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Bruce Dessau's rating
, Mighty Noel strides high
By
Bruce Dessau
10 Apr 2008
It was sweet revenge for the lad in the red Cuban heels. Three years ago Noel Fielding was heckled when he performed at Roger Daltrey’s annual Teenage Cancer Trust week. Last night the Mighty Boosh star was triumphant, compering an evening of weird and wonderful humour. His contributions were not necessarily the weirdest, but they were certainly the most wonderful.
From the outset this was undeniably Fielding’s big night. Coming on in a sparkly catsuit, he constantly ruffled his newly-shorn scruffy hair, complaining that he had wanted a mixture of Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood and had ended up with a Worzel Gummidge. Hip hairdo or not, the young women in the packed house squealed every time he teetered towards the front of the stage.
The supporting cast struggled to compete in the elfin glamour department, even after a costume change that saw Fielding go from human glitterball to black-clad goth.
The charitable audience tolerated word-botching eccentric Count Arthur Strong as he stuttered through his theatrical anecdotes. Dan Clark’s tales of email obsession and Facebook fixation fared better, perhaps partly because he appeared in The Mighty Boosh’s television series as Johnny Two Hats.
Cult double act Oram and Meeten, also chums of the Boosh, justified their laughs for some oddball sketches that were not warped but definitely a little buckled. Spoof horror writer Garth Marenghi also went down very well, reading a wince-inducingly dreadful excerpt from his latest novel, Greyballs, which confirmed that he is truly the Alan Partridge of fright.
If the first half had been one for comedy trainspotters, the second half boasted the big-time surprises. Razorlight’s Johnny Borrell belted out a couple of skinny-jeaned acoustic anthems before Fielding indulged in an infinitely more entertaining extended comic riff, discussing unicorns and Epicurus and revealing his hatred of prawns, which remind him of “a small man in a pink leotard wearing Raybans”.
The biggest musical thrill, however, was not Borrell, but the appearance of Fielding’s languid partner Julian Barratt on guitar and the debut of a full Boosh band.
This finale was the host’s chance to fulfil his shameless rock star ambitions and he threw himself into the task. The music was frankly glorified glam-thrash, yet what it lacked in depth it made up for in posing. Fielding may not be a great vocalist but he is a star from his crow’s nest coiffure to those Cuban-heeled boots.
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Reader views (5)
I'm a huge fan of the Boosh and this was the first time seeing Noel live. The whole night was brilliant, with the exception of the "Spitting Count". My face hurt by the end of the night from laughing so much. Noel is a natural at stand-up and unnervingly sexy! The best bit was the Boosh Band at the end. Julian was awesome on guitar and the acoustics in the Hall were amazing! Can't wait to see the Boosh on tour in October now! Bring out an album as soon as lovely Boosh Boys!
- Michelle, Reading, UK, 10/04/2008 22:53
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It was an absolute treat for Boosh fans. Noel was hilarious, absolutely loved it. I enjoyed the other comedians as well. The Boosh band was the highlight of the night.
- Kate, London, 10/04/2008 22:28
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Second time I've had the pleasure of seeing Noel Fielding at the Royal Albert Hall.
First time was last year with Russell Brand and I don't know if I can pick which year I enjoyed more. Last year Russell and Noel joined forces which was amazing and I enjoyed every moment of it. This year the Boosh Boys rocked the Albert Hall in true rock Star fashion. Definitely the highlight of the evening.
Had the pleasure of hearing Noel's new material at small warm up gigs and was pleased to see that it was received so well.
Other than Noel's fabulous comedy and Dan Clarke (Johnny Two Hats in the Electro episode of the boosh) the other comedians really didn't raise a chuckle from me and my mates though others seemed to be enjoying themselves which was what the night was about whilst raising money for charity.
A great night was had.
- Leah, London, England, 10/04/2008 14:17
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I was there too and I pretty much agree with James - it was a really disappointing night - your critic was far too charitable. There were several empty seats in front of us after the interval and by the Epicurus/Unicorn sketch I couldn't even keep a light smile on my face. Even more gutted to find that it wrapped up so late we couldn't even rescue the evening by going to a bar!
- Suzanne, London, 10/04/2008 13:28
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I was there last night and it was rubbish! Even though it was for charity, £45 was far too expensive - the highlight of the whole night was Razorlight's unexpected appearance!
All the support acts were crap, except the second guy who was pretty good but only on for 10 minutes. Count Arthur Smith - what was all that about - it was hardly 'tolerated' as described above - I've never heard such a deathly silence at the Albert Hall before - followed by a few heckles of 'get off'. Very uncomfortable viewing all round!
- James, wandsworth, uk, 10/04/2008 10:47
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