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Noel Fielding (left) as Vince Noir and Julian Barratt as Howard Moon

The Mighty Boosh is a British cult comedy which has taken on several incarnations as a series of stage shows, a BBC radio series and a sitcom. The Mighty Boosh was created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding who star as Howard Moon and Vince Noir respectively. The show is about the two friends and their surreal and magical adventures. Apparently the title comes from a haircut that Noel's brother Michael Fielding had when he was younger. Noel overheard Michael's friends calling it a "mighty bush".

As a stage show, The Mighty Boosh had no strict setting, but for the radio series and the 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 often leave the zoo for more bizarre realms. The second series had an even looser setting, based in a flat in Dalston.

Characters

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

Howard Moon (Julian Barratt): Self proclaimed "Jazz Maverick" and would-be novelist, musician, photographer, explorer, poet, athlete, porpoise jockey and fisherman. Moon is disrespected and insulted by every other major character to appear in the show, though Vince shows a level of affection towards him. His love of jazz and literature appears to exemplify an intellectual being. However, he is unable to show much of this intelligence, and is instead always reminded of his failures. Howard is described by Vince as "quite generic-looking", like a "pink balloon". He also has "small eyes, sort of like a crab".

Vince Noir (Noel Fielding): Self proclaimed "King of the Mods" and "Goth Fairy" as well as fashion icon and would-be musician. He can talk to animals, earning him the nickname "Mowgli in flares". Vince is Howard's best friend 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 and Mick Jagger.

Bob Fossil (Rich Fulcher): Brash and, it has been suggested, retarded, American manager of the Zooniverse in series one of the television show. He seems to like Vince, but intensely dislikes Howard. He is apparently attracted to Dixon Bainbridge, whom he wrongly considers a friend. He has limited knowledge of the animals and instead refers to them by characteristics, for example "the hairy Russian carpet guy" as a bear. Fossil and the zoo were written out of the show in the second series, but Fulcher goes on to play several roles in it, 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'.

Naboo the Enigma (Michael Fielding): A mystical and mysterious - yet very laid back - shaman. Originally worked in the zoo as a kiosk operator, but in the second 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.

Bollo (Peter Elliott (series 1) Dave Brown (series 2)): The oldest ape in captivity. In the first series he is a resident of the zoo, first appearing on his supposed death bed in the episode Bollo. In the second series he is Naboo's familiar and lives in the flat with Howard, Naboo and Vince. The facts of his long life are revealed: he has a regular DJ spot at Roller Disco which raised his status to be able to play out at Fabric, once hosted a chat show and killed his childhood friend, first cutting off his feet, then his head.

Cast

Though The Mighty Boosh has, at various stages, included many famous comedic talents, the majority of characters have been played by a central core cast who have appeared in the majority of The Boosh's productions:

Dave Brown is credited with having played the most characters in the series.

The scripts are written by Barratt and Fielding, though much improvisation is involved.

The series' distinctive music is written by Barratt, with assistance from Fielding and Brown.

History

Stage show

Fielding and Barratt conceived 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 who 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" recommenced their live stage show with a sell-out UK tour culminating in two extra dates at the Brixton Academy, South London.

Radio series

The Boosh were "signed" by the BBC soon after the success of Autoboosh and in 2001, The Mighty Boosh, a 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 the Boosh and has not been awarded since. This series 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

Stolen
Jungle
Jazz
Mutants
Tundra
Hitcher

Television series

In 2004, 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 first series was first broadcast on BBC Three on Tuesday 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 July 26 2005, though strangely with a smaller budget. A full-length preview of the following week's episode was available online (UK only) at the BBC's Boosh webpage.

The first series was released on Region 2 DVD on August 29, 2005, the second on February 13, 2006.

Episode list

Series one

Pilot. Tundra: After Bainbridge boasts to the zoo about himself, Howard travels to the arctic to prove he is more of a man than him. Vince goes along too.

Killeroo: Howard is forced by Bob Fossil to fight a kangaroo, and Vince decides to help him by training him up.
Mutants: Animals go missing in the zoo, and when Joey Moose also disappears, Howard decides to investigate.
Bollo: Bollo gets sick, but Howard is taken by the Reaper instead while dressed as an ape. Vince travels to Monkey Hell to save him.
Tundra: After Bainbridge boasts to the zoo about himself, Howard travels to the arctic to prove he is more of a man than him. Vince goes along too.
Jungle: Bainbridge is selling the zoo, but Howard is determined not to let him, and ventures into the jungle room in search of a hero that can save them.
Charlie: Vince's Charlie stories became famous and he becomes a writer. But the dream is quickly shattered by dastardly villain and zoo owner Dixon Bainbridge. Meanwhile, Howard undergoes psychiatric help from resident shaman Naboo.
Electro: Vince joins an electro band, but after annoying the keyboard player out of the band, he calls on Howard to overcome the Spirit of Jazz and join the band
Hitcher: After a bear goes wild in the zoo, Howard and Vince take him to the zoo for animal offenders. Vince leads them along a forest road and they soon get lost.

Series two

Call of the Yeti: On holiday, Howard sets out to become a famous photographer.
The Priest and the Beast: For inspiration, Howard and Vince are told the story of Rudi and Spider, the bongo brothers who search for the new sound, by Naboo.
Nanageddon: Trying to impress goth girls, Howard and Vince set loose an evil demon.
The Fountain of Youth: Howard and Vince travel to Xooberon, to find the fountain of youth.
The Legend of Old Gregg: After a big gig, Howard and Vince go fishing to get the creative juices flowing.
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.

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 both in the TV and radio series as well as 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 Disario 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 a live DVD set for release at a later date.

External links

@@ Line 72: / Line 72: @@
 ;Episode list
 ;;Series one
+Pilot. '''Tundra''': After Bainbridge boasts to the zoo about himself, Howard travels to the arctic to prove he is more of a man than him. Vince goes along too.
 # '''Killeroo''': Howard is forced by Bob Fossil to fight a [[kangaroo]], and Vince decides to help him by training him up.
 # '''Mutants''': Animals go missing in the zoo, and when Joey Moose also disappears, Howard decides to investigate.