Julian Barratt

Infobox actor
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name = Julian Barratt


imagesize = 200px
caption = Julian Barratt in 2006
birthname = Julian Barratt Pettifer
birthdate = birth date and age|1968|5|4|df=y
location = Leeds, England
height =
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yearsactive = 1995 – present
spouse =
homepage =
notable role = Howard Moon
in "The Mighty Boosh",
Dan Ashcroft
in "Nathan Barley"
academyawards =
emmyawards =
tonyawards =

Julian Barratt (born 4 May 1968) 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.

"The Mighty Boosh"

Barratt stars as the character Howard Moon opposite Noel Fielding's Vince Noir in the comedy series "The Mighty Boosh". His character has certain elements of Julian's own personality which have been exaggerated. 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. In essence, he is the complete opposite of Vince Noir.

Barratt is also 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 composes all of the music for The Mighty Boosh, helped by Dave Brown. The music included in the series is an eclectic range of genres including rap, heavy metal and psychedelic rock.

Other television

Apart from his work on The Mighty Boosh, Barratt has had parts in other dramas, particularly Channel 4's slightly offbeat comedy programmes, 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. [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_19990905/ai_n14249643/print Peter York on Ads: No 289: Metz] In: The Independent (September 5, 1999)] 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 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. The film was written by Barratt and Jemmett and will be released late summer 2008.

Personal life

Barratt is known to be media-shy, often quiet and self-deprecating during interviews. [ [http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/people/julian_barratt_person_page.shtml BBC - Comedy - People A-Z - Julian Barratt ] ] 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 long-term relationship with fellow comedian Julia Davis and they have two twin boys, Walter and Arthur. Julian had to adopt his middle name Barratt as his professional last name to distinguish himself from an already well known reporter named Julian Pettifer. [cite news|url=http://www.tv.com/julian-barratt/person/267139/summary.html|title=Julian Barratt|work=TV.com|publisher=CNET Networks, Inc.|accessdate=2008-06-17]

Filmography

* "Curtains" (2008) Short film - Writer & Director
* "The Mighty Boosh Movie (TBA)
* "The Mighty Boosh Live" (2006) — Howard Moon
* "Benidorm" (2007) ITV
* "Nathan Barley" (2005) TV Series — Dan Ashcroft
* "" (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 Dali" (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

Awards

*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

References

External links

* [http://www.themightyboosh.com/ Official "Mighty Boosh" website]
* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,544632,00.html "The Guardian" interviews Julian Barratt]
*imdb name|id=1027986|name=Julian Barratt
* [http://www.themightyboosh.org/ "The Mighty Boosh" Fan Site]
* [http://boosh.proboards53.com/index.cgi? "The Mighty Boosh" Forum]
* [http://www.themightybooshforum.com/ "The Mighty Boosh" Fan Forum]