Comedy: The Mighty Boosh
Pleasance
By Phil Daoust
Wednesday August 26, 1998
There's one mighty buzz about The Mighty Boosh. Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding, the double act at the heart of this psychedelic, spaced-out show, are being compared to Peepolykus and Universal Grinding Wheel - exciting teams whose work is as much theatre as comedy, and who aren't afraid to take risks. They're getting the sort of reviews most acts would kill for, and it'll be a miracle if Boosh isn't on the Perrier shortlist when it's released today.
But I'm afraid I just don't get it.
Barratt and Fielding have brilliantly inventive minds. Playing a pair of zoo-keepers hypnotised and drawn into a fantasy forest full of weird and terrible creatures (ex-art student Fielding says intriguing things about Surrealist influences), they make a brave stab at breaking away from stand-up, while keeping the laughs coming. They get first-rate support from Rich Fulcher, as the evil zoo-boss whose abyss-like eyes cause them so much trouble. But not only is the show badly structured - too much time in the zoo, too little in the forest - there's something irritatingly casual about the way the pair handle the audience.
This is a deliberately ramshackle show, fair enough, and Barratt and Fielding play shallow, self-obsessed characters. But beyond that, these golden boys seem to take the punters for granted, more interested in having a laugh than in giving a performance. The material's so good, they appear to think they can just surf along on it.
It's a pleasant enough hour, and might merit much of the hype, given some brisk direction. But the future of comedy? Hmm.
Till August 31 (0131-556 6550).
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