Julian Barratt

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Julian Barratt
Julian Barratt in 2006
Born	Julian Barratt Pettifer 4 May 1968 (1968-05-04) (age 41) Leeds, England
Years active	1995 – present

Julian Barratt (born Julian Barratt Pettifer 4 May 1968 in Leeds) is an English comedian, musician, music producer and actor. Julian is best known for playing the character of Howard Moon in the cult comedy The Mighty Boosh.

[edit] Career

[edit] The Mighty Boosh

Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon opposite Noel Fielding's Vince Noir in the comedy series The Mighty Boosh. Howard labels himself a "jazz maverick" and claims to be an intellectual with many talents, calling himself a 'man of action', but in reality he is unsuccessful in his literary and romantic ventures. He is unpopular with many of the characters, including Mrs. Gideon who always forgets his name, Bob Fossil who often uses Howard as a puppet for his bizarre schemes and Bollo who often says his name wrong or ignores him completely. Also in one episode of the radio series Howard is constantly bothered by the zoo's security guard Graham, who never recognises him and in one scene attacks Howard with an electrical baton, but later in the show Howard gets his revenge. In essence, he is the complete opposite of Vince Noir.

[edit] Other television

Apart from his work on The Mighty Boosh, Barratt has had parts in other dramas, often alongside Noel Fielding. He co-starred as Dan Ashcroft, a frustrated magazine writer, in the Channel 4 media satire, Nathan Barley. He appeared in the surreal black comedy series Asylum alongside Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson (writers and stars of Spaced). The character of Brian Topp in Spaced was written for Julian but the part eventually went to Mark Heap. He also appeared in the infamous "Freelance Scientist" commercial for Metz alcopop.^[1] He appeared as The Padre in the spoof horror series Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. He also starred in and was a writer for the 1998 sketch show Unnatural Acts. Before this Barratt was involved in TV show The Pod with friend Tim Hope about a fictional techno band called The Pod. The show was unusual as it was animated apart from the heads of Barratt and Hope. Julian also appeared in the film Lucky Break alongside James Nesbitt in 2001.

Julian has recently completed his directing debut for Warp films with theatre director Dan Jemmett. Curtains is set in a Norfolk seaside town, it is a dark comedy about a Punch and Judy man.

Recently, Barratt can be heard as the voice over on many adverts; More Th>n Car, House and Pet insurance, as well as the Directgov advert. Barratt has appeared in the music video for Mint Royale's 'Blue Song', alongside Noel Fielding, Nick Frost and Michael Smiley.

[edit] Personal life

Barratt is an accomplished musician in a wide range of genres; he played guitar for Little Chief during their European tour, and claiming to be a jazz fusion fanatic, he was in a band called Groove Solution in the early 90s with Dave Westlake. He has also played with Chris Corner in IAMX. He composes all of the music for The Mighty Boosh. The music included in the series is an eclectic range of genres including rap, heavy metal and psychedelic rock.

Barratt is known to be shy, often quiet and self-deprecating during interviews.^[2] Unlike his comedy partner Noel Fielding, he prefers not to appear in television comedy quiz shows saying he would 'rather be at home with a book.' He is in a relationship with fellow comedian Julia Davis; the couple have twin boys born in 2007, and live in Dartmouth Park, London. Julian adopted his middle name Barratt as his professional last name to distinguish himself from an already well known reporter named Julian Pettifer.^[3].

[edit] Filmography

• Bunny and the Bull (2009)
• Curtains (2008) Short film - Writer & Director
• The Mighty Boosh Movie (TBA)
• Boosh Live (2008 - 2009) — Howard Moon
• The Mighty Boosh Live (2006) — Howard Moon
• Benidorm (2007) ITV
• Nathan Barley (2005) TV Series — Dan Ashcroft
• AD/BC: A Rock Opera (2004) (TV) — Tony Iscariot
• The Mighty Boosh (2004–present) TV Series — Howard Moon
• Garth Marenghi's Darkplace (2004) TV Series — The Padre
• The Principles of Lust (2003) — Phillip
• The Reckoning (2003) — Gravedigger
• How to Tell when a Relationship is Over (2003) — Him
• Surrealisimo: The Trial of Salvador Dalí (2002) — Rosey
• Lucky Break (2001) — Paul Dean
• Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala (2001) (TV) — Himself
• Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala (2000) (TV) — Himself
• Sweet (film) (2000) — Stitch
• Unnatural Acts (1998) — Various
• The Pod (1997) — Julian
• Asylum (1996) — Victor/Julian

[edit] Awards

• 2009 The Mighty Boosh won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2009.
• 2008 The Mighty Boosh won Best TV Show at the Shockwaves NME Awards 2008.
• 2007 The Mighty Boosh won Best TV Show the Shockwaves NME Awards 2007
• 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 Noel Fielding as Arctic Boosh
• 1998 Perrier Best Newcomer winner with Noel Fielding as the double act The Mighty Boosh
• 1995 Winner of BBC New Comedy Awards

[edit] References

1. ^ Peter York on Ads: No 289: Metz In: The Independent (September 5, 1999)
2. ^ BBC - Comedy - People A-Z - Julian Barratt
3. ^ "Julian Barratt". TV.com (CNET Networks, Inc.). http://www.tv.com/julian-barratt/person/267139/summary.html. Retrieved on 2008-06-17. 

[edit] External links

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More spoken articles

• Official Mighty Boosh website
• The Guardian interviews Julian Barratt
• Julian Barratt at the Internet Movie Database
• The Mighty Boosh Fan Site
• The Mighty Boosh Forum
• The Mighty Boosh Fan Forum