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TVO Live! The Aftermath of a Vandella Velveting…

2 Jun

You knew it was coming – but Thursday May 31st saw The Velvet Onion put on our very first live night, at the incredible new Shepherd’s Bush venue, The Vandella.

With a smattering of stars in the audience, and a VIP lounge so filled with comedy legends several people’s heads may have exploded, it was always going to be a special night – and the challenge for us was cramming so many fabulous names onto one bill.

Now, we’re a little biased, but we have to admit, it went rather well indeed – and judging by the post-show reaction everyone such a great time by the time Team TVO left the building we’d discussed coming back to do another, several times over!

The night was such an intimate affair that we knew deep down the vast majority of our Peelers would never be able to be there – but rest assured, we recorded the entire show in glorious high definition, multi camera action, and we’ll be cutting it together over the summer for a potential Autumn release – all online, all free, and for a limited period only – so stay peeled to be kept in the loop on that one.

In the meantime, we’ll be bringing you teaser footage as soon as we can, and we have a huge array of photographs of the evening for you to savour too.  The first batch are all included below, so enjoy them safe in the knowledge that, all being well, their teasing nature will be fulfilled later this year.

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We’d like to extend our huge thanks to everyone involved with putting on the night – especially to the sheer wonderment of Bob Pipe for his technical expertise and the living legend that is James Wren for all of his support throughout this whole process.  We’d also like to thank Sian Salsbury and everyone at The Vandella who have been the most accommodating team we could have ever hoped to have worked with – and our very hard working camera crew: Michael Bull, Jon Burgess, Michael Glynn!  Not to mention everyone who helped out on the day as friends of us all.

And of course, we really must thank our glorious guests, who all worked hard, played hard, and made us love them even more than we did before.  In order of appearance, our deepest, and more sincere thanks to: Mike Fielding, Dave Brown, Antony Elvin, Will Summers, Gareth Tunley, Alex Kirk, Dolly Wells, Laura Patch, Richard Glover, Stephen Evans, Holly Jane Shears, Suzy Evelyn-Hall, Alice Lowe, Steve Oram, Tom Meeten, David McNeill, Dan Tetsell, Waen Shepherd, Rachel Stubbings, Richard Sandling and James Cook.

We’d also like to extend our thanks to those who couldn’t make it in the end, but we know wanted to be there – in particular Joey Page for trying to the very last moment to get there, and both James Bachman and Lucy Montgomery whose enormous workloads stood in their way.  Extra special thanks must also go to the legendary Rich Fulcher, who was drawn away for a charity event but still found the time to record incredible last minute voice overs to introduce each artist.

Finally, we’d like to thank everyone who came along to support us and the artists on the bill.  You are the reason we’re able to keep doing what we’re doing to help the people you admire, and we’ll go on for as long as you’ll all have us.  Until the next time… keep peeling!

Meet Neil Cole

9 May

© Neil Cole / Dave Brown

The beauty of Booshdom is that it reaches far and wide, though sometimes that reach is so wide that its easy to miss names staring you in the face.

Neil Cole is a new name to The Velvet Onion, but his name has been circling around Booshdom for many years and we thought it was about time you met him, ahead of his latest collaboration.

Neil will be appearing with Rich Fulcher in Rich Fulcher and His Fucked Up Friends, at The Vandella on Thursday 10th May, but this is not his first time on stage with members of The Mighty Boosh.  They worked together in 1998 in Edinburgh when Noel, Julian and Rich were guests on Psycho Vertigo Disco.

Remaining a close friend of the Boosh boys, all these years later, his 2011 Edinburgh show Neil By Mouth was co-directed by none other than Dave Brown, who shot the promotional images for the tour like the one seen here.

Other comedy work includes being a founder member of The Pros From Dover, who he still occasionally performs with.  As well as Richard Glover, he has previously collaborated with the likes of Tom Meeten, Steve Oram, James Bachman, Barunka O’Shaughnessy, Waen Shepherd and The Actor Kevin Eldon, has opened for Russell Brand on tour, and his former comedy partner Tom Hillenbrand appeared in AD/BC.  Truly, a layer of onion worth peeling!

As well as stand up, Neil has wide experience of radio and tv work and has presented many extreme sports programmes, he has even met The Hairy Bikers! In 2009 he interviewed Noel, Dave and Mike at the NME Awards for NME Radio.

There is an interview with Neil at thehumourdor.co.uk where you can find out more about him and his work, and you can also catch up with him on  Facebook, Twitter and on his YouTube channel.  We’ll be speaking to Neil ourselves as soon as we can, so stay peeled – and if you’re off to see him perform with Fulcher this Thursday, tell him t’Onion sent you…

Here Is My Car

8 May

© Chris O’Dowd

Twitter fans may have spotted Chris O’Dowd attempting – and failing –  to sell his car online yesterday.

Chris has put his baby blue 1969 VW Karmann Ghia on the market for the bargain price of $5000. As you can see from the photo, the car looks great; unfortunately it doesn’t start and Chris no longer has the key! If you’re still interested, and you live near California (which is where the somewhat inert car can be found), drop him a line on twitter. Don’t mention the facial hair, however. As Chris pointed out mere minutes after putting the car up for sale: “There are 60% more moustache comments and 100% less offers for ‘Carmen’ than i’d like.”

While we’re on the hot topic of driving, don’t forget there’s still time to listen to Dave Brown‘s radio show about the Highway Code on BBC iPlayer.

The Highway Man

3 May

BBC Radio 4

Tomorrow (Friday) Dave Brown is presenting a special programme on BBC Radio 4: Dave Brown’s New Highway Code.

In the show Dave looks at the history and development of the Highway Code as it moves into the digital age with an app and e-book. It was first published as a guide ‘ to all courteous people’ in 1931 and became part of the Driving Test three years later.

Dave takes a road trip from London to Brighton in his vintage morris minor, Betty , meeting passengers and drivers to discuss the development of the Highway Code and modern driving manners. He takes cyclist and writer Zoe Williams on a spin to Oxshott, meets fellow graphic artist Nathan Lauder , and arrives in Brighton to chat to racing driver Ben Constandurous about the rules of the race track. He concludes by developing a new highway code of his own for modern drivers.

The show broadcasts on Radio 4 at 11am and will be available on iPlayer for 7 days afterwards. As Dave himself tweeted earlier today, “My BBC Radio 4 prog 2moro@11am on the HighwayCode got pick of the week in Guardian, Mail, Indi & has been chosen as Doc of week for BBCdownload.” Sounds like it’s well worth a listen!

 

Driver Dave Sets Off!

14 Apr

© Afrikids

Later today, Dave Brown sets off in the direction of Africa, to drive an ambulance to Ghana in aid of AfriKids!

Two emergency vehicles have been donated to the charity, which is responding to the difficult conditions in the Upper East Region of Ghana.  The region is in urgent need of medical equipment and care, with one in nine children dying before their fifth birthday, and only one doctor to every 36,000 people.

They also only have seven working ambulances for a population of over a million – and as a result, Dave is joining a number of volunteers raising money to buy more!  The two donated vehicles will hopefully only be the start of this quest… and you, dear peelers, can help them along the way.

Dave has set up a Just Giving page RIGHT HERE – and has already raised over £3,000.  If you have any spare cash, and haven’t donated yet, perhaps it could go to this noble cause?  You can also donate £5 simply by texting VAFN50 to 70070.

94% Orangutan

30 Mar

© Dave Brown

As you may know already and we more recently brought to your attention, Dave Brown has had a generous amount of involvement in the conservation of Sumatran Orangutans.

Along with giving you the chance to bid on some rare, limited edition copies of Scribblings, you can now proudly wear the message on your chest with some snazzy T-Shirts sold on their official website.

As Dave is modelling (insert), you can now remind people of the similarities to us and the primates and spread the message far & wide of the Sumatran Orangutans.

Buy your t-shirts right here plus you can also make further donations here.

Signed Scribblings For Sumatra

26 Mar

© Canongate / Dave Brown / Noel Fielding

The Sumatran Orangutan Society are offering a chance to win a couple of Scribblings… related rarities in their latest charity auction.

As part of their latest campaign, The Jungle VIP Auction, the prize lot of a copy of the limited edition run of Scribblings of A Madcap Shambleton signed by Noel Fielding and Dave Brown – plus a large t-shirt signed by Dave to go with it!

To bid on this unique collection, CLICK HERE NOW!

The charity is dedicated to the conservation of Sumatran orangutans and their forest home, working with local communities living alongside orangutan habitat. The t-shirt design which Dave has signed demonstrates the enormous impact on what is at stake here – as humans and orangutan’s share 96.4% of the same DNA.

© Andy Hollingworth

Brown has worked with the charity previously – appearing on a star-studded bill for Orangaid at The Lyceum Theatre back in 2008, he even managed to rope in Bollo for a duet with Bill Bailey!

Others working with the S.O.S. for this auction include Tim Minchin, Chris Evans, Jane Asher and Nicola Roberts, and a range of merchandise to support the charity is available on their website, where you can also make a donation to this amazing cause.

Luxury Comedy Reaches Australia

25 Mar

© Secret Peter / Channel 4

Australian Peelers will soon be able to watch Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy on their own televisions!

The first episode airs on Thursday 5th April on ABC2 at 10.30pm, and is repeated later in the week.

If you have somehow missed out on hearing about Luxury Comedy, you can pop over to the E4 site to catch up on the characters and episodes or browse TVO!

To find out more about the show in Australia click here.

Driver Dave’s Charitable Adventure

13 Mar

© Afrikids

Dave Brown is to undertake one of his toughest challenges yet – driving an ambulance to Ghana in aid of AfriKids!

Two emergency vehicles have been donated to the charity, which is responding to the difficult conditions in the Upper East Region of Ghana.  The region is in urgent need of medical equipment and care, with one in nine children dying before their fifth birthday, and only one doctor to every 36,000 people.

They also only have seven working ambulances for a population of over a million – and as a result, Dave is joining a number of volunteers raising money to buy more!  The two donated vehicles will hopefully only be the start of this quest… and you, dear peelers, can help them along the way.

Dave has set up a Just Giving page RIGHT HERE – so if you have any spare cash, perhaps it could go to this noble cause?  You can also donate £5 simply by texting VAFN50 to 70070.

Success At The NMEs!

1 Mar

© NME

For the handful of people that have managed to miss the news about last night’s NME Awards which has been floating around online today, here’s the scoop:

Booshniverse-related artists were up for three awards: Best Book (Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton), Best Film (Submarine) and Best TV Show (Never Mind the Buzzcocks). Success was seen in two of the three categories: Best Book and Best Film. Best TV Show was won by Fresh Meat. Thanks to all of you who voted.

Big, velvety congratulations to Noel Fielding and Dave Brown for the Best Book win and to Richard Ayoade for his award for Best Film. Sadly these awards weren’t given out on the night, so we didn’t get to see our boys up on stage collecting their gongs. Noel and Dave were at the event, however, and we had the joy of seeing Noel introduce Kasbian onstage, dressed as The Hitcher. This alone was worth the ticket price!

For the full list of winners and to more photos of the Awards visit NME.com. To watch the Awards in full, tune in to Channel 4 on Saturday (March 3) at 11.55pm (GMT). Half an hour of highlights will be shown on T4 at 9.25am (GMT) the same day.

And if you fancy a peek at Dave Brown’s snaps from the night take a look at his twitter photos.

Luxury Comedy, TVOoh-yeah…

20 Feb

© Channel 4/Secret Peter

We have reminded, teased and shouted about it enough and now the day has finally come – here is our exclusive documentary from set of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy.

Velveteers took cameras, mics and their bodies over to the set and probed the cast & creators of the out-of-this-world E4 show.

Over the past few weeks we have been teasing you with clips, and now at long last, you can see the video below!

Let us know what you think and a huge thank you to Noel and the rest of his team in front of and behind the camera at Secret Peter for supporting us throughout the making of the show, and thanks to all of you amazing peelers for being so patient and loving of what we do.  This one’s for you.

S(no)w Boosh!

8 Feb

© Universal Studios

TVO has been inundated with fans telling us that The Boosh Film is on the way once again, after an interview with Noel Fielding outside the Evening Standard Film Awards appeared online.

In the video posted by The Press Association, which has since been picked up by a variety of news websites, Noel commented: “I saw Julian yesterday [Monday], we went sledging together.  So we were talking about a Boosh where we should get together and do a film, finally!  There’ll definitely be sledging in the Boosh film, there’ll have to be won’t there?”

Naturally, we at The Velvet Onion must stress that talking about a Boosh film, and it actually happening are two very different things.  The film has been in discussion stages for a long time, first drafts have been half-written, and what we do know at present is that The Mighty Boosh are on hiatus whilst Noel & Julian concentrate on their own solo projects.

Whilst any news of the duo getting back together is positive, it’s good to remember that they have not broken up, nor have they fallen out – and of course, when they are together they will discuss the very thing that binds them.

The Boosh will return, but we just wanted to remind you that we may all be waiting a little while longer yet…

Great APE

1 Feb

Today Dave Brown tweeted that new new photos of the Luxury Comedy posters he created were available to view on his website APE. Indeed they are, but we reckon these latest additions to Dave’s portfolio of work provide the perfect opportunity for you to check out everything else he’s done.

© Dave Brown

TVO readers will probably be most familiar with his creative output on Mighty Boosh projects, on which he often collaborated with Nigel Coan and Ivana Zorn of Nipple. This included the design work for The Boosh Live At Brixton DVD, The Future Sailors DVD and The Mighty Book of Boosh.

His more recent Booshniverse-related projects have included the photography and design work for Noel Fielding’s art book The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton and the omnipresent Luxury Comedy ad campaign. Of the latter, Dave explains on his site how the colourful designs of the posters and their media environment play off each other: “Just as the show stands out amongst a sea of colourless, bland, reality based programmes on television, we used the colourful, engaging and highly original imagery of the show to pop out of the wintery, grey, urban landscapes they inhabited.”

© Dave Brown

Dave’s design work is distinguished by his bold use of colour and attention to detail, both of which make his designs ping out and poke you in the eye with their visual energy. Playful flavours of street art and childhood make him the perfect visualiser for the world of Boosh and everything that lies beyond it. We thoroughly recommend you take the time to take a look and see what else he’s been up to.

To read more about the talents that hide behind the gorilla mask, why not check out our interviews with Dave?  Here, here and here.

Onion Talking: Dave Brown, The Scribbling Slasher Part Two

27 Jan

During the rise of the Boosh, Dave Brown provided the vast majority of the designs for the DVD covers, menus, posters and beyond. As the work flowed in a steady stream, the time came to start up his own design company and so, APE was born. At the moment The Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton book and Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy may be at the top of the barrel but you can find APE’s work in many other places.

© Dave Brown

While all this work was being produced, Brown could still be found on screen and on stage either pulling some shapes, singing or posing as our favourite gorilla. The line between designing and comedy could seem somewhat fuzzy; how they become separate from each other is a question that Dave answers with an admirable perspective and confidence, “They do overlap occasionally, I like to think I approach creative work with humor in mind, its not always easy but wherever possible I try, people react and gravitate towards something that makes them smile, its human nature. Over the years I have worked with more comedians through Boosh  work and contacts like Tim Key, Rich Fulcher of course, & Jimmy Carr, I think being involved in comedy helps you understand what comedians are after design & photography wise, I’d like to work with more to be honest, It’s always annoyed me how so many comedians have the same style posters, lazy designs with little ideas, without blowing ones trumpet The Boosh as well as those that do care and appreciate the power of good branding stand out a mile!” (more…)

Luxury Comedy In A Bargain-Basement Age

24 Jan

© Channel 4/Secret Peter

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy is a show like no other you’ll see on television in 2012. It’s a show that has spent years gestating in the heads of its dual creators, Noel Fielding and Nigel Coan. It’s a show that combines live-action with animation in a crayola-drenched world filled with cartoon characatures that seem to have leapt straight out of the imagination of Fielding – as his longterm friend and colleague Dave Brown so eloquently put when talking to TVO last year – the show is a bit like downloading Noel’s brain.

More than a year in the actual, physical making, Luxury Comedy brings together a number of talents from that wider world of Booshdom we’ve been shouting about since our inception, and who we’ve all collectively been enjoying on stage and screen for the past fifteen years. Whilst its fair to say the show can never topple The Mighty Boosh in the hearts of many, the trick to watching Luxury Comedy is to block out all thoughts of that looming shadow of a cult classic and just enjoy the madness on its own terms.

© Channel 4/Secret Peter

Take for example, the character of Dondelion, images of which have been released to the press. On the surface, a cynical viewer may suggest he is a cast-off from the Boosh – a lost side-project from the days of the Zooniverse.  They would be wrong. Dondelion, like every other character Noel and Nigel have created – and there are many – is a brand new beast, the only similarities being that he has come from the same brilliant mind that co-created all those Boosh characters of yesteryear.

We’ve been living with the pilot since the summer of last year now, when Noel and his team at Secret Peter kindly invited The Velvet Onion to visit the set and document our findings. It’s multi-coloured, surrealistic world admittedly took us all by surprise on first viewing, but whilst not everyone was immediately in hysterics, repeat viewings found the laughs increased and, amazingly, a whole new realm of quotes and catchphrases subconsciously crept into our everyday lexicon.  We’ve been yelling “Fish Finger For Later” at one another since then, and random injections of “Paulsaid”, “LEEEGGGGOOOOHHHHH!” and rambling speeches about bikes, Gary Glitter and single baked beans have interjected our daily thoughts to the point where we started to wonder if we had developed a new form of madness. The show may be like downloading Noel’s brain, but more specifically it seems, for diehard fans that download will embed itself into the infrastructure of your mind’s root folders like a particularly shiny virus.

(more…)

The Man Who Brings Noel’s Dreams to Life

23 Jan

© Unknown

As we count down the days until Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy hits the telly waves we thought it was about time one of the more reticent stars of the show was introduced to the spotlight. Nigel Coan is the director and animator behind the series, and is therefore responsible for the unenviable task of bringing the dream world inside Noel Fielding’s head onto the small screen.  Ahead of our exclusive interview with the director later this week, for those of you who don’t know much about him, please permit us to fill in the gaps:

Trained in graphic design, Coan was on the same art course at Buckingham University as Noel Fielding and Dave Brown, and shared a student house with them. Since then he’s enjoyed a successful career as an animator, and is probably best known amongst Boosh fans for creating the endearing character of the Moon out of little more than a can of shaving foam (and a willing victim).

© BBC

Coan has been collaborating with his partner (and the inspiration for the voice of the Moon), Ivana Zorn, since 2000. After initial forays into animated work for corporate clients, the charm of their work trickled through to the television and music industries. In addition to animating the Moon on the Boosh, Coan and Zorn are also responsible for many of the animated sequences in the show, including the back stories for Charlie Bubblegum and the Crack Fox, amongst others. Their approach seems to sit well with the distinctive style of Noel’s character illustrations. They have also collaborated with Dave Brown to create the joyfully intricate menu screens on both the Future Sailors’ and the Series 3 DVDs.
(more…)

A Luxurious Takeover!

23 Jan

© Secret Peter / Channel 4

This week sees the launch of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy, and naturally, TVO wanted to mark this occasion with a bang.

We’ve already given you exclusive preview images of the show, but now we can confirm our Luxury Comedy Takeover is officially underway!

Over the coming days, we’ll be bringing you exclusive interviews with the people behind the show, profiles on familiar faces, a review of tonight’s exclusive press-screening and that all important first episode and much more.

The biggest news of all is the ultimate secret we’ve been keeping since the summer – when The Velvet Onion visited the set of Luxury Comedy for two days armed with a hi-def video camera, a microphone and the best intentions to bring you a unique peek behind the scenes on the show.

Naturally, the main drive of behind-the-scenes features belong to our friend, Joey Page, who has been crafting his own short for the dvd release of the show later this year – and we’ll be bringing you more on that in due time.  For now, though, we have our own exclusive and candid video interviews with Noel, Mike, Tom, Dave, Joey, Kim and Rich for you to savour – and whilst you wait for those to emerge in all their hi-def glory later this week, we’ll be whetting your appetites for the show itself every day until then.

So welcome to the takeover. The age of luxury is about to begin…

Noel Takes Over The Guardian!

21 Jan

© theguardian.co.uk

To celebrate the imminent arrival of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy to E4, The Guardian newspaper has allowed Noel Fielding to take over The Guide.

Rush out and get your own print copy or click on the link to discover Noel’s influences for Luxury Comedy, read his interview with Alice Cooper and feast your eyes on the comic created by Noel about The Adventures of Alice and Noel.

You can also meet all the new Luxury Comedy characters and find out who Loose Tapestries think are the bands to watch this year.

Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy starts on Thursday (26th Jan) at 10pm on E4,

A Cheeky Peek Behind The Scenes

20 Jan

Yesterday we promised you a Velvet Onion picture exclusive, in the form of behind-the-scenes photos from the filming of Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy. Never let it be said that we’re ones to break a promise: here they are!

These images provide a wonderful insight into the series production process, allowing us a privileged peek at the characters in action before the animation was added:

© Channel 4

© Channel 4

© Channel 4

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2011 Pops Off With a Bang!

8 Jan

The final months of 2011 were an exciting time for the Booshniverse. Join us for now for the final instalment of our four-part retrospective as we relive it all over again. . .

October

© BBC

October began buzzing with Booshy delights. The month’s start saw previews for the upcoming 25th series of Never Mind The Buzzcocks.  Meanwhile, Matt Berry and Rich Fulcher continued on their North American Snuff Box DVD tour in Canada, Los Angeles, and Fulcher in NYC.

While London Madcaps prepared to get their books scribbled by Noel Fielding and Dave Brown, the BBC were busy at work filming the Victorian spoof drama Bleak Old Shop of Stuff. The series, starring TVO regulars Katherine Parkinson and James Bachman, as well as Stephen Fry, is meant to start airing in the New Year. The Sightseers, the Alice Lowe/Steve Oram film collaboration was also underway by mid-October. For the nostalgic at heart, cult DJ extrodinaire Pogo released “Zoo Zoo”, a Mighty Boosh mash-up.

© IAMX

The first of four TVO Scribblings wristband competitions was announced, with peelers in London, and soon thereafter Edinburgh vying for guaranteed admission to meet the Shambletons. Psycho Delia mixed some tunes, and IAMX fans were pleased to see the band’s triumphant return to a London stage in one hell of a show! Friend of TVO, Hayden Black, saw Goodnight Burbank, his series that started as webisodes with cameos from the likes of Rich Fulcher and John Barrowman, make its North American televisual debut. Familiar face Alan Partridge, the infamous alter ego of Steve Coogan, announced his returning to both radio and TV.

© Steve Agee

Blackpool’s Comedy Carpet was unveiled, Booshy jaunts included! Lucky American peelers got the opportunity to catch the Matt Berry/Steve Agee film Angry White Men as it enjoyed a limited release in California and North Carolina. In yet another bout of nostalgia, Vlad the Impaler returned to the handlebars of Serge and the rest of Kasabian’s musical bicycle.

(more…)

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