This week left me completely hysterical which was a little embarrassing because we were sat back in the front! But it seems my weekly hysterical state is the normal response to seeing Julian and Noel given the reaction of a Mr Stewart Lee……But that’s another story. The first half was pretty much the same with some of Julian’s wonderful stand up, the fantastic Seruvial and Gallow and a brilliant bit with Julian and Noel talking about vehicles (“Helloh”). The lovely Seruvial then told a story about a squirrel who burped up an acorn out of which came 4 tiny red men which Seruvial planted. They grew into the Universal Grinding Wheel who performed about 15 minutes of their own stuff which was funny in places but they weren’t a patch on Julian and Noel. It might be worth us seeing them on their own because I couldn’t help thinking that they were taking up valuable Booshing time by being on! I imagine that probably influenced my opinion of them! The second half is just pure brilliance and there is no other way of describing it. The show has really taken shape over the last few weeks and is becoming something that should blow all the other possible contenders for the Perrier into tiny bits of wheat and sweet them under the carpet so you can’t see them. It is wonderful and it’s hard to find enough adjectives to write a review because it get better and better and better every single week. The material that we’ve seen still makes me cry and the new material just makes me close to bursting! There is an inspired new bit when Howard tries to get Vince out of his depression caused by his brief and magically brilliant encounter with Yeti which elaborates on the “moment” complete with a slide show!! Fantastic! There is little point in me going on any more about how great it is because I think you get the idea! But I think the best summing up of the Boosh II was by Stewart Lee himself who described it as “One of the funniest moments of my life.” He could not be more right…

Review 15th March

The fact that I was still left crying and shaking when the show was pretty much the same as the previous week must give those of you unlucky enough to have not beheld the wonders of The Mighty Boosh some idea of how brilliant it is! Of course it wasn’t exactly the same because Julian and Noel just can’t do that - there is no script to stick to so there will always be the odd forgotten line disguised by an unplanned ramble that seems as though it was meant to happen and the “jazz-like” riffing that makes up every show. That makes every show so excellent. The riffs are often so funny that they are used in the show in the following weeks and this will no doubt happen with tonight’s.

Julian: “You can’t put me in a box.”
Noel: “Why? What’ll happen?”
Julian: “Well, I’ll… get out…”

The first half was different and not necessarily for the better… Julian and Noel were only on stage for a short time doing their brilliant bit about Vehicles - “Every man needs a vehicle” - which ended in Julian screaming then fainting at the thought of his vehicle being inside someone else’s “like Russian dolls”. This was followed by Noel introducing his wife, Choices, to Julian who then licked her!!! Then Noel gave a hilarious introduction to the Universal Grinding Wheel which involved getting the audience to clap like a “pirate that has too much cheese to sell and it’s going off” because we originally clapped like “an auntie that fancies you and it’s all wrong”. My problem with the first half was that The Universal Grinding Wheel came on and ended the half… Meaning that there was NO SERUVIAL AND GALLOW!!!! Where has the gorgeous Lord of the Trees and his Beeeyyyooouuutifull Servant gone?! They have to be in the show! Monday nights without Seruvial and Gallow are like The Mighty without a Boosh!

In the second half was fantastic though featuring more information about Vince’s inability to understand that Greystoke was a man and Howard revealing why the Eskimo’s, sorry, Inuit, left…

We also found out how the Indigenous peoples of those environs cope with having “Fifty words for snow… and no other words…” because as Vince explained, “it’s all in the intonation, if you have a monotonous voice you’ll get no where. “Snowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnowsnow” and he wonders why he gets given a cape every time he speaks.”

The show ended with a fight between Julian and Noel in which Noel said that he didn’t need Julian because he could work with the bit of material that was on the floor. He picked it up and started doing both Julian’s and his lines. Julian then threatened to “Come at” Noel like a buzzard!

The show was hilariously fantastic as always, the parts that are “scripted” are so brilliant and anything that is new just cracks me up! This is why it is impossible to miss a show because there is always something different. The whole show is simply wonderful!

“I’m from South London, you’re scared of me! I’ll stab you and leave you bleedin’ in the street and all the other cockneys’ll walk over you and tread on your neck. You could be sat in the library one day and I’ll come in a ‘it you wiv a brick"

Review 29th March

The first half was really excellent this week despite the continuing non-appearance of Seruvial and Gallow. (We are not happy!) It had Julian’s brilliant routines about being a giant pig and “How to Have Fun on the Tube”, Noel’s wonderful routine about the “Big ghost white lion” with the “Old Russian Lady with her arm caught in a loom” - even the “Mark Owen Voice” made an appearance!! - and Julian and Noel doing the fantastic routine together about “Every man needs a vehicle”. All of which I love so very, very, very much!! Then Noel introduced Lee Mack, Dan Antopolski and Catherine Tate (apologies if that's mis-spelt) who did some sketches and they were excellent! Hopefully they will have a regular spot like the Universal Grinding Wheel because unlike the UGW I could watch those sketches over and over again and still be laughing which is something that only occurs with the very special few!!

The second half was wonderful! It was as fantastic as ever and, unbelievably enough, a plot has started to emerge! We got to see Vince’s band in action and it was, shall we say, not what we were expecting!! Julian got a little carried away with the description of Howard’s Uncle Pedro and his tendency to dream - "Uncle Pedro was a dreamer, yeah? Now "we all dream" you're thinking but do we all dream? Yes. But do we really all dream? Yes we do. But do we *really* all dream? Yes. Yes we do. But do we *all* dream? Yes. But do we- YES!!" - which made Noel corpse badly!

Howard also revealed to us how the Inuit have a good time. They invited Howard into “their snow igloo and we all got drunk on seal piss”

Yeti gave Vince a present this week after their encounter which could save the zoo and, as it turns out, is why they came to the arctic in the first place. Well, *now* it all makes sense! But the fact that it was amazing before it was vaguely coherent shows you just how good it is! I can’t wait to find out if the zoo will ever be saved from the evil clutches of “The Maaaaan”……

"I'm a bit tired actually, so I'm going to go to sleep now so if you could all be quiet and just look... at me... no, sorry no, if you could all look at my ear and as soon as you all do I'll fall asleep. But I'll only fall asleep if you all look. All of you look at my ear - The moment when you all look at my ear I'll fall asleep"

Review 31st May

Apologies for the excessive use of the words brilliant and great.

What a luxury to be able to drive to Highbury Corner for a change rather than buggering around on trains. And probably just as well bearing in mind the state we were in after the Arctic Boosh this week.

The first half was great as ever and Noel and Julian performed what they had in mind for the Comedy Network the next night. Julian as ever asked the audience to imagine him to be a big fat lady pig bristling with nipples but now there's a twist when Noel walks onto the stage interrupting him….

Julian: "Come on me beauties…."
(Noel enters and Julian sees)
Julian: "Then I said….'I've got tiny legs'" (laughing falsely)
Noel (to Julian): "Were you pretending to be a pig again?"
Julian: "No, I was just er…"
Noel (to audience): "Was he?" (and then impersonates Julian bristling with nipples)

This makes Julian's pig stuff even more hilarious especially as a fair chunk of the audience have been at least once before. You think it's going to be the same but then the audience's perceptions are confounded (and hence the humour arose).

Lee Mack, Katherine Tate and Dan Antopolski take the stage and open with the most amazing rendition of Stomp I have ever seen - they were actually very good and had the timing sussed but Lee Mack kept getting hit "accidentally". However, top marks go to Dan Antopolski for the most tuneful use of a pringles tube!

All their sketches are brilliant especially Lee Mack ordering cake for starter, main and dessert…..I guess you would have to have been there….twice.

Just one last thing about their bits. I love the part when Jesus Christ is prven to be a fat (phat) bastard and the irish boxing commentator.

You could tell they were enjoying themselves which the audience picked up on, e4specailly Dan Antopolski who kept laughing. Fair enough though cos Lee Mack dressed in turquoise velour (he'd had a turquoise tumble) , tights, a camp wig and only one shoe on (his attempt at being Oscar Wilde) was….unique!

Back on came Noel and Julian to end the show with "Numbers To Express Pain" to finish the first half.

The new material is absolutely brilliant. I did hear word of what was being planned but as usual forgot the main character. As soon as you hear "ooh ooh" you know who it's going to be who has the strength of 7 men and a girl. My compliments go to Noel who spent hours making the afore-mentioned costume but it was absolutely well worth it. The audience this week were brilliant too (just to fit in with the overall message of this review). Noel's family were there and we suspect Julian's parents too. Whoever they were they found it just as brilliantly funny as we always do.

The build up to the new character confused us slightly because all of a sudden it was Julian who met someone and so it was Noel who had to shatter Julian's illusions and recap some of Julian's moments. After that things are all a bit of a blur (I said blur!) but I know what followed was bloodly brilliant!

I don't often experience the feeling of being unable to stop laughing (hysteria - whatever you want to call it) but it happens every time Noel and Julian write something new for the Boosh.

Julian got a bit confused in the arctic (must have been hypoxia due to the lack of Oxygen) - he missed out his reference to eating his pubes but remembers it a bit later on. It is absolutely brilliant when Julian gets frostbite in his feet which judging by his boots seem to have broken at 90 degrees to his legs!

Thankfully this week none of the audience wanted to join in with the Boosh which was a relief. It is not so bad for Noel and Julian though I can imagine it does piss them off (as Noel demonstrated a few weeks ago with the "pink bitch sitting in the front song"). I think it annoys the audience too cos they are always on Noel and Julian's side and it interrupts the flow.

It has been a brillIant few months being able to see Arctic Boosh developing and to be quite honest, (without wanting to send the whole audience into hysteria and miss parts of the show) they couldn't make it much funnier. As a whole it is ten times funnier than the Mighty Boosh (which itself we thought couldn't be surpassed) but they still have to write a more solid ending that doesn't leave the audience wondering whether or not it has finished.

They could end it on a song like last year which worked brilliantly, perhaps "The Mighty Boosh is a Little Bit Loose" with Yetti dancing but that would mean leaving out Julian as the head which is brilliant.

Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.

Noel: "You take orders from a talking envelope. If a small glove asked you to make a roast, would you?"
Julian: "Yes, you never know what it's got up its sleeve"

Review 1st June

MC Boothby Graffoe
Dave Gorman
Jim Tavare
The Mighty Boosh
Al Murray Pub Landlord

It seems like only a few weeks ago that the Talk of London gigs started, yet already we have come to the last one. Having said that we thought there was one more and Lee Mack thought there were another three. However, it was a brilliant show to end on and Boothby Graffoe once more did a great job of compering. Most of the audience didn't seem to be with him most of the time but that didn't deter him - I think he got funnier because of it (polished him up, made him stronger).

Dave Gorman was the first act and he's so funny so the evening started well. He's got some brilliant material especially his stuff about friendly and sociable numbers (which is very clever and he must have an amazing memory) and the true story of being in a "voice-activated" lift in Las Vegas. Also his intermittent spoon comparisons are brilliant. He is a very likeable man and gets very little heckling. A huge cheer for Dave and on comes Boothby.

Once you have seen Jim Tavare there's not much need to see him again but that's probably due to the nature of his comedy. I do laugh every time he finds an American in the audience and gives them a demonstration of irony….."You americans don't really understand irony do you? I'll give you an example…I'm very pleased to meet you"!

When Boothby asked earlier whether there were any americans/australians etc in the audience, absolutely no-one answered but they all spoke up when Jim Tavare asked. This didn't go down too well with Boothby which became clear when he came back on. When he quizzed the audience about it one of them shouted "cos you've got samsonite hair"! Enough said.

After the interval comes the reason we are all at the Talk of London - The Mighty Boosh. Noel with the hair of a sixties girl and Julian with his corn-on-the-cob legs. Noel bounds on stage to greet the audience and Julian tucks himself in behind to be introduced…"all his children are crisps…" but this week Noel forgot to mention that his youngest son is a hula hoop. Julian constantly threatens to come at Noel (a phenomenon we haven't had the pleasure of seeing for a while) and while Noel is offstage proceeds to be a big fat lady pig. Some old Boosh stuff is aired again…"lovely lady with the eye….", "Tommy was a dreamer….", "that was a trick I picked up in Balham". Tommy now has the most amazing new headgear with tootie frooties dangling from each antler (cunningly disguised as giant smarties and jelly babies).

I'm so glad they still do "Numbers to Express Pain". It'd be cool if they could slot it into the Arctic Boosh in time for Edinburgh cos it would be a terrible waste of such a great song.

And why do they only get 15 minutes? They won the Perrier Best Newcomer Award last summer which they clearly deserved yet Jim Tavare has his own TV show (albeit on channel 5) - where's the fairness in that? And don't even get me started on Divine David.

Anyway onto Al Murray who as ever was great but another comedian who is hard to laugh at after a few times. He is absolutely brilliant - the best character comedian there's probably ever been.

The end of the night and the end of the Comedy Network at the Talk of London. Noel and Julian have more than likely confused a lot of people but I think they have won over a whole lot more - people won't have seen anyone like them - they are the best new comedians for years and for there to be two of them working brilliantly together then I think we should consider ourselves lucky to have the chance to see them so often - let's hope they remember us when they're huge stars cos let's face it - if they're not then there's something very wrong with British comedy (bit of a controversial sweeping statement to end the review there!)

Another fantastic night - Mighty Boosh 10/10 (numbers to express brilliance)

Then I said..."with a chin that size, you should be in the navy"!

Review 14th June

There was a star studded audience in the Hen and Chickens to see Arctic Boosh this week, including Chris Addison, Tim Hope, Jason Freeman and of course Stewart "Director" Lee (looking slightly dishevelled following the previous night's TMWRNJ wrap party). Stew has promised us that he won't be cutting anything out of the show, just "putting it all in order", so that's a good sign.

The first half of the show included Julian and Noel both doing their own stand up, Julian bristling his pig nipples for the audience, which Noel disapproved of, and promised to come at Julian for. To my delight, the first half also included Noel's excellent rendition of the Howard Jones classic "What is love" that made me laugh in a higher pitch than I'm used to. They ended with Noel coming at Julian like Pauline Fowler gone wrong ("I told you I'd come at you") and the deer song, with Julian trying to decapitate the front row with his feet through his ballet leaps.

It's been two months since I've seen the Arctic Boosh, and the show has really developed and come together in that time. The story is coherent, starting with both Vince and Howard in the post office, information which they cleverly inserted seamlessly in the script (Howard on the phone: "We're in a post office!"). Mr. Jiffy invites Howard to go into the back room and put on his little blue shorts, "the fancy ones", and the costume change included now delights me no end. Noel did seem to be distracted by Julian's legs this week, as were most of the audience. Vince was disappointed that Howard was taking orders from an envelope:

Vince: If a packet of crisps told you to run the marathon would you do it?
Howard: Yeah... but only if they were Frazzles
Vince: What about Wheat Crunchies?
Howard: No.
Vince: Discos?
Howard: No, but I'd tell them I was going to do it, and then I wouldn't.

The show is now multi-national, taking in Vince's adventures on his new postal route in Spain, the success of his band, and the fantastic rebounding letter that he offers to the audience, as well as Howard's disasters in the Arctic. While in Spain ("Spain" "Where the mangoes grow wild"), Vince is visited Paco (some call him Colin) who tells him

Julian: "I can see that you are enjoying yourself here in Spain... A land with beeeyyyooouuutifull scenery. I can tell you love it here - you are lapping it up... having a whale. But behind this I can see you are sad..."
Noel: "No, it's great here!"
Julian: "No, but behind the happiness, there is sadness…"
Noel: "No, I'm having a fantastic time!"
Julian: "But behind that?"
Noel: "No, it's really great!"
Julian: "Oh… right… I must be thinking of someone else. Stops. Turns around> Are you Vince Noir?"
Noel: "Yeah."
Julian: "Oh, yes, it is you!"

He tells Vince that his friend is in trouble, and so Vince goes to the Arctic, leaving his Spanish singing career behind him.

Meanwhile, in the Arctic, Howard encounters a strange visitor who invites him to "delve deep into the parka". They break into "numbers to express pain", which I don't really think fits into this section, but since it was the first time they've tried it here, I suppose it's all a matter of trial and error.

Vince comes to Howard's rescue, meeting the Yeti on the way, the dance sequence of which gives Julian another try at decapitating a member of the audience while swinging Noel around. Now, Vince is handed an egg before being rejected, and so they can return to the post office with their prize.

Howard is now the love sick member of the duo, pining after the Yeti and trying to keep his moments and memories, which are again accompanied by a fantastic slide show, and the recurring theme of "pan au chocolate!"

The ending is beyond my wildest imagings, and slightly frightening to boot, but I don't want to spoil this for anyone who hasn't seen the show yet. Overall, the show is brilliant, amazing and fantastic. The frequent references to Flanagan and Tucker are hilarious, the recurring themes throughout the show help bring it really tightly together, and the story now made even better with a coherent beginning and ending. I can't wait until Edinburgh!

Vince: "I'm a simple man of postal values."

Review 26th July

The first half this week was easily the best we have seen at the Hen and Chickens. They were on top form and really seemed to be enjoying themselves. There was a lot of ad-libbing (as usual) but it was just brilliant. Tommy's dream of the noodle child took a dramatic turn into a dream of a sandwich boy with his flies open showing the face of Mick Hucknall! "Pies", always a crowd pleaser! Julian auditioned Noel before he let him take part in his terse drama.

Julian: "Where are the boats?"
Noel (in a poor cockney australian accent): "I tried to get 'em"

It was just fantastic - especially for those who had seen the show before. I think to fully enjoy this weeks first half you really had to have seen it a few times before (which I think most of the audience had).

At one point Julian stopped to say "what's next?" to Noel and during the pause there was a knocking in the background to which Julian replied…"oh yeah….the woodpecker bit"!

Noel changed the words of his "Lovely Lady with the Eye" song and as he did he lost it and a police siren went off outside to which Julian brilliantly said "it's the lyric police come to get you" . Noel carried on then agreed that they should come and take him away!

One of the best bits was when Noel accidentally threw his Russian lady cloth at Julian's face.

Noel: "Sorry…sorry. I didn't mean to do that"
Julian: "Can you see the look of fear in his eyes?"
Noel: "You should see him backstage…if I bump into him he clubs me to death. Sometimes he kisses me and sometimes h butchers me. He's so unpredictable."

All this was too much for us and it was a relief that the interval had come around, be it all too quickly as usual.

This week, the Arctic Boosh has changed a worrying amount (bearing in mind the Edinburgh Festival starts in a few weeks time). Mostly new at the beginning and the end but Julian said the y were just trying some different material which was why it was "more shambolic than usual". Julian was a big pig in the Post Office this week but this time Noel didn't interrupt him. Julian explained that he has many stories to tell and the milk in his teats was just metaphorical, representing his stories. Noel came on as the shower head man rather than singing his tribal songs and playing with his letter from his aunt (cos she included a fiver).

They had stuck down some envelopes and written on made-up names and addresses but I couldn't quite get to read any. Howard told Vince the history of the Post Office system which was when Vince started to daydream about his block of fudge the size of a brick, rather than during Howard's the cryogenics lecture.

When Vince met Uncle Pedro in Spain he started going on about how brilliant he was but he got a load of abuse from Pedro

Pedro: "Fuck off, wanker"
Vince: "No, but you're a hero, you built the first post office"
Pedro: "Shut up you tit bollock"

It was quite confusing for the audience nevermind Noel and Julian who had performed it without major changes for weeks now so it was no wonder that they forgot the odd line and missed out a whole chunk of the show including a brilliant slide of Uncle Pedro having a moment with the Yetti. That's what we love about Noel and Julian - as soon as you think they're not going to surprise you they take things just that little bit further and funnier.

I do love the bit when Howard dies and we're told that Vince is so distraught by the death of his friend that he can no longer eat (during which Vince is eating arctic roll, no, arctic tart - bakewell tart!)

The song at the end is brilliant and it is what we have all been waiting for and everyone then knows it’s the end rather than Noel and Julian having to come out and tell everyone it's over. If anything should be left in out of the changes they made this week then it should be "The Mighty Boosh is a Little Bit Loose"!

Another change that should definitely be kept in is the change in name for Noel during the "L'Arondissment Six" club sketch. Isabelle suits him much better. I didn't have time to catch my breath when Julian started to call him that. Once again completely unexpected. You expect them to keep certain bits the same cos they work so well but they change them and they get even better!

Another new part which hints to the old Boosh are the tannoy announcements. "Bing bong. Would Vince Noir please make his way to the departure lounge, his luxury private jet is now ready to take him to the beautiful land of Spain" followed later by "Bing bong. Would Howard Moon please make his way to dock 9 where the fishing trawler is ready to take him to the frozen wastelands of the arctic.

And just one final finishing touch to Mrs. Gideon's parcel - a DAVID BOWIE STAMP! Excellent!

Glad to see Julian still wearing his turquoise punishment suit (the fancy one) - still prone to those turquoise tumbles!

Loads more to say about this week but it is better written in the form of quotes so pop over to the quotes page now!

So with only one more London warm-up at the Riverside Studios left, the Arctic Boosh has shaped up brilliantly over the last ten months or so and we have been there pretty much every step of the way.

Brilliantly written and performed by the fantastically brilliant Noel and Julian and directed by the superbly wonderful Stewart Lee.

Vince: "I'm like connect four in dagger terms."