Jedediah Aaker

Jedediah P. Aaker (born May 22, 1975) is a film extra in Portland, Oregon. ^[1] He is also the cofounder of the Portland Beardsmen. ^[2]

Career

Aaker was a background actor on several episodes of Portlandia and was described by Willamette Week as "that guy in underwear and a leather jacket," ^{[3] [4] [5]} By season four, Aaker had appeared in almost two dozen of the 37 episodes then filmed. ^[2]

Additionally, he served as Kumail Nanjiani's assistant on webisodes of IFC's travelogue series Kumail Tours Portland. ^[6] When the series finished its eighth and final season in the spring of 2018, its network IFC estimated that the collective number of Aaker's various performances ranked below only co-founders Armisen and Carrie Brownstein. ^[7] He has worked as bartender for a failing club featured on the fourth season of Bar Rescue and as host of Barfly Bus Tours. ^{[8] [9] [10]}

Aaker has been involved with several NW rock bands playing bass. ^{[11] [4] [12] [13]}

Aaker has been cultivating his beard for more than ten years. ^[14] He's become a notable figure in competitive bearding events, winning several freestyle awards, and can be seen in the first season of IFC series Whisker Wars. ^[15]

At the 2014 World Beard and Moustache Championships held inside Portland's Keller Auditorium, which hosted 300 contestants from ten countries, Aaker emerged as a fan favorite. ^{[16] [17]} In 2012, Aaker helped found the Portland Beardsmen. ^[18] The nonprofit group raises funds for transportation to far-flung tournaments, and they also organize charitable efforts such as beard-wielded car washes. ^{[19] [20]}

In a 2018 feature article titled "Twilight of the Hipsters", the French edition of Rolling Stone introduced Aaker as an "actor, concert booker, chauffeur for rock stars, and distributor of the Lucky Egg vending machines that he installs in bars." ^[14]

Portland Beardsmen

On the evening of August 28, 2012, Aaker was among 13 bearded men detained at gunpoint by officers from the Portland police on the Burnside Bridge during what the Oregonian termed "a military-themed photo shoot for breast cancer awareness." ^[21] After an unnamed observer's 911 call alerted authorities about suspicious characters wearing camouflaged body armor, both sides of the bridge were closed for nearly an hour as the police investigated the situation. Two men were taken into custody for disorderly conduct and carrying an (unloaded) AR-15 assault rifle through a public space.

According to KPTV News, the group was organized by Aaker to aid a national fundraising campaign entitled "Beards for Breast Cancer" that was assembling a calendar featuring pictures of boarding groups from around the country. ^[22] Since the Portland contingent was designated to appear alongside July, Aaker thought the resulting photo should feel especially patriotic, which led several of the beardsmen to don militaristic garb. ^{[23] [24]}

References

1. "15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Portlandia". IFC. December 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
2. Jamie, Hale (23 October 2014). "Portland beardsman Jedediah Aaker prepares for the World Beard and Moustache Championships". The Oregonian. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
3. "Willamette Geek: The Week in Geek". Willamette Week. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
4. Locker, Melissa. "The Citizens of Portlandia: Jedediah Aaker". IFC. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
5. Chandler, John (31 January 2013). "Portlandia Season 3: The Best and Worst So Far". Portland Monthly. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
6. "Kumail Nanjiani visits Portlandia's tiniest house".
7. Hutchinson, Sean (29 December 2014). "15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Portlandia". Mental Floss. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
8. "Panic Room on Bar Rescue: "They were setting us up to fail."". Willamette Week. 28 July 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
9. "BarFly Bus Tours of Portland Oregon". BarFly Bus Tours of Portland Oregon.
10. "Bar Rescue - Ants With Wings, Bro! - Paramount Network". Paramount Network. 27 July 2015.
11. Cavuto, Robert (17 September 2017). "The Fabulous Miss Wendy – No One Can Stop Me!". Guitar International. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
12. Vegas, Viva Las (June 2004). "Stripper Sluts Hit The Road With Portland's Two Hottest Rock Bands: Diamond Tuck & The Privates and Starantula". Exotic Magazine. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
13. Soule, Sam (15 November 2006). "VARIOUS ARTISTS Club 21, Fuck Yeah! (Self-Released)". Willamette Week. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
14. Saferis, Camille (April 2018). "Le Crepuscule des Hipsters". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 15 August 2018.
15. Rob, Owen (31 July 2011). "IFC's 'Whisker Wars' Focuses on Competitive Beard Growing? Yes, It's an Oregon Thing, Too". The Oregonian. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
16. Hale, Jamie (23 October 2014). "Hairy Controversy Surrounds World Beard and Moustache Championships, Coming to Portland This Weekend". The Oregonian. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
17. Hale, Jamie (25 October 2014). "World Beard and Moustache Championships Draws Huge Crowd to Portland, Spirals Into Chaos Onstage". The Oregonian. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
18. "Home". The Portland Beardsmen.
19. Staff, FOX 12 (25 October 2014). "Portland Beardsmen Surprise Moms with Flower Deliveries". KPTV. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
20. Hale, Jamie (9 May 2015). "Portland Beardsmen Don Tutus, Deliver Mother's Day Flowers Around the City". The Oregonian. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
21. Bailey Jr., Everton (30 August 2012). "Rifle, body armor on Burnside Bridge lead to arrests during 'Beards for Breasts' photo shoot". The Oregonian. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
22. Webstaff, FOX 12 (30 August 2012). "Burnside Bridge scare suspects: 'We are the good guys'". KPTV. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
23. KING Staff (30 August 2012). "Bearded men on bridge cause alarm, but it's all for charity". KING-TV. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
24. Kalkstein, Meghan (28 August 2012). "'Just a bunch of dudes walking across the bridge wearing camo'". KVAL. Archived from the original on 18 August 2018. Retrieved 17 August 2018.