The Mighty Boosh

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The Mighty Boosh
Genre	Cult comedy
Creator(s)	Noel Fielding Julian Barratt
Starring	Noel Fielding Julian Barratt Michael Fielding Rich Fulcher Dave Brown
Country of origin	England
Language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	14 (List of episodes)
Production
Camera setup	Single camera
Running time	26 – 28 minutes approx.
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC Three
Original run	18 May 2004 – present
Links
Official website

The Mighty Boosh is a British cult comedy about two friends who go on surreal and magical adventures. It has appeared as series of stage shows, a BBC radio series and a BBC Three TV series. The Mighty Boosh was created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, who star as Howard Moon and Vince Noir respectively.

The title comes from a comment Noel heard about his brother's (Michael Fielding) hair by a Portuguese friend:^{[citation needed]} "When he was young, he had really curly hair and his little friend when he was five used to say 'You've got a mighty bush!', [but his accent made "bush" sound like "boosh"]. I thought it was funny, I just overheard them say that once and thought "Mighty boosh, that's quite cool" We didn't want to be Barratt and Fielding, that sounds dreadful."^[1]

In The Mighty Boosh stage show there was no strict setting, but in the radio series and first television series the action was based around a zoo called Bob Fossil's Funworld ("Where fun, plus world, equals... Worldfun") and later The Zooniverse. Though the episodes would invariably begin and end in the zoo, the action would tend to leave the zoo for more bizarre realms, such as the arctic tundra and limbo. The second series had an even looser setting, based in a flat in Dalston. Fielding and Barratt are currently working on a third series which will be set in a shop.

Series one has now aired on SBS Australia, BBC America, and Danish DR 2. Series 2 is currently airing in Australia on SBS.

Contents 1 Style 2 Characters 3 Recurring themes 4 History 4.1 Stage shows 4.2 Radio series 4.3 Television series 4.4 The Mighty Boosh 2006 tour 4.5 Series 3 5 Trivia 6 Notes 7 External links

[edit] Style

The Mighty Boosh is a comic fantasy with many non-sequiturs and pop-culture references. Episodes often feature elaborate musical numbers in a variety of genres, including electro (or new romantic music), heavy metal, funk, and rap, as well as many shorter songs. Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding write and sing the series' music themselves, and Barratt sings the show's psychedelic theme song. Fielding also designs many of the show's graphics. The TV series has many animated sequences, puppets, and obviously cheap but impressive special effects. Fielding and Barratt play many of the supporting characters themselves, usually disguised on TV with elaborate makeup; Rich Fulcher takes on many of the other roles in the first TV series but fewer in the second.

The dialogue is scripted but features some improvisation. In series one the TV show opens and often closes with Vince and Howard addressing the audience in front of a curtain; the viewer is led to believe that Howard and Vince wrote the show themselves. The second series departs from this format, instead starting in front of the characters' flat. Unlike the radio series, which is played as though "real", the characters on the TV series all seem aware that they are in a TV show, and Vince especially will often break the fourth wall to address the audience and comment on the action.

Little attention is paid to continuity; in the first episode of the radio series, Bob Fossil is forced to give up being boss of the zoo and renamed it "Howard Moon's Fun World", yet by the second episode, Jungle, he is back in charge.

[edit] Characters

Main article: List of characters from The Mighty Boosh

Though the various forms of The Mighty Boosh have had many recurring characters, it has evolved a "central cast" of four or five characters who usually appear:

Howard Moon (Julian Barratt): Self-proclaimed Jazz Maverick and would-be novelist, musician, photographer, explorer, cream poet, athlete, porpoise jockey, rider of the penny farthing, stamp collector, omelette dreamer and fisherman. Moon is disrespected and insulted by every other major character that appears in the show, although Vince shows a degree of affection towards him. Moon, with his love of jazz and literature, tries to be intellectual and profound, but he is usually unable to demonstrate this intelligence, and is often reminded by others of his failures, especially when he is being overly pretentious. Howard is described by Vince as "quite generic-looking", "like two hosepipes propping up a beanbag" and like a "pink balloon". He also has "small eyes, sort of like a crab". When Howard encounters anything strange or threatening, his usual response is "Please don't kill me, I've got so much to give!"

Vince Noir (Noel Fielding): Self-proclaimed "King of the Mods," "Goth Fairy,", "Electro Ponce", "The Shoreditch vampire" and "Camden leisure pirate" as well as fashion icon and would-be musician ("Vince Noir - rock 'n' roll super star!"). He can talk to animals, hence the nickname "Mowgli in flares". Vince is Howard's best friend even though the two often argue. He appears to get by on his looks, charm and style alone, and, unlike Howard, is extremely popular. He can be innocent and childlike, and has a profound love for Gary Numan, David Bowie and Mick Jagger. He was raised in the jungles of India by Bryan Ferry; he reveals this in tales to Howard. According to one radio episode, Vince lives in a lighthouse.

Bob Fossil (Rich Fulcher): Brash and, according to some characters, retarded American manager of the zoo, known as Bob Fossil's Funworld in the radio series and The Zooniverse in series one of the television show. He seems to like Vince, but intensely dislikes Howard. In the TV series he is apparently attracted to Dixon Bainbridge, whom he mistakenly considers a friend. He has limited knowledge of the animals and instead refers to them by their apparent characteristics, such as calling the zoo's bear "the hairy Russian carpet-guy", and Bollo the gorilla "the naked, little squashed-up hairy boy". Fossil and the zoo were written out of the show in the second series of the TV show, but Fulcher plays a different role in each episode, including the bingo caller in the episode Nanageddon, a fisherman in The Legend of Old Gregg and a sailor in The Nightmare of Milky Joe. The character of Bob Fossil does appear, however, in the ending to The Nightmare of Milky Joe as the presenter of the "Pie-Face Showcase". As a running joke, characters played by Fulcher are often heard to cry out "A little to the left" when attacked by another character or group of characters.

Bollo (Peter Elliott for TV series 1, Dave Brown for TV series 2, radio series and live show): The oldest ape in captivity. His age is disputed: in the radio shows he's described as "100 years old", while in second TV series it is given as 40, his "press" age being 29. In the radio show and first TV series he is a resident of the zoo, first appearing in the episode Mutants posing as Caesar whilst Vince paints his portrait. In the second TV series he is Naboo's familiar and lives in the flat with Howard, Naboo and Vince. Some facts of his long life are revealed: he has a regular DJ spot at a Roller Disco which has raised his status such that he is able to play out at Fabric, he once hosted a chat show, and he killed his childhood friend, first cutting off his feet and then his head. Since the live show he has been working as a chef in Fresh and Wild.

Naboo (the Enigma) (Michael Fielding): Appears only in the TV series and the recent live show. A mystical and mysterious - yet very laid back - shaman. Originally worked in the zoo as a kiosk operator, but in the second TV series shares a flat with Howard, Vince and Bollo. More often than not, he rescues Howard and Vince from the dangerous situations they find themselves in. Naboo is played by Noel Fielding's brother Michael, who joined the cast by accident when he tagged along to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival.

[edit] Recurring themes

• Vince and Howard, who, in the first series, actually pose as actors themselves playing the parts of zookeepers in the show, make little effort to hide that The Mighty Boosh is a production with budget constraints (though the budget itself is not negligible). For example, in Bollo, when Howard is supposedly haunting Vince from beyond the grave:

“

Vince: Are you really a ghost? That is genius... [pokes Howard roughly in the chest] Howard: What are you doing? Vince: Sorry, I thought I could put my hand through you. Howard: No, we spent all the budget on your hair, remember? Vince: Sorry about that. [leering at camera] It is looking good.

”

• Much of the artwork created by Noel Fielding for the series features Polo mints in some form or another. In the opening theme, for instance, the logo is displayed amidst a field of swirling polos in the background. Also, in Bollo, the Ape of Death and his minions appear to be wearing large polos as part of their outfits. The Hitcher, a comically Cockney, large thumbed, dagger-wielding antagonist to the main characters, is also portrayed with a polo for his left eye. In Electro Vince wears a pair of black underwear covered in polos over his trousers while performing in his new band.

• Both Vince and Howard are shown to have very distinct musical tastes, particularly Howard, who takes pride in being a multi-instrumentalist with a passion for jazz from his youth. This is in contrast to Vince's taste for more contemporary, yet pre-1990's genres such as electronic or rock-based music, particularly Gary Numan. He is supposed to have converted many of the animals into fans of this musician. Youth subcultures associated with these styles of music are also touched upon, with the two leading characters often trying to cast themselves into certain stereotypes (goth, mod, rocker, et cetera), sometimes to attract members of the opposite sex.

• Mrs. Gideon (played by Victoria Wicks) is the centre of Howard's failing love life. However hard he tries, Vince always seems to get far more attention and recognition than him. This comes to a climax when, after returning Mrs. Gideon's prize python, Tony, she cannot remember Howard's name, despite his having worked there for "10 years". Ultimately, Vince has to hold up a giant placard with "HOWARD" scrawled on it to aid her memory. This theme is confined to the first series.

• The show has had a few particularly memorable moments when inanimate objects in a scene have been replaced by a person dressed as the object, personifying it. A supporting character sets up a gag by telling Howard and Vince to "gather round" or "come closer" in order that they may be informed of something, usually a story critical to the plot. When a set piece - played by an actor dressed to resemble it - begins to follow suit, it is told back (e.g. "Not you, Fire" - Series 1). Trademark gags like these, even when recurring only occasionally, have contributed significantly to the show's cult status, and are fan favourites on tours. It is also similar to the technique of puppetry used in The Young Ones.

• Vince has sometimes helped a supporting character in some way or another and as a show of their thanks they give him a horn to blow in case he is in danger. Whenever he does though they are preoccupied in an odd manner. For example, "Sandstorm" in the Series 2 episode The Fountain of Youth, is seen masturbating to pictures of DIY catalogues when Vince sounds his horn. In Series 1 Episode "The Hitcher", Bryan Ferry cannot hear his signal horn over his hoovering.

• Vince is often mistaken for a woman due to his somewhat androgynous appearance. Dixon refers to the pair as "Howard Moon and his ugly girlfriend" and Kodiak Jack refers to Vince as a "young, nubile princess", while the Ape of Death believes Vince is Howard's wife.

• Howard is often mistaken for Vince's father. In the live stage show, Vince opens a fan-letter that reads 'Dear Vince, I think you are so amazing and brilliant, and your hair is so big and tall and nice and I really like you. The only thing is, is why do have to have your dad in the show?'. Also, in the second series of the T.V show, a clip shows Vince and Howard as children in school, but Vince appears to be 10 years old and Howard still looks around 40, prompting Howard to retort with his usual claim "We're the same age!".

• Whenever faced with life-threatening danger, Howard often says: "Don't kill me, I've got so much to give!". In the same situations, characters played by Rich Fulcher often say "A little to the left".

[edit] History

[edit] Stage shows

Fielding and Barratt conceived of The Mighty Boosh whilst working on Stewart Lee's Edinburgh show King Dong vs. Moby Dick in which they played a giant penis and a whale respectively.

Barratt and Fielding took The Mighty Boosh to the Edinburgh Festival in 1998, recruiting fellow comedian Rich Fulcher, whom the pair had met working on a television series called Unnatural Acts. The show won the Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. During their residency at the Hen and Chickens Theatre in North London the following year, they built up a cult following and introduced new characters whilst developing old ones.

In 1999, they returned to the Edinburgh Festival with a new show, Arctic Boosh, which sold out every night and won a nomination for the Perrier Award. It was the first time Dave Brown worked on a Boosh show playing a variety of characters, as well as acting as choreographer and photographer.

In 2000, while performing their third stage show Autoboosh at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, they won the festival's Barry Humphries Award. Noel's brother Michael and his friend Pete (who worked in Dixons) also went along for the journey, but ended up going on stage with the cast every night. Michael became a permanent fixture.

In 2006, The Mighty Boosh recommenced their live stage show with a sell-out UK tour, culminating in two extra dates at the Brixton Academy for the filming of a DVD.

[edit] Radio series

The Boosh were signed by the BBC soon after the success of Autoboosh and in October 2001 The Mighty Boosh radio series, produced by Danny Wallace, was first broadcast on BBC London Live, then BBC Radio 4 , and later BBC 7. This six-part series won the Douglas Adams Award for innovative comedy writing, an award which was created to honour this specific series and has not been awarded since. The set is now available from the BBC on Audio CD.

The Mighty Boosh returned to radio again on 22 October 2004, when they did a comedy special for The Breezeblock, a show on BBC Radio 1.

Episode List

1. Stolen: A mysterious character called "The Phantom" is stealing animals from the zoo. Howard and Vince go on a mission to find the thief and the sinister figure behind the plot.
2. Jungle: Tired of Bob Fossil's management, Howard and Vince venture into the zoo's Jungle Room in search of former zoo boss Tommy Nookah, who disappeared there long ago.
3. Jazz: Vince forms a rock band, but after annoying the guitarist Dave, and driving him to quit, he calls on Howard to overcome the Spirit of Jazz and join them.
4. Mutants: When keeper Joey Moose is savagely bitten, Howard and Vince investigate and discover Bob Fossil is breeding mutant animals to sell to wealthy businessmen.
5. Tundra: Bob Fossil sends Vince to Spain and Howard to the Arctic to collect more animals for the zoo. Our heroes end up back together facing the perils of the tundra.
6. Hitcher: Howard and Vince take Tony the prawn to the Zoo For Animal Offenders. Along the way they meet a mysterious hitch-hiker, and end up in the bizarre world of "The People of the Box".

Additional characters who appeared or were mentioned in the radio series can be found under the list of characters from The Mighty Boosh. Lyrics to the songs performed on the radio and stage shows can be found here.

The plots to all the episodes except Stolen were reworked extensively and reused in the first TV series.

[edit] Television series

Like many other successful British comedies such as Dead Ringers, Goodness Gracious Me and Little Britain, The Mighty Boosh made the transition from radio to television in 2004, when an eight part television series - also called The Mighty Boosh - was commissioned by the BBC. It was directed by Paul King and produced by Baby Cow Productions. The pilot episode was directed by Steve Bendelack, and a large portion of the pilot episode was used in the actual series, in the episode Tundra.

Series 1 of the television version of the The Mighty Boosh expanded on the radio series. It was first broadcast on BBC Three on 18 May 2004 and, from 9 November, also on BBC Two, although in a different order and with the mild swearing censored or edited out. (The censors were not infallible in their task, however. In one case, a word that had been bleeped out in a particular scene was left written in fully legible form on Howard's back seconds later.) A second series began showing on BBC Three on 26 July 2005, though strangely with a smaller budget. A full-length preview of the following week's episode was available online at the BBC's Boosh webpage. Series 1 was released on DVD (Region 2) on August 29, 2005, and Series 2 on February 13, 2006. Series 1 has also been released on DVD (Region 4) in Australia. .

According to a news item on a fan website, a third series is planned to air in summer of 2007. This was confirmed by Fielding and Barratt on Jo Whiley's Radio 1 show on the 8th November, stating that they are currently recording the episodes.

The pair also told Jonathan Ross that they wanted to call series 3 "series 4", so that future generations can wonder where the third series is.^{[citation needed]}

Episode List

Main article: List of The Mighty Boosh episodes

Pilot: (see Tundra).

Series 1

1. Killeroo: Howard is blackmailed by Bob Fossil, who forces him to fight a kangaroo or he'll put pictures of Howard, naked, all over his body and run around the zoo. However Howard has an embarrassing feature on his torso, thus forced to fight; Vince decides to help him by training him up.
2. Mutants: Animals go missing in the zoo, and when Joey Moose also disappears, Howard decides to investigate. He finds certain animals mutated and mixed together and tries to help.
3. Bollo: Bollo becomes terminally ill, but the Reaper mistakenly takes Howard instead while he is dressed as an ape. Vince travels to Monkey Hell to save him.
4. Tundra: After Dixon Bainbridge boasts to the zoo about his expeditions to the arctic, Howard travels to the arctic with Vince to prove he is more of a man than Bainbridge by retrieving the Egg of Mantumbi. See also: Pilot.
5. Jungle: Bainbridge is selling the zoo, but Howard is determined not to let him, and ventures into the jungle room in search of Tommy, Howard's hero
6. Charlie: Vince's illustrated stories about a hideous bubblegum creature named Charlie become famous, and he becomes a writer. However, the dream is quickly shattered by dastardly villain and zoo owner Bainbridge. Meanwhile, Howard undergoes psychiatric help from resident shaman Naboo.
7. Electro: Vince joins an "electro" band, but after annoying keyboard player Johnny Two-Hats out of the band, he calls on Howard to overcome the Spirit of Jazz and help him out.
8. Hitcher: A bear goes wild in the zoo in disgust of Howard's jazz funk music, Howard and Vince take him to the Zoo For Animal Offenders. Vince leads them along a forest road and they soon get lost. Howard encounters a Hitcher with a interesting box. Howard drives away and looks into the box and is lead into a strange zoo.

Series 2

1. Call of the Yeti: On a cabin holiday in the woods, Howard sets out to become a famous photographer in exchange for Kodiak Jack to have "time" with Vince!
2. The Priest and the Beast: For inspiration, Naboo tells Howard and Vince the story of Rudi Van Disarnio and Spider Dijon, the bongo brothers who went searching for a new sound.
3. Nanageddon: Trying to impress goth girls, Howard and Vince set loose an evil demon who steals the book of Black Magic. Naboo is sent to the board a Shaman and has his magic revoked. Vince and Howard set out to help.
4. The Fountain of Youth: Howard and Vince travel to Xooberon to find the fountain of youth. However, an old enemy searches for the same
5. The Legend of Old Gregg: After a failed gig, Howard and Vince go fishing to get the creative juices flowing. Howard finds himself in tricky situations with a creature from the sea.
6. The Nightmare of Milky Joe: Howard and Vince are trapped on a desert island with only Howard's basic tools and a Kings of Leon CD, after being made to walk the plank for cutting the captain's hair.

Sweet - Also on the second disc of the series two DVD there is a short film starring Noel and Julian called Sweet. It revolves around Pete Sweet and his experiences involving the two timing of his imaginary girlfriend with a 'real woman' and the predicament in which he finds himself as a result of this.

[edit] The Mighty Boosh 2006 tour

The Boosh went on tour again in 2006. The main story, "The Ruby of Kukundu" - in which Howard and Vince travel to the Arctic and Spain respectively in search of the mystical gem that can restore the life of Naboo, slain by The Hitcher - draws heavily upon the well-known "Tundra" scenario used previously in the TV pilot, both the TV and radio series, and the Edinburgh show Arctic Boosh. The tour unites all the main characters - Vince, Howard, Bob Fossil, Naboo and Bollo - and brings in the most popular of the minor characters - the Moon, The Hitcher, Old Gregg and Rudi Van Disarzio - for a number of cameo appearances.

Due to the success of the tour, two extra Brixton Academy dates were added for 21 April and 22 April 2006. This was due to the filming of the 2-disc live DVD, which was released in the UK on 13 November 2006.

[edit] Series 3

On the 27th March 2007, subscribers to the Mighty Boosh's official website received an e-mail with news of the new series. The e-mail told fans that the new series is currently in the writing stage, and filming would begin in May, with it likely to be broadcast later in the year. In addition to this, the e-mail said that the third series would be "set in a shop and it involves magic eels, flying teeth an a moccasin called Stephen." Also, it told of a new TV series which was being planned. They described it as a bit like the Boosh, but coming from a different direction, which would be followed by a nation wide tour in 2008.

[edit] Trivia

• Throughout the radio and TV series, Euro is the currency used, despite the fact that the series is set in Britain, where the Pound sterling is used.
• The show credits as executive producers comedians Steve Coogan and Henry Normal, the owners of the producing company Baby Cow Productions. Steve Coogan had also expressed interest to guest star in the episode 'The Call of the Yeti' of the Mighty Boosh as the character of Kodiak Jack as revealed by the audio commentary, however Barratt and Fielding had to decline as the character had been promised to Rich Fulcher.
• Fielding's parents have both had parts in the television show. Noel's mother played a witch on the board of shamans (along with Barratt's father who played another member of the board), while his father played Chris de Burgh.
• Also a member of the board of Shamans, was Noel's six year old cousin, who plays Kirk, described by Saboo as 'an erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind'. This line was an improvisation by Richard Ayoade playing Saboo. In the DVD commentary Noel Fielding proudly states that his cousin responded well to the improvisations, and also that he feels he may have created a 'luvvie' because the child has now joined a drama club.
• In the first episode of Series One ("Killeroo"), the opening part of the Dies Irae from Mozart's Requiem is played when Howard appears to be losing the boxing match.
• The Mighty Boosh won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2007
• The official fanclub members are known as Modwolves, in reference to characters from the 'Jungle' episode in series one.
• In series one, each show started with an introduction with Barratt and Fielding, whereas this was replaced in series two by morsels of film starring Noel as the moon wearing shaving cream, scattered throughout each episode.
• The Mighty Boosh 2006 Tour won a 2007 Chortle award for the best full-length show.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ YouTube [1] Interview on BBC Breakfast News, 2006

[edit] External links

• Official site of The Mighty Boosh
• Boosh Fansite
• The Mighty Boosh at the Internet Movie Database
• BBC Three Mighty Boosh TV mini-site(website inactive- probably until new series)
• BBC comedy site
• Top Ten Mighty Boosh Clips A well-compiled selection of the best Mighty Boosh moments
• Stand-up routines, interviews and other rarities featuring the stars of The Mighty Boosh