Noel Fielding

Noel Fielding
Fielding in 2006
Born	(1973-05-21) 21 May 1973 (age 48) Westminster, London, England
Medium	Film, radio, stand-up, television
Years active	1996–present
Genres	Black comedy surreal humour
Partner(s)	Lliana Bird (c. 2010–present)
Children	2
Relative(s)	Michael Fielding (brother)
Website	noelfielding.co.uk

Noel Fielding (/ˈnoʊl ˈfiːldɪŋ/; born 21 May 1973) is an English actor, artist, comedian, musician, presenter and writer. He is best known for his work with The Mighty Boosh comedy troupe alongside comedy partner Julian Barratt in the 2000s and more recently as a co-presenter of The Great British Bake Off since 2017. A comedian and comic actor, he is known for his use of black comedy and surreal humour.

Born and raised in London, Fielding was educated at Croydon School of Art and Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. In the 1990s, he went on to do stand-up comedy and met Barratt on the comedy circuit.^[1] Together, Fielding and Barratt produced a 2001 radio series, The Boosh, for BBC Radio London. This was followed by a television programme The Mighty Boosh, comprising three series for BBC Three from 2004 to 2007. The show generated a cult fan following and won a variety of awards.

During the 2000s, he also had smaller roles in a number of comedy shows for Channel 4 including Nathan Barley, The IT Crowd, AD/BC: A Rock Opera, and Garth Marenghi's Darkplace. After The Mighty Boosh, he wrote and starred in two series of a solo show for Channel 4, Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy, between 2012 and 2014. He also moved into other television avenues, appearing as himself: from 2009 to 2015, he appeared as a team captain on the BBC Two music/comedy panel show Never Mind the Buzzcocks.

Aside from his comedic and television work, Fielding has also exhibited his paintings in London and collaborated with Fendi for their Autumn/Winter 2021 Menswear collection. He is the founder of the band Loose Tapestries, formed with Kasabian's Sergio Pizzorno. He has also appeared as a guest in Richard Ayoade's Travel Man series.

Early life[]

Fielding was born on 21 May 1973 in Westminster, London,^[2] the son of Ray Fielding (born 1953) and Yvonne Fagan (1953–1990).^[3] Ray and Yvonne separated shortly after Fielding was born and Ray married Diane Fielding when Noel was three years old. Fagan had two more children before dying in 1990, at 37 years old, from complications caused by liver damage.^[3] Fielding has stated he is of partial French descent.^[4] His brother, Michael Fielding, born to Ray and Diane Fielding, appears as Naboo the Enigma in The Mighty Boosh and portrays various characters in Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy.

Fielding grew up in Pollards Hill, London. His parents would later appear alongside him and his brother in episodes of both The Mighty Boosh and Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. According to an article in The Sunday Times, his parents "had lots of parties" during his childhood. He has also stated that his parents "were just 18" when he was born.^[5] Fielding was educated at Croydon School of Art in South London then studied for a BA in Graphic Design and Advertising at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College (now Buckinghamshire New University)^[6] in High Wycombe, where he lived with friends and future collaborators Dave Brown and Nigel Coan.^[7] He graduated in 1995.^[8] Fielding has also shared a flat in Edinburgh with comedians Lee Mack, Julian Barratt, and Simon Evans.^[9]

Career[]

Stand-up comedy[]

In 2010, Fielding was to perform a solo tour across the country. It was cancelled, however, so he could concentrate on writing The Mighty Boosh film with Julian Barratt and creating an album. Fielding announced via Twitter that he was too busy to do the tour.^[10] In 2015, Fielding told The Guardian that the film was something he talked about writing with Barratt.^[11] The album was released in June 2016.^[12]

In 2010, Fielding took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital and filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. He took part of the same event in 2014 as well.^[13]

The Mighty Boosh[]

Fielding in 2006

The Mighty Boosh has won the Shockwaves NME Best TV Award three times: in 2007, 2008, and 2010.^[14]

Television[]

Fielding on the set of The Mighty Boosh television series

At Bill Bailey's request, Fielding stood in as a team captain for three episodes during series 21 of Never Mind the Buzzcocks. He also achieved a record for the highest team score ever on the show. When Bailey returned, presenter Simon Amstell made various jokes about Fielding's departure. In 2009, Bailey left the show and Fielding became one of the regular team captains. According to Neil Gaiman's blog, Fielding was scheduled to appear in the film Stardust, but had to drop out due to ill health.^[15] He also participated twice with Russell Brand in 2006 and 2007 on the annual quiz show The Big Fat Quiz of the Year. He participated again in 2010, 2013, 2017, 2018 and 2019, with Richard Ayoade.^[16][17][18]

In 2011, he took part in Catherine Tate's TV movie Laughing at the Noughties in which he and other British comedians discussed the comedy highlights of the noughties.^{[19][self-published source?]}

Fielding produced his first solo series for Channel 4 network's E4 channel in 2011,^[20] as the broadcaster invested an additional £5 million in its comedy budget following the cancellation of reality show Big Brother.^[21] Fielding said of the project, tentatively titled Noel Fielding: Boopus: "I want to make something in the spirit of Spike Milligan or the Kenny Everett Show but using modern techniques. Blending filmed comedy with animation. Television needs a madman! I want the show to be psychedelic and beautiful but have charm and personality. If Dalí made a show hopefully it would look like this."^[20][22] The show began broadcasting in January 2012, titled Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy. The show's second series, titled Noel Fielding's Luxury Comedy 2: Tales From Painted Hawaii, was first broadcast on E4 in 2014.^[23]

Also in 2011, Fielding performed Kate Bush's "Wuthering Heights" dance routine for Series 3 of Let's Dance For Comic Relief, and reached the grand final.^[24][25]

In March 2017 it was revealed that Fielding would co-host the upcoming series of The Great British Bake Off alongside Sandi Toksvig.^[26]

Fielding appeared as a contestant on Series 4 of the Dave comedy panel game Taskmaster in 2017, hosted by Greg Davies and Alex Horne: he was the overall series winner.^[27][28]

In January 2018, he was a panellist on QI alongside Russell Brand and Aisling Bea.^[29]

Radio[]

In November 2007, Fielding starred in five episodes of BBC Radio 2 show Vic Reeves' House Arrest as a local vagrant who knocks on Reeves' door once a week to ask for work.^[30]

Music[]

Fielding has appeared in several music videos, including Mint Royale's "Blue Song", alongside Julian Barratt, Nick Frost and Michael Smiley. The video was directed by Edgar Wright and served as the inspiration for the opening sequence of his film Baby Driver (2017).^[31] He also made a brief appearance in the video for Razorlight's "In the Morning". He appeared in music videos for the Robots in Disguise songs "Girl" (alongside Chris Corner who was, at the time, boyfriend to Sue Denim), "The Tears", and "Turn It Up". In 2009, Noel was involved in the Kasabian video "Vlad the Impaler", in which he plays the titular character,^[32] and reprised the role at the 2014 Glastonbury Festival.^[33] The music video was directed by Richard Ayoade. He's referenced in Kasabian's "La Fée Verte", a track on their Velociraptor! album (his friend Sergio Pizzorno said "The line, 'I met Dalí in the street.' Dalí is Noel Fielding. And he is the modern-day Dalí"). Fielding also makes a brief appearance as Vlad in the video for another Kasabian song, "Re-Wired", riding a five-seater bicycle with the band, and appears as a patient in a psychiatric hospital in "You're In Love With a Psycho", in which he re-enacts the broken mirror routine from the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup with Pizzorno and Tom Meighan.^[34] He has also appeared in Kate Bush's music video "Deeper Understanding" as a means of thanks for the Let's Dance For Comic Relief performance.^[35]

Art[]

Fielding and co-stars of The Mighty Boosh at a panel at Comic Con

He held his first exhibition, entitled Psychedelic Dreams of the Jelly Fox, at Maison Bertaux, a patisserie in Greek Street, Soho in early 2008. There Noel listed some of his inspirations as Henri Rousseau, René Magritte, Willem de Kooning, Roy Lichtenstein, and Dexter Dalwood.^[36] He has stated that he has been heavily influenced by the works of Salvador Dalí. A second exhibition entitled Bryan Ferry vs the Jelly Fox took place at Maison Bertaux, from 5 July 2010 through to 5 January 2011.^[37]

On 6 September 2011, Fielding received an honorary master's degree from Buckinghamshire New University for his ongoing interest in the graphics area and support for many art organisations.^[38]

In October 2011, Fielding released an art book called Scribblings of a Madcap Shambleton, which he produced along with The Mighty Boosh cast member Dave Brown. It features many of his old and new paintings, drawings and photography.^[39]

Fielding's video installation of The Jelly Fox was shown at the Saatchi Gallery, and in 2012 he created a unique piece inspired by The Beatles for Liverpool Love at the Museum of Liverpool. In March 2015, his exhibition He Wore Dreams Around Unkind Faces was shown at the Royal Albert Hall.^[40] In January 2021, the luxury fashion house Fendi unveiled a collection featuring abstract takes on the brand's logo, created by Fielding.^[41]

Personal life[]

Fielding and his partner, radio DJ Lliana Bird, reside in Highgate, London. Their first child together, a daughter named Dali (after artist Salvador Dalí) was born in spring 2018.^[42][43] The couple's second daughter, Iggy, was born in August 2020.^[44] He was formerly in a relationship with Delia Gaitskell (Dee Plume) of the band Robots in Disguise, who made minor appearances in The Mighty Boosh and in the Boosh live shows.^[1]

In 2009, a Sunday Times article revealed that Fielding had hepatitis during his art college years and later revealed he was helped through this by friend and collaborator Nigel Coan. This forced him not to drink for six months, which got him into the habit of not drinking for a couple of years. "I used to be able to enjoy myself with just nothing. I'd stay up till four in the morning, with everyone else being drunk. Just make a bit of effort and you can get used to it."^[5]

He was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.^[45]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Television[]

Music videos[]

References[]

External links[]

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