Beardyman

Already an accomplished solo beatboxer in the modern tradition, Beardyman was further inspired by MC Xander to use music technology such as the Korg Kaoss Pad 3 to loop and sample his vocals. Through his use of loop pedals and effects tools, he effectively produces whole DJ sets via live production—entire sets where the songs (both covers of well-known hits and his own original material) are constructed, live, from his vocalizations.

As of 2012 he has foregone the usage of Kaoss Pads in favour of proprietary software he has been developing, currently known as the Beardytron 5000 MkII. "Over the past 3 years I have worked tirelessly on the system, overseeing its development and testing, improving and configuring it. I had no choice really, as the shows I want to do are simply not possible using any existing off the shelf gear, existing software or even cobbled together patches using freeware. The system is essentially my life's work and will continue to be what I use for all my future endeavours. The Beardytron 5000 mkII is a work in progress and at some point you'll be able to buy some form of looper/production-system based on the innovations developed to make my shows possible."

On 29 November 2012 Beardyman posted a live gig performed in October 2012 in Pune, India, which was the first live gig audio revealed online to solely use the Beardytron 5000 MkII. He has stated that the software for the Beardytron 5000 MkII will be available to purchase by the public sometime in 2014. On 28 February 2013, Beardyman gave a talk at a TED conference, an 11-minute overview and demonstration of the Beardytron 5000 MkII. Before demonstrating the capabilities of the Beardytron 5000, he provides an example of some of the sounds he is capable of making with only his vocal cords, such as crying babies, vinyl record scratching, buzzing flies, overtone singing, various animals, a didgeridoo and beatboxing. He then explains that despite his ability to create sounds, the human voice is still intrinsically limited by its physical and biological characteristics. He describes his invention as a real-time music production machine. He states: "It enables me to, using nothing but my voice, create music in real time as I hear it in my head, unimpeded by any physical restrictions my body might place on me." The video was uploaded to the TED.com website, the TEDTalks YouTube channel and Beardyman's website on 2 August 2013.

In a departure from his prior live work, Beardyman released his debut album I Done a Album on 21 March 2011.

Beardyman appeared in the BBC Comedy Prom 2011 with Tim Minchin.

In July 2009, he appeared at the Udderbelly during its residency at South Bank in London. This was for an ensemble comedy show called "Beardyman's Complete and Utter Shambles" featuring JFB, MC Klumzy Tung, Beardyman's comedian brother Jay Foreman, visual artist mr_hopkinson, guitarist 'J'm Black, saxophonist Hellanor and comedian Reggie Watts. The show took the technology based entertainment experiments of Battlejam to a more theatrical comedy club setting. A reduced cast version of the show renamed "Beardyman's Unplanned Explosion" went on to appear at the Udderbelly at the Edinburgh Festival in late August 2009, and again at Bristol Old Vic in October 2009.

In 2008 he collaborated with visual artist mr hopkinson, to produce a video called Monkey Jazz which visually describes the live looping process, which has had over 1 million views on YouTube. Since then they have worked together to produce various multi-camera videos of Beardyman's performances filmed at the Cube Microplex. Beardyman has also appeared on stage for improvised live shows with mr_hopkinson providing visual backdrops from images instantly searched from the internet in response to audience suggestions at Just for Laughs Montreal and Edinburgh Fringe international comedy festivals, sourcing and manipulating images live from the internet in response to audience suggestions.

His interest in exploring new musical technology is also evident in the innovative Battlejam club nights he hosts with 2007 DMC champion turntablist JFB. Here the live looping technology is augmented with live sampling of the audience to make the hook of instantly composed tracks and even live video sampling and scratching.

On 10 February 2007 he made an appearance on the second episode of the BBC One show When Will I Be Famous. 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.

In 2006 Beardyman battled to become UK Beatbox Champion and retained his title in 2007 making him the first beatboxer in UK history to win two championships in a row. He was on the 2008 judging panel.

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.

He has gigged and recorded with MC Klumzy Tung as part of MC/beatbox duo The Gobfathers. Together, they presented Get Lucky TV's 'The Freestyle Show" in 2005, and also appeared as traffic wardens in a hidden camera show for E4.

Darren Foreman was born to a Jewish family in Stanmore, North London. His brother is comedian and YouTuber Jay Foreman, with whom he sometimes collaborates onstage. After studying at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Boys, Barnet, Foreman moved to Brighton in 2001 to study at the University of Sussex. Although he started making noises at the age of three by imitating Michael Winslow from the Police Academy movie series, it was seeing Rahzel perform live that convinced Foreman that beatboxing could sustain a whole show rather than simply provide interludes within the context of a broader presentation. Beardyman's first musical venture was composing a symphony for his school orchestra at the age of ten. At fifteen, an introduction to drum and bass led to his long-standing obsession with music technology.

Darren Alexander Foreman (born 14 May 1982 in Stanmore, North London), better known as Beardyman, is a British multivocalist, musician, and comedian from London renowned for his beatboxing skills and use of live looping.