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Noel Fielding (born 21 May, 1973 in Westminster, London, England) is an English comedian and actor, most famous for his role as Vince Noir in The Mighty Boosh.

Early life

Fielding's parents were young when he was born in the 1970s, and he recalls having a very liberal upbringing, always aware of his love for Louise Collings and parents' eclectic taste in music and openness with drugs. He has a brother Michael Fielding who appears alongside him in The Mighty Boosh. Also appearing in the show is Noel's nephew, as Kirk in the episode "Nanageddon"

He attended Croydon Art College and Buckingham Chilterns University College, where he met friend and fellow Boosh comedian, Dave Brown. It was at this time that the pair choreographed the sword fight performed by Fielding and Barratt in The Mighty Boosh (2006 Stage show).

Career

The Mighty Boosh

Fielding is best known for playing Vince Noir opposite Julian Barratt (Howard Moon) and brother Michael Fielding (Naboo) in the cult comedy series The Mighty Boosh. Fielding met Julian Baratt, the other half to his comedian act in The Mighty Boosh, when Julian was performing a gig - and Julian offered Noel a place to perform.

His character, self-proclaimed "King of the Mods", "Goth Fairy", "Electro Ponce", "Shoreditch Vampire" and "Camden Leisure Pirate" as well as fashion icon and would-be musician ("Vince Noir - rock 'n' roll star!") is a kind, somewhat naive and loyal friend to Howard Moon. He can talk to animals, earning him the nickname "Mowgli in Flares". Vince has a 'run-between-the-raindrops' quality about him, giving him the ability to land on his feet in the most difficult of situations. He is somewhat of a golden boy, largely popular with most of the other characters (and comically, almost all of the characters played by Rich Fulcher), much to the annoyance of Howard.

Fielding is a visual artist responsible for much of Boosh's distinctive sets and characters, including the polo theme that occurs in many episodes (e.g. The Hitcher's eye, the background of the main titles, the Ape of Death's costume).

Vince has a strong feminine aspect to his attire, often being confused as Howard Moon's "ugly wife" by supporting characters. This is due to his androgynous dress sense, which commonly includes drainpipe jeans, women's tops, large hats, boots with heels, a glitter-ball suit, faux-fur leopard skin jackets, sparkly accessories or clothes from high-street store Topshop.

Other

Outside of his work on The Mighty Boosh, Fielding has also had bit parts in many of Channel 4 stranger comedy programs, including Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace, more often than not appearing alongside Mighty Boosh partner Julian Barratt. In February 2007, Fielding appeared on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, where he mentioned an anecdote involving English pop-rock band The Kooks, who wanted him to provide The Mighty Boosh T-shirts for them to wear on Top of the Pops, however he did not have any, so hand-painted some for them. He arranged to meet their tour manager at 3 AM in Camden, but the tour manager never showed. When asked how long he waited, Fielding laughed and said, "..Oh, about... four minutes."

Music

Fielding has appeared in several different music videos, including Robots in Disguise's "Girl", alongside Chris Corner, Mint Royale's "Blue Song", alongside Julian Barratt, and Razorlight's "In the Morning". Fielding is friends with Razorlight, and involved them in the "The Priest and the Beast" episode of The Mighty Boosh. Fielding also appeared at one of their concerts, dressed as The Mighty Boosh character, The Hitcher, to introduce the band. Fielding lent his voice to the Midfield General song "Midfielding". Fielding also sometimes acts as a live bass player for Robots in Disguise.

Goth Detectives

In December 2006, Fielding appeared alongside Russell Brand in the yearly panel show The Big Fat Quiz of the Year, hosted by Jimmy Carr. The pair won with 39 points thanks to the 22 points they got for one question (a joke that Carr offered, assuming that they would not know). Due to much joking on the show, involving Bob Skeleton ("Indie Detective"), which led to Fielding and Brand describing a fictional scenario in which they were "Goth Detectives". This led to the decision to perform a Goth Detectives themed show for the Teenage Cancer Trust event at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2007.

Personal life

Noel Fielding currently resides in Kentish Town, London with his long term girl-friend Dee Plume from the band Robots in Disguise.

Filmography

Acting roles

• The Mighty Boosh Live (2006) – Vince Noir
• The IT Crowd (2006) – Richmond
• Nathan Barley (2005) – Jones
• AD/BC: A Rock Opera (2004) – Shepherd
• Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) – Monkey Man
• The Mighty Boosh (2004) – Vince Noir
• Surrealissimo: The Trial of Salvador Dali (2002) – Bauer
• Sweet (film) (2000) – Pete Sweet
• Plunkett & Macleane (1999) – Brothel Gent
• Unnatural Acts (1998) – Various

Television appearances

• Comic Relief's The Big One (2007)
• The Charlotte Church Show

• Episode 2x02 (2007)

• Never Mind the Buzzcocks

• Episode 20x02 (2007)

• The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (2006)
• British Comedy Awards 2006 (2006)
• The Culture Show (2006)
• 1 Leicester Square (2006)
• Friday Night with Jonathan Ross

• Episode 11x10 (2006)

• The Secret Policeman's Ball (2006)
• Soccer AM (2006)
• TRL (2006)
• Alan Partridge Presents: The Cream of British Comedy (2005)
• BBC Breakfast

• Episode dated 26 July 2005 (2005)

• 28 Acts in 28 Minutes (2005)
• British Comedy Awards 2004 (2004)
• Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala (2003)
• Brain Candy (2002)
• The Big Schmooze

• Episode 1x04 (2000)

• Comedy Café (1999)

• Episode 1x07

• Gas (1997)

Awards

• 2007 The Mighty Boosh won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2007.
• 2003 Time Out comedy award winner for outstanding achievement.
• 2002 Solo Edinburgh show Voodoo Hedgehog nominated for a Perrier
• 2001 The Boosh, first on London Live, then on Radio 4.
• 2000 Arctic Boosh won the Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival
• 1999 Perrier nominee with Julian Barratt as Arctic Boosh
• 1998 Herald Angel Award winner .
• 1998 Perrier Best Newcomer winner with Julian Barratt as the double act The Mighty Boosh (1998 Stage show)

External links

• Noel Fielding at IMDb

• English comedians
• English actors
• Living people
• 1973 births