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The Mighty Boosh

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The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy television series and live show about two friends who go on a series of 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 Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, who play Vince Noir and Howard Moon 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; Israeli channel, Xtra; Portuguese channel, RTP2; and New Zealand music channel, C4. The title of the show apparently comes from a comment Noel heard about his brother Michael Fielding's hair by a Portuguese friend.

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 area for more bizarre realms, such as the Arctic tundra and limbo. The second series had an even looser setting, based in a flat in Hackney. The third series is set in a second hand shop below the flat called the Nabootique, owned by a shaman named Naboo, played by Michael Fielding.

Style

The Mighty Boosh is a comic fantasy containing humour 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; though it had appeared in earlier series, the name crimping appeared in the 3rd episode of series three). Julian Barratt writes the music and sings the 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, as if it were a complete "world" rather than simply a sketch show. Fielding and Barratt play many of the supporting characters themselves, usually disguised with make-up; 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 . 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.

They have also created a style of singing loosely based on scat singing called crimping. Present throughout all three series, it came to fruition in the third when Vince and Howard confront their doppelgängers Lance and Harold and take part in a crimp-off, the culmination of which is a never before done 4-way crimp. In The Big Fat Quiz of the Year 2007, Noel performed a crimping duet with Jonathan Ross.

The Mighty Boosh has a number of recurring themes including references to Polo mints, Bailey's, Woodstock, satsumas, Santana, Level 42, Gary Numan, working at Dixon's, their production budget and the late slot the show was given before it became popular.

Characters

Though there are many recurring characters, the "central cast" consists of five characters:

Regular characters

Recurring characters

Notable guests

History

The Mighty Boosh (Stage show - 1998)

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.

Arctic Boosh (Stage show - 1999)

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.

Autoboosh (Stage show - 2000)

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 a branch of the "Evil Empire") also went along for the journey, but ended up going on stage with the cast every night. Michael became a permanent fixture.

Radio series (Radio - 2001)

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 on BBC 7.

Series 1 (TV - 2004)

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 May 18, 2004 and, from November 9, 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.)

Series 2 (TV - 2005)

The second series began showing on BBC Three on July 26, 2005, though 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.

The Mighty Boosh (Stage show - 2006)

In 2006, The Boosh returned to the stage for a new tour. 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, and shown on BBC3 on Boxing Day, 2007.

Series 3 (TV - 2007)

On May 26, 2007, Fielding revealed that filming of the new series would commence in mid July 2007. It was set in Naboo's second-hand shop, where Vince and Howard both work. They have enlisted the help of Richard Ayoade as script editor. The first episode was aired on BBC Three on November 15, 2007. Gary Numan made a cameo appearance in an episode that aired on November 15. Also making cameos were 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), Lis Bailey, Trash Money, Dee Plume & Sue Denim of Robots in Disguise, dead dog in black bag and Anthony Rossomando from Dirty Pretty Things playing Pete Neon.

Filming for series 3 finished on September 1, 2007 after seven weeks. Series 3 started airing on BBC3 from November 15. The DVD of this series was released on February 11.

As part of their publicity, on November 20, 2007 actors Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt, Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher and Dave Brown were guest editors on NME.

Future

The Mighty Boosh will be going on a second tour in September through December, 2008. It has also been confirmed that BBC Films are interested in producing a movie version of the series, and though the first draft of the script is currently being written, work is not likely to start on the film until after their tour. A fourth series continues to be speculated.

Media

DVD releases

DVD Name Release dates Ep # Special Features
Region 2
The Mighty Boosh 29 August 2005 8 Inside the Zooniverse, history of the Boosh, Boosh music, out-takes, picture gallery, commentary on 'Bollo', 'Tundra', 'Electro' and 'Hitcher'
The Mighty Boosh 2 13 February 2006 6 Boosh pilot, Boosh publicity, making of Series Two, commentary on all six episodes, photo gallery, out-takes, deleted scenes
The Mighty Boosh Live 13 November 2006 1 Backstage & tour documentary, the Ralfe Band, a deleted scene, The Culture Show piece
The Mighty Boosh 3 11 February 2008 6 Making Boosh 3, Boosh publicity deleted scenes, Mint Royale promo, Boosh music, out-takes, Boosh 3 trailer, audio commentaries

It was announced in a blog post on the Boosh's Myspace page that a region 1 DVD release of the series is forthcoming, but as of February 2008 details have yet to be officially confirmed.

Album

According to an official MySpace page for Pie Face Records (the fictitious music label mentioned throughout the series), Barratt and Fielding are to release an album of music from the show, "along with extras, versions, remixes and rare unreleased stuff all to be released later in the year on their own label - this one.

Awards

  • 2008, NME Shockwaves Best TV Show
  • 2007, NME Shockwaves Best TV Show
  • 2007, Loaded LCA Funniest TV Show
  • 2007, Chortle Award for best full-length show – TMB Live in Brixton
  • 2007, NME Shockwaves Best TV Show
  • 2001, Douglas Award for innovative writing – The Mighty Boosh Radio
  • 2000, Melbourne ICF Barry Humphries Award – Arctic Boosh

Nominations

  • 2008, NME/Shockwaves Best TV Show
  • 2007, NME/Shockwaves Best TV Show
  • 2007, Loaded LCA Funniest Double Act
  • 2006, Loaded LCA Funniest Double Act
  • 2006, Loaded LCA Funniest TV Show
  • 2006, Loaded LCA Funniest DVD
  • 2006, BCA Best Stage Show
  • 2005, BAFTA Best New Director (fiction) – Paul King
  • 2005, RTS-TVA Best Costume Design in Entertainment – June Nevin
  • 2004, Loaded LCA Funniest TV Show
  • 2004, BCA Best TV Newcomer
  • 1999, Edinburgh Perrier Award – Arctic Boosh

References

External links



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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 10:47:44 PDT (GMT -0700)
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