Recurring themes in The Mighty Boosh

Within The Mighty Boosh there are many themes that recur throughout both the live shows and the episodic series as well as the original radio series.

* In the first series, Vince and Howard make little effort to hide that The Mighty Boosh is a production with budget constraints (though the budget itself is not negligible). For example, in Bollo, when Howard is supposedly haunting Vince from beyond the grave:

* Much of the artwork created by Noel Fielding for the series features Polo mints in some form or another. This ranges from appearances as graphics (in the opening credits the show's logo is displayed amidst a field of swirling polos) or as subtle costume additions e.g. the hitcher has a polo mint for one eye. Also, in Bollo, the Ape of Death and his minions appear to be wearing large polos as part of their outfits. Polos can also be seen around the masks of the shamen in Killeroo, and on the performance outfits of the band 'Kraftwerk Orange' in Electro. As well as this, in an episode in the second series, entitled The Call of The Yeti, the characters wear face paint resembling polo mints. The Yetis also have eyes that resemble the popular sweet.
* Both Vince and Howard are shown to have very distinct musical tastes. Howard takes pride in being a multi-instrumentalist with a passion for jazz since his youth. This is in contrast to Vince's more contemporary taste, along with pre-1990s genres such as electronic or rock-based music, particularly Gary Numan. He is supposed to have converted many of the animals into fans of this artist (it was also mentioned that Vince dressed the lion as Adam Ant). Youth subcultures associated with these styles of music are also touched upon, with the two leading characters often trying to cast themselves into certain stereotypes (goth, mod, punk, et cetera), sometimes to attract members of the opposite sex.
* Mrs Gideon (played by Victoria Wicks) is the centre of Howard's failing love life. However hard he tries, Vince always seems to get far more attention and recognition than him. This comes to a climax when, after returning Mrs Gideon's prize python, Tony, she cannot remember Howard's name, despite his having worked there for "10 years". Vince has to hold up a giant placard with "HOWARD" scrawled on it to aid her memory. A character in the radio series, Graham the security guard (voiced by comedian Lee Mack), had similar trouble remembering who Howard was, and denied him access to the zoo as he did not believe he worked there in the episode Stolen. However, this is apparently because Graham has a poor memory anyway, later being unable to identify himself in a photograph, whereas Mrs Gideon only has problems remembering Howard — although when Vince paints a portrait of Howard with no facial features, Mrs Gideon recognises that it is him. In the episode Charlie, Howard ends up punching her in the face when she criticises his writing as he presents it to publisher Hamilton Cork. Dixon Bainbridge took apparent delight in this and exclaimed that he "just punched a filly in the face".
* The show has had a few particularly memorable moments when inanimate objects in a scene have been replaced by a person dressed as the object, personifying it. Rich Fulcher's character tells the others to "gather round" so he can inform them of something, and all characters will lean in, including a prop from the scene, now replaced by an actor dressed to resemble the prop. The 'prop' is then told to go away again. The line heard runs similar to "Gather round everyone... Not you, naan bread." and "Gather round everyone... Not you, fire." The line was repeated in The Legend Of Old Greg - where the pun involves naan bread - and Journey to the Centre of the Punk, where Lester Corncrake says "Gather round everyone... Not you extreme sports calendar." It's also used
* Vince has sometimes helped a supporting character in some way or another and as a show of their thanks they give him a horn to blow in case he is in danger. When he uses the horn, they are preoccupied in an odd manner. For example, "Sandstorm" in the series 2 episode The Fountain of Youth, is seen masturbating to pictures in DIY catalogues when Vince sounds his horn. In the series 1 episode The Hitcher, Bryan Ferry cannot hear the horn over his hoovering. Vince also helps Donny the tramp in the season 3 episode "The tale of the crack fox" (by giving him a cape) however Donny doesn't give Vince a horn, instead he just drops in to the fight with the crack fox.
* Vince is often mistaken for a woman due to his somewhat androgynous appearance. Dixon refers to the pair as "Howard Moon and his ugly girlfriend" and Kodiak Jack refers to Vince as a "young, nubile princess", while the Ape of Death believes Vince is Howard's wife. Within the second series, the characters played by Rich Fulcher often take an interest in Vince, believing him to be a woman. In The Legend of Old Gregg, Fulcher's Fisherman constantly remarks on how pretty he thinks Vince is. This is continued into series 3, when Donny the tramp refers to Vince as 'Shrimp eye's wife.'
* Howard is often mistaken for Vince's father. In the live stage show, Vince opens a fan-letter that reads "Dear Vince, I think you are so amazing and brilliant, and your hair is so big and tall and nice and I really like you. The only thing is, is why do have to have your dad in the show?" Also, in The Fountain of Youth, a clip shows Vince and Howard as children in school, but Vince appears to be 10 years old and Howard still looks around 40. Another boy asks Vince "Is that your dad?", to which Howard angrily replies "We're the same age!".
* Whenever faced with life-threatening danger, Howard often says "Don't kill me, I've got so much to give!". Also, whilst being killed, characters played by Rich Fulcher often say "A little to the left!"
* Vince's friend Leroy is often mentioned, but never actually seen. In Electro, a flashback shows that he and Vince had a Glam-Folk band, but both are in such thick make-up, Leroy can't be seen. In Mutants, he takes Howard's light blue trousers and Howard walks off to remonstrate, but again he is not seen by the audience.
* Howard often finds himself in trouble, and Vince comes to rescue him. Vince finds his way out of problems with ease, and "falls on his feet", while Howard when faced with danger becomes scared and desperate. This is joked about in Hitcher, when Vince tells Bryan Ferry "that's kinda how the show works".
* All money is denominated in Euros except on the live show when Rudi Van Disarnio orders a black rider, the delivery man asks for "quid" and in the series 3 episode "The Strange Tale of The Crack Fox" when upon Vince offering loose change, Donny the tramp replies "call it £58.30". There is one other reference to the pound in the Hitcher's song, "Pound your banana, two pound your pear... 14 shillings for yer melon, oh yeah." Transactions often take the form of the payee requesting a very specific amount, and with the payer miraculously producing a roll of bills in the exact amount specified.
* Frequent references to satsumas, the most recent of which is in 'The Strange Tale of The Crack Fox' in which the other shamen make fun of Dennis for the time he had 3 espressos and they found him 'weeping in the corner, trying to peel himself like a satsuma'. In an earlier episode, Vince refers to 'throwing satsumas in our vests and pants' (underwear) as a memorable pastime of himself and Howard.
* Naboo is often shown taking drugs of some kind, Bollo sometimes joins him and the board of Shaman openly admit to taking various things. In The Strange Tale of the Crack Fox when sentenced to death Naboo makes a spilf to enjoy his last moments, in the episode [ (the mighty boosh)]] he is shown inhaling from a Hookah.
* Many of the sub characters have their own associated recurring joke styles. In the 'Board of Shamen', Kirk is frequently described by others as having some kind of dangerous, violent or rebellious nature, which is then juxtaposed to his visual appearance as a young child. Tony Harrison is often seen complaining, usually about the obstacles his unusual size and design creates, and using the phrase "This is an outrage". The Head Shaman's theme is the inability to stomach the rougher lives the other shamen enjoy, particularly their harshness in decision-making, and drug use, as well as a tendency to interior-monologue, usually starting with 'Sometimes I wonder...'. Bob Fossil tends to dance to a song to explain 'that's why I...', using lyrics from the song. For example in the first series, '...and that's why I don't like cricket', to 10CC's Dreadlock Holiday.
* Various characters make fun of Howard's small eyes, e.g. in the 2006 live show vince says Howard's special features are "The tiny eyes of a shrew!", in the same show Old Gregg says "I seen ya little Patrick Swayze eyes". In the series one episode 'Electro' when trying to bring Howard out of his 'jazz-trance', Vince waves in his face and says 'Oi, Small-Eyes'.
* Bollo frequently says "I got a bad feeling about this" when nobody is listening or when it's too late; in The Nightmare of Milky Joe he says it when Vince and Howard have already left for a ship that leaves them stranded on an island.
* When trapped in a life threatening situation, Howars and Vince have a tendency to recall good times they have had together, usually involving food. This almoast always leads to a song.

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