18 May 2004(2004-05-18)– 20 December 2007(2007-12-20)
The Mighty Boosh is a British surreal comedy television series created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Starring the comedy troupe The Mighty Boosh, it often featured elaborate musical numbers in different genres, such as electro, heavy metal, funk and rap. The series is known for popularising a style called "crimping", short a cappella songs which are present throughout all three series. Julian Barratt wrote the music within the show, and performed it with Noel Fielding. Fielding also designed many of the show's graphics and artwork.
The series takes place in a surreal universe following Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding), two eccentric, failing musicians, as well as Naboo, a mystic alien shaman, and Bollo, a gorilla and Naboo's familiar. They frequently have adventures while they pursue fame.
The series has many animated sequences, puppets and special effects. Barratt has said that he approached Fielding with the idea of doing a series like The Goodies (1970–1982), as if it were a complete "world" rather than simply a sketch show.[1]
In 2019, The Mighty Boosh was ranked 98th on The Guardian's list of the 100 best TV shows of the 21st century.[2] Reruns aired on Adult Swim in the United States from 2009 to 2013.
The Mighty Boosh centres on the adventures of Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding). Series 1 opens and often closes with Howard and Vince addressing the audience in front of a theatre curtain, introducing the show and offering some final reflections. Series 2 leaves this format, instead starting in the characters' flat, with no direct address to the audience. 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 situation.[citation needed] Little attention is paid to continuity;[citation needed] for instance, in the second series the shaman Saboo is shown being killed by the demon Nanatoo, but in series 3 he is alive and well. In the first series episode, 'Bollo', Bollo the gorilla dies at the end of the episode, before the credits. However, in subsequent episodes, Bollo is also seen alive and well.
Each series of the show featured Howard and Vince and the various recurring characters in a different context; in series 1 Howard and Vince are zookeepers in the "Zooniverse", Naboo is a fellow employee of the zoo and Bollo is one of the animals that live there. In series 2, Howard, Vince, Naboo and Bollo are flatmates in a district of London. In series 3, Howard and Vince work in Naboo's magical shop, the Nabootique, and plots often revolve around them getting in trouble whilst Naboo and Bollo are away from the shop.
Several episodes featured a "crimp"; a humorous a cappella nonsense song sung by Fielding and Barratt. The crimps were sung in a scat style and were lyrically characterized by non-sequiturs that were rhythmically similar to beatboxing,[3] often accompanied by a small performance of hand gestures and pantomimes. The term was first coined in "The Power of the Crimp", episode 3 of the third season. Controversy arose in March 2008 when a new advertisement campaign for the cereal Sugar Puffs was shown to have imitated the particular style of crimping.[4][5][6]
The Mighty Boosh made the transition from radio to television in 2004, when an eight-part television series - 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 was shot with a live audience because there had been doubts as to whether the successful stage show could translate to the screen, but the actual series had no live audience.
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 second series began showing on BBC Three on 26 July 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 3 started airing on BBC Three from 15 November 2007.
Series 3 began airing on America's Adult Swim on 29 March 2009. Series 1 aired on Adult Swim on 10 May 2009 with Series 2 airing on 5 July 2009.
The first series was shot on standard definition tape and digitally altered with the film look process. Both subsequent series were shot on digital at 25 frames per second.
Controversy
In 2020, Netflix removed The Mighty Boosh from its catalogue, citing the alleged use of blackface in skits such as "The Spirit of Jazz" (where Fielding portrays the ghost of "Howlin' Jimmy Jefferson"), as well as the fifth episode of the first season, "Jungle." Comedian Jack Carroll tweeted that the removal was "an arbitrary gesture that means [Netflix] doesn’t have to put any real work into combatting actual instances of racial discrimination."[7]
The series was kept on the BBC iPlayer streaming service but a content warning was added before each episode.[8]
In the UK the Mighty Boosh has released Series 1-3 individually and in a few boxsets. Series 1 was released on DVD (Region 2) on 29 August 2005, Series 2 on 13 February 2006 and Series 3 was released on 11 February 2008.
As a result of a growing fan base in the U.S. the BBC released seasons 1-3 individually on North American NTSC-formatted DVDs on 21 July 2009. The North American series 1-3 boxset was released on 13 October 2009.
The Mighty Boosh is a British comedy troupe featuring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Developed from three stage shows and a six-episode radio series, it has since spanned a total of 20 television episodes for BBC Three which aired from 2004 to 2007, and two live tours of the UK, as well as two live shows in the United States. The first television series is set in a zoo operated by Bob Fossil, the second in a flat and the third in a secondhand shop in Dalston called Nabootique.
Noel Fielding is an English comedian and actor. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside Julian Barratt in the 2000s, and more recently as a co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off since 2017. He is known for his dark and surreal comedic style.
Julian Barratt Pettifer is an English comedian, actor and musician. As a comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of surreal humour and black comedy. During the 2000s he was part of The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside comedy partner Noel Fielding.
Matthew James Holness is an English comedian, director, actor, and author. He created and played the fictional horror author Garth Marenghi.
Michael Fielding is a British comedian and actor, known for his role as Naboo in the British surreal comedy The Mighty Boosh. He was born in Westminster, London, England and raised in Mitcham, Southwest London. He plays Smooth, the butler, in Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, as well as other roles such as Doo-Rag.
Richard Fulcher is an American comedian, actor and author. He played Bob Fossil and other characters in the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh, and Edward Sheath in the American series Jon Benjamin Has a Van. He has also appeared in Noel Fielding's more recent show, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. His other appearances include Unnatural Acts with Julian Barratt and Fielding of The Mighty Boosh and he starred in and wrote the TV series Snuff Box alongside Matt Berry.
Matthew Charles Berry is an English actor, comedian, musician, and writer. He has appeared in comedy television roles in The IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, The Mighty Boosh, Snuff Box, What We Do in the Shadows, and Toast of London, the last of which he also co-created. The series earned him the 2015 BAFTA Award for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. As a musician, he has released nine studio albums.
The Mighty Boosh was a 1998 stage show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, along with Rich Fulcher. It was one of the first incarnations of what eventually became The Mighty Boosh.
Arctic Boosh was a 1999 stage show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, along with Rich Fulcher. It was the second incarnation of what would eventually become The Mighty Boosh. It was directed by Stewart Lee.
Autoboosh was a 2000 stage show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, along with Rich Fulcher, and, for the first time, Dave Brown, Michael Fielding, and Pete Kyriacou. It was the third incarnation of what would eventually become The Mighty Boosh.
The Boosh is a 2001 radio series, written and performed by The Mighty Boosh, and originally broadcast on BBC London Live, then BBC Radio 4, and later BBC 7.
The Mighty Boosh was a stage show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, also known as The Mighty Boosh. Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher, and Dave Brown also appeared in the show. It toured from February 2006 to April 2006.
Unnatural Acts is a sketch comedy series written by Julian Barratt, Seán Cullen, Rich Easter, and Rich Fulcher first broadcast in 1998 on the Paramount Comedy Channel, now known as Comedy Central.
The first series of The Mighty Boosh was originally broadcast between 18 May 2004 and 6 July 2004. It features five main cast members: Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and Dave Brown, and centres on Howard Moon and Vince Noir, and the adventures they have whilst working at a zoo. A DVD of the series was released on 29 August 2005 in Region 2. Series 1 began to air in America on Adult Swim from 29 March 2009.
The Mighty Boosh's second series was originally broadcast between 26 July 2005 and 30 August 2005. The series features five main cast members: Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and Dave Brown. The second series centers on Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding), and the adventures they have whilst living in their flat. A DVD of the series was released on 13 February 2006 in Region 2, and on 21 July 2009 in Region 1. The DVD also included the pilot episode for 'The Boosh', made in 2003, before the first series. The episode was titled 'Tundra' and was remade for the first series.
The Mighty Boosh's third series was originally broadcast between 15 November 2007 and 20 December 2007. The series features five main cast members; Julian Barratt, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Michael Fielding and Dave Brown. The third series revolves around Howard Moon and Vince Noir, and the adventures they have whilst running a second-hand shop. A DVD of the series was released on 11 February 2008 in Region 2 and 7 August in Region 4.
The Mighty Boosh Live: Future Sailors Tour was a stage-show written and performed by Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, also known as The Mighty Boosh. Michael Fielding, Rich Fulcher and Dave Brown also performed in the show, along with the Boosh Band.
The Mighty Book of Boosh, known as The Pocket Book of Boosh in the paperback version, is a collection of original and archive material relating to The Mighty Boosh, published in 2008. The book contains original stories featuring popular Mighty Boosh characters, as well as concept art and behind-the-scenes photography from the stage shows and television series.
Bunny and the Bull is a 2009 British comedy film written and directed by Paul King. It stars Edward Hogg and Simon Farnaby in a surreal recreation of a road trip. King has previously worked on British television comedies The Mighty Boosh and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace; the film is made in a similar style and has cameo appearances from stars of those series.
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