The Velvet Onion

© The Forgery Club

If you’re a fan of the kind of comedy we write about on these velvety, oniony pages you’ll like The Forgery Club.

It’s been described as, “A unique, themed comedy night that it is the antithesis to the conventional one – man – and – microphone / observational comedy seen in the clubs up and down the country. No Forgery Club is ever same. McIntyre’s Roadshow this ain’t.” If that sounds like your cup of tea Velvet Onion followers can get two tickets for the price of one at this week’s Forgery Club at The Vandella!

The bill includes Nathaniel Tapley, Spencer Jones, Jamie Glassman and The Real MacGuffins (hosting).

The ‘Forgery Club Goes to War’ show takes place at 8pm tomorrow (Thursday) and the normal ticket price is £7 in advance (£10 on the door), so the 2  for 1 offer represents a pretty good saving. Just say “Velvet Onion” on the door to qualify for the discount.

For more information, check out The Forgery Club website or the club’s Facebook page.

© Idil Sukan / Draw HQ

Kick off the Holiday season with a comedy extravaganza featuring Kevin Eldon and Peter Serafinowicz!

The line-up at this Knock2Bag Christmas party is beyond amazing. Come and be festive with Kevin Eldon (Four Lions, This Is Jinsy, Nighty Night), Peter Serafinowicz (This Is Jinsy, Spaced), Robert Popper (Peep Show, Look Around You), John Shuttleworth, Brian Gittins and Fergus Craig (Sorry, I’ve Got No Head).

You can see this stellar comedy line-up at the Mermaid Theatre in London on Saturday, December 10 at 8PM.

Tickets to witness these comedy legends in action can be purchased over here for £25.

Dishing Out The Booshniverse Since January 31st 2010

Today is a special day for The Velvet Onion… and whilst we’re all madcrazybusy working on forthcoming TVO articles and our own hectic lives, our editor in chief found a few minutes to put together a little something to say to all of you out there…

Three-hundred and twenty-four thousand, eighty-eight hits.

That’s the count on our site stats as I write this, just past midnight on what is now, officially, our first birthday.  The Velvet Onion has now been servicing fans of the Booshniverse for a whole twelve months, with an average of 27,000 individual hits per month coming to see what we do.  Quite simply, this success was never, ever expected.

What started out as a little side-project to keep a recently unemployed comedy fan busy and positive as he plugged his favourite funny things to people he knew, has spiralled into a site that has subscriptions worldwide, has interviewed a huge chunk of the main stars of Booshdom, seen countless exciting projects come, go, and come back again for some more, and has given that now employed comedy fan a whole new lease of life and a fresh career break.  Above all else, its seen him pull together a team of confidants he’d trust his life with, and whom are more than willing to do whatever they can for the ‘greater good’ of just getting the stuff that makes us laugh out there to you all.

We never expected this huge response from both our readers, and our subjects – most of whom are now proud, badge-wearing TVO supporters, keeping us relatively in-the-loop so we can work with them to get their art to the people who appreciate it the most: YOU.  Thank you to each and every one of our subjects, contributors and our readers over the last 12 months for a glorious year, and here’s to new and exciting projects on the horizon for us all.

Happy birthday!

As The Velvet Onion reaches 200,000 hits, our editor in chief has a proud word or two to say to the faithful…

Can you believe it? In just 225 days, we’ve managed to be useful 200,000 times.  It’s a figure we could never have imagined to reach, but its a testament to many factors that I’d just like to take this opportunity to reiterate.

Firstly, I must thank the staff, or The Velveteers as Rich Fulcher has kindly dubbed them.  Mog, Paulyne, Aggie, Becky, Helen, Trixie, Lozzy, Carol and the mythical creature that is Boffy have been as much a part of this story as I have, and deserve every ounce of praise I can give them.  Whilst some are only able to help us sporadically, at some point they have all tirelessly slaved over various aspects of The Velvet Onion in order to give you, the readers, those we report about, and of course ourselves a website to be proud of.  All free of charge, might I add. We do this out of the kindness of our hearts in whatever time we can spare on a (usually) daily basis. I adore each and every one of them, and truly: they are your newsline, and I’d be lost without them.

Secondly, we must of course thank the artists themselves.  We’ve yet to encounter any negativity towards the site, which I feel is a testament to the professional way we’ve sought to engage in our communications towards them.  By remembering at all times that these heroes of ours are people too, I feel we’ve been able to garner a level of mutual respect that continues to surprise me to this day.  And a very special mention must go to those who have gone beyond the call of duty and provided us with news stories, exclusives and/or interviews in the eight months since we launched.  Truly, you are magnificent, and further strengthen our desires to help promote what you create.

A kind hearted nod must also go to the various members of production companies, television channels, newspapers and websites that have been more than willing to provide us with sound, vision and the occasional plug into the bargain.  It would be very easy for these people to dismiss what we are trying to do, yet the vast majority appear to just ‘get it’, and are more than willing to help at every opportunity.

Lastly, and you know what’s coming, we must thank you, our faithful peelers – for continuing to find us useful.  As long as you’re still coming, we’ll keep reporting.   Thank you in particular to anyone who has provided us with news, submitted a review, sent us photos and special reports, and plugged us to their friends and beloveds.  Your goodwill towards us does not go unnoticed, and makes us strive to keep up our standards even when our brains are feeling fuzzy and we’d do anything to just turn the computer off and walk away in a state of utter confusion.

This has been one of the most exciting adventures of our lives.  Speaking personally for a moment, it’s put me in regular contact with several people I’ve greatly respected for many years, and given us an avenue in which to give a little back for all the work which has brought us together.   That work, and a result, this website, has brought us all new friends, fresh adventures, and in my own case, the love of my life and a reinvigorated passion to succeed in a career path I’d long since given up on.  Really, The Velvet Onion is the least we can do in return.

Thank you all so much.

Stay peeled & love to you.

‘Didy’

xx

Due to popular demand, we now have a fresh email address for you budding peelers to send your news stories to, which will be regularly checked by the entire team.  To let us know what’s going on, simply email submit@thevelvetonion.com!

Don’t forget that you can also keep in touch with your fellow peelers via our forum! It’s free to join and members will continue to receive exclusives via the Peelers Club section. To visit the forum, simply click on the button below.

It’s very rare for The Velvet Onion to talk about itself, but today we have reached 100,000 views – a mammoth amount in such a small space of time.

As such, here’s a word or several from our editor in chief…

100,000 hits.  However you look at it, that’s a lot of people.  Far more than I ever expected this project would reach.  To be ridiculously geeky, its averaging out at 952 individual people per day in the few short months we’ve been peeling Booshdom for you all.  At times, we’ve had over 4,000 people read our corner of the interweb in under 24 hours, which is just mind boggling for a non-profit ‘fan’ project born out of love and admiration and little more than a shared passion for great comedy.

Gestating in my mind for over a year, the push to finally get this site up and running all happened in a matter of days, and within a matter of weeks, we’d somehow managed to grab your attention.  If you’re here now, reading this, its because we’ve somehow done something right for you – and we’re all very proud to be of service.  Personally, I must stress how important the rest of the team are to this site.  There is no way I could do this alone, and every single member of TVO has gone above and beyond the call of duty to make this blog the best it can possibly be.  Frankly, they’re all brilliant, and I love them dearly.

So we’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support since we launched on January 31st.  If you’ve submitted a story to us, if you’ve joined our forum [which, if you haven't, you really should right here!], if you’ve just been reading the site at some point each week – thank you.  You’re one half of the reason we do all of this, and without you it’d be a pretty pointless task, wouldn’t it?  Your loyalty and love for this site has been heartwarming and we hope to keep providing you with what you want for a long, long time to come.

Also, we’d like to thank those behind-the-scenes faces from various production companies who have understood our site instantly, and been kind enough to send us information and promotional material to help get their productions directly to the people who will appreciate them most.  So to our new found friends at Baby Cow, Talkback Thames, Big Finish and beyond – thank you.  A big shout-out must also go to Chris Jones at the IT Crowd production office, and to Sam Ward, the producer of the forthcoming smash hit Zimbani - for all their help over the last few weeks.  And we can’t move on without mentioning the guys at Such Small Portions and The Guardian who have loved what we do so much they’ve been up for pointing their readers in our direction.

But above all else, we’d like to thank those in amongst The Mighty Boosh and Booshdom from whom we have had positive feedback and love for what we do.  In alphabetical order, to avoid favourites, we really must thank Matt Berry, Hayden Black, Kurt Braunohler, Dave Brown, Dan Clark, Antony Elvin, Suzy Evelyn, Noel Fielding, Rich Fulcher, Paul King, Alice Lowe, Spencer Millman, Kim Noble, Oliver Ralfe, Kristen Schaal, Holly-Jane Shears and Jacqueline Wright for all the praise and support they have sent flooding our way over the last four months.  You are the other half of the reason we do all of this – as it is your talent and hard work that has brought us together in the first place.  Thanks to you all and your cohorts, we’ve found friends, we’ve found love, we’ve had incredible time after incredible time, and in The Velvet Onion we finally have a way of giving a little back in return.

So to all of you then – you’re brilliant, stay classy, keep on crimpin’ and above all else – stay peeled.

‘Didy’

xx

Comedy website Such Small Portions is a fantastic portal for news and reviews of everything that can make you giggle and guffaw. They very kindly contacted our editor in chief, Paul ‘Didymus’ Holmes, recently to ask about what its like to bring you this blog each day.

Our mini invasion of their site is now live, and you can read all about it over yonder.

We’re not usually the type to write about ourselves, but we at The Velvet Onion would like to publicly thank The Guardian for mentioning us in their “Internet Picks Of The Week” today.

This site is a labour of love for us all, and its great to know that people out there are enjoying it.

Read what The Guardian’s writer Johnny Dee has to say about us on their website, or check out the scan below.

As we promised last week, The Velvet Onion forum is now open for business!

Just click on the new option above that says “TALKBOX” and be taken to The Velvet Onion forum.

You can also access us via the easy to remember link: www.thevelvetonionforum.tk – See how nice we are to you?

Over on the forum you’ll be able to talk about all things Boosh –  light hearted chat, serious analysis, or just how much you love Noel’s hair… whatever takes your fancy, it has a place on TVO!

You’ll also be able to discuss the Wider World of Booshdom, talk in a dedicated area for chat about The IT Crowd, and find like-minded souls who are into all that mad stuff you love so much.  And with generous off-topic areas, and the scope for more in the future, we hope to become one of the places online for Boosh fans to be a part of.

So keep peeling and join in the interactive oniony treats.

See you there!

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE FORUM

April 1st is, perhaps, best known as a day of pranks and hoaxes.

One thing you can rely on happening that day, for real, is the launch of The Velvet Onion forum.

We’re fine tuning the last details of the forum ready for launch as you read this – and from this Thursday, you’ll be able to click on the new option above that says “TALKBOX” and be taken to The Velvet Onion forum.  Here you’ll be able to talk about all things Boosh –  light hearted chat, serious analysis, or just how much you love Noel’s hair… whatever takes your fancy, it will have a place on TVO!

You’ll also be able to discuss the Wider World of Booshdom, have a dedicated area for chat about The IT Crowd, and find like-minded souls who are into all that mad stuff you love so much.  And with generous off-topic areas, and the scope for more in the future, we hope to become one of the places online for Boosh fans to be a part of.

So don’t be a fool – pop on back here on April 1st and join in the interactive oniony treats.

See you there!

I’m mildly obsessed by the Boosh.  I love their comedy, their uniquely colourful take on life, their taste in music, and if I’m honest, I probably wouldn’t kick three-fifths of them out of bed either.  I go and see them whenever I get the chance, I dress up in silly costumes when I do, and I’m lucky enough to have met them a few times.  So far, so stalker-ish.

But I’m also a fully-functioning adult.  I have a husband, kids, friends, a proper job, a university degree, and a mortgage.  I don’t scream in their faces when I see them, or grab their bums, or wear excessive eyeliner because I believe that this will make them want to shag me, or try to dress like them.  I criticise them when they underwhelm me as much as I praise them when they’re great.  For me, this is being a Boosh fan.  And there are a lot of us like this.  Thank god.

For this reason, I’ll be visiting The Velvet Onion from time to time to offer up the fan’s view on what the Boosh are up to.  Not the “OMG Noel Fielding is sooooohot <3 <3!!!!!  Is he in a band???  I LUV HIM  hugzzzzzzz!!!!!!!” version, but the opinion of a sane grown-up.  Sort of.

I’ll leave you with a quote about fans which has nothing to do with the Boosh but made me smile, because of the grain of truth it carries about fandom:

“Several hard-core Star Wars fans who had tickets for the first showing of The Phantom Menace said that when the movie began they started crying.  Mainly because they realised it’s 22 years later, and they still haven’t lost their virginity.” – Conan O’Brien.

A fan not a freak x

The fans went wild for Bollo's frisbee clock

Welcome to The Velvet Onion, a new blog designed to enlighten you in the ways of THE MIGHTY BOOSH, and various comedians, actors and musicians associated with the show.

The plan is to be an easy access point to find out the very latest news from the Booshniverse.  Hopefully, this will be worthwhile, useful, and maybe even entertaining.  Till then, I’m gonna make you wear your momma’s dress.  Stay classy.