the double act

In a 2016 Interview article, Noel describes the 1998 Boosh stage show. Photo by OG Mod Wolves fan Susan T. Noel is wearing his rams lags!

Noel: "We didn’t even have a name at that point, so people would come in and say, “Those two guys are going to be on? The ones who call themselves Lego Wolves?” or whatever we called ourselves. We’d go on after the interval so if we were supposed to be in a forest we’d put loads of fake plants and trees everywhere, and we’d have a big boombox and weird sounds like a forest. We just did 10 minutes of us lost in the forest —a double act thing. And again, that was the basis of our first Edinburgh show.

The very funny comic Chris Fleming gave Boosh and Noel a nice shout-out this week in an interview with American Masters

Chris: "I was responding to what was happening in America in comedy, which was every standup was wearing like a button up shirt and a hoodie. Everyone looked the same. Or plaid shirts. And even the best, you know. And I was more into like Noel Fielding and British comics who were wearing the crazy shit and not even talking about it and I found that… When I discovered that, that clicked for me too because I was always trying to blend… I don't know if glam is the right word, but, like, something bigger than just like a guy on stage with the mic. "

In a 2000 interview with Melody Maker, Julian and Noel were asked about their hobbies!

Julian: “Well, I did geology A-level, so part of my hobbies stem from that. But what are hobbies anyway?”

In a 2008 interview with Big Issue Scotland, Noel and Julian discussed how Boosh characters creep into "real life."

Noel: "It's like having a split personality. I do sometimes call myself Vince, then you think "what are you doing?" "I was talking about The Hitcher the other day, saying "the thing about him is..." as though he was an actual person. They all start to become real."

Often I'll accompany a photo with a quote from Julian or Noel...but that seems redundant here. The photo says everything, doesn't it? It was taken backstage at the Secret Policeman's Ball, October 14, 2006, by photographer Alan Davidson.

In Jan 2000, Julian and Noel were interviewed over a game of darts by Melody Magazine. From the interview:

Q: "In a fight, who’d conquer who?"

Julian: “It’d have to be me.”

In a 2000 interview with Scotland on Sunday, Noel recounts the famous first gig with Julian!