America: Prepare To Be Mightily Booshed
Imagine a cross between Monty Python, H.R. Pufnstuf and Flight of the Conchords. What you get is The Mighty Boosh, a British TV comedy as weird as it is funny. Their show has become a cult hit in the U.K., and now they're trying to win over American audiences. Courtesy of BBC Video hide caption
Imagine a cross between Monty Python, H.R. Pufnstuf and Flight of the Conchords. What you get is The Mighty Boosh, a British TV comedy as weird as it is funny. Their show has become a cult hit in the U.K., and now they're trying to win over American audiences.
Courtesy of BBC VideoYou either really love The Mighty Boosh, or you just don't get it.
Or — more likely than not — you've never even heard of it.
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Well, cross Monty Python, H.R. Pufnstuf and Flight of the Conchords, and the result is a British television comedy as weird as it is funny.
The Mighty Boosh stars two comedians and a small cast of characters, some of whom aren't even human. Together they find themselves in the strangest of scenarios: traveling to the Arctic to find a magic egg, engaging in a boxing match with a kangaroo, and carrying on existentialist debates with coconuts on a desert island.
Oh, and they sing.
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After three seasons, the show has become a cult hit in Britain. And now, U.S. viewers can catch "The Boosh," as they are known to their fans in the U.K., on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. DVDs of the show were just released.
Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, the stars and creators of The Mighty Boosh, tell NPR's Madeleine Brand that they don't really play characters at all.
"They're about 12 centimeters away from our actual characters," Barratt says.
"You can't lie about this stuff; you can't invent it," Fielding adds. "It has to come from somewhere or otherwise it feels fake, I think. So we try to incorporate everything that we're into in life into the show. It gives it more substance or something; it makes it funnier."
Their sketches might be based in reality, but they take those elements of truth and stretch them to their most absurd and extreme limits. They say they are trying, in part, to hark back to the brand of humor popularized by one of Britain's most famous comedy troupes.
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"We said initially that we wanted to do it like [Monty] Python," says Barratt. "We all grew up on Python, but rather than just a stream-of-consciousness-type show, we wanted adventure and a sort of team of people within that, sort of to go through the madness."
Before transitioning to the screen, the duo got their start in live stage performances, with low-budget sets they made themselves. Despite their success, they've tried to hold on to their homemade appearance.
"It became sort of a look," says Barratt, "so we tried to maintain that even though we could afford not to make things from gaffer [tape] anymore."
They say that their name, sure to confuse many Americans on first glance, is equally nonsensical to Brits.
The cover of the recently released DVD of The Mighty Boosh. Courtesy of BBC Video hide caption
The cover of the recently released DVD of The Mighty Boosh.
Courtesy of BBC Video"Actually, where it came from was my little brother had big curly hair when he was a kid and his little friend was Portuguese or something and he used to say, 'Oh you got a mighty boosh,' " Fielding says. "I used to think that was absolutely hilarious. So I probably just jotted it down and we came across it one day and said we should call our show The Mighty Boosh."
If recent British imports like Da Ali G Show are any indication, The Boosh is poised to take America by storm. But they promise, they're not out to "conquer" anyone.
"We're not trying to conquer the U.S. — it's always so violent," says Barratt. "We're just coming over and breezing about."
"Caressing people," Fielding adds.
"Running a hot bath," says Barratt, "and, you know, get in if you want."