The Mighty Boosh: Not Your Average Comedy

What happens when you take wacky-adventure style comedy, mix it with a British sense of humor, and add a helping of fantasy and surrealism? Well, something like The Mighty Boosh, an excellent BBC3 comedy created by and starring Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Originally a stage show and then a radio show, "the Boosh", as it's know by fans, became a TV series in 2004 and ran for a total of 3 seasons.

Read on for my review...

So how do I describe the show? Well, the first thing to know is that it stars Barratt and Fielding as Howard Moon and Vince Noir, two friends who are quite different. Howard thinks of himself as an amateur poet and lover of jazz, while Vince loves electro-pop, ridiculous style, and having fun. The banter between the two is great and feels very natural (see the clip at the end of this review), making them a great pair.

The first series (British shows' season are referred to as 'series') features Howard and Vince working in "Bob Fossil's Zooniverse", a zoo run by the incompetent Bob Fossil (played by Rich Fulcher), who steals some of the best moments of the show. Vince and Howard work as keepers, but they live in a world where they often interact with the animals-one of their good friends is Bollo, a giant gorilla. Also working at the zoo is Naboo, a shaman who has a booth for offering advice. This series focuses on a great deal of fantastic adventures, from Howard having to box a kangaroo to the pair finding a strange group of mutants hidden away by Fossil.

Random musical numbers are placed throughout the show, often strange but hilarious. The show also featured "crimps", a sort of acca pella performance made popular by the Boosh on random subjects.

Part of what makes the show so great and seem so genuine is it's use of puppetry and make-up for effects. It makes the whole thing seem a little more real, and adds a good deal of humor with characters like The Crack Fox, who appears in season 3.

The Boosh isn't for everyone...if you can't appreciate humor that is surreal and off-the-wall, you certainly won't like it. The show is also littered with pop culture references that, while not obscure, might not make sense for some.

But if you're looking for a great comedy that sets itself apart from everything else on today by using a unique sense of humor and great use of fantasy and surrealism, look no further than the Boosh!

Check out this clip from the first season: