The Mighty Boosh : Complete BBC Series 1 & 2

There are plenty of fantastic new characters, the evil bandit Betamax (who is entirely composed of tape), the rather disturbing hermaphrodite merman Ol Greg (don't ask), and my personal favourite The Moon.

The Mighty Boosh has to be one of the most inventive comedies of recent times, I had certainly never seen anything quite like this show and immediately became obsessed by it! This is surely an essential purchase for card carrying Boosh-heads everywhere, and also a fine starting point for anyone who maybe caught the odd episode on its unhelpfully obscure tv slot and is curious to find out what on earth was going on!

For my money, I prefer series 1 to series 2 (the songs are better in the first series as well), but there is genius material to be found throughout. The "Milky Joe" episode is absolutely inspired. And quite, quite mad.


`Don't touch the Hair!' Why Fielding and Barrett are the newer, cooler Vic & Bob   September 23, 2006
Joanna Cardwell (South Wales, UK)
42 out of 46 found this review helpful

Like me, you may have caught a glimpse of The Mighty Boosh for the first time channel hopping late at night and been very confused. It certainly is unlike anything I've ever seen before. However, it is not just comprised of cheap laughs coming from bizarre sets and situations. The plots are well thought out and the characters are consistent and convincing.
The first series is set where the main players, Howard Moon and Vince Noir, work, the `Zooniverse', a Zoo containing talking animals, rooms which lead to secret worlds and Naboo, the mild-mannered, bong smoking Shaman.
Howard is a self confessed `Jazz Maverick', slightly geeky with no fashion sense, he believes he is destined for bigger things in life and this usually leads him into trouble. His trusty partner Vince is an effortlessly cool, easygoing guy with an 80's backcombed rock-star hair-do who doesn't take many things in life very seriously, including Howard. Their friendship is based on affectionate teasing of each other's interests, though they do have a grudging respect for each other which means that they are never apart for very long.
The show takes pretty much a formulaic structure, Howard usually gets sucked into difficulties involving various strange creatures, such as `The Ape of Death', the guardian of `Monkey Hell' which Howard ends up visiting after a mix-up involving a short-sighted grim reaper and a monkey outfit. Vince comes to his aid, with the help of Naboo, who always has the right potion, spell or equipment to ward off impending doom, he even owns aninflatable submarine! Series two gives Howard and Vince more freedom to have even wackier adventures as the Zooniverse is no longer featured. However, we see the dynamic duo along with Naboo and Bollo, Naboo's simian familiar living in a quirky flat in London, with Vince and Howard trying to launch careers as DJs.
They are able to get out on the road more and we see them taking a holidays, among which take them to `Black Lake' where they meet funky merman `Old Gregg', half man, half fish with hermaphrodite genitals who wants to marry Howard.
The Mighty Boosh is all about the adventure, and doing away with the `Zooniverse' means that the adventure is able to kick in a lot more quickly in the second series, as not much explanation or build up is needed to the plotlines. Also the locations can be more extreme or bizarre, again with not much need to explain why.
It is very self-aware and post-modern, the viewer feels that they are part of the story because of the cheeky asides to the camera, and the way the characters mention things like special effects budgets within a plotline, Vince's very expensive but `fabulous' hairdo is apparently to blame! It is the unflinching way that the extraordinary creatures encountered are received by Howard and Vince which sucks in the viewer even more, Vince especially is never fazed by whatever or whomever comes along to rock his boat.
Randomness is a key factor that adds to the self-fulfilling coolness of the show. The Moon (the actual one!) is portrayed as a happy simpleton who gets a chance to talk to the camera and impart pearls of wisdom such as "When you are the moon, there is a person people say is the sun. I saw the sun once, and he came past me, really fast! And I licked his back!"
The more you watch the Boosh, the less you are surprised by the strange goings-on, you can just accept it and enjoy the quality of the dialogue, acting, costumes and backdrops, and of course, the big number, a song and dance which is inevitable in every episode, and usually sums up what has been going on previously to it. Of course, this adds to the surreal feel of the show and again shows real quality of writing and executing ideas.
The Boosh is easy to watch again and again, and just keeps getting better the more your knowledge builds up, as it really is completely self-contained in it's own atmosphere. If you accept that not much will make sense in this show, everything will make perfect sense! Enjoy the ride!



Come with us now for a journey through time and space...   November 20, 2006
DangermouseZilla (Doncaster, Yorkshire, UK.)
23 out of 24 found this review helpful

I listened to the Mighty Boosh Radio series and loved it to bits.

The first TV series of the Boosh is a televisation of the radio series, and I was keen to see how they'd manage it. It was managed brilliantly!

The Mighty Boosh is one of the most innovative comedies of, well, ever!

Some people "don't get" the Boosh which makes it even more unique in my mind - enjoying the Boosh makes you a Booshian (possibly!) - this is the perfect antidote to the sterile round-the-table scriptings of Friends.

The Lead characters Howard and Vince work in a zoo, the (mis)adventures they find themselves in are so fantastically abstract that only a genius or a gibbering mentalist could come up with them. The interplay between the characters though add a dose of believability.

The second series was written for TV and is no longer set in the Zoo. Vince has become a Goth and Howard is still a jazz fanatic.

The fact that the second series wasn't built on an existing radio series means that it lacks some of the edge, but when the callibre of comedy was so high this doesn't take away from the enjoyment.

The special features on this boxed set are top notch and the actual box is neatly presented.

This is one of those DVDs I would take away to a island if I had to lead the rest of my life in solitude (as long as the Island had electricity, a TV and DVD player).

This deserves a full 5 stars *and* a bonus star for originality.


An American point of view   February 23, 2006
F. Ghaffari
15 out of 16 found this review helpful

This is brilliant.....I agree with some of the other critics here that I don't understand why the same old types of comedy win all the awards while something like Boosh gets passed over....this show is sheer genius (or demented, depending on which way is up). I am totally addicted to Brit comedy, both classic and the new stuff....I have to get most of them on region 2 dvds and watch them on a universal here, but it is really worth it since there isn't, nor has there ever been, an American comedy that is worthy of licking the boots of a BritCom.....I liked Little Britain, but it got old quick...the Boosh DEMANDS that it be watched and rewatched...there is just SO MUCH to it....stuff like this and Ricky Gervais's EXTRAS is so refreshing, so unique. As long as you guys keep putting out stuff like the Mighty Boosh, I will keep sending my hard earned dollars over there to buy them!!! My advice to all, BUY THIS SET!!!!


No middleground   February 25, 2007
Grumbleguts (Aberdeen Scotland)
14 out of 17 found this review helpful

You love it or you hate it.

I love it - my mates hate it.
I laugh till I cry - they look at me as if they don't know what to say.
They want to put me away where I can get help.

It's the funniest thing!
I recalled some dialogue from the Spirit of Jazz during an exam (I was nervous - OK?) -
and started silently laughing until I thought I'd burst.
I think the invigilator thought I was crying.

Anyway - if you want to giggle uncontrollaby at inappropiate moments - treat yourself to this 2 series set.
Really - life's too short not to.