A new exhibition in London is to mark the last decade of the Mighty Boosh. The Book Club in Shoreditch will become The Boosh Club from October 20 until January 2017 with an exhibition celebrating a decade since The Mighty Boosh’s first UK tour. The Book Club will also host a series of themed arts and culture events, including a Boosh-themed Artist Lock-in and a Boosh Halloween party…
The exhibition will feature unseen photography from designer, photographer and cast member Dave Brown of The Mighty Boosh (AKA Bollo), and illustrations from Noel Fielding. It will also feature additional selected works from Ivana Zorn, Andy Hollingworth, Mr Bingo and Jake.
Dave Brown says: "It’s been 10 years since the five of us jumped on a tour bus for the first time and ventured out of London to see if anyone else in the UK liked or had even heard of The Boosh. That 2006 tour, after the first two series had gone out on TV, was probably the first time we all realised how popular the show was. I remember the look of shock, fear and joy on Noel and Julian’s faces when those curtains went back for the first time in York, the noise and reaction was incredible and the insane crush of screaming fans at the stage door after was a sudden realisation of the size of this strange, beautiful beast they’d created”
Although the TV series earned The Boosh its cult audience, the live tour in 2006 was where the chemistry between Noel and Julian came into its own, unleashing an unparalleled freedom to ad-lib and interact with the crowd and bringing out the best in their beautiful double act. The Boosh tour in 2008 broke the world record for seven consecutive nights at Brixton Academy and saw Boosh Live embark on 99 gigs around the UK and Ireland and sell out both the Wembley and O2 Arena.
Dave Brown had a camera in his hands throughout and his photographs shine a unique spotlight onto the fun, the madness and the relationships between The Boosh collective over this period.
Noel Fielding says: "I can’t believe its 10 years since our first live tour! It will be great to see some ’On Tour’ photographic nuggets all together in one show. Dave’s pictures are like beautifully composed snap shots from an amazing time in my life where my feet hardly touched the floor and I felt like the luckiest girl/boy on earth. It’s also gonna be great to see some of the other art created for the show by our extended Boosh family. I’m gonna dig out some of my sketches and may even do a new watercolour to celebrate!”
The exhibition will also include original live show props and further contributions from extended Boosh family, Andy Hollingworth, Ivana Zorn, Jake, and hate mail aficionado Mr Bingo.
Limited edition prints will be available to purchase of many of the prints with a percentage of profits going to the charity Help Refugees http://www.helprefugees.org.uk
The exhibition curated by Liat Chen
Forthcoming Boosh-themed Events at The Book Club…
Boosh Halloween Party Saturday 29th October (8pm – 3am)
Tickets £4 advance/£5 on the door
The Book Club will be recreating key Boosh scenes like ‘Greggs Place’ in the basement of The Book Club. The first part of the night will focus on ‘Boosh Bingo’ and they’ll also be Boosh themed cocktails, a Milky Joe coconut shy and naturally you’ll be able to drink Baileys from a shoe.
Artist Lock-in: Catastrophic Boosh Sunday 30th October (Artists - 8am-8pm / General Public - 8pm-12am)
Tickets General Public – £8/ Artists – Free / Artists email [email protected] to apply. Please include a link to your work and why you want to join in 50 words or less.
Writers, painters, musicians and illustrators; make-up artists, poets, dancers, and instigators, Wild Above Rule are inviting all creatives to write, produce and perform a live fan fiction episode of the Mighty Boosh in a single day. That means write the script, rehearse it, create the costumes, jot down a tune or two and then perform it live for an audience. It will be theatrical. It will be probably be catastrophic, shambolic and the best kind of fantastical. IT WILL BE CATASTROPHIC BOOSH.
Art Macabre: The Mighty Boosh Saturday 19th November (12pm – 4pm)
Tickets: £10 adv,-£15 on the door
To coincide with the 10 year anniversary of The Mighty Boosh’s first UK tour, Art Macabre will be delving into the surreal world of The Mighty Boosh. Expect an immersive narrative featuring familiar and unfamiliar characters, music and décor exploring the darker side of the Boosh. Drawing materials and paper provided and all levels of drawing confidence and experience welcome.
Make Good: Boosh Piñatas Monday 9th January (2pm – 4pm)
Tickets: £15
It’s time to get crafty as The Good Empire show you how to make a piñata – with a Might Boosh twist! Whether it’s Bollo, Old Gregg or The Moon, you’ll leave with your very own colourful tribute to the show.
Pictures above by Dave Brown.
Venue info here.
