The New GBBO

I am so enjoying Great British Bake Off. I like the group dynamic that has formed between Paul, Pru, Sandi and Noel. And the way they all interact with the bakers. Apparently, I'm not the only one. Cute list (yes, I meant to say cute) of why Noel's the best part of Bake Off from The Daily Edge. And as a fan, I admit, I must agree!

Noel to Play Alice Cooper

That is, on an episode of Urban Myths on Sky Art. Well, he is the obvious choice, I'd say! Read more at The Velvet Onion.

Heerreee's Julian

There is a shit-ton of interviews coming out right now with the release of Mindhorn. This is going to be a dump site--in other words, I'll add links here to the articles as I find them.

The Big Issue: Julian Barratt: I'm Interested in Communicating the Pompous Person

The Guardian: Mindhorn star Julian Barratt: 'I love squalid sadness'

Mixcloud: How about an actual interview with Simon? 

The Best of Rich Fulcher

It's "Eleven Questions" with the A.V. Club. Yup, lots of questions and answers, and the best part is the videos that are everything Rich Fulcher. So, if you've got some time, give it a watch. 

That's Well Mexico!

 A story in The Guardian, telling you everything you need to know about Nathan Barley. It's amazing how relevant this show is to today.

Cleaning Out The Archives (Again--Finally)

To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first Mighty Boosh Tour, Dave is exhibiting some of his art at The Book Club. find out more here at NME.

Arctic Boosh Revisited

A collection of reviews from the Scotsman. I wish they were dated, but they are all Arctic Boosh, so that means 1999 in Edinburgh. Read the collection here [X].

Sample: (but there's lots more like this!)

The Hits and Misses
The undoubted hit so far prompts the most laughs and melts the most barriers. Is Arctic Boosh a sketch show, a show or just a free-wheeling peep inside the minds of performers Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt? We meet the duo as they pass the time as postmen, vying for delivery routes in Spain and the frozen wastes. Fielding, once accurately described as a "squashed Elvis", is stooge to Barratt's brilliant flights of fancy, which recall Vic Reeves at his most surreal. Barratt is briefly upstaged by a talking Jiffy bag, but emerges triumphant. Unless some fiendish small print makes them ineligible, everyone else might as well go home. The Perrier Award should be theirs for the taking.

Bruce Dessau

Edinburgh Celebrates British Films

A nice write-up about Brakes at theartsdesk.com, along with another film, Always, staring Timothy Spall and Juno Temple. The author praises both Julian and Julia's performance, along with Noel and Mercedes', along with the feel of the film: 

"But there’s an honesty about it, a refreshingly anti-romcom spirit, and such humour that I’m expecting more from Grower. Away is released in cinemas in October, and hopefully Brakes will get the break it deserves and follow suit."

Accidental Activists

I follow Birdie on Twitter, so I've followed her thought this journey. It has to be so frustrating, caring so much and trying to make our world a better place, and yet it has to be like holding onto water sometimes. I'm glad these ladies are getting the recognition they deserve! Read about them here in the Guardian. 

More about "Bubbles"

As I predicted, the comments on the video were rather divided. I don't normally read comments, just because of the trolls and people can get rather nasty for no good reason except that they can. But I really was curious this time. Anyway, what I read was mainly "why would Sean do this? He was Michael's friend?" I didn't really see anything too nasty about Noel and Mike. Of course, maybe if I had kept reading... Anyway, if you want Sean's thoughts on it, you can read them [here].

Set The Thames On Fire Release Dates

It's been announced that Set The Thames on Fire has set a theatrical UK release for September 16 and will be available on digital platforms on September 19, so maybe I will get to see it after all! Yeah! Read more about it here.

Gameshow?

I'm not even going to write anything about this, because I find it so bazaar. Instead, I'll let you make your own judgement! read about it [here]

From the article:

Noel Fielding is piloting a new Channel 4 series based on Japanese gameshows.

The as-yet-untitled programme will feature comedians and other celebrities taking on games from Japanese TV.

Producers say: 'But it's not just a brilliant gameshow, they will explore and share with you some of the other bizarre and strange news, adverts, products and inventions from the land of the rising sun.'

Beat About The Boosh

An article from the Scotsman back in 2006 after the second series. This interview is with both Noel and Julian and there's some early history, some 'what we're doing now', and some vague ideas of the future. (We still haven't seen that film, boys!) 

Noel, trying to describe The Mighty Boosh:

"It's a shoe that you wear on your head," offers Fielding. "It's like a complicated album. It's [Captain Beefheart's] Trout Mask Replica. Some jokes are just not funny at the time, they're funny 25 years later. We're mainstream in about ten years time. Hopefully in 40 years people will say, 'That was great!'"

(Photo not from the article)

Favorite Pictures

Another picture from The Velvet Onion's article.  I just really like the picture.

Mike describes his role in An Evening With… as a lot more developed than the role he played on the Boosh tours, which is something he enjoys. I ask him how the working relationship between Noel, Tom and himself differs from that of the Boosh gang. “Its very different working as a trio,” he says. “Noel, Tom and I get on very well, we never fall out – even when we’re living in each others’ pockets on the road. When you have a bigger group, like the Boosh tour did, there’s too many egos in the pot; always someone trying to outshine the others or be the loudest. There’s great camaraderie in our trio; we call ourselves the Peloton, as we all have each others backs equally.”

The Power of Three

An article from The Velvet Onion posted in November of last year, it talks about "Evening" pre-America, when Tom was touring as part of the trio. This article centers around Tom and Mike, giving it a different perspective. It's interesting to see what other projects the two are involved in. 

Boys Who Never Grew Up

 

The picture isn't  from the article (because there wasn't one), but it is one from the same time period (2005).

from The Scotsman:
"Like all the best heroes, Julian Barratt doesn't actually look like one. He needs a shave, his loud yellow shirt needs ironed, or better still, set alight, and his wheat beer is starting to divert the afternoon down a surreal path. Meanwhile, his friend Noel Fielding, who can get surreal without the help of wheat beer, won't stop wittering about shamen and mermen and people made of biscuits."

Museum of Curiosity

So, I really don't understand what the Museum of Curiosity is. I've read a little about it and decided it's like a panel show on radio? Maybe? Anyway, it must have different "curators" each season and Noel is doing this one. Anyway, that's how I'm taking it. Let me know if I'm way off! From British Comedy Guide, here.

The Weird Queen of British Comedy

Some Julia for our Saturday! She's at it again, this time with Camping. [X]

Noel Fielding Does America

So, I'm going back to An Evening With Noel Fielding. Again, there was just too much to get it posted and then there was Flowers, and I couldn't ignore it! So this article is from The Stranger [X]. Again, it's one of those "introductory" articles, aimed at an audience who doesn't know who Noel is. But the journalist did interview him (via telephone), so there is some quotes. Which is always welcome!

Gentle Julian

As part of Flowers publicity, Julian has done a whole slew of interviews (or what counts as a whole slew when it comes to him. Merely a handful when compared to when Noel is doing publicity!) Anyway, Flowers seems to be quite the success, and justly so. I've been watching it and it's brilliant. The writing is good, the filming is good, the casting is spot on, and the actors are all amazing.

Read it at The Guardian: 

“Depressive”, “intense” and “awkward” are the most common adjectives used by the press to describe the comedian, musician and actor Julian Barratt. But none of those words actually fits the sweetly shambling man I find having a pot of tea on his own in the Highgate pub near his home in London. Instead, the adjective that comes to my mind upon spotting him in his high-waisted cotton trousers, mismatched jacket and skew-whiff hair is “gentle”.