Laughter rang through the Ohio State Urban Arts Space Thursday during a viewing party for the British comedy “The Mighty Boosh.”
“It’s a show I really liked,” said Rachael Smith, the organizer of the event. “I was hoping other people would like it who probably do not get a chance to see it.”
“The Mighty Boosh” refers to a British Broadcasting Channel show that recently came to Adult Swim in the U.S. The stars, Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, have worked on the concept since the late 1990s. The show title also refers to the comedy troupe responsible for the show.
In 1998, while working with Paramount Comedy, they developed the characters of Vince Noir and Howard Moon. These would become the central characters of the show. Barratt plays Moon and Fielding plays Noir.
Dave Brown, Rich Fulcher and Michael Fielding became part of the troupe soon after.
That year, The Boosh would put on their first stage show, also titled “The Mighty Boosh.” Two more shows would follow in the next two years, “Arctic Boosh” and “Auto Boosh.”
In 2001, the Boosh was broadcast on BBC London Live, later transferring to BBC Radio 4. This radio show would earn them a half-hour television pilot.
The television show began in 2004, running for eight episodes. The series focused on Moon and Noir in their roles as zoo keepers.
A year later, the Boosh returned with a second series of episodes. This one moved from the “Zooinverse” to an apartment in Dalston, London. Naboo and Bollo became larger characters.
In 2006 they would take the show live before returning to television in 2007. This series revolved around Moon and Noir working for Naboo and Bollo in a second-hand store.
The first episode was so successful, drawing approximately one million viewers, that the BBC Three broadcast an entire night of “The Mighty Boosh.”
Commitments through 2009 have kept the duo from beginning a potential fourth series.
The show came to America twice. The first time, BBC America broadcast the first series but ceased. In 2009, Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block began airing the third series and continues to make episodes available on its website.
The show is notable for its visual style and surreal qualities.
Backgrounds are often green-screened, and the images in the backgrounds are distorted. Changes to color and point of view often create backgrounds that contrast with the real-life people, most often during a chase.
Continuity is also ignored. Each series starts in a new setting, without explanation.
A new, unexplained setting is not the only way discontinuity in the show.
At the end of episode 103, Bollo dies only to be fine at the beginning of episode 104. None of the characters offers an explanation or behaves as though Bollo was dead.
Moon and Noir are the most normal characters. Naboo is a Shaman and Bollo is a talking gorilla. The antagonists range from a demonic elderly woman to a talking “Crack Fox.”
“I like the surreality of everything,” Steven Grim said, listing Bollo, the unexplained setting shifts and other things among those surreal components.
“It is good to just zone out to and be weird,” Smith said.
