12th & 15th December 2008 - WEMBLEY ARENA 17th December 2008 - 02 ARENA
The Mighty Boosh, colloquially referred to as The Boosh,NETQUOTEVAR:1 is the collective name for the creators of the British television situation comedy. Written by and starring comedians Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, the show first aired on BBC Three in 2004, and thus far a total of 20 episodes have been made. Developed from three stage shows and a radio series, it has since spawned a live tour of the UK. A recent festival has been held and forthcoming album of their music and another live tour are also planned
Fielding first met Barratt after seeing him perform his solo stand-up routine at the Hellfire Comedy Club in the Wycombe Swan theatre. The pair soon found that they shared comic interests, formed a double act, and "decided to be the new Goodies". After their first performance together at a bar in London in April 1998, Barratt and Fielding developed their zookeeper characters - Howard Moon and Vince Noir, respectively - in a series of sketches for Paramount Comedy’s Unnatural Acts. It was here that they also met Rich Fulcher, who would become Bob Fossil. Fielding’s friend Dave Brown and Fielding's own brother Michael also became regular collaborators. Richard Ayoade was another original cast member, playing the role of adventurer Dixon Bainbridge, though was later to be replaced by Matt Berry in the first television series, since he was under contract with Channel 4. Ayoade did return in the second and third series however, as a belligerent shaman named Saboo.
The Boosh soon produced three stage shows - The Mighty Boosh (1998), Arctic Boosh (1999) and Autoboosh (2000) - all of which were taken to the Edinburgh Fringe. With the success of Autoboosh, a radio series was commissioned by the BBC. Produced by Danny Wallace, The Boosh was first broadcast in 2001 on BBC London Live, later transferring to BBC Radio 4, from which the team were given a half-hour television pilot of the same name.
The first eight-part series, directed by Paul King, was then commissioned for BBC Three and broadcast in 2004, with a second of six episodes the following year. The second series moved away from the zoo setting, and instead sees Howard, Vince, Naboo the shaman and Bollo the talking ape living in a flat in Dalston. In 2006, the Boosh returned to theatre with The Mighty Boosh Live, which featured a new story entitled "The Ruby of Kukundu".
After two years away from television, the Boosh returned to the small screen in November 2007. Set in Naboo’s second-hand shop below the flat, the third series drew in approximately one million viewers with its first episode, and in light of its success, BBC Three broadcast an entire night of The Mighty Boosh on March 22, 2008, which included a new documentary and six of Barratt and Fielding's favourite episodes from all three series.
In April 2008 it was announced that the Boosh are planning to "get dressed up for a day in the country", organising their own one-off festival day, with "a load of friends and comedians and bands" at The Hop Farm in Kent on July 5. Reports suggest that U2 will headline the event. Later, in August, they are to have an "entire Mighty Boosh-curated evening" at The Big Chill music festival. Other upcoming projects include a second tour of the UK from September 2008 through January 2009, an album of Boosh music currently being recorded, a feature-length film version of the series and a book to be published entitled "The Mighty Book Of Boosh".
