#Julian barratts hands

[ar0ace-m3ss]

Because I'm trans and gay, I have this weird thing where I don't know if I'm attracted to someone or want to be them. I had this a lot when I was younger , as what I thought were crushes are actually gender envy.

I remember being obsessed with male fictional characters, and I wanted to dress and be like them. So I made a venn diagram... these are ppl of the top of my head and probably not all.

(Probably spelling mistakes I made this in about a minute)

[electriccnoir]

not to be dramatic or anything but if nothing booshy happens this year i might crumble into a pile of dust .

[tundrafloe]

On the Future Sailors commentary, Julian talks about how performance anxiety affects him.

Julian: “I usually shut down, I shut down. So when I’m in panic, I look like I’m bored.”

[your-fav-is-left-handed]

Howard Moon from The Mighty Boosh is left handed

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

Does anyone want a collection of screenshots of all Daniel Kitson's entries in Edinburgh Fringe Festival programs? Because I made a collection of screenshots of all Daniel Kitson's entries in Edinburgh Fringe Festival programs (courtesy of this website, and the things in it are really worth looking through if you're interested in comedy at all). It's something I do with my life sometimes.

Note: This was meant to be just a collection of screenshots, obviously turns into a catalogue of his whole career. Obviously. It got a little out of hand as I was writing.

1999

The Number One Show

Joint late-night Gilded Balloon thing with Andrew Maxwell and Trevor Lock. He has told stories about this on stage sometimes, about how in the late 90s he mainly performed in rough London clubs including the Comedy Cafe where he was absolutely horrible to the audience, and then went to Edinburgh where he acted the same way until Trevor Lock and Andrew Maxwell told him that Edinburgh isn't the same as the Comedy Cafe and he needs to tone it down.

When he tells that story, he says Edinburgh 1999 was hard because he had a bit of a crisis when he realized they were right and he'd been acting badly. This critical self-reflection is a wild contrast to how he came across in a documentary that chronicled his time at Edinburgh in 1999 with:

The Monkey Touchers

Noel Faulkner, owner of the aforementioned Comedy Cafe, took some of their comedians to do shows out of the back of a truck in Edinburgh, including Daniel Kitson who performed with another guy named Lee Canterbury as The Monkey Touchers. Neither of them come off well in the documentary that showcases this, but it's worth noting that he was only 22, and you cannot hold people to everything they said when they were 22.

Fun fact: that Barry Cryer quote comes from this video, of the finals of the 1995 BBC New Comedy Awards. Daniel Kitson made those finals when he was only 18 (he didn't win, but Julian Barratt did win, Lee Mack's in it too, the whole thing's worth watching), Barry Cryer's one of the judges, and while discussing Kitson's performance, Barry Cryer says he felt sick at the thought of someone so young being such a strong performer.

2001

Daniel Kitson did not return to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2000, but came back in 2001 with:

Love, Innocence, and the Word Cock

Note the large-ish poster that even has some colour on it - this was when he still had an agent who made him do publicity things, but more than that I think it was before he even personally objected to publicity things. Unironic praise in the blurb, genuinely trying to sell himself. And it worked, he was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award. Which he lost to the Garth Marenghi stage show (precursor, of course, to the brilliant TV show) with Matthew Holness, Richard Ayoade, and Alice Lowe.

I think this was also his first year hosting Late 'n' Live, putting those Comedy Cafe skills to work. It was definitely a year when he hosted Late 'n' Live (not 100% sure it was the first, but it probably was as he wasn't there in 2000 and was new to the whole festival in 1999), because there's a documentary series about Late 'n' Live that shows Kitson hosting it in 2001. Specifically, it shows him working with Adam Hills and Ross Noble to drag a drunk Johnny Vegas off stage.

2002

Something

A poster again, but it's smaller, and there's no colour this time.

Big year, this was the show that won the Perrier Award and he got so angry about having success foisted upon him that he refused to let anyone find out he exists ever again. I find the line "on the verge of critical backlash" quite funny, as he's been saying for years that he's had his time in the sun and everyone is going to get sick of him soon, but it's extra funny that he was already saying it by 2002. This show was about love and his grandmother, his first significant move toward thoughtful beautiful stuff and away from calling people cunts in the Comedy Cafe. Although I think it was also the second year he hosted Late 'n' Live, so he wasn't entirely done with calling people cunts.

2003

A Made Up Story

Another poster, black and white but this one took up half a page.

This show seems to have been a turning point in Kitson's career. First theatre show he ever did - this was a fictional story with video and lighting cues and shit like that, rather than stand-up. He's said he made it specifically to get rid of the horrible fans who liked him because he called people cunts in The Comedy Cafe and Late 'n' Live, or because he played a role in Phoenix Nights. He was also trying to drive away the general increase in numbers he got after winning the Perrier in 2002. The way he did that was by writing a sensitive theatre piece that no fans of Phoenix Nights or of calling people cunts would enjoy.

Meanwhile, he did slightly contradict this by spending the time in Edinburgh when he wasn't doing the sensitive theatre piece hosting the fairly insensitive Late 'n' Live. This was the year they took apart a cow.

He did also do a stand-up show in 2003, called Overrated and on Tour (the title a sarcastic reference, again, to his Perrier success). But he didn't take it to Edinburgh because he didn't want people to actually see it. He only wanted them to see the theatre.

2004

Dancing

No poster. He's gone far enough down the anti-publicity road to have stopped doing those.

That's a sufficiently vague blurb to suggest he did not know what this would be when he started writing the show, which makes sense, as it was a bit of an odd year. He did a tour that year, called Lover, Thinker, Artist, Prophet (again, sarcastic reference to his critical success), that was quite straightforward stand-up. This was the first tour during which Gavin Osborn accompanied him, not as part of his actual show, but playing songs before it, or during a break in the middle.

However, in Edinburgh he did not perform that. He instead performed a show that he did not perform anywhere outside of Edinburgh 2004, called Dancing. This was a breakup show about that Australian woman who left him for a musician and then he didn't stop talking about it on stage for over ten years, but this show was just after it happened so a more reasonable time to do breakup material. It's a nice show, with some themes and a structure and it's all wrapped around different stories about his relationship to dancing, and it's on Bandcamp.

My guess is that he left the blurb vague because when he wrote it, he hadn't yet written Dancing but was upset about a breakup and wanted to do something besides his regular stand-up tour show to acknowledge that.

In the audio version on Bandcamp, they mention at the end that Political Animal is starting right afterward. That was the mixed bill show where comedians would do political material and was compered by John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman, and Kitson used to perform there too. So I think he appeared on Political Animal as well as doing Dancing in 2004, and he was hosting Late 'n' Live.

2005

He's back on posters. This was just before he left his agent, citing that he didn't like being told he had to do promotional things, so maybe part of what he got mad about was having to go back to putting a poster in the Edinburgh program. In protest, he made it an extremely simple poster with no colour or anything advertising it.

Also possibly also in protest against publicity, he didn't even give the show a title. This show was performed many times in the classic cycle - early WIPs in late 2004/early 2005, more advanced previews in mid-2005, a run in Edinburgh, and a few performances post-Edinburgh, and at no point was it given a title. Which is very annoying for me, as I try to organize my collection of Kitson files. It's a lovely show though, and also on Bandcamp (where it's called Midnight at The Stand, but that can't be the actual title, because he performed it outside of Edinburgh and at those times it wasn't at The Stand, even though the blurb says World Premiere).

Stories for the Wobbly-Hearted

This entry was in the theatre section (that's why it's a different colour - comedy is purple, theatre is red), and immediately shows a contrast that would continue for a while: he was more willing to promote his theatre than his stand-up. This poster is much bigger and nicer than his stand-uo one, has an image and some colour. I guess he figured theatre people are nice sensitive souls whom he wants in his audience, while comedy fans just want to see him call people cunts so he doesn't want to attract those. Also, at the time, he'd been doing stand-up a long time and had established a strong audience for that. But he was new to theatre shows, and as much as he said he started writing those to drive away his comedy audience, he did need some audience for them, so he had to work a bit more to introduce himself to theatre fans. That's my guess, anyway, about why he put nice posters in the theatre sections of Edinburgh programs when not going the same for stand-up shows.

This was his second theatre show and is probably the most purely sentimental show he's ever done. I think it's lovely, but it was also very much what people mean when they make jokes about Daniel Kitson writing sappy sad twee stories about people and love and loneliness. It's also on Vimeo. It includes some multi-media, including video clips that feature Gavin Osborn and Amy Darcy. Some versions also include Gavin Osborn performing songs live.

He was also hosting Late 'n' Live again, and would have appeared on Political Animal that year.

2006

Weltanschuung

This was his huge, flagship show of 2006. It was his most ambitious show to date, a tightly themed manifesto about his beliefs on mainstream and alternative culture and about society in general and pretty much everything. It's also on Bandcamp. He started doing WIPs of it at the very beginning of 2006 (though some of the material in it he started in late 2005), toured it all over the UK, performed it constantly for about six months. He took it to the Melbourne Comedy Festival in the spring.

In June, he did his first-ever performance in Regent's Park. For the first half he did Weltanschuung, for the second half he did Storiers for the Wobbly-Hearted with Gavin Osborn playing songs. It was a huge moment in Kitson history, doing this big ambitious stand-up show and then this twee twinkly story show in a special outdoor venue to a much bigger crowd than usual and he had Gavin doing songs and it seems like a beautiful summation of his career thus far. I'm almost sure it was also the last time he ever performed Weltanschuung.

In any case, he didn't take it to Edinburgh. It was part of a move toward pulling back on stand-up in Edinburgh, and pushing theatre stuff instead. My guess is he did this because Edinburgh is where performers go to expand their audiences, and he wanted to expand his theatre audience, but not his comedy one.

C-90

He did, however, do this in Edinburgh in 2006. C-90, another really sentimental theatre show about mixed tapes, which had no poster but he did at least advertise it with a blurb in the theatre section.

He did not do Late 'n' Live that year. Instead, he did:

The Honurable Men of Art

This show was created when Kitson got sick of all the cunts at Late 'n' Live, so he took his toys (and by toys, I mean Chocolate Milk Gang) to The Stand for their own late-night mixed bill thing, where they'd do fun nerdy things like play scrabble on stage, and no one was allowed to be a cunt. It featured a rotating cast each night of whatever Chocolate Milk Gang members were around. One of those rotating cast members was meant to be John Oliver, as mentioned in that blurb. He's in the blurb because that program was printed before what Andy Zaltzman has referred to as "that day in June 2006 when [John Oliver] told me he wanted to do the Daily Show job in America, instead of going with me to Edinburgh to talk to 25 people a day in a darkened room." Andy Zaltzman had to re-do the Zaltzman and Oliver joint Edinburgh show to be a Zaltzman only show, and host Political Animal on his own. And Daniel Kitson was down a person in his Honourable Men of Art lineup. They did, however, sometimes have John Oliver join via the best live video linkup technology 2006 had to offer.

2007

It's the Fireworks Talking

This was another big, flagship show for Daniel Kitson, which is why I find it odd that he said in the blurb he didn't know what it would be. He definitely knew about It's the Fireworks Talking by the time he had to write that blurb, even though that was a few months in advance, as he'd been doing It's the Fireworks Talking since early 2007. He even had it polished enough by the spring to take it to the Melbourne Festival, where it won the Barry Award. But still, when he had to write his Edinburgh blurb, he thought he might not do it there.

He did end up doing It's the Fireworks Talking in Edinburgh. My guess is maybe he'd hoped to write something else and then didn't get around to it so figured he'd just fall back on backup option of the Barry-winning stand-up show. It's a fucking incredible show, and it's on Bandcamp.

He didn't do Honourable Men of Art that year, he was back at the Gilded Balloon hosting Late 'n' Live. I'm pretty sure 2007 was the last year he did that.

This has nothing to do with Edinburgh, but he did another Regent's Park show with Gavin Osborn in June that year. The stand-up half was It's the Fireworks Talking, and the story half was The Ballad of Rodger and Grace (also on Bandcamp), which featured stories by Daniel Kitson and songs by Gavin Osborn.

2008

The Impotent Fury of the Privileged

Another big, manifesto-like stand-up show, this time getting somewhat political, talking about the way the world's going and how to bring back compassion and whole lot of other stuff in this densely packed, complex, nearly two-hour show. It's not always perfect, but I think it's overall amazing in many ways, and it's on Bandcamp.

He performed it all over the place throughout the year, including at another Regent's Park night with Gavin Osborn in June. That night, the stand-up half was The Impotent Fury of the Privileged, and the story half was called The Revenge of Heckmondwyke.

However, he didn't take Impotent Fury of the Privileged to Edinburgh, instead focusing on his theatre show there again:

66A Church Road

Note the Higgldy Piggldy thing - he'd left his agent a couple of years earlier, and had to set himself up as an incorporated thing so he could manage himself, and legally had to give the incorporated thing a name, and named it Higgldy Piggldy because he thought that was funny. So this was post-agent and when he didn't have to have posters anymore, but he still chose to have one (a simple one, but still), in the theatre section, because he was trying to tell theatre audiences about himself.

This was a big theatre show, he toured it in several countries and for several years, but it started in 2008. It had props and lights and things like that.

The Honourable Men of Art

He brought this back in 2008, being done with Late 'n' Live for good (though after 2008 there was no more Honourable Men of Art either, I guess he just got some sleep or something).

2009

We Are Gathered Here

I'm not sure when he first started previewing We Are Gathered Here, so I don't know if he really didn't know about it when he wrote this blurb, or if he kept the blurb vague to leave open the option of writing a different show (like I assume he did with It's the Fireworks Talking). But he did end up doing We Are Gathered Here in Edinburgh.

I think this show is a bit underrated, in that it's not one I often think of when I consider his best shows, but when I listen to it I remember how absolutely fucking hilarious it is. It was an absolutely fucking hilarious stand-up show about the death of his aunt (I'm not being sarcastic or anything, it really is funny), and grief in general, around the era when "dead dad shows" were getting popular and just before the era when making fun of dead dad shows was getting popular. It's on Bandcamp.

The Interminable Suicide of Gregory Church

No poster for this theatre show, and going forward, there are no more posters for stand-up or theatre. I guess by 2009, he'd decided the theatre people know who he is and he doesn't need to advertise himself to them anymore either. This is a story show that I really love, about discovering a mystery in his house. It's on Vimeo. It's another big one; he started it in 2009 but then toured it in the UK, the US, and Australia in 2011.

Oh, and in 2009 he also brought back his Regent's Park night with Gavin Osborn, but instead of doing a half stand-up/half story show thing in one night, he did Stories for the Starlit Sky, which is three parts, and each part involves stories by Kitson and songs by Osborn. He performed it across three separate nights in its initial form in 2009, before bringing it back in later years as something to be performed all in one very long night.

2010

It's Always Right Now, Until It's Later

Another theatre show that he filmed and put on Vimeo, and toured across several years - he started it in 2010, then did runs in the UK and the US in 2011 and 2012. This was the only thing he did in Edinburgh in 2010 - this marked his initial period of pulling back from stand-up to focus on theatre.

2011

Continuation of his "pulling back from comedy" era. He toured Gregory Church and It's Always Right Now Until It's Later, but didn't do any new shows, and didn't perform his own stuff in Edinburgh at all. He definitely went to Edinburgh, though, as he appeared in the reunion gig of Political Animal, that John Oliver and Andy Zaltzman did to celebrate John returning to Edinburgh for the first time since he'd moved to the US in 2006. At their Political Animal reunion gigs, they did their famous God sketch, where Daniel Kitson reprised a role he'd played in that sketch when they'd performed it in their early years, as the voice of God. So he was in Edinburgh, showing up on Political Animal, and I don't know if he was on other things, but he didn't do a show of his own.

2012

This year he made his triumphant return to a few things he'd left behind in the previous decade, such as stand-up and compering late-night shows with the Chocolate Milk Gang and Regent's Park with Gavin Osborn. His big new show was:

Where Once Was Wonder

This is my favourite stand-up show in the entire world, it's incredibly funny and incredibly well written and incredibly complex and introspective and fucking brilliant. It also ran at around two hours, mainly because it packed in several years worth of material, that he'd been saving up from mess-around WIP stand-up things that he'd been doing since 2009 but didn't put any of it into a new full show until 2012.

Also in Edinburgh that year, he did:

As of 152 GMT on Friday 27 April 2012, This Show Has No Title

Advertised in the theatre section, as you can see from the red colour. This was his first really self-referential show, a story about his own writing process and a look at his own career. It started out with him erasing the words "It's Always Right Now Until it's Later" off a blackboard, suggesting he was trying to move on from those years he spent on those same sentimental theatre shows. This was the first of several shows he would do that were about how he doesn't do that stuff anymore.

I have no screenshot because it didn't appear in the Edinburgh program, but in Edinburgh in 2012, he also did a show called ZOCK!, which stands for [Andy] Zaltzman, [John] Oliver, [Alun] Cochrane, and [Daniel] Kitson. John Oliver had again traversed the ocean for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, so Daniel Kitson had a Chocolate Milk Gang reunion in which they all did things together like they had (well, like all of them but Oliver had) at Honourable Men of Art.

Also in 2012, but not in Edinburgh, Daniel Kitson compered a show called Fuckstorm3000, featuring Andy Zaltzman, Alun Cochrane, and Gavin Osborn. Same idea as the others - a Chocolate Milk Gang reunion, this time at The Hob in London. I find that title interesting - he called their original show Honourable Men of Art as a way to rebel against the bearpit of Late 'n' Live, to say they're going to be sober nerds who like art and he'll shake off his reputation for calling people cunts at raucous gigs. Then he spent several years pushing his sensitive theatre pieces hard and recreating his reputation as one that is honourable and artsy, and then he got sick of being known for that, so he wrote a show about not wanting to keep doing sad stories all the time (This Show Has No Title), and he named his Chocolate Milk Gang gig Fuckstorm, to rebel against his sensitive image and let everyone know that he's still a guy who will fucking swear.

He also did another Regent's Park night with Gavin Osborn, this time doing Where Once Was Wonder for the stand-up half, and a story called Lucinda Ding and the Monstrous Thing for the other half.

2013

He didn't do any new shows in Edinburgh, and I don't know for sure that he even attended the festival, though he may have in a similar capacity to 2011. He did, however, spend the year previewing and then performing After the Beginning, Before the End, which is officially stand-up but it's also kind of theatrical (it has background music and he performed it sitting down), and it's on Bandcamp. He toured it around the UK and the US and Europe, but not Edinburgh.

He also wrote two new theatre shows: Tree (his play with Tim Key, which was streamed earlier this year but the video isn't available online at the moment), which was performed in Manchester, but not in Edinburgh. And Analog.Ue, a very ambitious theatre thing that is available as a video for free on his website. That was all done through various machines, a sign that Kitson had well and truly passed beyond his "sad stories about an old man in a room full of mixed tapes" era, and entered his "complex, hard-to-understand experimental theatre about an old man" era. He performed Analog.Ue in New York, but again, not in Edinburgh.

2014

Again, no screenshots because he didn't appear in the Edinburgh program that year. However, he did write A Show for Christmas (which he decided this year to sell as an audio recording, and he's currently offering it for pre-order on Bandcamp), featuring Isy Suttie, and he performed that in some places that were not Edinburgh. He also did a US tour with Eugene Mirman called Pretty Good Friends.

And he did go to Edinburgh, where he performed A Variety of Things in a Room, with Gavin Osborn. This show had a bit of everything: stand-up from Kitson, songs from Osborn (plus even a few scripted spoken things from Osborn), recorded bits of Isy Suttie's voice, and a fictional story running through it. It was a really, really lovely thing that only got performed on eight nights (plus a couple of previews), starting at midnight, not advertised in the program, at The Stand Comedy Club in Edinburgh 2014.

Also in Edinburgh that year, and also not in the program, he did Fuckstorm3001 (same idea as Fuckstorm 3000), with Andy Zaltzman and Alun Cochrane. So Daniel Kitson's Edinburgh 2014 just involved doing little Chocolate Milk Gang reunions - nice twinkly stories and songs with Gavin Osborn, and Fuckstorm with the other two CMG members who were still around by then.

2015

He's finally back in the Edinburgh program, with:

Polyphony

This was another experimental theatre thing (in the theatre section, note the red colour), performed with speakers scattered throughout the audience on which he'd recorded the voices of his friends. Another retrospective on his career, and how he was running out of ideas (like the one in 2012 about how he was running out of ideas, immediately after which he had quite a few new ideas). Also ruminations on art and performer/audience relationships and things like that. Very meta, looking at his own career but also larger issues.

Besides that, he spent 2015 reprising his shows Tree, A Show for Christmas, and Stories for the Starlit Sky.

2016

Mouse

A three-character play, with one character played by Daniel Kitson on stage, one by Daniel Kitson's recorded voice, and one by Isy Suttie's recorded voice. Performed in Edinburgh, as well as elsewhere in the UK and in the US.

Daniel Kitson Presents an Insufficient Number of Undeveloped Ideas Over Ninety Testing Minutes

This was mostly improvised stand-up. He'd done a bunch of WIP shows earlier in the year, mainly at the Battersea Arts Centre in London and Das Kino in Nottingham, and he'd tried to put enough together to have a full stand-up show. But it didn't really happen, so he just did more WIP-type stuff in Edinburgh. He did the few bits he'd written and made more shit up and messed around with the crowd. It was very funny.

2017

He didn't do any of his own shows in Edinburgh. He did write and perform Something Other Than Everything (this used some material from his WIPs in 2016), which he toured around the UK, but not Edinburgh. He also did another run of Stories for the Starlit Sky. And he wrote a new story show called A Short Series of Disagreements Presented Here in Chronological Order, for which he did WIPs in London and then a run in the US.

2018

He wrote a new stand-up show called Good For Glue, did WIPs across England before doing a run of it in Edinburgh. However, this run is not mentioned in the program. He had, apparently, gone from not using posters for stand-up, to not using posters for theatre stuff, to not even putting a blurb about his stand-up in the program.

2019

He wrote a couple of new theatre shows: Keep and Shenanigan, which he toured in other places but didn't perform in Edinburgh. In Edinburgh, he did a run called Everything Smells of Orange, which was a bit like his 2016 thing in that it was largely improvised, using material he'd come up with at WIPs but hadn't managed to work into a full structured show before Edinburgh, so he just made Edinburgh more WIP time. It was, again, not in the program. It was, again, fucking hilarious.

He also brought back his Regent's Park thing with Gavin Osborn, doing a night called Outside. Again., in which Kitson did stand-up and Osborn played songs.

2020

He wrote a show about his pandemic year called Dot. Dot. Dot., and livestreamed it from empty venues. Obviously he didn't go to Edinburgh. If he had, he'd have been the only one there (except the people who live in Edinburgh, I guess).

He did, however, do the radio show Trifle on Resonance FM, which broadcast Monday to Thursday in August 2020, and came together with a mystery and a story. That story was partly set in Edinburgh, and included recorded voices of his various comedian friends (plus spoken words and some songs by honourary comedian Gavin Osborn), in a way that sort of acted as a makeshift, remote, substitute for an Edinburgh show.

2021

He re-structred his show Shenanigan, called it Shenaniganagain, and did some livestreams of it. Didn't go to Edinburgh.

2022

He wrote a stand-up show called Outside, about his experience of the pandemic. He performed it only in outdoor theatres, sometimes with Gavin Osborn playing songs to open for him. He didn't go to Edinburgh.

He also wrote a new story show called Maybe a Ghost Story, but only performed it on two nights at the Globe Theatre in London, around Halloween.

2023

He's back in the Edinburgh program!

First Thing

It's a theatre thing, but it's very funny. It's a play performed by Daniel Kitson and his audience. It's extremely meta and self-referential. It's his third career retrospective/explanation that he's out of ideas (note that his first was in 2012, and he's arguably had one or two ideas since then). It was previewed briefly in London, then performed in Edinburgh, then just this month he brought it back in Bristol under the name Collaborator.

This show also talks about how he's losing his audience these days and never gets new fans ("Everyone who sees me has already seen me") - I don't see how that could have happened, after all those years of deliberately not putting his shows in a major festival program. But his sudden epiphany about the pitfalls of that may be why he's back in the program now.

He also did a few more performances of Maybe a Ghost Story around Halloween, and will do more performances of A Show For Christmas in December.

[astererer]

Vern’s ref has been updated!! Again!!! Some info on him under the cut :))

Voiceclaim: Julian Barratt

Like Aster, Vernon was gifted a Rookidee as a child. Unlike Aster, however, he followed in his dad’s footsteps and became a cabbie. Cares a lot more about traditions than Aster does in general — he’s very proud of his family and does not want its legacy to die out.

Has always been protective of his younger sister. During Aster’s second gym challenge attempt, Vern was apprehensive but supportive of her taking part. Would show up to all her battles and help usher her away from people trying to interview her post-match when she would get overwhelmed. Was distraught when Aster decided to leave the region to get away from the league, because how could he look out for her if she’s in another region? Has since dialled this back, still cares a lot about his sister but knows she’s her own person with her own life.

Never had a rebellious phase. Part due to his parents not being particularly strict in the first place, part due to having spent too much time caring about the well-being of other people that he forgot how to act out, and put up a more stoic (and polite) front when doing anything he considers “public facing” (so his job, hanging out with friends, leaving the house, etc). Probably why he gets so stressed so easily — he’s not always very good at putting himself first, until someone actively disrespects him or someone he cares about. Just because he’s willing to look after people doesn’t mean he’s a doormat or lacking in self worth.

Softens up considerably whenever he is with family, and maybe a couple of close friends. Still probably the most serious person in the family, but he’s more open about sharing his hobbies and able to actually be enthusiastic about things.

Very easy to wind up. Flirting with Vernon will cause him to mentally short circuit and his initial reaction will come off to other people as anger or irritation, especially as he’s likely to drop any politeness and tell them to “piss off”. He’s not actually either of those things, he is just very bad at handling attention of the more amorous variety. A bit repressed. In an actual relationship, though, he’s capable of being very tender and affectionate. Would like to settle down and start a family at some point.

Lifelong history nerd. Currently doing a part time BA in ancient and medieval history through an online university course. When a work shift is going a bit slow, which is often, outside of weekends, he’ll spend time listening to history podcasts or getting through one of the various books he’s collected over the years. Man could tell you everything about ancient Hisui if you asked.

Works nights because while the hours are less social, the pay is slightly better. His sleep schedule is a bit fucked as a consequence, but he doesn’t mind. Days off are dedicated to sleeping, spending time with his team and getting that degree.

One of his regulars is Leon. Vernon does not dislike the man, he is friendly, polite, and does not expect Vernon to chat with him constantly. He could also sense that Leon did not enjoy being champion as much as he seemed to in public appearances — based on how Aster dipped so soon after she was handed the title, he can’t say he’s surprised. Never said it out loud but he was pleased for the former champion when he took over as league chairman, he seems much happier now in Vernon’s opinion.

Miscellaneous info:

Has kept up with every single one of his sister’s matches outside of Galar. If it’s been televised or streamed, he’s watched it. He’s very proud of her — may have cried when she became champion all those years ago.

Tends not to show it in front of other people because he thinks it’s a bit embarrassing but he adores and spoils his team rotten. Other than Roddy, who is both a best friend and coworker in bird form, his pokemon are all companions and exist to be babied. Roddy is still pampered out of work hours though :)) Vernon has a series of those corny 80s pet photoshoots of him and his pokemon on display in his apartment. He loves all his beasts so much and they love him too.

Camus and Shelley were both originally Aster’s pokemon. Camus came into Vern’s possession through a trade — both siblings caught an Applin and traded with one another during Aster’s gym challenge. Shelley was a gift from when Aster was in Paldea as a teenager. Shelley is actually a bit over levelled for Vernon so doesn’t really listen to any commands, but she enjoys his company and they both enjoy being in tidy spaces, so she allows him to cuddle her when she feels like it.

Bit of a neat freak — Joyce and Shelley help him do a weekly deep clean of his apartment together, which is sorely needed when living with two other people who do not clean. When he visits Aster, she has to physically restrain him from trying to do the same for her home. She likes organised chaos. Leave off it.

[anciientboosh]

[charliesolvednothing]

Sorry but that looks like an ordinary wine glass in Julian’s giant northern paws.

[awesomehoggirl]

(click for quality!)

this is me FINALLY drawing howard and vince after literally months of putting it off !!! if there’s a story behind this it’s escaped me but yes <3 hello booshlr !!!!!!!!

[piddleswicke]

“Who’s going to usher in the new millennium? What musical entity? A pantomime ape dressed in a little sort of.. y’know.. flares, emitting yeast? Or is if gonna be a sort of silver pure cube?”

Julian and Tim Hope as The Pod on the Apocalypse Tube, a 3-hour NYE special in 1999 that also featured Paul McCartney, the artist formerly known as Prince, Belle & Sebastian, Macy Grey, Robbie Williams, and more—including a very young, pretty, and thankfully sans-Walliams Matt Lucas. If I remember correctly, it was recorded over two nights in November(?) and the boys weren’t there when the headliners were. :/

Going to excise the Pod’s bit (~5 mins) and post it alongside the full version (for the nostalgia value) on the Boosh Docs soon.

Sorry if this is spammy, but also happy Julianuary!

[kissmyhandcallmedarling]

happy hour

noel fielding x reader (smut)

notes:

tw: contains smut

set about the mid-late boosh era

its super fast-paced; wrote this in january, and didn't touch it until tonight; i added a tiny bit more but couldn't be bothered to expand it so it's pretty quick

enjoy ;)

You let out a loud sigh as you slumped down into the chair behind the dresser. You had just returned to your dressing room, after a long day of filming for The Mighty Boosh. You were so happy to be a part of such a quirky project, but by god, it was tiring.

Of course, the other upside to being an actress (well, not an overly successful one yet, but an actress nonetheless) was that you got to work with some of the coolest people; Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt were no exceptions - they were creative geniuses! And... you maybe also... had a little, tiny crush... on Noel. He was certainly very attractive - you couldn't keep your eyes off him in his red, Joan Jett jumpsuit during filming today. But nothing would ever happen between you two - you had become good friends. Nothing more.

As you began to gather up your things, you noticed a slip of paper under the door. It was a note. You picked it up and unfolded it. The note read:

Y/n,

I was wondering if you fancied coming back to my place tonight for a drink?

Julian's going out with Julia (I think?) and I could do with the company. Plus, it'd be nice to spend some time together outside of work.

See you later, yeah?

- Noel X

Without a second thought, you raced to collect your belongings from the room and made your way to Noel's dressing room, his note now crumpled in your hand.

You knocked lightly on his door, and a muffled "come in" was uttered in reply. Noel was standing over the bench, facing the mirror, fixing his hair. He turned to see who had entered his boudoir; his face lit up when he saw who it was.

You.

"Hey, Y/n! You get my note?"

"Yeah. I'd love to have a drink with you. My social shedule's pretty free at the moment."

"Great! Lemme just pack up my stuff and I'll be with you." He began to collect up his belongings - laptop, scripts, walkman with headphones, Nirvana CD... "Did you drive today?"

"No, I caught the bus."

"Ah cool. I'll drive us then." He winked cheekily at you while packing his last affects into a rucksack embellished with iron-on patches and badges of various bands. He zipped up the bag and swung it over his shoulder, gesturing to the door. "After you."

Soon, the two of you had arrived at Noel's apartment.

"Make yourself at home," he shut the door behind him, taking your coat from you and placing it on the rack. "It's not much, but we've tried to make it ours, you know?"

You glanced down the hallway, many a painting covering the walls like a mosaic.

"Are these all yours?" You asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"I love them."

He smiled gratuitously. "Thank you. You don't know how much that means to me."

"You truly are very talented. In more ways than one, Mr Fielding." You smiled back. You may have been mistaken, but you swore a blush crept up his cheeks.

"Lots of people think they're shit. I don't blame them."

"Well then," you said. "Those people clearly have terrible taste."

"You flatter me." Noel chuckled. "Now, come. I believe I owe you a drink."

You followed the man into the kitchen, where he fixed the two of you a flirtini each.

"I had no idea flirtinis were a thing! I thought you guys just made them up for the show!" You reveled, taking a sip of the cocktail.

"Nah! The flirtini is a real drink, Y/n. Best cocktail in my opinion."

"Vince has good taste."

"I am Vince, darlin'," Noel winked at you, smirk forming across his face. Shit. There were those butterflies again.

Your eyes caught his, and you were immediately drawn in, unable to look away. He felt it too. Slowly, as if testing the waters, Noel's hand found your jawline. He cupped your face, before pulling you in, and kissing you. You simply melted under his touch, fully savoring the moment. And then he inhaled sharply, quickly pulling away.

"I am so sorry. I had no right to just-"

"Don't stop."

Noel blinked at you dumbfoundedly for a second, as though trying to comprehend what you just said. There was no way you felt the same as he? Was there?

Clearly, you did, as within moments, your lips were fused once more, hearts racing with every touch. The kiss grew wilder, more passionate. Noel began to trail wet kisses down your neck. The mere sound of his lips puckering against your skin was enough to send even the most puritan of women into madness.

Your brain was struggling to keep up with your body, to comprehend what was occurring. Moments ago you were having a cocktail with a friend and now...

Now...

Noel's lips were back on yours. He was rough, yet gentle. He was perfect.

He allowed a small groan to surpass his lips, simply stoking the fire that burned deep within you. One of his hands slid down your back, cradling your derriere, while the other entangled itself in your hair.

"Y/n?" He asked, still grasping your body tightly against his own.

"Hmm?"

"Do you wanna go all the way?" He quickly added, "Only if you want. I would never force you. It's completely your call."

"Yeah."

And then you were in his arms. Noel carried you, bridal style, away to what you presumed was his bedroom. He placed you gently on the bed, before crawling above you. He kissed you deeply, passionately. You needed him, and you could tell he needed you.

Soon your clothing was discarded in a messy pile on the floor, and the bedsheets loosely draped over the both of your bodies. When Noel was sure you were absolutely aching for him, he lined himself up and entered you. He allowed you a moment to adjust, before he initiated a gentle movement.

"I'll start off slow, okay, darlin'?"

You nodded, gazing up into his eyes. They were truly spectacular.

"Just relax. Let me do all the work." His hand reached for yours and grasped it tightly beside your head. Your free hand gripped his toned, hairless chest tightly. Noel sped up his pace; every thrust had you closer... closer... closer....

You fixated on his face. It was set in an expression of pure ecstasy.

"My god," he drawled. "You are so beautiful, Y/n."

You were so close. He was still going strong, speed increasing.

Your pleasure grew, and grew, and grew.

"You alright?" He whispered.

"Noel..." You gasped. "Keep going! Don't stop!"

"Are you close?"

"Noel..." You groaned, biting your lip, and tensing your neck. "Noel! Don't stop. Please!"

"God! You are so beautiful! You are so, so beautiful!" He craned his neck down to kiss you. His lips were ravishing yours, more fervid than ever before. That was what tipped you over the edge. You let out a strong gasp, as your head fell back into the pillow.

Release.

Noel's body collapsed beside you on the bed. You breathed heavily, catching your breath, as your lover pulled the covers over both of your bodies.

"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" He raked a hand through his hair, propping himself up on his elbow.

You turned to face him. "Wonderful."

"I am so glad." He kissed your lips softly.

"Though I am rather tired now, I must say." You chuckled.

"Am I that exhausting?" He flirted. You noticed as his tongue scraped the inside of his teeth before he broke into a smirk.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"You're a cheeky little tit, you know that?" He teased. "But I'm all here for it. Come here." He held his arms out. You wiggled into his embrace. His skin was warm against yours.

Noel placed a loving kiss on your head, as his thumb lightly caressed your shoulder. Eventually, you fell into a deep, peaceful slumber.

It was pure bliss.

***

You awoke pleasantly; neither feeling groggy nor sleep deprived. You felt tranquil. As you registered your surrounds, the events of the previous night came flooding back. You wrapped the sheets tightly over your chest and scanned the room for him.

“Noel?” You quietly called out. “Noel?”

He was clearly not within range of hearing your voice, though as you listened closely, you could hear faint clattering coming from the kitchen vicinity. You could make out two voices. Two?

Oh shit! This was Julian’s apartment too! As much as you admired the man, you could easily admit that you were intimidated by him. Who wouldn’t be - that 6 foot 3 jazzy hunk of a man towering over everyone. You tried to ignore the fact that you were lying naked in the bed of your boss’s co-boss and best mate - you certainly weren’t going to show your face.

Noel’s POV

Rain pelted heavily on the roof, yet a glimpse of sun still peeked through the clouds. His eyes fluttered open, adjusting to the light, before landing on you. You looked so peaceful, so beautiful, oblivious to all but the pleasant trance of sleep. He wondered what you were dreaming about? It had all happened so quickly last night. He hoped you felt the same way - he really cared about you.

Noel gently placed a hand on your shoulder, careful not to wake you, before kissing your head softly. He couldn’t help but smile - how did he get so lucky.

Still cautious not to wake you up from your slumber, Noel got up, wrapping a silk robe around himself. He made his way out to the kitchen, still smiling sweetly to himself.

“Good morning, mate.”

“Piss off, Ju.”

“Hey,” Julian smirked. “I’m not suggesting anything...”

“That’s a load of bs, you knob!” Noel retorted playfully. “I meant to ask, what did you get up to last night?” Noel poured himself a coffee from the percolator. “Get absolutely wasted, did you? Shag a couple chicks?”

“Don’t try turn this on me, mate.” Julian sipped his coffee. “And you’re one to talk about shagging. Who’s that in your bed?”

“What?”

“Don’t play dumb with me.”

“Why you so interested in my love life anyway?”

Julian merely smiled knowingly.

“Fine! I slept with her, alright.” Noel sighed. “I’m never gonna live this down, am I?”

“Afraid not, my friend.”

Noel punched Julian's arm playfully. “Right, I’m off to tend to my lady,” he poured another cup of coffee. “See you later, Ju.”

Julian wolf whistled, to which his mate simply replied to with a middle finger.

"Prick!"

Y/n’s POV:

You were seated against the headboard, reading through a script you found on the nightstand. Noel appeared, carrying two cups of steaming coffee.

“Morning, darlin'. How’d you sleep?” He sat down on the edge of the bed and handed you a mug.

“Very well, thank you.”

There was a silence.

“I had a great time last night.” Noel smiled.

“So did I.”

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

[tundrafloe]

Julian and Noel have often mentioned the Rupert Bear character “Raggety” as an influence on the Boosh. From their Colin Murray interview in 2007:

Julian: “That sort of weird kind of childhood memories of strange creatures that were a little bit disturbing, that I was quite drawn to, and Noel as well. Raggety out of Rupert Bear was quite like that. There’s that dark element.”

Noel: “Was he like a wood nymph? What was he, a sprite or a root? He was a freak, wasn’t he? A lot of my stuff, a lot of my characters, are all based on Raggety. My whole persona’s based on Raggety. I owe Raggety everything.”

[alex-lea-holder]

Disorder Magazine || October, 2007

Porn. A junkie fox. Gary Numan. Brain cells. The Horrors. What do all these things have in common? Absolutely F*ck all, except that they are all ingredients of the return of the Mighty Boosh. So come with us on a journey through clown psychology and French MTV presenters as we talk to Howard T.J. Moon (Jazz Maverick) and Vince Noir (Goth Fairy), otherwise known as Julian Barratt and Noel Fielding. Since the second series aired in the summer of 2005, The Mighty Boosh has returned to the live arena (It began life at the Edinburgh Festival in 1998) and picked up more critical acclaim than Arctic Monkeys worshipping off The Arcade Fire. The shows acid-frazzled mix of the surreal and the mundane has seen Barratt and Fielding achieve the kind of celebrated counter-culture status that most bands would drown their drummer for and that has broadsheet papers awkwardly bandying about words like 'hip'. Quintessentially, they have become Rock 'n' Roll stars without actually being Rock 'n' Roll stars. How do you feel about that tag? Julian: "It's alright, thank you." Noel isn't feeling the need to be quite so modest about it: "We're more rock 'n' roll than most bands. A lot of bands are boring. I've been out with lots of bands, and its the same old thing. We like running around and having a bit of mischief." Julian doesn't agree: "You guys do, I go to the library." Noel concurs: "Julian goes to the British library and looks at the fossils." Julian: "When I go out I go OUT. When I go out I go large. I don't go out much, but when I do I have fights... water fights." In case it wasn't already more obvious than a Kanye West sample, it can be difficult to determine where Moon and Noir end and Barratt and Fielding begin. So what can we expect of the third outing from Dalston's most demented (rumoured to be called series four so that future generations will wonder what happened to the third series)? "A lot of porn," says Noel, "And Julian's going to put his face in a coat hanger." It is probably helpful to note at this juncture that this is possibly a misleading statement as Julian is in fact putting his face in a coat hanger as Noel is speaking. He is not doing anything pornographic however. The third series of the Mighty Boosh sees Howard and Vince working in Naboo's second hand shop situated below their flat from the last series. Julian says that the change of setting came about because: "We wanted the magic to come to us rather than going off across the universe to find it, so we thought we'd put the weirdness into the shop. We go to different places but they are always inside someone's hat or inside someone's body so we're going into weird... inner spaces." Noel begins laughing at Julian: "Inner spaces?"

Julian claims it was a challenge for them to think of ways for Howard and Vince to go on their epic adventures within the confines of the shop. "We wanted to have something a bit normal before we went weird. When you do dialogue inside an elephants trunk or something you (the audience) are thinking more about the fact that you're inside an elephants trunk rather than about what we're saying. Some stuff works better in a more mundane environment." Noel: "Elephants trunk?" He turns to Disorder, "You know what he's saying? You getting this?" Noel gives an example of how Howard and Vince will meet the successors to Old Gregg and the Bongo Brothers through the shop. One episode sees Howard go inside Vince's body. All the characters he encounters within are parts of Vince's body, such as brain cells, played by Noel. Noel confesses he'd spent so much time concentrating on other parts of the show that he was forced to come up with these characters just before the scenes were filmed: "I had about five minutes to do a French MTV presenter and a fashion character and I just had no idea, I've never done a French accent in my life!" Another episode sees Julian, who wanted to play more villains in this series, appear as a 'sort of junkie fox who lives in the rubbish'. The appearance of Razorlight and Roger Daltrey in the last series are reprised in the new one by funeral parlour pinks The Horrors and electropop pioneer Gary Numan. Noel and Julian met the Horrors at the NME awards and cast them as 'a band with really thin legs'. Or themselves essentially. "We needed a band with thin legs," says Noel, "We thought we've got to get them because their legs are so thin - they're like arms or spiders legs aren't they?" Noel originally wanted the part to go to Brighton psychobillies The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, who he describes as 'my favourite band ever', but decided their legs just weren't thin enough. Hype-mongers Towers of London also appear in the new series as a punk band, a status some may say they have yet to achieve in real life. It's easy to see how an appearance in The Mighty Boosh might appeal to a band. Like smoking Jimi Hendrix's bones, pretending to be into Sun Ra or having your photo taken with Beth Ditto, it instantly provides an impression of innovation, style and wit that many of today's middling beat combo's so obviously lack. Julian doesn't agree that there are those who would use them as bolt-on credibility. "There's a lot of bands out there who don't need our credibility. The Arcade Fire approached us, and The Shins, they don't need us." Noel says he's 'blown away' that the likes of Noel Gallagher, Paul Weller, Kasabian and Jack White are fans of the show. He excitedly recounts tales of hanging out with the Twang and Kings of Leon at the NME awards, reinforcing the Boosh's rock credentials. "We were really pleased to have won something so we were really pissed. Naboo... Naboo will take you down. The Boosh are all quite good partyers actually. Naboo, Bob Fossil... we haven't got anyone who lets the side down. It's like four Keith Moons." A decade of writing together hasn't seen a Lennon and McCartney-like competitiveness spring up between them. "It's pretty obvious whose joke is for whose character," says Julian, "His (Noel's) character is more funny in terms of being more verbally immediate. Howard is very rarely witty; he's a bit of an idiot. It's like clown psychology. Who is your clown? Does your clown fall over? Or does he get hit in the face?" The man's given this a lot of thought. Noel is obviously very protective of the Mighty Boosh. When asked if anyone else has an input into the shows content, even only in the capacity of quality controller, Noel says that it is all down to him and Julian. "Everyone's got an opinion on comedy and on humour because everyone thinks they're funny but not many people spend ten years in a room writing together. We've got strong opinions on whats we write and we know what is funny."

Is he concerned that given it's garish costumers and sets, nonsensical storylines and absurdist humour it can be easily assumed that The Mighty Boosh is wacky in the way that those dickheads who wear jesters hats at festivals are wacky? "We've worked hard on story lines and most of that stuff (the surreal stuff) comes out for a reason. So it's not that wacky, even the stuff that's more free-form. It's really difficult to make it look effortless," says Noel, "If you just sat in a room and went 'Woh! Apple cores made of jealousy!' it wouldn't be funny. People would go 'this is shit'." Julian: "That is quite funny." This is surely the crux of The Mighty Boosh's success, that it manages to strike the delicate balance of managing to portray a world that resembles a bad acid trip through a sexually deviant Disneyland without ever stumbling into the kind of forced zaniness associated with braying undergraduates and Chris Evans that has all right thinking people wanting to shoot the latter in both eyes with a nail gun. As Noel says: "It took us 10 years to get to this spot so we're not going to suddenly start listening to people who didn't get it in the first place. A lot of people need to be told what's good and what's bad anyway." But do they fear mainstream success? That the Boosh will become so popular that it will have its soul sucked out by hordes of slack-jawed rubes desperate to bawl catchphrases for eternity, baying for Milky Joe cookie jars and Kodiak Jack back scratchers for Christmas? It is something that has clearly crossed their minds.

Noel: "A lot of my favourite bands aren't massive, massive bands and I like that because then you get 10 years of them rather than two years. At the moment everyones like 'Whats next? Whats new? Whats next?' So everything becomes really disposable. It was literally a year with Little Britain from everyone saying 'they're amazing' to 'I hate them'." The Boosh's main players both claim that they never set out to make a show that was hugely popular. They say that The Boosh is a cult show not because not too many people have caught onto it, but in its essence. It's references, such as Rick James and Frank Zappa, are not universal but inspirational to them.

"Monty Python did it," concludes Noel. "Even once they went mainstream they managed to retain their edge and that's the trick isn't it? In the end we just try and please ourselves which hopefully will be the thing that saves us."

[tellthemeerkatsitsfine]

I have a folder on my computer called “Britcom images” to which I save things with no regularity whatsoever. In most things I’m compulsively organized, make sure there’s a logic to where everything on my hard drive is and why it’s there. But in this case, sometimes when I post an image to this blog I also save it to that folder, sometimes I’ll see an image or take a screenshot that doesn’t even get posted here and I’ll just put it in that folder, sometimes I’ll post an image here and won’t save it at all. The folder is a weird hodge-podge of whatever I decided to save in there on a whim.

I just had cause to look through it, and I’m entertained by the mix of what I found. Want to see some excerpts from the folder?

I thought this was hilarious when I made it, and I stand by that:

This too:

Actually there’s a disproportionate amount of Joe Lycett content in there:

I have no memory of making this and I don’t even think it’s accurate, but I’m pretty sure I did make it myself at some point:

Here’s a screenshot of John Oliver shaking hands with Mark Forward, which I took because my brother opened for Mark Forward a couple of times and I thought there might be a picture of those two shaking hands that I could add to a picture of my brother and I shaking hands and show that I’m three handshakes away from John Oliver, but my brother doesn’t have any pictures of himself with Mark Forward:

Here’s a picture of my Twitter account, to show that 100% of my follwers are Mark Watson:

Here’s a Catsdown screenshot of American Michelle Wolf’s question about how Britain works:

Here’s a Taskmaster screenshot I saved for when I get annoyed at the “identify all the images without bridges” tests the internet sometimes gives to prove you’re not a robot, but then they have a tiny bit of a bridge in the corner so you identify it incorrectly:

Here’s a screenshot of Russell Howard’s first ever appearance on television, Never Mind the Buzzcocks filmed in 2005, which I saved entirely because it’s Russell Howard with long hair and a band t-shirt and his original teeth, and sure people can do what they like with their appearance but wasn’t it better then?

Here are Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt, John Oliver, and Richard Ayoade as tiny, tiny children:

Here is a picture that I saved entirely so I could make a post that said it’s giving me nightmares and if I have to have those nightmares then everyone else has to see this and have nightmares too:

Here’s a picture of Lee Mack’s autobiography:

Here’s something hilarious:

More Catsdown:

Thank you, Adam:

Accurate:

You can’t write tears, Jimmy:

[cabinet-captain-blog]

A series of warm-ups and sort-of-studies mainly of Julian, drawn over the last week or so. His hair is tons of fun to draw, and hands are good practice

I don’t pretend to be any good, but he’s so relaxing to sketch whenever I’m feeling stressed

[anciientboosh]