A Psychedelic Journey through Time and Space: Final Paper Summary

A journey through time and space is the best way to describe the television show, The Mighty Boosh, an off-beat comedic sitcom created by Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding.    The show chronicles the adventures of zookeepers, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, as they are met by an array of characters like “Old Gregg (an amorous, transsexual deep-sea creature), Naboo (a perpetually stoned shaman), and Mr. Susan (a fabric-y monster who resides in a mirrored netherworld)” (Schroeder).  The show mixes a child-like spirit with adult humor like references to drugs and jazz.  Here is a summary of my contextual analysis on the show.

(Left to Right) Bollo (Dave Brown), Vince Noir (Noel Fielding), Howard Moon (Julian Barratt), and Naboo the Enigma (Mike Fielding) perform a four-way crimp.

The television series revolves around, Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding) “who work together, live together, and---make journeys into alternate realities” (Schroeder).  Series one took place in a zoo where Vince and Howard served as zookeepers.  In the series, the two were comforted by a weird, surreal situations like a secret underground laboratory with human/animal hybrids in “Mutants” (S1E2).  The two characters also left the zoo at times to go on adventures like in the episode “Tundra” where they go to the Arctic Tundra in search for the Egg of Mantumbi.  Series one was particularly different from the other series because it contained an opening scene where Howard and Vince would stand in-front of a curtain and address the audience (breaking the fourth wall) (See clip below).  For series two, the characters leave the zoo to become musicians, moving into a flat in London which they share with Naboo (Michael Fielding), and his familiar Bollo (Dave Brown).  Their attempts at becoming musicians are mostly unsuccessful.  In the episode, “The Priest and the Beast” (S2E2), they struggle to come up with a signature sound and are unable to make a meeting with a record company.  They’re awful musicians as suggested in the episode “The Legend of Old Gregg” (S2E5), when the two are chased out of London after a bad gig.  In series three, they are employed by Naboo to work at his antique shop.  While at the shop, one or both of the characters manage to get some kind dangerous situation.  For example, in the episode “Party” (S3E5), Vince is almost beheaded by Head Shaman, Dennis (Barratt), after he catches Vince kissing his wife.

Despite the strong bond, the two characters are stark contrasts to each other.  One of those differences is musical preference.  Howard takes pride in liking things that are “deep and meaningful” (“Howard”) which he believes sets him apart from Vince.   One of these things is jazz music.  Listening to jazz gives Howard an elitist complex and he often criticizes Vince for his love of contemporary music as seen in this scene for the episode “Electro”.

Howard is more mature compared to Vince in many ways.  For example, He’s very practical as seen in the episode “Call of the Yeti” (S2E1) when he designs an all-in-one explorer suit to minimize the amount he has to pack for a camping trip.  Vince, on the other hand, tries to pack every outfit he owns.

Vince has “a very flamboyant and extravagant clothing style” (“Vince”) and is known for making a few costume changes throughout an episode.  Throughout the show we see Vince go from mod (“Jungle”), new wave (“Electro”), goth (“Nanageddon”), glam rock (“The Power of the Crimp”), and punk (“Journey to the Centre of Punk”).  His changes in fashion interests have no reason except for the fact that he saw it in a fashion magazine.  Therefore, none of his looks are original though he’s adamant that he’s a trendsetter in the episode “The Power of the Crimp”. The episode “Journey of the Centre of Punk” as a reflection of Vince’s superficial approach to fashion. In the episode, Vince mimics the punk attitude, compromising his usual cheery self into one more angry.  However, when Howard asks why he’s so angry, Vince has difficultly coming up with a reason, but eventually responses that the climate change is making it difficult to straighten his hair which shows that he’s not that connected.

The show’s genre is considered surreal humor because the show dealt with weird settings and characters which was elevated by its cartoon-like sets and costumes.  Fielding was part of the reason for the show’s signature look.  He used his art background to come up with the show’s strange characters (characters like the Hitcher and the Spirit of Jazz came from his art) and sets (Adams).  Another reason was that show was only shot in studio where the creators and small production team built sets and props.   The show looks low budget although the show itself did not have a small budget.  This look was on purpose as Fielding discuses in an interview with The New York Times. “We wanted to make everything look like we’d created it, because that’s what we’d always done” he tells interviewer Dave Itzkoff.  This method was an advantage for the show because they were able to make a joke out of it.  For example, in the episode, “Bollo”, the ghost of Howard breaks the fourth wall by saying that they couldn’t make him look invisible because they spent the budget on Vince’s hair. 

The show’s use of animation and music also added a unique look.  The animation was done by Fielding and college friend Nigel Cohen and is used to illustrate a story that occurred in the past (kind of like a flashback).  For example, in the episode, “Jungle” (S1E5), animation is used to tell Vince’s backstory of being raised in the jungle.

The show’s music was written by Barratt who had a musical background before pursuing comedy (Adams).   The episode “The Priest and the Beast” shows the range of purposes the music serves on the show.   The musical numbers sometimes shows movement through time as seen with the song “Search for the New Sound” which shows musicians, Rudi and Spider Dijon’s journey to find inspiration. Like the other musical numbers, the scene is the closest a non-drug user will get to an LSD trip and in the scene, Rudi becomes an eagle, Spider receives hooves (which he happy uses to play the bongos with), and a rabbit starts playing the guitar. 

However, the most notable thing to mention in relation to music on the show is “the crimp”.  A crimp is like a rap performed by two people in unison.  It is usually just shows the connection Vince and Howard has because it is something between only them and not known by others. Howard and Vince perform the Twisty crimp below.

Works Cited

Adams, Sam. "The Mighty Boosh's Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding." The A.V. Club. N.p., 23 Sept. 2009. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. 

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Mutants." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 25 May 2004. Television. (Series One, Episode 2)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Bollo." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 1 June 2004. Television. (Series One, Episode 3)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Tundra." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 8 June 2004. Television. (Series One, Episode 4)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Jungle." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 15 June 2004. Television. (Series One, Episode 5)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. “Electro." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 29 June 2004. Television. (Series One, Episode 7)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Call of the Yeti." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 25 July 2005. Television. (Series Two, Episode 1)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "The Priest and the Beast." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 2 August 2005. Television. (Series Two, Episode 2)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Nanageddon." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 9 August 2005. Television. (Series Two, Episode 3) 

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "The Legend of Old Gregg." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 23 August 2005. Television. (Series Two, Episode 5)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Journey to the Centre of a Punk." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 22 November 2007. Television. (Series Three, Episode 2)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "The Power of the Crimp." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 29 November 2007. Television. (Series Three, Episode 3)

Fielding, Noel, and Julian Barratt. "Party." The Mighty Boosh. Dir. Paul King. BBC Three. 13 December 2007. Television. (Series Three, Episode 5)

"Howard." • The Velvet Onion •. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. <http://www.thevelvetonion.net/char_howard.php>.

Itzkoff, Dave. "The Mighty Boosh Explains How British Comedy Is Created." The New York Times. N.p., 24 July 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/24/the-mighty-boosh-explains-how-british-comedy-is-created/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=1>.

Schroeder, Audra. "Doin' It Their Way:The Inspired Absurdity of 'The Mighty Boosh'" The Austin Chronicle. N.p., 17 July 2009. Web. 22 Apr. 2014. <http://www.austinchronicle.com/screens/2009-07-17/810653/>.

"Vince." • The Velvet Onion •. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2014. <http://www.thevelvetonion.net/char_vince.php>.