The first tickle of a new obsession being formed is a powerful thing, and
it happened to me this past week when I happened to catch The Mighty Boosh
on BBC America’s late-night comedy lineup. It’s an unpredictably absurd pop culture
comedy concerning two zookeepers named Vince Noir, a sweetly smiling gadfly obsessed
with the ’70s who fancies himself “King of the Mods,” and Howard Moon, a philosophical
mumbler who fancies himself a daring adventurer. They spend their days chafing
under the authority of their boss, Bob Fossil, at the Zoo-niverse, which is hardly
a zoo because it lacks animals. But, boy, is it a universe. There are plenty of
surreal excursions, into Monkey Hell, the Arctic tundra (to recover the Egg of
Mantumbi and bond with polar bears), and the Jungle Room, where their Livingston-like
search for a long lost friend Tommy ends with him immediately lunging at Vince:
“I am a rocker! He is a Mod! We are mortal enemies!” The creators/writers/stars
Julian Barratt (Howard) and Noel Fielding (Vince) are a kicky twosome, and their
show — which like seemingly most great British comedy grew out of an award-winning
Edinburgh festival act — is like a Sid and Marty Krofft production engineered
by Frank Zappa. But its delight in fantastic plots, genre parody, warped songcraft
and quick-witted off-road conversations ultimately vaults The Mighty Boosh
— currently a cult hit in the UK — into some rare atmosphere between sitcom and
sketch.

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