A chat with ... world beard champion/'Whisker Wars' star Jack Passion

August 4, 2011

By Whitney Matheson, USA TODAY

If I had a dime for every reader who has told me about Wisker Wars, well, I could buy myself one fancy wig.

The new IFC reality series delves into the world of extreme facial-hair competitions. In each episode, we meet men with extraordinary beards, mustaches and "freestyle" creations.

One of Whisker's stars is Jack Passion, a frequent title-holder for the world's greatest beard. This week I spoke to him about the show and his famous trademark. Whisker Wars debuts Aug. 5 at 11 p.m. ET.

Hi, Jack. How are you?
I'm always good.

So what exactly is your title? How should I refer to you in this piece?
Well, in the show, I guess it's "multiple-time world beard champion." I like to use the terminology "best-selling author/handsome man."


Photo by Karolina Wojtaski/IFC

I feel like I should congratulate you on your beard. It's quite an accomplishment.
Well, thank you. But it's not all about the biggest beard, in competition and in daily life, too.

Do you know the dimensions of your beard, though?
I know that it's 24 inches long. And it's wide -- it covers up my torso. If I lost some weight, it would just be, like, head, beard, legs.

That sounds like a cartoon character.
Well, reality show, cartoon -- they're not that different.

How long did it take you to grow?
You know, one thing about Whisker Wars is there's kind of this unspoken quarrel between ideals. And I'm really into really taking meticulous care of your beard: You know, if you're gonna have a huge beard, it's gotta look good. Otherwise, you're gonna just kind of fall into the category of negative facial hair stereotypes and cliches. And this is so important to me that I wrote a book about grooming your beard and growing healthy hair. So I cut it; I cut my beard just like if you have long hair you get your hair done every once in awhile.

So I've had this beard that I'm wearing today for eight years. But it takes about four and a half or five years to get to the length that it has.

I've seen a couple episodes, and parts are much more serious than I expected.
Yeah. You know, I got in trouble the first time I competed, because the Germans thought I didn't take it seriously. And there was this big thing, like, "We don't want any of these punk American kids showing up and degrading our hair contest." So I had to start taking the competition very seriously, but as you can probably tell from watching the show, I don't take myself seriously at all.

You mention endorsements at one point. Do you have any endorsement deals?
Yeah, I endorse a grass-fed meat company in California, Hearst Ranch Beef. ... It's small stuff. Like, I don't have an Aveda endorsement, which would be probably the most functional for me.

As for romantic relationships, does having a two-foot beard help or hinder things?
It's a really good filter. If a girl's not down with me expressing one part of myself and my masculinity by growing this gigantic beard, we're probably not going to vibe on a bunch of other levels.

You know, it's too bad we're not talking in person, because by this point you wouldn't even see the beard anymore. You'd be like, "Yeah it's just there." It's not the big issue that people make it out to be. The other thing is I take care of myself. I want to look good, I dress nice. I'm a datable guy who just has a huge beard. And it really does just kind of attract the coolest chicks.

What's the most difficult part about having such a large beard?
There's no anonymity. It's like (when) a celebrity tries to go out to do something and they get mobbed by people. Nobody knows who I am, but still everywhere I go, everyone's gonna stare and take pictures. And the other thing is, I think people would expect this on a biker or something, but I don't look the beard part, I think. So it's just ... I'm held accountable by the beard.

Do you ever think of getting rid of it?
I tell guys, consider (facial hair) an accessory that you can shave off and grow into something new all the time. And you should change it up. And I feel like one day I probably need to walk my talk. But this beard ... I mean, we're having this conversation today because of this beard. I don't have to have a 9-to-5 because of my beard. I've got a TV show coming out because of my beard. You know what I mean? It's like this whole awesome life has happened because of my beard. And I would never want to give that up. It's been an absolute blessing.

And what do you think people are going to learn from Whisker Wars?
Well, I don't think people are going to learn anything. I think people are going to laugh and be entertained.

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