Jedediah Aaker

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,"{{cite web |title=Willamette Geek: The Week in Geek |url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-28088-willamette-geek-the-week-in-geek.html |date=16 January 2012 |website=Willamette Week |accessdate=15 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Locker |first1=Melissa |title=The Citizens of Portlandia: Jedediah Aaker |url=https://www.ifc.com/shows/portlandia/blog/2014/01/citizens-of-portlandia-jedediah-aaker |website=IFC |accessdate=15 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Chandler |first1=John |title=Portlandia Season 3: The Best and Worst So Far |url=https://www.pdxmonthly.com/articles/2013/1/31/portlandia-season-3 |date=31 January 2013 |website=Portland Monthly |accessdate=15 August 2018}} By season four, Aaker had appeared in almost two dozen of the 37 episodes then filmed.

Additionally, he served as Kumail Nanjiani's assistant on webisodes of IFC's travelogue series Kumail Tours Portland.{{cite web|url=https://www.ifc.com/shows/portlandia/blog/2013/01/portlandia-kumail-visits-a-tiny-house-in-portlandia|title=Kumail Nanjiani visits Portlandia's tiniest house|publisher=}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Hutchinson |first1=Sean |title=15 Things You Probably Didn't Know About Portlandia |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/60769/15-things-you-probably-didnt-know-about-portlandia |date=29 December 2014 |website=Mental Floss |accessdate=15 August 2018}} He has worked as bartender for a failing club featured on the fourth season of Bar Rescue and as host of Barfly Bus Tours.{{cite web |title=Panic Room on Bar Rescue: "They were setting us up to fail." |url=https://www.wweek.com/arts/2015/07/28/panic-room-on-bar-rescue-they-were-setting-us-up-to-fail/ |date=28 July 2015 |website=Willamette Week |accessdate=14 August 2018}}{{cite web|url=https://www.barflybus.com|title=BarFly Bus Tours of Portland Oregon|website=BarFly Bus Tours of Portland Oregon}}{{cite web|url=http://www.paramountnetwork.com/episodes/n395kv/bar-rescue-ants-with-wings-bro-season-4-ep-25|title=Bar Rescue - Ants With Wings, Bro! - Paramount Network|website=Paramount Network|date=27 July 2015}}

Aaker has been involved with several NW rock bands playing bass.{{cite web |last1=Cavuto |first1=Robert |title=The Fabulous Miss Wendy – No One Can Stop Me! |url=http://guitarinternational.com/2012/09/17/wendy/ |date=17 September 2017 |website=Guitar International |accessdate=16 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Vegas |first1=Viva Las |title=Stripper Sluts Hit The Road With Portland's Two Hottest Rock Bands: Diamond Tuck & The Privates and Starantula |url=http://www.xmag.com/archives/11-12-jun04/feature2.html |date=June 2004 |website=Exotic Magazine |accessdate=16 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Soule |first1=Sam |title=VARIOUS ARTISTS Club 21, Fuck Yeah! (Self-Released) |url=http://www.wweek.com/portland/blog-24039-various-artists-club-21-fuck-yeah-self-released.html |date=15 November 2006 |website=Willamette Week |accessdate=16 August 2018}}

Aaker has been cultivating his beard for more than ten years. 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.{{cite web |last1=Rob |first1=Owen |title=IFC's 'Whisker Wars' Focuses on Competitive Beard Growing? Yes, It's an Oregon Thing, Too |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/movies/2011/07/competitive_beard_growing_yes_its_an_oregon_thing_too.html |date=31 July 2011 |website=The Oregonian |accessdate=16 August 2018}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Hale |first1=Jamie |title=Hairy Controversy Surrounds World Beard and Moustache Championships, Coming to Portland This Weekend |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/hairy_controversy_surrounds_wo.html |date=23 October 2014 |website=The Oregonian |accessdate=17 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Hale |first1=Jamie |title=World Beard and Moustache Championships Draws Huge Crowd to Portland, Spirals Into Chaos Onstage |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/world_beard_and_moustache_cham_1.html |date=25 October 2014 |website=The Oregonian |accessdate=17 August 2018}} In 2012, Aaker helped found the Portland Beardsmen.{{cite web|url=http://www.portlandbeardsmen.com|title=Home|website=The Portland Beardsmen}} The nonprofit group raises funds for transportation to far-flung tournaments, and they also organize charitable efforts such as beard-wielded car washes.{{cite web |last1=Staff |first1=FOX 12 |title=Portland Beardsmen Surprise Moms with Flower Deliveries |url=http://www.kptv.com/story/31819718/portland-beardsmen-surprise-moms-with-flower-deliveries |date=25 October 2014 |website=KPTV |accessdate=17 August 2018 |archive-date=18 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818020843/http://www.kptv.com/story/31819718/portland-beardsmen-surprise-moms-with-flower-deliveries |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last1=Hale |first1=Jamie |title=Portland Beardsmen Don Tutus, Deliver Mother's Day Flowers Around the City |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2015/05/portland_beardsmen_don_tutus_d.html |date=9 May 2015 |website=The Oregonian |accessdate=17 August 2018}}

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."{{cite magazine |last1=Saferis |first1=Camille |title=Le Crepuscule des Hipsters |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/377581449/2018-04-01-Rolling-Stone-Hors-Serie |date=April 2018 |magazine=Rolling Stone |accessdate=15 August 2018}}

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."{{cite web |last1=Bailey Jr. |first1=Everton |title=Rifle, body armor on Burnside Bridge lead to arrests during 'Beards for Breasts' photo shoot |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/08/rifle_body_armor_on_burnside_b.html |date=30 August 2012 |website=The Oregonian |accessdate=17 August 2018}} 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.{{cite web |last1=Webstaff |first1=FOX 12 |title=Burnside Bridge scare suspects: 'We are the good guys' |url=http://www.kptv.com/story/19423445/burnside-bridge-scare-suspects-we-are-the-good-guys?clienttype=printable |date=30 August 2012 |website=KPTV |accessdate=17 August 2018}} 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.{{cite web |author=KING Staff |title=Bearded men on bridge cause alarm, but it's all for charity |url=https://www.king5.com/article/news/local/bearded-men-on-bridge-cause-alarm-but-its-all-for-charity/330729166 |date=30 August 2012 |website=KING-TV |accessdate=17 August 2018}}{{cite web |last1=Kalkstein |first1=Meghan |title='Just a bunch of dudes walking across the bridge wearing camo' |url=https://kval.com/news/offbeat/just-a-bunch-of-dudes-walking-across-the-bridge-wearing-camo-11-21-2015 |date=28 August 2012 |website=KVAL |accessdate=17 August 2018}}

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Category:1975 births

Category:American theatre managers and producers

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from Portland, Oregon

Category:Musicians from Portland, Oregon

Category:Participants in American reality television series