Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy
Boosh, but without the Boosh.
Review
Have you ever been to a sneerily quotation marked “Modern Art” gallery,
and genuinely come to the conclusion that the artist was taking the
piss? Itchy has, and we rather enjoyed it. Who’s to say that art has to
be a po-faced exercise in impenetrable wankery? Or, for that matter,
who’s to say that comedy has to have jokes? Or that reviews have to
have any detailed information about the thing they’re reviewing? Isn’t
it better just to have an experience that evokes an idea or feeling
appropriate? The answer you’re fishing around for in those over-sized
clown pockets of yours is “Yes Itchy, we’d never thought of it like
that before, thank you so much. Please lead us by the hand into this
new level of artistic enjoyment, you pretty, pretty thing.” Ok.
Going back to Modern Art, Episode two of Noel Fielding's new Channel 4 show Luxury Comedy includes a very telling argument about whether a woman dressing up as a cross between a baby and a fireman is a joke or a concept. The Hawkeye consultation reveals that it is in fact a concept, but for our mind it doesn’t really matter. Back in the mists of time, when Itchy was just a shiny, manga-eyed, website twinkle in a randy web-designer’s eye, we visited the Saatchi gallery on the South Bank to take a look at some of the, let’s be honest, weird crap they have on display. One piece has stuck in our heads from that day to this, like a tattoo on the inside of the eyelids. Two jesters jumping up and down on screens screaming NO! NO! Nono! NO! NONONONO! It was rather unsettling. Rather like Luxury Comedy. What the hell did it mean? We didn’t know, but we enjoyed it. Rather like Luxury Comedy.
That day went rather haywire after that as we recall. Websites, by and large, don’t tend to spend a lot of time out of doors. In that respect, and that respect only, they’re much like those scary Jabba style Americans, who have talk-show hosts ravage their dignity on camera, in return for chain-sawing them out of their trailers and stapling up their tubes as if they were malfunctioning sets of Kerplunk. So Itchy left the gallery in a sort of punch-drunk stumble of wtf-ness (rather like after watching Luxury Comedy.) The rest of the evening we spent in an Anderson Shelter somewhere near Camden, trying to teach a team of Austrian sled-dogs how to pull a bike. Then we watched Luxury Comedy. We liked it a lot, but we think it went over the sled-dog’s heads a bit.
The following facts have been removed from this review for purposes of excessive clarity:
1. The music/comedy works well, and has genuinely has some funk.
2. Our favourite character was the Drum and Bass blaring, origami making, shell head.
3. If you didn’t like The Mighty Boosh’s kooky charm, this show will make you be sick on yourself.
4. We don’t know how Noel Fielding does all those voices, it’s genuinely very impressive.
5. Julian Barrett (Howard from The Boosh) is not in it, but the other ones are.
6. It is NOT ok that we found the idea of David Hockney dressing up as a Brazilian maid mildly erotic.
Will Covington
Going back to Modern Art, Episode two of Noel Fielding's new Channel 4 show Luxury Comedy includes a very telling argument about whether a woman dressing up as a cross between a baby and a fireman is a joke or a concept. The Hawkeye consultation reveals that it is in fact a concept, but for our mind it doesn’t really matter. Back in the mists of time, when Itchy was just a shiny, manga-eyed, website twinkle in a randy web-designer’s eye, we visited the Saatchi gallery on the South Bank to take a look at some of the, let’s be honest, weird crap they have on display. One piece has stuck in our heads from that day to this, like a tattoo on the inside of the eyelids. Two jesters jumping up and down on screens screaming NO! NO! Nono! NO! NONONONO! It was rather unsettling. Rather like Luxury Comedy. What the hell did it mean? We didn’t know, but we enjoyed it. Rather like Luxury Comedy.
That day went rather haywire after that as we recall. Websites, by and large, don’t tend to spend a lot of time out of doors. In that respect, and that respect only, they’re much like those scary Jabba style Americans, who have talk-show hosts ravage their dignity on camera, in return for chain-sawing them out of their trailers and stapling up their tubes as if they were malfunctioning sets of Kerplunk. So Itchy left the gallery in a sort of punch-drunk stumble of wtf-ness (rather like after watching Luxury Comedy.) The rest of the evening we spent in an Anderson Shelter somewhere near Camden, trying to teach a team of Austrian sled-dogs how to pull a bike. Then we watched Luxury Comedy. We liked it a lot, but we think it went over the sled-dog’s heads a bit.
The following facts have been removed from this review for purposes of excessive clarity:
1. The music/comedy works well, and has genuinely has some funk.
2. Our favourite character was the Drum and Bass blaring, origami making, shell head.
3. If you didn’t like The Mighty Boosh’s kooky charm, this show will make you be sick on yourself.
4. We don’t know how Noel Fielding does all those voices, it’s genuinely very impressive.
5. Julian Barrett (Howard from The Boosh) is not in it, but the other ones are.
6. It is NOT ok that we found the idea of David Hockney dressing up as a Brazilian maid mildly erotic.
Will Covington
