Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy
Series one intertitle
Genre	Surreal comedy, new wave comedy[1]
Created by	Nigel Coan Noel Fielding
Written by	Nigel Coan Noel Fielding
Directed by	Nigel Coan Noel Fielding
Starring	Noel Fielding Michael Fielding Tom Meeten Dolly Wells Rich Fulcher Richard Ayoade
Opening theme	"Luxury Comedy Theme" by Loose Tapestries (Series 1) Variation of "Luxury Comedy Theme" by Loose Tapestries (Series 2–present)
Composer(s)	Sergio Pizzorno Noel Fielding Tim Carter
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	12
Production
Executive producer(s)	Derrin Schlesinger
Running time	25 minutes
Production company(s)	Secret Peter
Release
Original network	E4
Picture format	HDTV 1080i
Audio format	Stereo
Original release	26 January 2012 (2012-01-26) – 28 August 2014 (2014-08-28)
Chronology
Related shows	The Mighty Boosh Bunny and the Bull

Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, known as Luxury Comedy 2: Tales from Painted Hawaii for season two, is a British surreal comedy television series written and directed by Noel Fielding and Nigel Coan. The initial format for the series changes after the first season, with season one being a surreal sketch show, and season two being a sitcom.The series stars Noel Fielding, his brother Michael Fielding, Tom Meeten, Dolly Wells, and occasionally Rich Fulcher, Dave Brown, and Richard Ayoade.The first episode premiered on 26 January 2012 on E4.^[2] The music for the first series was written by Noel Fielding and Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno, a good friend of Fielding's,^[3] under the band name Loose Tapestries. The duo were joined for the second series by Kasabian touring member, Tim Carter.

It is described on the Channel 4 website as "a psychedelic character based comedy show half filmed and half animated".^[4] The first series started airing on 26 January 2012 and lasted for seven episodes. Channel 4 announced in February 2012 that Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy had been recommissioned for a second series, which started airing on E4 on 31 July 2014. The series format has switched from sketch show to sitcom, set mainly in a Hawaiian coffee shop. It features many new characters as well as the majority of characters from the first run. The series is given the subtitle Tales from Painted Hawaii.^[5]

Plot

Each episode is structured around a plot involving Noel and his friends, accompanied by sketches featuring strange characters who are usually not connected to the main story. The first season is set in Noel's treehouse in a red and blue jungle, while the second season Tales from Painted Hawaii is set on a fictional island in Hawaii, where Noel runs a coffee shop. There are fewer sketches in the second season than in the first, with most of the character sketches being set around the Hawaiian island. During the second season, most episodes revolve around the characters having to complete a task before the end of the show.

Characters

Main Characters

• Noel (Series 1- ) Noel Fielding (playing an exaggerated version of himself) - Noel is portrayed as imaginative yet childlike and irresponsible. In the first series, he lives in a treehouse in a red and blue jungle, and dresses in elaborate costumes and brightly coloured face paint. In the second series, Noel is the manager of "Luxury Coffee", a coffee shop on a fictional island in Hawaii named "Painted Hawaii". He stops wearing face paint and wears the same costume, his Luxury Coffee uniform, in every episode of the second series. He is the lead singer in the band who perform the show's theme tune.
• Smooth (Series 1- ) (played by Michael Fielding) - Smooth is a grey human-anteater hybrid, describing himself as "mixed race" because his father is a human and his mother is an anteater. He often serves as the voice of reason and maturity, often pointing out the flaws in Noel's plans. He plays the electric guitar in the cast band and is also shown to play the double bass.
• Dolly (Series 1- ) (played by Dolly Wells) - Noel's friend and former girlfriend. She is a fashion model from Berlin, and is obsessed with fashion, art and the latest cultural trends. She is the drummer in the cast band.
• Warhol (Series 1- ) Andy Warhol (played by Tom Meeten) - An exaggerated version of the famous painter, who started out as Noel's cleaner in Series 1. In Series 2 he works in the coffee shop with Noel and Smooth. He talks and acts like a robot, with his voice mimicking a voice synthesiser, and he is often neurotic and insecure. A recurring joke in the second series includes Andy meeting with other famous artists, musicians and writers from the 20th century, such as George Orwell and Yoko Ono, for leisure activities. He plays the keyboard in the cast band.

Reoccurring Characters

All characters listed are played by Noel Fielding, unless stated otherwise.

• Secret Peter (Series 1- ) Noel's landlord (played by Noel Fielding). He is a purple blob creature covered in multi-coloured crystals, and speaks and acts in a stereotypical East London dialect. He is named after the production company which makes the series.
• Roy Circles (Series 1- ) an anthropomorphic (played by Noel Fielding)chocolate finger biscuit who works as a PE teacher and once served in the army (presumably in the Brigade of Guards). He suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and often talks about how depressed he is because his wife died.
• Sergeant Raymond Boombox (Series 1- )(played by Noel Fielding) an incompetent, obese New York cop with yellow skin and extensive facial hair and perm. In the first series, he tells stories of his past cases, and in the second series he serves as law enforcement on Painted Hawaii. He is an old friend of Smooth's and likes reggae music.
• The Gash (Series 1- )(played by Noel Fielding) a talking wound on Sergeant Raymond Boombox's left arm who often insults the Sergeant for his failures. He likes to devour credit cards and argues with a second gash on Boombox's stomach who does impressions of Michael Caine and Harry Dean Stanton.
• Hooper (Series 1- ) Assistant to Raymond Boombox. He never appears on screen but Boombox constantly shouts at him. According to The Gash he is having an affair with Boombox's wife and according to Boombox he was nearly gang-raped by sailors whilst on assignment in Miami after being mistaken for a prostitute.
• Tony Reason (Series 1- )(played by Noel Fielding) an anthropomorphic manta ray who lives in a fish tank across a bridge from Luxury Coffee. He works as a music producer and often talks about his past experiences with famous musicians such as Jim Morrison and Bon Jovi.
• Todd Lagoona (Series 1- ) (played by Richard Ayoade) - an anthropomorphic hammerhead shark. He is Tony Reason's friend, a fellow music producer and sometimes appears in the same fish tank as Tony.
• Joey Ramone (Series 1- ) a stop-motion, plasticine version of the punk rock star, portrayed with comically long legs, blue hair and no arms. The Joey Ramone sketches parody children's television programmes from the 1960s and 1970s, having stop-motion characters in front of an illustrated background, with a mild-mannered narrator commenting passively on everything that happens and speaking for each character.
• Fantasy Man (Series 1- )(played by Noel Fielding) a superhero who goes on self-imposed quests in an electronic, operatic fantasy world similar in appearance to Tron. He rarely achieves his goals; often being snapped back into reality by a passer-by and getting into some sort of trouble for his delusional actions. His voice and mannerisms are a parody of Don Quixote. It is revealed his real name is Sandy, he is gluten intolerant and has a pet cat called 'The Dream Tiger' whom he employs as an improvised weapon when attacked by street thugs.
• Big Chief Woolabum Boomalackaway (Series 1- ) (played by Tom Meeten) - Fantasy Man's sidekick. He is a Native American chief who likes Rave music, wears a brightly coloured headdress made of household objects, and claims to be able to see up to fifteen minutes into the future. He is a parody of Tonto.
• Dondylion (Series 1- ) (played by Noel Fielding) an anthropomorphic lion. In the first series he is held in a run-down zoo and is quickly driven insane by his small enclosure and poor living conditions. He keeps a framed photograph of David Lee Roth, which he talks to as if it were a real person and refers to as "The King of the Lions"'. He was killed off in Series 1 but still reappeared in Series 2.
• Doo Rag (Series 1- ) (played by Michael Fielding) - a man with a bowl haircut and moustache, who dresses in blue racing leathers. He speaks in a soft American accent, and a tiny red race car occasionally drives across the white stripe in his hair. In the second series, Doo Rag works as a doctor in a "Coolness Clinic" (where people go for tests to see how cool they are) on Painted Hawaii.

Other Characters

• Rennie & Gaviscon (Series 1) French chefs who cook at high speeds and go on a trip to The Moon.
• Tip Baker (Series 1) (played by Rich Fulcher) a NASA spokesperson, who sits on a trapeze on the edge of space.
• The Moon (Series 1) a cameo appearance by The Mighty Boosh character.
• Daddy Push a man with a giant winkle shell for a head. He appears exclusively in surreal sketches where he does not speak and engages in bizarre activities.
• Pele (Series 1) a drawing of the football star that comes to life.
• Figo (Series 1) (played by Tom Meeten) a fruitfly that escapes from a drugs bust.
• John (Series 1) the zookeeper that abuses Dondylion.
• Daran Cache (Darren Cache) (Series 1) art critic with stationary for facial features.
• Lysergic Casserole (Series 1) played by Noel Fielding and Rich Fulcher. Californian 1960s psychedelic rock band that Noel listened to. They only ever released one album and took so much LSD that they have been trapped on a motorcycle circling inside a guitar case ever since.
• Diamondback (Series 1) a country-western singer with silver skin, a ginger mullet and moustache made from copper scouring pads and numerous small googly eyes all over his face, which he uses as percussion to his songs.
• Mrs Diamondback (Series 1) a pink plastic flamingo seen in some of the scenes.
• Jeremy Beautiful Chest (Series 1) a man with a large red heart on his chest (played by Dave Brown)
• Ghost of A Flea (Series 1) a character based on William Blake's real life recital to a friend of a visitation from The Ghost of a Flea.
• God (Series 1)
• William Jessop (Series 1)
• Little Chrissy, Claw, Spoon Snake & McCoy (Series 1) characters made of coloured paper that go to visit the Jelly Fox.
• Hawkeye (Series 1) a machine used to decide if Dolly's idea was a joke or a concept.
• King Tutta (Series 1) a mountain which tuts at Noel from afar, alongside two other mountains (played by Jimmy Lazer and Dave Brown)
• Dee Dee Ramone (Series 1) a stop-motion, plasticine version of the punk rock star
• Colin Montgomery (Series 1) a stop-motion, plasticine version of the golfer
• The Bobbatron (Series 1) a schizophrenic police officer in reality, and a flag guarding a bridge in the fantasy world.
• Golden Needle (Series 1) (played by Dolly Wells) used to stitch up the hole in the internet
• Sugar Bone Thompson (Series 1) a stiff brim hat used to warn Noel of someone stealing his Fab Lollies, whom Dolly falls for.
• City Gent (Series 1) (played by Richard Ayoade) An extremely dapper, well spoken businessman who begins each of his sketches by decrying the state of modern art, education and other intellectual topics, before abruptly blaming all their shortcomings on other characters.
• Ice Cream Eyes (Series 1) a man with black skin, long blonde hair and strawberry and vanilla ice cream scoops in place of eyes, who often gets blamed by City Gent for the state of the aforementioned topics.
• Tony Coins (Series 1) a mafiosi-esque man who lives in a till and has piles of coins in place of eyes. Ice Cream Eyes passes the blame on to him after being blamed by City Gent.
• Adam Printout (Series 1) a printed sheet of paper with holes for eyes who speaks with a timid Northern accent. He is blamed by Tony Coins, but claims he was drinking weak tea and eating a lemon slice and passes it on to Eugene Secret Note Passed Under the Door.
• Eugene Secret Note Passed Under The Door (Series 1) a man with cut out letters from magazines and newspapers on his face, who speaks in panicked nonsense after getting blamed by Adam Printout.
• Martin Rogers (Series 1) monkey with flashing head and wrist bands, who accuses Noel of touching him.
• Dolphin Bomber (Series 1) a sketched dolphin in a bomber plane.
• The Audience (Series 1) a strange, laughing clown, who speaks entirely in short statements on matters concerning mashed potato and fish fingers. His stomach contains a series of cogs and gears that processes mashed potatoes into life shapes.
• Ian Guage (Series 1) a man with a seemingly deformed face, who sings in a nonsense language which may be a parody of French.
• Count Ziggenpuss (Series 1) a fish-finger jewellery thief whose calling card is a single steaming baked bean on a golden spoon.
• Ravi (Series 1) a monkey seen with Dondylion, who allegedly cannot talk but can write. He is asked to write a postcard to Dondylion's family.
• Donald Nevereach (Series 1) a bomb who gets dropped by Dolphin Bomber and explodes in Sergeant Raymond Boombox's hands.
• Alfie (Series 1) a talking pineapple who has Noel's eyes.
• The Brooklyn Ice Box Throttler (Series 1) (played by Michael Fielding) escapes and kills the Vice President.
• The Vice President (Series 1) (played by Tom Meeten) killed by The Brooklyn Ice Box Throttler
• Allan Key (Series 1) opens the door for Dondylion to escape the zoo, played by Warhol.
• The Tiger with Chlamydia (Series 1) sketched character that passes on chlamydia with his large arrow penis.
• Kurt Russell (Series 1) catches chlamydia from The Tiger with Chlamydia.
• W. G. Disgrace (Series 1) gives Smooth Shin splints in the same method as The Tiger with Chlamydia.
• Kite Headed Ferry (Series 1) Bryan Ferry in kite form.
• Brian Eno Frisbee (Series 1) Brian Eno in Frisbee form
• Helen Daniels (Series 1) a hedgehog with a screwdriver that clogs The Audience's stomach gears, and gets imprisoned in a potato waffle cage by Doo Cloth.
• Doo Cloth (Series 1) Doo Rag's friend that traps Helen Daniels in a potato waffle cage.
• Burnt Sausage (Series 1) (played by Joey Page) the burnt sausage that sets fire to the show in the last episode of Series 1.
• Tutankhamun (Series 1) this character was not seen in the televised episodes but appeared in the Outtakes of Series 1.
• Paul Panfer (Series 2) a blue surfing Panther that is an internet sensation.
• Terry (Series 2) (played by Steve Oram) the only Luxury Comedy viewer. He is killed by an asteroid.
• Fantasy Block (Series 2) a Michelin Man shaped creature that smashes Noel creative ideas with his two large mallets.
• Reality Man (Series 2) (played by Richard Ayoade) he attempts to turn Noel's show into a reality show, due to not liking fantasy, but fails.

Episode list

Series 1 (2012)

Series 2 (2014)

Music

The show's soundtrack is provided by Fielding and close friend Sergio Pizzorno of rock band Kasabian, who formed the group Loose Tapestries to make music for the series. An album entitled Loose Tapestries Presents: the Luxury Comedy Tapes was released following the first series. Fielding and Pizzorno returned to create the soundtrack for series two with Kasabian guitarist, Tim Carter.^[6] The series one theme tune appears on the album as "Luxury Comedy" - a Hawaiian style variation of this theme tune is used for series two.

Reception

Series 1 received polarised reviews, offering both high praise and scathing criticism.

The Guardian described it as a "neo-psychedelic riot of mirth that regurgitates decades of memories of broad, Technicolor TV entertainment from The Banana Splits onwards."^[7] Stephen Armstrong wrote in The Sunday Times that "Fielding grins down like a fiendish blend of Peter Gabriel, Syd Barrett, Samuel Beckett and a TV-age Antonin Artaud, unsettling and hypnotising in equal measure. In these dreary times it's as subversive as Bowie appearing on Tops of The Pops in a dress." Andy Johnson at Purple Revolver said that "if someone wanted to make TV for Salvador Dalí and Rene Magritte then Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy would be it. The artwork, decadent use of colour and reckless abandonment of the rules of form is a delight to watch."^[8]

On the other hand, The Yorker said "The plots are too obscure to follow, so one is left with a lurid array of half-animated, half-real characters spouting phrases which seem to have been generated by flicking through the dictionary at random."^[9] The Scotsman said of Fielding: "as an absurdist comedian he's so painfully uninspired and laboured" and "I was left bewildered as to how anyone could ever fall for this charmless rubbish", and goes on to say "he patently thinks of himself as a mind-blowing surrealist bursting with astonishing ideas (A sentient chocolate finger! A Noo Yoik cop with a talking wound!). But in reality he's the tiresome equivalent of the unfunny office clown persistently proclaiming how mad he is."^[10]

Series 2 was rated 4/5 stars by the Daily Telegraph's Christopher Howse, who described it as "best watched drunk".^[11]

International broadcast

In Australia, the first season commenced airing on ABC2 each Thursday at 10:30pm from 5 April 2012.^[12]

References

External links

• Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy at channel4.com
• Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy at British Comedy Guide
• Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy at the Internet Movie Database