in 2007.

On 25 March 2008 he appeared as a YouTube Hero on BBC Three show Lily Allen and Friends