- Title: UK: UK cult comedy duo The Mighty Boosh return to the stage with their hit show
- Date: 17th December 2008
- Summary: LONDON, ENGLAND, UNITED KINGDOM (DECEMBER 12, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) JULIAN BARRATT, ABOUT SUCCESS RELYING ON WORD OF MOUTH, SAYING "I still think there's an element of word of mouth to it now , I think people who didn't know what it was would go, oh what's this? They would turn over maybe but I think what it takes is for someone to go 'watch this show' and they'll give it a bit more time because it takes someone recommending I think."
- Embargoed: 1st January 2009 12:00
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- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVAVT2OBCGKU7HJ8JU8IC2MTQP4
- Story Text: Ten years ago they did stand-up comedy in a pub, now Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, aka The Mighty Boosh, sell out London's big venues.
The Mighty Boosh have fast become the UK's most successful cult comedy duo. They started out ten years ago in 1998, doing stand-up in their local pub. After they were discovered at the Edinburgh Festival, things began to take off. Now, ten years later, they have done three television series, published their first book 'The Mighty book of Boosh' and are currently embarking on their second UK live tour that takes them to some of the Uk's biggest venues, including Wembley and the O2 Arena.
Their style is unique, and surreal and reminds of another hit UK comedy team, Monty Python. The characters they created have fast secured a loyal and affectionate fanbase. Fans of all ages know the characters, the lines and even turn up to gigs dressed up as characters. Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt play their on-stage personas Vince Noir and Howard Moon - two very different men who bounce off each other with a chemistry that is exceedingly rare.
Howard Moon and Vince Noir were first brought to life by Julian and Noel in the upstairs room of a North London pub back in the late '90's. They made their Edinburgh Festival debut in 1998 in The Mighty Boosh, winning the coveted Perrier Award for Best Newcomer. Further Edinburgh live shows followed with the Perrier Award nominated Arctic Boosh (1999) and Auto Boosh (2000) which, following a sell out run at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival, won the Festival's prestigious Barry Humphries Award.
The duo joke, that their shows haven't changed much :
"It's exactly the same. We watched our first gig a while back ...and it was exactly the same as what we're doing now. ..We're sort of ploughing the same furrow but there's more people gathered round to watch us plough that furrow. That's good. More people seem to come to what we're doing , we haven't really changed what we're doing very much ."
In 2001 Julian and Noel were commissioned by the BBC to write and star in The Boosh, a six part comedy series for Radio 4 based upon the adventures of Vince and Howard. The series went on to win The Douglas Adams Award for innovative comedy writing. Having seen and loved their Edinburgh shows, Steve Coogan and Henry Normal then set about securing the Boosh's first TV commission.
The Sunday Telegraph's Paul Morley described the show as, "the funniest thing you will see this year on stage, television or film,"
with The Observer's Stephanie Merritt calling it, "A triumphant spectacle… One of the most joyful shows around." The tour culminated in a sell-out 5 night run at London's premiere rock venue, Brixton Academy, where the live show was recorded for the first ever Mighty Boosh Live DVD, released in November 2006.
After working together for so long, they joke: "We're turning into each other I think, the other day I called Julian up to talk about something and I had really loud jazz in the background and he was absolutely appalled, I think we're becoming each other. We're turning into the same person, it's like a Borges novel, we're just gonna merge at some point and you won't tell us apart. I'll be wearing a cardigan , Julian will be in the Horley Arms listening to the Kings of Leon, he's already got the moustache."
The Mighty Boosh tour continues through to January, taking in London's O2 on 17 and 18 December. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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