3:06pm Friday 14th November 2008
By Scene South
IF there was ever any doubt about the popularity of The Mighty Boosh, the compelling comedy double act comprising Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, that was removed earlier this summer when tens of thousands of fans congregated at the Hop Farm in Kent for the inaugural Mighty Boosh Festival.
It featured Noel and Julian’s band performing alongside such rock legends as The Charlatans and Gary Numan. The screaming hordes of Boosh-istas had come to pay homage to their heroes.
But it was not just ‘civilians’ who revealed themselves as enormous fans of the Boosh. Noel takes up the story. “For the finale of the festival, people from all the other bands were going to dress up as our characters. But there was a curfew at 11pm and we ran out of time before the finale. Tim Burgess from The Charlatans, who was going to dress up as the Mod Wolf, was so disappointed. He looked like he was going to cry. It was like saying to a kid, ‘you can’t go to the zoo, dad’s car’s broken.’ He was devastated!”
So Tim Burgess, and millions of others, will be delighted to hear that there are more opportunities to see The Mighty Boosh this autumn. Noel and Julian are embarking on a major national tour, visiting Bournemouth next week.
It is the must-have comedy ticket of the moment, and the show, which will also feature their music, promises to be an absolute blast.
Vince Noir, a cool dude who has the rare ability to look hip even when dressed in a sparkly silver jumpsuit, and Howard Moon, a nerdy jazz–obsessed square with a wardrobe consisting of beige polo necks and matching cords, will share the stage with a range of characters from their cult TV show, which has enjoyed three hit series on BBC2 and BBC3. The duo are taking a break from rehearsals to give me a sneak preview of the sort of treats they have in store.
Julian says: “See Naboo the Enigma and his cape of wonder. Look on in wonder at Bollo, the ape that dreamt he was a man. Discover what mysteries lurk in the Hitcher’s hat. Marvel at the Moon as he soothes with his idiot wisdom. Expect punks and yetis and monsters with elbow patches, in a psychedelic meteorite of music and mayhem.” The pair, who won the Perrier Best Newcomer Award in 1998, are certainly very excited about returning to the live arena for the first time in two years. “Live comedy gives you a particular buzz,” beams Julian, 40. “It’s so instant. You get a reaction straight away. Having spent a lot of time making television recently, you hunger for that immediate response. It’s great to find out what people think of your material right away rather than months or even years later. You can improvise as you’re going along, which is a real thrill too. Live work is incredible, and when it goes well, nothing can beat it.” Noel and Julian have been performing together since they started setting out on weird and wonderful journeys together upstairs at a north London pub in the late 1990s. They have come an awful long way in the past decade, and in the past couple of years their popularity has reached a new level. The Boosh have gone stratospheric.
“It has been amazing,” says the flamboyantly dressed Noel, aged 35. “The only way I can measure it is by the people who come up to us in the street. It used to be just cool kids, but now it’s cab drivers and chavs, which is great because it means you’re appealing to more people.
So why have the duo struck such a chord with audiences? “The Boosh is pure escapism,” observes Noel. “Stuff like The Office is great, but people know where it’s coming from. When I was young, I used to watch The Goodies or Spike Milligan, and I had no idea where it was going. We try to create a world that people can get into and love. My favourite programmes like Monty Python or The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy – conjured up their own worlds. Once you’d entered them, you could go where you pleased. We aim to do the same thing. We put in all sorts of different elements – music, animation, loads of characters. It’s never too narrow. We’ve never stopped ourselves doing anything on the Boosh.”
The creative well shows no sign of drying up any time soon. Noel and Julian are bursting with new ideas. The duo, who first broke into broadcasting in 2001 with The Boosh, a six-part series for Radio 4, have a book out and are hoping to work on both a movie and an album next year.
I can’t wait to see what they come up with next.
The Mighty Boosh is at BIC next week from Wednesday to Saturday. Box office: 0844 576 3000 or bic.co.uk.
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