The Mighty Boosh is a
British cult comedy about two friends who go on magical adventures. It appeared initially as a series of
stage shows, then a
BBC radio series and subsequently a
BBC Three TV series.
The Mighty Boosh was created by
Julian Barratt and
Noel Fielding, who play
Howard Moon and
Vince Noir respectively. Both series have now aired on
SBS Australia and Finland's YLE Extra channel. Series one has aired on
BBC America, Swedish channel ZTV, Danish channel
DR 2, Portuguese channel
RTP2 and New Zealand music channel
C4 (TV channel).
The stage show has no strict setting, but the radio series and first television series are based around a zoo called
Bob Fossil's Funworld and later
The Zooniverse. Though the episodes would invariably begin and end in the zoo, the main characters would tend to leave the zoo for more bizarre realms, such as the
arctic tundra and
limbo. The second series had an even looser setting, based in a flat in
Dalston. Fielding and Barratt are currently working on a third series to be aired in November 2007 , which will be set in a shop owned by
Naboo, who is played by Noel Fielding's brother,
Michael. It was recently revealed in
NME Magazine that
Garage Rock band
The Horrors would be appearing in the third series, along with
Razorlight.
Characters Howard Moon (
Julian Barratt) is one of the two main characters of The Mighty Boosh. He is insecure, awkward, uptight and pretentious, and claims to be a professional in music, acting, poetry, novel writing, and photography. Although confident in his ability, he is usually shown to be incompetent in these areas. He has a passion for jazz and jazz-funk fusion.
Howard Moon Vince Noir (
Noel Fielding) is the other main character. Unlike Howard, Vince is laid back, well-loved by the rest of the characters and takes pride in his appearance to the point of narcissism. His favourite feature is clearly his hair (a prominent motif throughout the series, as are mirrors), and he is determined to keep up with the latest fashions as defined within each show. Because of his fabulous hair and "glam", androgynous appearance, Vince is repeatedly mistaken for a woman in both television series. He also has many nicknames including the King of Mods and the Shoreditch Vampire. He can also talk to animals, thus making him a gifted zoo keeper.
Vince Noir American
Bob Fossil (
Rich Fulcher) is the ill-tempered, eccentric owner of Bob Fossil's Funworld in the radio series and head-zookeeper of The Zooniverse in the television series (with
Dixon Bainbridge as the owner). He gives the appearance of being in love with Bainbridge. He often shows affection towards Vince and hatred towards Howard, however on many occasions shows disdain for both of them apart from when he reminds Howard of their times of "violent love". He does not know any of the correct names of the animals and refers to them through obscure names e.g. "bear" (which Fossil regards as the Latin term) a "Russian carpet guy" and a python a "windy man" or "long mover" The elephant "the grey leg face man" and the pandas are "the Chinese guys who eat sticks." During the memorial service for Howard Moon, Fossil is unable to remember the word "gorilla" and is forced to use a cassette recorder to insert the word into his speech.
Bob Fossil Bollo (Peter Elliott for television series 1,
Dave Brown for television series 2 and the radio series) is a
gorilla that leaves the zoo to become a DJ and lives in a flat with Howard, Vince and Naboo. He is
Naboo's incompetent
Familiar; although he predicts trouble, he rarely gets anything else right, and often inadvertently reveals Naboo's magical secrets to Howard and Vince. He dies in the episode named
Bollo, but returns in the next episode. In
Fountain of Youth, Bollo reveals to Vince that he is actually forty years old, but because he is a DJ, he says that he is twenty-nine. In the radio-series he is referred to as a "hundred-year-old ape". As a running gag, whenever Vince and Howard are about to get in trouble (as in every episode) he says, "I've got a bad feeling about this."
Bollo Naboo (
Michael Fielding) is a
shaman, and is friends with Vince and Howard. In the first series, he works in the Zooniverse's fortune telling kiosk. In the second series, he lives with Howard, Vince and Bollo in a flat in
London, though still maintains his shamanic pursuits. Fielding's character is typically deadpan in humour. He regularly rescues Vince and Howard from dire situations. Although often relied on to sort out their problems, Naboo is always stoned and often seen smoking a hookah. He often maintains he will one day go and work in
Dixons. Naboo is also known for turning his back on you as a punishment.
Naboo Vince: Are you really a
ghost? That is genius... [pokes Howard roughly in the chest]
Howard: What're you doing?
Vince: Sorry, I thought I could put my hand through you.
Howard: No, we spent all the budget on your hair, remember?
Vince: Sorry about that. [leering at camera] It
is looking good.
Vince and Howard make little effort to hide that
The Mighty Boosh is a production with budget constraints (though the budget itself is not negligible). For example, in
Bollo, when Howard is supposedly haunting Vince from beyond the grave:
Much of the artwork created by Noel Fielding for the series features
Polo mints in some form or another. This ranges from appearances as graphics (in the opening credits the show's logo is displayed amidst a field of swirling polos) or as subtle addition costumes e.g. the hitcher has a polo mint for one eye. Also, in
Bollo, the Ape of Death and his minions appear to be wearing large polos as part of their outfits. Polos can also be seen around the masks of the shaman in
Killeroo, and on the performance outfits of the band 'Kraftwerk Orange' in
Electro. As well as this, in an episode in the second series, entitled
The Call of The Yeti, the characters wear face paint resembling mint polos. The 'Yeti's also have eyes that resemble the popular sweet.
Both Vince and Howard are shown to have very distinct musical tastes. Howard takes pride in being a multi-instrumentalist with a passion for
jazz since his youth. This is in contrast to Vince's taste for more contemporary, yet pre-1990s genres such as electronic or rock-based music, particularly
Gary Numan. He is supposed to have converted many of the animals into fans of this artist. Youth subcultures associated with these styles of music are also touched upon, with the two leading characters often trying to cast themselves into certain stereotypes (
goth,
mod,
rocker, et cetera), sometimes to attract members of the opposite sex.
Mrs. Gideon (played by
Victoria Wicks) is the centre of Howard's failing love life. However hard he tries, Vince always seems to get far more attention and recognition than him. This comes to a climax when, after returning Mrs. Gideon's prize
python, Tony, she cannot remember Howard's name, despite his having worked there for "10 years". Vince has to hold up a giant placard with "HOWARD" scrawled on it to aid her memory. A character in the radio series, Graham the security guard, had similar trouble remembering who Howard was, and denied him access to the zoo as he did not believe he worked there in the episode
Stolen. However, this is apparently because Graham has a poor memory anyway, later being unable to identify himself in a photograph, whereas Mrs. Gideon only has problems remembering Howard.
The show has had a few particularly memorable moments when inanimate objects in a scene have been replaced by a person dressed as the object, personifying it. A character tells the others to "gather round" so he can inform them of something, and all characters will lean in, including a prop from the scene, now replaced by an actor dressed to resemble the prop. The 'prop' is then told to go away again. The line heard runs similar to "Gather round everyone... Not you, naan bread." and "Gather round everyone... Not you, fire."
Vince has sometimes helped a supporting character in some way or another and as a show of their thanks they give him a horn to blow in case he is in danger. When he uses the horn, they are preoccupied in an odd manner. For example, "Sandstorm" in the series 2 episode
The Fountain of Youth, is seen masturbating to pictures in DIY catalogues when Vince sounds his horn. In the series 1 episode
The Hitcher, Bryan Ferry cannot hear the horn over his hoovering.
Vince is often mistaken for a woman due to his somewhat androgynous appearance. Dixon refers to the pair as "Howard Moon and his ugly girlfriend" and Kodiak Jack refers to Vince as a "young, nubile princess", while the Ape of Death believes Vince is Howard's wife. Within the second series, the characters played by
Rich Fulcher often take an interest in Vince, believing him to be a woman. In
The Legend of Old Gregg, Fulcher's Fisherman constantly remarks on how pretty he thinks Vince is.
Howard is often mistaken for Vince's father. In the live stage show, Vince opens a fan-letter that reads "Dear Vince, I think you are so amazing and brilliant, and your hair is so big and tall and nice and I really like you. The only thing is, is why do have to have your dad in the show?" Also, in
The Fountain of Youth, a clip shows Vince and Howard as children in school, but Vince appears to be 10 years old and Howard still looks around 40. Another boy asks Vince "Is that your dad?", to which Howard angrily replies "We're the same age!".
Whenever faced with life-threatening danger, Howard often says "Don't kill me, I've got so much to give!". Faced with similar danger, characters played by Rich Fulcher often say "A little to the left!"
Vince's friend Leroy is often mentioned, but never actually seen. In
Electro, he and Vince have a GlamFolk band, but both are in such thick makeup, Leroy can't be seen. In
Mutants, he takes Howard's light blue trousers and Howard walks off to remonstrate, but again he is not seen by the audience.
Howard often finds himself in trouble, and Vince comes to rescue him. Vince finds his way out of problems with ease, and "falls on his feet", while Howard when faced with danger becomes scared and desperate. This is joked about in
Hitcher, when Vince tells Bryan Ferry "thats kinda how the show works".
Recurring themes History Stage shows Main article: The Mighty Boosh (1998 Stage show) The Mighty Boosh Main article: Arctic Boosh (1999 Stage show) Arctic Boosh Main article: Autoboosh (2000 Stage show) Autoboosh Main article: The Mighty Boosh (2006 Stage show) The Mighty Boosh Main article: The Mighty Boosh (Radio series) Radio series Television series Main article: List of The Mighty Boosh episodes Episode List The title of the show apparently comes from a comment Noel heard about his brother's (
Michael Fielding) hair by a Portuguese friend.
Awards The show credits as executive producers comedians
Steve Coogan and
Henry Normal, the owners of the producing company
Baby Cow Productions.
Steve Coogan had also expressed interest to guest star in the episode 'The Call of the Yeti' of the Mighty Boosh as the character of Kodiak Jack as revealed by the audio commentary, however Barratt and Fielding had to decline as the character had been promised to Rich Fulcher.
Fielding's parents have both had parts in the television show. Noel's mother played a witch on the board of shamans (along with Barratt's father who played another member of the board), while his father played
Chris de Burgh. Fielding's father also appeared on Vince's t-shirt throughout the season one episode 'Hitcher'.
Also a member of the board of Shamans, was Noel's six year old cousin, who plays Kirk, described by Saboo as 'an erotic adventurer of the most deranged kind'. This line was an improvisation by
Richard Ayoade playing Saboo. In the DVD commentary
Noel Fielding proudly states that his cousin responded well to the improvisations, and also that he feels he may have created a '
luvvie' because the child has now joined a drama club.
In the first episode of Series One ("
Killeroo"), the opening part of the
Dies Irae from
Mozart's Requiem is played when Howard appears to be losing the boxing match. When he falls to the ground, the opening of the last chorus from Bach's St. Matthew Passion is played.
The official fanclub members are known as Modwolves, in reference to characters from the 'Jungle' episode in series one.
In 'The Priest and the Beast' (series 2),
Razorlight and
Roger Daltrey guest star.
In 'Electro' (series 1) and 'Nanageddon' (series 2),
Sue Denim and
Dee Plume of
Robots In Disguise guest star.
In 'Call of the Yeti' (Season Two)
IAMX singer
Chris Corner can be seen on the front cover of one of the "Cheekbone" issues.
Charlie Musselwhite (born
January 31,
1944 in
Kosciusko, Mississippi) is an American
blues-harp player and
bandleader, one of the non-African-American bluesmen who came to prominence in the early
1960s, along with
Mike Bloomfield and
Paul Butterfield. Though he has often been identified as a "white bluesman", he claims Native American and Thai heritage.
Childhood In true
bluesman fashion, Musselwhite then took off in search of the rumored "big-paying factory jobs" up the "Hillbilly Highway", legendary
Highway 51 to
Chicago, where he continued his education on the
South Side, making the acquaintance of even more legends including
Lew Soloff,
Muddy Waters,
Junior Wells,
Sonny Boy Williamson,
Buddy Guy,
Howlin' Wolf,
Little Walter, and
Big Walter Horton. Musselwhite immersed himself completely in the musical life, living in the basement of, and occasionally working at
Jazz Record Mart (the record store operated by
Delmark Records founder
Bob Koester) with
Big Joe Williams and working as a driver for an exterminator, which allowed him to observe what was happening around the city's clubs and bars. He spent his time hanging out at the
Jazz Record Mart at the corner of State and Grand and the nearby bar,
Mr. Joe's, with the city's blues musicians, and sitting in with Big Joe Williams and others in the clubs, playing for tips. There he forged a lifelong friendship with
John Lee Hooker; though Hooker lived in
Detroit, Michigan, the two often visiting each other, and Hooker serving as best man at Musselwhite's wedding. Gradually Musselwhite became well known around town.
In time, Musselwhite led his own blues band, and, after
Elektra Records' success with
Paul Butterfield, he released the classic
His past two albums,
Sanctuary and
Delta Hardware have both been released on
Real World Records.
William Babcock Hazen (
September 27,
1830 –
January 16,
1887) was a career
U.S. Army officer who served in the
Indian Wars, as a
Union general in the
American Civil War, and as Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army. His most famous service was defending "Hell's Half Acre" at the
Battle of Stones River in 1862.
Civil War As the U.S. Army was drawn down following the war, Hazen was redesignated as colonel of the 38th U.S. Infantry in July 1866 and transferred to the
6th U.S. Infantry in March 1869. He served primarily on the Western frontier, but also visited Europe as an observer during the
Franco-Prussian War. He offered testimony in one of the procurement corruption scandals that rocked the administration of President
Ulysses S. Grant, which resulted in the resignation of Grant's
Secretary of War,
William W. Belknap.
On
December 15,
1880, President
Rutherford B. Hayes promoted Hazen to brigadier general and appointed him Chief Signal Officer of the U.S. Army, a post he held until his death. One of the duties of the
U.S. Army Signal Corps at the time was the management of the
Weather Service and Hazen came under indirect criticism for the government's lack of response to the distress of the 1881
Alaska expedition under Lieutenant
Adolphus Greely.
Hazen married Mildred McLean, daughter of
Washington McLean, the owner of
The Washington Post.
Hazen died in
Washington, D.C., and is buried in
Arlington National Cemetery.
Hazen Bay in Alaska is named in his honor.
An
analytic language is any
language where
syntax and meaning are shaped more by use of
particles and word order than by
inflection. The opposite of an analytic language is a
synthetic language.
A related, often-confused concept is that of an isolating language. An
isolating language is any language where the vast majority of
morphemes are
free morphemes and are considered to be full-fledged "
words". The degree of isolation is defined by the morphemes-per-word ratio. By contrast, in a
synthetic language, words are composed of
agglutinated or
fused morphemes that denote their
syntactic meanings.
Features of analytic languages Analytic languages often express abstract concepts using independent words, while synthetic languages tend to use adpositions, affixes and internal modifications of roots for the same purpose.
Analytic languages have stricter and more elaborate syntactic rules. Since words are not marked by
morphology showing their role in the sentence, word order tends to carry a lot of importance; for example,
Chinese and
English make use of word order to show subject-object relationship. Chinese also uses word order to show
definiteness (where English uses "the" and "a"),
topic-comment relationships, the role of
adverbs (whether they are descriptive or contrastive), and so on.
Analytic languages tend to rely heavily on context and pragmatic considerations for the interpretation of sentences, since they don't specify as much as synthetic languages in terms of
agreement and cross-reference between different parts of the sentence.
Chinese (of all varieties) is perhaps the best-known analytic language. To illustrate:
As can be seen, each syllable (or sometimes two) corresponds to a single concept; comparing the Chinese to the English translation, one sees that while English itself is still fairly isolating, it contains synthetic features, such as the
bound morpheme -/s/ to mark either possession (in the form of a
clitic) or number (in the form of a
suffix). Further, note that the English verb is independently conjugated into a tense ("will make") indicating that the action will happen in the future. In contrast, the Chinese verb (
zuò) is not inflected, and relies on other words to indicate tense (in this case the words
míngtīan [tomorrow] and
hui [will]).
"zuò" (do) remains the same in the present tense:
Outside of China, the majority of mainland
Southeast Asian languages are analytic languages with the exception of
Malay. Mainland Southeast Asia is home to much of eastern Asia's analytic language families including
Tibeto-Burman,
Tai-Kadai,
Hmong-Mien and
Mon-Khmer. Even some
Malayo-Polynesian languages such as
Cham are more analytic than the rest of their respective family.
Burmese,
Thai,
Khmer,
Lao and
Vietnamese are all major analytic languages spoken in mainland southeast Asia.
When compared with a
synthetic language, such as
German, the contrast becomes clear:
Note that the morpheme "der" corresponds to four separate concepts simultaneously, and the morpheme "die" refers to three concepts (German does not distinguish gender in the plural), but the rules relating "der" and "die" in this manner are quite arbitrary, making this set of morphemes fusional in nature. It is worth mentioning that both "der" and "die" can function as a feminine singular definite article, depending on the
grammatical case. Furthermore, the word "Männer" corresponds to two concepts and relates to "Mann" through both the plural marker /-er/ and a process of
umlaut that changes "a" to "ä" in many German plurals. Thus, the formation of German plurals is a simple, rule-governed
inflectional pattern.
As a result, German can be said to lie between the agglutinative and fusional areas of the spectrum of
linguistic typology.