Photo Courtesy Lain Crockart from Captain Fawcett
Milwaukee has its fair share of famous moustachioed men, most of whom are associated with the Milwaukee Brewers. Robin Yount. Rollie Fingers. John Axford. Bernie Brewer...
Recently, another famous mustache has been added to the list- that of restaurateur James McMahon.
McMahon is the owner of The Bay Restaurant in Whitefish Bay. He has been competing in professional mustache competitions since 2012, and this fall, McMahon participated in The World Beard and Moustache Championships in Austria, where he placed third in the Musketeer category.
We sat down with James to talk about how he got started in the world of competitive facial hair, his selection as one of Remington Trimmer's Beard Bosses, and his thoughts on some of history's most famous mustaches.
Do you remember what your inspiration was when you started growing your mustache?
I’ve been asked that question a few times, and I don’t know, I just started growing it. For a little while it was just a goatee, and I just kept telling my wife, “I’m going to grow a full mustache.”
Finally she said, “Quit talking about it and just do it.”[Chuckles]
Was your wife a big fan of it when you first grew it?
Yeah, after it got past the pedophile stage. [Laughs heartily.]
[Laughs.] How’d you decide to enter competitions?
I was watching the reality TV show Beard Wars, and they were showcasing some of the large facial hair contests. I saw that the next national competition was in Vegas, and my wife and I love going to Vegas, so we decided that would be my first competition.
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How’d you do in that first competition?
I took second, which is pretty good for a national competition, but I didn’t even realize it at the time. I just thought, “This is pretty cool.” [Laughs] So that’s how I got my feet wet, and ever since, it’s just kind of stuck. There’s a sense of camaraderie, everyone who participates starts to get to know each other, you get to meet people from all over the world, and you start to exchange your culture. It’s more just guys drinking beer and having fun than anything else.
What type of mustache did you have at the first competition?
In that year I did a handlebar mustache, it’s called an Imperial. Usually in the bigger competitions there are 18 different categories. It’s the world’s manliest beauty pageant.
McMahon's Imperial mustache. Photo Credit: Chrissy Dzioba
What type of mustache did you wear at The World Beard and Moustache Championships?
I was in the musketeer category, and a lot of them had the traditional, smaller goatees, perfectly kept. But myself and another American contestant, Jeffrey Moustache, had big burly beards and we stood out.
Does standing out and having an immediate reaction from the judge's make a difference?
It’s huge. For example, the guy who won the Musketeer category at the World Beard and Moustache Championships, Jeffrey Moustache, is from Los Angeles. He’s a professional photographer out in L.A, and he also designs his own clothes, so he comes out in this majestic coat and this huge hat, and it’s awe-inspiring, and if you’re a judge, you’re gonna gravitate towards that right away.
Does wearing light colors improve your chances?
That’s usually what I do. That’s what I did at the world competition, and it worked out. You’re not supposed to grade on your costume, but it’s hard not to, because it makes everything pop.
When’s your next contest?
I think I’ll be going out to New York in November for the World Beard and Moustache Championships.
McMahon sporting his Hungarian mustache. Photo Credit: Greg Anderson
How did you become one of Remington's Beard Bosses?
The second time I competed, I won for a Hungarian, which is what Bernie Brewer wears. I won in New Orleans for that.
After that, we got a little bit of press locally, and one of the marketing directors at Remington trimmers saw the article, and it put a light-bulb in his head, like “we gotta get in this beard game.” So we’re currently doing a campaign called “Beard Boss,” so if you pick up any Remington trimmers in a big box store, you’ll probably see my image on there.
What’s your preparation process before a contest?
If I’m getting ready for a contest, usually I use super-hold hairspray. If I had a Mohawk, that’s probably what I’d use too. And for the most part I try to limit it to an hour, because beyond that the judges can’t see all of the detail you’re putting into it.
Does it only take an hour for most guys?
Yeah, at least for me. Some of the freestyle guys can take up to 3-4 hours. I don’t think I have the patience for that.
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What’s the judge’s rubric for grading mustaches?
They have criteria in front of them. You have to use your face as part of the backdrop, because when the judge is looking at you, you need something to hold behind there so they can see the contours of your face and that enhances your features. The other thing is, what you’re actually wearing helps too. I found that at one competition, I had an all black outfit on, and it didn’t create as much contrast.
McMahon, pictured on the far left, with the other Beard Bosses.
Photo Courtesy: TNT Studios and Nick Berard
Is there a particular mustache that you saw when you were younger that inspired you in any way?
Rollie Fingers. That’s how I started it, the ’82 Brewers, that’s a team I grew up watching.
That's actually a great cue for what i wanted to do next- show you some famous moustaches and see what you think.
By all means, let's do it. I didn't realize I'd be quizzed today but I'm ready.
Rollie Fingers
It’s the perfect, tight handlebar mustache. If you’re playing baseball against a guy like that, and he’s coming in in the ninth, it’s just intimidating. [Chuckles]
But he looks so friendly at the same time.
That’s the mystique about it, because he’s such a fierce competitor, seeing a guy like that throwing the heat at you.
What style of mustache did Rollie Fingers have? Was that the imperial?
Yeah that was the handlebar mustache. Just seeing that growing up, every little kid is like “I want that mustache.”
Photo by Ben Lei, Flickr CC
Gene Shallit
That thing is huge and burly. There’s a guy who competed at the world competition, and he looks exactly like Gene Shallit.
How long do you think it’d take him to grow something like that?
For a guy like him, I imagine it took something like 2 or three months. If he had shorter hair, it wouldn’t look that good on him, but that afro really makes it work. It’s amazing that at the time he could get away with that on national television.
Tom Selleck
Photo Credit: Alan Light, Flickr CC
The thing with his mustache, and not too many people notice this, is that the symmetry of the mustache is perfect. It’s perfectly shaped on his lip, and it’s a big thick mustache. The other thing is the eyes round it out, he’s got this big ass mustache and then these gentle eyes.
Salvador Dali
To me, it’s kind of impeccable, because there’s no way I could get that thin, wispy, perfect mustache, and it kind of enhances his crazy look. That’s actually one of the categories at competitions, The Dali mustache. He inaugurated that style and they kept it.
Does the fact that it’s so thin make it harder to manage?
Yeah, for me, to keep it that way, because I have such a thick mustache that I’d have to trim beneath my nose all the time, it’d be very difficult to maintain.
John Waters
Photo Credit: Edinburgh International Film Festival, Flickr CC
Personally, I think that’s extremely hard to maintain, because you have to get it cut and shaped every single day. You get a little bit of five-o-clock shadow and it looks terrible.
Kaiser Wilhelm
Royal Opera House Covent Garden, Flickr CC
You know what’s funny about that, is when I was doing my Hungarian mustache, I was looking for iconic European czars, and that’s one of the guys I was trying to emulate. A super big and thick mustache like that, that’s kind of the suit that I had too.
There were a number of world leaders in that era who had similarly large facial hair. At the time that type of facial hair demonstrated leadership and everyone respected that.
