In part 1 of our exclusive interview with Noel Fielding he talked about his book of paintings Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton, and his new TV show Noel Fielding’s Luxury Comedy. In part 2 we find out what’s really going on with the Boosh, what Noel thinks about the current state of British comedy, and what he makes of twitter. Plus a fairly major musical revelation! Velveteer Mog brings you the inside track:

When Noel talks about the Boosh and his partnership with Julian Barratt there’s a sense that he appreciates it was, and indeed is, something special: “I love the Boosh and I’ll always love the Boosh. I’m really proud of it. Julian’s one of the best performers around.”

But his unique attachment to it also means it’s not something he can take lightly – it’s too important for that. Everything has to be right for them to work together, and it wasn’t quite there when the two of them started to write a film last year. “When we came together to write a film we’d just written so much stuff together we just couldn’t face sitting in a room for another year writing. We both had to have a break…but we could easily write a film quite quickly. I think we will end up doing something together again – we’ve left it so long now we should probably leave it a bit longer and then come back and do something good. I don’t think we should try and hurry into it.” This need to keep the work that the two of them do together a cut above is also evident when Noel talks about the decision not to use Julian in Luxury Comedy, something which they both agreed on. “What me and Julian have is really special, so if I’d put him in it in a lesser way…” his voice trails off, then he adds emphatically, “He’s too good for that.”

Noel’s also aware that the two of them have different priorities now, with Julian understandably wanting to spend more time with his family. “He doesn’t want to be out on the road for hundred date tours, whereas it’s fine for me because I love that. But I think if you’ve got kids that’s the last thing you want to be doing.” Live gigs are something Noel relishes, and he refers to the joys of performing in front of a live audience several times during our interview: “It’s much more direct and immediate. You have an idea and you just do it, you have a thought and you can just say it. It’s happening there and then and it becomes special to that crowd because it’s just happening for that night. On the Boosh tour we improvised it to the point it couldn’t be stretched any more. By a hundred dates we literally didn’t know what else we could do!” I tell him that some of the more hardcore fans went to so many shows on the last tour that spotting the ad libs each night became something of a game. He finds this a hoot.

So how does Noel feel now about the world of the Boosh, the world that has occupied so much of his adult life? He speaks slightly hesitantly, as if realising his words will be poured over by fans eager to read that a new series is just around the corner, “I love the Boosh, but now when I think of Old Gregg or the Hitcher they’re like people I don’t hang around with any more, or like my friends from five years ago. I think ‘I like those guys but I haven’t really been in touch with them for a while – I need to ring Old Gregg.’ But I can’t – because what I think about now is Fantasy Man and New York Cop, my new characters (from Luxury Comedy).”

We talk about the enduring popularity of the Boosh characters that he and Julian created, and their more recent role as must-have Halloween costumes. “I think the fans and the public own them a bit more than we do now.” He says, “But they’re still special to us and they remind me of Julian and all the stuff we did together, which is really nice.” Then before anyone arrives at the wrong conclusion that their friendship is in the past, he jumps in to reassure, “We’re still mates. We live in the same block – I can see into his front room and he can see into my bedroom; I think he’s got a better deal!”

Noel recounts some heartwarming stories about the balcony-to-balcony communication they enjoy; the way he describes their living arrangement sounds a little like a modern-day Morcambe & Wise. He tells a wonderfully revealing story about a recent encounter they had while he was getting ready to go out: “It’s weird, I’ve been getting into jazz….and I’m not allowed to really. But I was listening to jazz and I saw Julian coming up the path where we live. I’m getting ready in my bedroom, dancing, thinking ‘He can’t ever know that I’m dancing to Miles Davies!’” Noel bursts into his distinctive laugh, perhaps tickled by the significance of this admission. “Aaah, The Jazz…” he sighs, ever so slightly Vince-like, “It gets all of us; you can run but you can’t hide.”

Although much-loved by fans, one of the downsides of the mainstream popularity of the Boosh is how it ultimately impacted on Noel’s ability to develop new material; audiences loved everything he did, regardless of what he did. He explains, “It makes it very hard to write stand-up because the people who know me from the Boosh laugh at everything, and they just want you to do Boosh stuff. You never get the chance to hone your stand-up because it never really gets put through the mill. Whereas comedians who aren’t known will tell a joke and people say ‘Yeah, that’s quite funny mate, but you might want to top that with another four jokes’. I started getting into that position with the Boosh where I couldn’t write anything, because as soon as I came out of a concert people would go ‘That’s amazing!’ and I’d think ‘Well, no. That’s not amazing’. It makes it very hard to write – it’s nicer if an audience gives you a fair review.”

This leads to a discussion about the set of challenges facing comedians who don’t have a public profile. He cites Paul Foot as a case in point (who Noel is a huge fan of, having worked with Foot on his 2010 Edinburgh Show, Ash in the Attic). “Paul Foot doesn’t compromise. He’s in the zone, so when he gets there it’ll be on his own terms. Exposure from telly would mean that he can do bigger gigs and more people would find out about him though.”

This is a topic that Noel has strong views about: “The problem is nowadays if you don’t do telly shows it’s hard to do proper live shows; there’s no way of penetrating the system any more – unfortunately that’s the way it is. It’s always the same people on these big, glossy stand-up shows and you just go ‘Are these the only people alive?’ No offence to any of these people, they’re all good comics but they’re very mainstream. Occasionally someone weird will get on and everyone watching it gets really upset. You need to have both – you want people who are doing really interesting stuff to be on television too, and yet there’s no forum for them at the moment, nowhere – it’s madness!” Noel suddenly catches himself getting on a soapbox and grins, “It’s not like I’m some ambassador for the struggling freaks! The problem is I get excited about these things, and then I just don’t have time to do anything about it.”

That said, he’s been toying with the beginnings of an idea for a TV series, along the lines of an alternative Michael McIntyre’s Roadshow. “I would possibly host it, and it would have all the freaks on it. It’d be very home-made and DIY, and in a small theatre.” The idea of Fielding as a kind of Michael McIntyre for the Dark Side sounds too good to be true – fans of interesting comedy can only hope it happens!

Noel is canny enough to appreciate that his media profile could provide a helpful platform for less well-known comics. The relatively mainstream awareness he enjoys comes in part from his three series as team captain on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, alongside Phill Jupitus. “Buzzcocks is a bit odd because it’s not my show. Phill’s really good to work with and I have a good laugh. I think my skill as a comedian is being able to work with a lot of different people, like Paul Foot, or Julian, or Phill Jupitus, or Russell Brand. I’m pretty good like that, socially, with people. I can get along with anyone and I can get the best out of people, I think.”

It’s one of the reasons why Noel’s keen to direct at some point, suggesting that he’d like to, “Write and direct a really insane film, but a funny one as well…like The Holy Mountain.” He’d also like to release a stand-up album. One can’t help but wonder when he’s going to find the time to get round to all of these things.

First, however, he’d like to take some time out to recharge his creative batteries, “After Luxury Comedy I might just run a way for three months somewhere – to try to get inspired again. When you make stuff you can’t just keep making stuff in Soho or in your house. You need a few months to just go around looking at horses or whatever, just flying kites. Do life stuff so you get some new ideas. Otherwise it’s all the same.” He smiles at the appealing, yet alien, notion of taking time off. Let’s hope he manages to get round to it one day.

With our interview nearing an end, I throw in a few quick-fire questions to wring every last drop of information out of our conversation:

If you were a pub what would you be called? “Floppy Hump.” he replies without pausing, referring to the title of one of his paintings. He toys with the idea of changing it to ‘Floppy Pump’, but then says “I’m terrible at puns, I don’t really understand how they work.” Floppy Hump it is then.

Do you have any other twitter accounts besides @noelfielding11? “No. I wish people would stop pretending to be me in a really unfunny way. It’s the worst thing for a comedian: the people who don’t like what you do anyway just hate you even more, and you’re thinking ‘It wasn’t even me.’” Noel has something of a love/hate relationship with twitter; he likes the speed and immediacy of it, and sees its potential as an interesting source of material: “People say really funny things.  When I write a story I get 20 tweets for every line I write. It’s a bit like a party game, it’s really good fun if you just use it for that.”

What he struggles with, however, is how judgemental people can sometimes be online: “It’s insane, I said thank you to the people who came to one of the book signings and then all the people who couldn’t come got annoyed. It’s like saying thanks to someone who opens the door for you and then also having to say ‘Thanks to everyone who didn’t open the door because I know you’re really good people as well’. I can’t thank everyone. People said ‘But we’re you fans too’ and I thought ‘I know, but I’m just thanking the people who came to a book signing.’ It’s bizarre.”

And with that our conversation finally draws to a close. After a flurry of thank you’s Noel returns to the windowless edit suite next door to continue nurturing his latest creative baby, Luxury Comedy. Based on what we’ve seen of the show, what he’s said about it, and what his plans are beyond the series, fans of Noel’s work can look forwards to a busy, bountiful and quite possibly rather beautiful 2012.

A seriously big Velvet Onion thank you to Noel for finding the time in his busy schedule to talk to us.