Bearded & Tschorn: 2007 handlebar champ Alex Antebi is in for Alaska!
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BREAKING -- I just got off the phone with Alex Antebi -- the musician and owner of the reigning world champion Imperial (a.k.a. handlebar) mustache, and he told me, in an exclusive first interview, that he’s come down off the fence and decided to defend the title he earned two years ago in Brighton, England.
What made Antebi take a break from recording an album with his band Conquistador and go in pursuit of the hirsute?
‘The Jews need to be better represented [at the championships],’ he told me without missing a beat. Then Antebi added that it was actually after we’d spoken the first time that he started thinking long and hard.
‘It was actually our conversation -- when you described my approach as the grooming equivalent of the Slow Food movement -- that I realized my views and opinions on the whole thing need to be represented. You could say you inspired me.’
Later in the week I’m going to meet with Antebi to discuss his decision in more depth (as well as strategies, prospects for sponsorship opportunities and whether he really plans on filming a documentary as he’s hinted).
But let the word go out: The Golden State is fomenting a formidable flurry of follicular fury as the May 23 World Beard and Moustache Championships draw closer.
-- Adam Tschorn
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