It’s been 20 years sinceThe Mighty Booshfirst aired on theBBCin the U.K. StarringNoel FieldingandJulian Barratt, the surreal comedy pair grew quickly from having a cult following into a popular award-winning series. While the show never achieved that same level of mainstream success in the U.S., it certainly left a legacy that reaches far beyond its initial cult status.
The Mighty Booshbegan as a stage show, winning much acclaim at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and then was later turned into a BBC radio show. From there, it found its way into the British mainstream through its television series in 2004, standing out from many of its contemporaries with its iconic characters, creepy visuals, absurd songs, and overall surrealist tone. It featured some of the U.K.’s comedy greats who have since gone on to leave their imprint on much of the U.K. and American comedy scenes. Besides its two leads, Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, the people behind the show include directorPaul King,Richard Ayoade,Rich Fulcher,Simon Farnaby, andMatt Berry.
The Mighty Boosh
The Mighty Boosh follows the surreal adventures of Howard Moon and Vince Noir, two quirky friends working at the dilapidated Zooniverse. Guided by the eccentric shaman Naboo and his gorilla familiar Bollo, they encounter bizarre creatures and magical realms. Each episode blends whimsical humor with musical interludes, creating a unique blend of comedy and fantasy.
The Evolution of ‘The Mighty Boosh’
After three runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe,The Mighty Booshwas amuch-hyped, award-winningstage show that began in 1998, later going on to win the Perrier Best Newcomer Award. Their follow-up 1999 show,Arctic Boosh,garnered a Perrier Award nomination, and they returned again to the festival withAuto Booshin 2000. After their third Edinburgh appearance, the show was commissioned forsix episodes on BBC radio; originally known asThe Boosh, the radio series followed zookeepers Howard Moon (Barratt) and Vince Noir (Fielding) as they worked at Bob Fossil’s (Rich Fulcher) Funworld.
Around the time ofThe Booshradio series in 2001, it was not uncommon for successful comedy shows to begin as BBC radio incarnations before moving to TV.Little Britain,The League of Gentlemen, andFlight of the Conchordsall transitioned to television from BBC radio. In 2004,The Mighty Booshtelevision series ran its eight-episode first season on BBC Three, a more niche television station than BBC One or Two. The series went online-only for a number of years and returned to the airwaves in 2022.The Mighty Booshfound its cult followingon BBC Three, and soon after, it began airing as repeats on the more established BBC Two, whereit found its way into the British mainstreamand aired for three seasons.
‘The Mighty Boosh’ Dominates With Its Creepy Visuals and Catchy Songs
Every episode ofThe Mighty Booshfeatured a key song; they were always silly, catchy, and acted as the hook for the entire episode. Intertwined with the characters and storylines, many of them were earworms that could get stuck in your head for days, weeks, or months on end. Music played such a strong part in the show, andThe Mighty Booshcreated their own style of musiccalled “Crimp,” a form of a cappella that was improvisational with lyrical nonsense, accompanied by rudimentary dance moves, and performed in sync by at least two people. When put together asThe Mighty Boosh, the creepy DIY visuals from the mind of Noel Fielding and the ridiculous songs from the mind of Julian Barrattfused together to become endlessly imitable, feeding into thesurrealist toneof the show.
Looking past the surrealism, there was friendship and joy at the show’s heart. It was obvious that the cast was having a great time, embracing the bizarreness they were putting forth. While the series was always cartoon-ish and ridiculous, by the end of its run,The Mighty Booshhad started to show signs of being too self-aware of its success and had lost some of its unabashedness in favor of self-referential, knowing nods. The series peaked in 2008 when they put onThe Mighty Boosh Festival,as the cast became more like rock stars than comedians.
The Characters in ‘The Mighty Boosh’ Balance Out the Series
Unlike its contemporaries,The Mighty Booshmixed up its formula on a regular basis, with each season taking place in a different setting. Series one was set in the “Zooniverse,” the second series was set in the Dalston flat of a shaman, and the third series was set in the Nabootique, the characters’ shop in the then London hipster area of Dalston. Changing the setting allowed the premise to refresh after each season and the surrealist element to take over and find new shenanigans for main characters Vince Noir and Howard Moon to get into.
In contrast to many British sketch shows,The Mighty Booshbuilt a world for its charactersrather than just bringing them out in a series of sketches. Thisworld-building formatperfectly suited the show and its characters due to its extreme penchant for nonsensical content. It was tough enough to grasp the show while watching it, as the series offered more of a weird vibe than a cohesive narrative, but the world that Fielding and Barratt built helped to somewhat ground this nonsense in its own absurd reality.
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Recurring characterswere always emerging inThe Mighty Boosh, and they were usually played by the main cast. These characters always had a very distinct aesthetic, and often developed memorable catchphrases. The Moon, for instance, was basically Noel Fielding with shaving cream on his face, superimposed onto a spherical image of the moon, rambling about being the moon. Living among a pile of garbage behind the Nabootique, The Crack Fox, played by Julian Barratt, was a distinctly disturbing invention with syringes for fingers and a demented demeanor. The Hitcher, again played by Fielding, is the most villainous of allThe Mighty Booshcharacters, with a strong cockney accent and a vaguely witchy appearance.
‘The Mighty Boosh’ Has a Longstanding Legacy
As short-lived as three seasons ofThe Mighty BooshTV series were, the series propelled the careers of the talent behind the scenes. Its breakout star, Noel Fielding, went on to produce two seasons of his own show,Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, carrying over the surrealism and similar DIY aesthetic asThe Mighty Boosh, though it never achieved the same level of success or following. Fielding went on to be a staple on British television with stints onNever Mind the BuzzcocksandThe IT Crowd, eventually settling into his hosting role onThe Great British Bake Off. Most recently, he starred in the comedy series for Apple TV+,The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin.
Julian Barratt’s profile is more low-key than Fielding’s, but his body of work is quite prolific, featuring TV shows such asThe Great,Flowers,Sally4Ever, and the hilarious film,Mindhorn, which he stars in and co-wrote withThe Mighty Booshalum, Simon Farnaby. Twenty years sinceThe Mighty Booshfirst aired on the BBC,the seriescontinues to shape today’s comedy scene. From stage, to radio, to television, and back to the stage, the show broke through with its unique aesthetic, catchy songs, creepy characters, and bold surrealism. It launched a group of comedians who still work at the top of their game, even two decades on. In spite of going on to produce a respectable body of work after the series ended, Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt are primarily beloved as the two stars ofThe Mighty Booshin the U.K., a show that’s still being quoted with its visuals and songs etched in our minds forever.
The Mighty Booshis available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
