The Mighty Boosh | |
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The Mighty Boosh's title card.
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Created by | Noel Fielding Julian Barratt |
Starring | Noel Fielding Julian Barratt Michael Fielding Rich Fulcher Dave Brown |
Theme music composer | Julian Barratt |
Country of origin | ![]() |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 20 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Steve Coogan Mark Freeland Henry Normal |
Camera setup | Single camera |
Running time | 27 min. (approx.) |
Release | |
Original network | BBC Three |
Audio format | Stereo |
Original release | May 18, 2004 – Present |
External links | |
Website | www |
The Mighty Boosh is a British cult comedy about two friends who go on magical adventures. It appeared initially as a series of stage shows, then a BBC radio series and subsequently a BBC Three television series. The Mighty Boosh was created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, who play Howard Moon and Vince Noir respectively. Series one and two have now aired on SBS Australia and Finland's YLE Extra. Series one has aired on BBC America, Swedish channel ZTV, Danish channel DR2, Portuguese channel RTP2 and New Zealand music channel C4.
The stage show has no strict setting, but the radio series and first television series are based around a zoo called "Bob Fossil's Funworld" and later "The Zooniverse". Though the episodes would invariably begin and end in the zoo, the main characters 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. The third series is set in a shop in Shoreditch owned by Naboo (the "Nabootique"), who is played by Noel Fielding's brother, Michael. It was recently revealed in NME magazine that Garage Rock band The Horrors would be appearing in the third series, along with Razorlight. The third series of the show first aired on November 15, 2007 at 22.30 on BBC Three.[1]
The Mighty Boosh is a comic fantasy containing non-sequiturs and pop-culture references. Episodes often feature elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk, and rap, as well as Crimping (short random songs, the name crimping appeared in the 3rd Episode of Season 3) . Julian Barratt writes the music and sings the psychedelic theme song, and Noel Fielding often sings the series' music. Fielding also designs many of the show's graphics. The TV series has many animated sequences, puppets and special effects. Barratt, in a 2005 interview, says that he approached Fielding with the idea of doing a show like The Goodies[2], as it was a complete "world" rather than simply a sketch show. 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 TV series and is the only other writer to provide additional material.
The dialogue is mainly scripted but features some improvisation[citation needed]. Series One of the television show opens and often closes with Vince and Howard addressing the audience in front of a curtain; the viewer is thereby led to believe that Howard and Vince wrote the show themselves. The second series leaves 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 to comment on the action.
Little attention is paid to continuity; for instance, in the first episode of the radio series, Bob Fossil is forced to give up being boss of the zoo, which is then renamed "Howard Moon's Fun World", yet by the second episode, Jungle, he is once again boss. Also, in the second series the shaman Saboo is shown being killed by the demon Nanatoo, but in the first episode of series three he is alive and well.
Though there are many recurring characters, the "central cast" consists of five characters:
Howard Moon (Julian Barratt) is one of the two main characters of The Mighty Boosh. He is insecure because of his older appearance in comparison to Vince and tries to compensate by indulging in his idea of cool, which includes jazz scat, poetry and Miami Vice-style 80s clothes. He claims to be a professional in music, acting, poetry, novel writing, and photography. Although confident in his ability - he once saved Vince by using The Spirit of Jazz while playing in a band with him - he is usually shown to be incompetent in these areas.
Vince Noir (Noel Fielding) is the other main character. Unlike Howard, Vince is laid back, well-loved by the rest of the characters and takes pride in his appearance to the point of narcissism. His favourite feature is clearly his hair (a prominent motif throughout the series, as are mirrors), and he is determined to keep up with the latest fashions as defined within each show. He also subscribes to a magazine called Cheekbone (which is so 'cutting edge' it goes out of date every 3 hours-and is delivered by ninjas). Because of his fabulous hair and "glam", androgynous appearance, Vince is repeatedly mistaken for a woman in both television series. He also has many nicknames including the King of Mods and the Shoreditch Vampire. He can also talk to animals, thus making him a gifted zoo keeper. In the pilot episode of The Mighty Boosh Howard referred to him as 'Mowgli in flares'. He also likes cats.
American Bob Fossil (Rich Fulcher) is the ill-tempered, eccentric owner of Bob Fossil's Funworld in the radio series and head-zookeeper of The Zooniverse in the first television series (with Dixon Bainbridge as the owner). He gives the appearance of being in love with Bainbridge. He often shows affection towards Vince and hatred towards Howard, however on many occasions shows disdain for both of them apart from when he reminds Howard of their times of "violent love". He does not know any of the correct names of the animals and refers to them through obscure names e.g. "bear" (which Fossil regards as the Latin term) a "Russian carpet guy" and a python a "windy man" or "long mover" The elephant "the grey leg face man" and the pandas are "the Chinese guys who eat sticks." During the memorial service for Howard Moon, Fossil is unable to remember the word "gorilla" and is forced to use a cassette recorder to insert the word into his speech. In the third series of the Boosh, Fossil returns as the manager of the Velvet Onion.
Bollo (Peter Elliott for television series 1, Dave Brown for television series 2 and the radio series) is a gorilla that leaves the zoo to become a DJ and lives in a flat with Howard, Vince and Naboo. He is Naboo's incompetent Familiar; although he predicts trouble, he rarely gets anything else right, and often inadvertently reveals Naboo's magical secrets to Howard and Vince. He dies in the episode named Bollo, but returns in the next episode. In Fountain of Youth, Bollo reveals to Vince that he is actually forty years old, but because he is a DJ, he says that he is twenty-nine. In the radio-series he is referred to as a "hundred-year-old ape". As a running gag, whenever Vince and Howard are about to get in trouble (as in every episode) he says, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Naboo (Michael Fielding) is a shaman, and is friends with Vince and Howard. In the first series, he works in the Zooniverse's fortune telling kiosk. In the second series, he lives with Howard, Vince and Bollo in a flat in London, though still maintains his shamanic pursuits. Fielding's character is typically deadpan in humour. He regularly rescues Vince and Howard from dire situations. Although often relied on to sort out their problems, Naboo is always stoned and often seen smoking a hookah. He often maintains he will one day go and work in Dixons. Naboo is also known for turning his back on you as a punishment. In the third series he owns and runs the Nabootique
The Moon (Noel Fielding with a shaving foam-covered face) holds a central role in the narrative, reinforcing the surreal quality of the programme. The moon appears to the sound of what could be described as a manhole cover being dragged across concrete, this gives way to ethereal electronic music played throughout the remainder of his appearance. His character tends towards the enigmatic, ponderous, child-like and not uncommonly confused. Cheerfully relating a variety of observations, ruminations, and revelations through vague personal anecdote, half-remembered mis-rememberings and song delivered in a hesitant, uncertain tone, almost verging on broken English. Described by Tony Harrison in series 2 as an "Alabaster retard".
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Vince: Are you really a ghost? That is genius... [pokes Howard roughly in the chest] |
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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 Boosh went on tour again. 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. This stage show was later released on DVD.
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.
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. The pilot had a live audience because there had been doubts as to whether the successful stage show could translate to the screen, but the actual series did not.
Series 1 of the television version of 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 and 2 have also been released on DVD (Region 4) in Australia.
The pair also told Steve Jones that they wanted to call series 3 "series 4", so that future generations could wonder what happened to the third series.[citation needed]
On 26 May 2007, Fielding revealed that filming of the new series would commence in mid July 2007. According to the official website, it will be set in Naboo's Secondhand Shop, where Vince and Howard both work. They have enlisted the help of Richard Ayoade as script editor. The show is due to be aired on BBC Three on November 15th, 2007.[3] Gary Numan is scheduled to make a cameo appearance in an episode slated to air on the 15th of November. Also making cameos are The Horrors, Rev and Snell formerly from the band Towers of London, members of the DJ group Team Disgusting (which Noel Fielding has been named 'King' of) and some members of the band Dead Dog in Black Bag.
Filming for series 3 finished on 1 September 2007 after seven weeks. Series 3 started airing on BBC3 from Thu 15 Nov at 22:30, with repeats on the following Sunday. The whole of the next episode is available on the BBC THREE website.
The title of the show apparently comes from a comment Noel heard about his brother Michael Fielding's hair by a Portuguese friend.[4]
"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 ridiculous Portuguese 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."[citation needed]
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This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (October 2007) |
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