Richard Smith's Media Magazine article on postmodernism

1. Postmodernism – the Mighty Boosh
The term postmodern has been gratuitously splattered about more times than Rockyʼs
face but ask someone to give you a definition and you may be met with a chilly stare and
gritted teeth. Richard Smith has found the perfect example to tell you everything you need
to know about postmodernism – The Mighty Boosh.
It seems that we media folk love to bathe in postmodern paradise with its intertextual
delights and its playful self-referencing (weʼll move on to those momentarily) but we rarely
have any examples that go beyond a Tarantino production or Cravenʼs over-analysed
Scream (1996). What we forget is that the perfect playground for postmodern television is
within the realms of the situation comedy: this is where the imagination can run riot without
the massive financial loss from a possible failure.
Postmodernism defies easy definition; dictionaries do not do it justice but it generally
comprises of a set of core ideas and key concepts that work collaboratively to shape it.
The more of these ideas and concepts it embellishes, the more of a postmodern text it
becomes. Enter The Mighty Boosh (BBC, 2004): two zoo keepers, one owner, one
shaman and a gorilla. The BBC3-born surrealist sitcom gives Spaced (C4, 1999) a run for
its postmodern money with plots revolving around trips to monkey hell, a granny of death
and kangaroo boxing to name but a few. In an attempt to define the Booshʼs playful
postmodern form, letʼs consider some of the factors involved.
1. Eclecticism
A wide range of influences, contributions and techniques
Take your personal DVD collection. Being media enthusiasts, I could almost guarantee you
have a wide variety of genres, directors, mainstream movies and independent movies.
This eclectic mix of taste shines through postmodernism: an array of identifiable influences
are used to the extent that you can never quite pin down the one genre it is committed to.
The Boosh slide from Fantasy (ʻWelcome to mirror world!ʼ) to Eighties Pop (ʻI am electro
boy...ʼ); from Science Fiction (ʻI come fully equipped with a papoose!ʼ) to Romantic
Comedy (ʻHer teeth are like hard, shiny, pegs of creamʼ.).
Eclecticism also shines through the varied characters they portray and the range of
musical styles they adopt. Put simply: you just never know what you are going to get.
2. Intertextuality
An authorʼs borrowing and transformation of a prior text
The Boosh openly borrows, mimics and adopts the traits of a multitude of styles, clichés
and conventions that the knowing audience can directly relate to. Take the Tundra Rap: all
the conventions of a trashy music video with Howard and Vince rapping direct to camera,
cutting to the beat, erratic camera techniques and all complemented by the generic lyrical
gems that make rap so distinguishable. A single character like the Spirit of Jazz can also
reference a multitude of other people like Papa Lazarou from The League of Gentlemen,
The Black and White Minstrel Show (BBC, 1950s) or even Slash from Guns and Roses.
Parallels are regularly made between The Boosh, Monty Python, Spaced, The Goodies
and The League of Gentlemen with their individual brands of surrealist humour and

2. sporadic happenings. It is this recognition and familiarity that appeals to the active
audience.
3. Parody
A humorous or satirical imitation of a text
The epitome of a film devoted to parody would be a spoof like Scary Movie (2000) or Not
Another Teen Movie (2001). This works on the basis that the knowing audience will
recognise an imitation of style, character, scenario and/or technique and enjoy the process
of recognition and familiarisation. Commonly associated with politics, satire can be
described as parody with teeth; compared to parody with its playful mimicking, satire has
more of a statement to make by ridiculing and criticising individuals or issues as evident in
2D TV (ITV) or the political satire Spitting Image (ITV, 1984-1996).
The Boosh is scattered with parodies from the generic (see Mutants for a take on the Sci-
Fi, Horror genres), musical (see hard rock parodied in Bolloʼs Monkey Hell) or textual (see
ʻThe Nightmare of Milky Joeʼ for a take on Castaway). It is this soft imitation which gives
the audience a frame for reference evoking familiarity and appreciation.
4. Bricolage
A technique where works are constructed from various materials available
One criticism of postmodernism is the fact that it represents a decline in originality, an era
where we can bring nothing new to the cooking pot but simply recycle old formulas. The
Boosh can be viewed as a bricolage of many already tried-and-tested formulas but does
this make it less original? A musician wonʼt play a note that no one else has played before
but it is the way the notes are played and the order they are played in that makes it a
unique musical piece.
5. Acts against modernism
Postmodernism embodies scepticism towards the ideas and ideals of the modern era,
especially the ideas of progress, objectivity, reason, certainty, personal identity and grand
narrative
Postmodernism is best viewed as a gradual and progressive reaction to the modernist
movement; thus there are qualities that can be shared by each. Postmodernism, after all,
embraces playful imitation so modernism can be evident as an intentional ironic reference.
The mere definition of each movement can be a subjective playground for analytical minds
but they can be best illustrated as two spheres interlocking where similarities meet.
So, even though a postmodern text can be constructed from already tried-and-tested
genres, techniques and stock characters, it can still be as forward thinking as a modernist
text (Pulp Fiction being a prime example).
Postmodernism acts against reason, orthodoxy and logic to bring us a text that is rich with
surrealism and unpredictability. The Boosh exhibits this at every given opportunity to
articulate their idiosyncratic humour: a talking gorilla, a Mexican jazz-fusion guitarist with a
door in his afro, a man made of cheese. You learn to accept the fact that there is no
justification or reasoning behind actions or characters. They exist because they can exist;

3. it is a celebration of the medium of television that allows The Boosh to pick and choose
from a long history of tried and tested formulas. These familiar formulas ironically combine
to create something that is an original breath of fresh air.
6. Nostalgic
Celebrates the past and bathes in its glory
Whereas modernism looks forward to push the medium into the next phase,
postmodernism looks back, borrowing from others to construct a text rich with references.
7. Narcissistic
Fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity
Postmodernism is obsessed with itself, acting like a child in a sweet shop, jumping from
shelf to shelf snatching what it can, gobbling the goodies and charging towards the next
jar. This narcissism is predominantly evident in the character of Vince Noir who has a
fascination with his appearance and a burning passion to become a front man (his idol
being Mick Jagger). His vanity and rebel status reflects a spirit of the movement that
echoes in the words of Al Gore:
Itʼs the combination of narcissism and nihilism (total rejection of established laws and
institutions) that really defines postmodernism.
8. An active audience
The assertion that meaning and experience can only be created by the individual, and
cannot be made objective by an author or narrator; an assumption of an intelligent and
active audience
With a text packed full of treats its aim is to recognise that the audience are an all-knowing
media-saturated entity. Why attempt to create something never seen before when you can
give the knowing nod to an audience at every twist and turn within the postmodern
playground?
In this unpredictable, surreal and unreasoning postmodernist world, the audience has no
choice but to be an active and aware participant ready to follow whatever twist and turn the
text decides to take. It acts as a media puzzle waiting to be pieced together by the
individual decoder who gains much satisfaction from it.
9. Hyper-conscious
Aware of itself
This hyper-consciousness allows the text to dissolve that fourth wall and highlight the
awareness of the medium it is playing with. This allows JD in Scrubs (E4) directly to
reference the soundtrack which is intended to be diegetic or Peter Griffin in Family Guy
(BBC3) playfully to reference the fact that the programme was cancelled twice by HBO
before they realised that it was one of the biggest selling DVDs of all time.

4. The Boosh team cleverly use this at the beginning of each episode with Vince and Howard
standing in front of stage curtains introducing the show with direct references as to what to
look out for. Their live show also uses this technique, much to the audienceʼs delight, when
they break in and out of ʻscripted linesʼ to address the audience providing us with a
postmodern mix of stand-up, improvisational and theatrical styles.
The Mighty Boosh provides us with an effective framework for postmodern deconstruction
and is bursting with its characteristics from the music, costumes, characters, design, mise-
en-scène and dialogue. It provides its active audience with a contemporary variety show
that is all knowing, highly aware and above all, a celebration of the medium of television.
Glossary
Eclecticism: A wide range of influences, contributions and techniques.
Intertextuality: An authorʼs borrowing and transformation of a prior text.
Parody: A satirical imitation of a text.
Bricolage: A technique where works are constructed from various materials available.
Acts against modernism: Postmodernism embodies scepticism towards the ideas and
ideals of the modern era, especially the ideas of progress, objectivity, reason, certainty,
personal identity and grand narrative.
Nostalgic: Celebrates the past and its glory.
Narcissistic: Fascination with oneself; excessive self-love; vanity.
An active audience: The assertion that meaning and experience can only be created by
the individual, and cannot be made objective by an author or narrator. Assumes an
intelligent and active audience.
Hyper-conscious: Aware of itself.
Richard Smith is a Film, Media & English Teacher at Herne Bay High School, Kent. He is
also a doing an MA in Education.
from MediaMagazine 22, December 2008.
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