A/N Chapter 3! Woohoo! Not too sure if there's anyone reading this, so if you are, please have faith, I have a lot I plan to write. I should add, I've not been particularly accurate with timings, there were probably quite a lot of gigs they saw each other at before the Enterprise but I thought I'd skip to the juicy stuff!

~Roy the Starfish

disclaimer I DO NOT own the Mighty Boosh.


Chapter 3

Noel was left alone at the bar when he heard sniggering behind him. He turned round sharply and looked at his mates; 'what?'

He sat on the worn out sofa in their flat, it was 2am and Nige and Dave had both gone to sleep. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a sip of water, he couldn't sleep. He tried painting in the hope it would tire him out but he found himself lacking in imagination and inspiration: unlike him. He decided he would figure out the source of his disability to simply drift off into dreamland as he would any other night. He sat sinking further into the sofa tossing away ideas in his head until he arrived at a more hopeful one. He pictured the face of the comic he'd seen last night, what was he called? Julian! Julian Barratt. Nice name. He found that he felt ever so slightly more relaxed. He would love to be like him one day, headlining gigs, getting paid, and being that funny. What if he joined a sketch group, that'd be fun! Or he could be in a double act. That'd be good, not as much pressure, and you'd always have each other... Barratt and Fielding, Fielding and Barratt? Sounds a bit dull, like a solicitors, hm. If he was in a double act they'd be called something pure genius! He fell into sleep hoping he'd dream up the perfect name for his double act.

Tuesday came ever so slowly. Noel couldn't wait for his chance to talk to Julian again. He'd tell him all about his double act idea, see if he was up for it! The day was finally here, but there was no way he was bringing Nige or Dave along this time. So he slipped out of the flat and onto the bus a couple of stops until he was within walking distance of the Enterprise. He practically skipped off the bus and up to the doors of the venue. He tugged open the door and a bloke stood smoking at the entrance piped up sarcastically, 'You sure you're over eighteen mate?' Noel ignored him and made his way into the bar. The venue was separate here, but he had a good fifteen minutes so he took a seat and ordered himself a drink. Five minutes later a slightly bedraggled Julian arrived making his way to the bar and sitting down next to some other man.

'What's up with you mate?'

'One of the lads has cancelled, we need someone to fill in sharpish!'

'Ah, fuck! I'll ask around'

'Just wait a sec, I need to check if this guy's here or not, he might be able to take the spot.'

'Alright mate.' As if on cue, Noel waved enthusiastically at Julian then took the stool next to him,

'Hey!' Noel beamed 'I said I'd be here!'

'You did. Erm, I couldn't ask you for a giant favour could I?'

'Guess so. 'Pends what it is!'

'You know you said you do stand up, well this guy's gone and dropped off the bill, couldn't make it, so basically there's a spot that needs filling.'

'Sure! As long as I'm not headlining, I'm good, but I don't want to be following you!'

'No need to worry, I'm headlining tonight.'

'Really, genius!'

'You say that a lot don't you?'

'What?' Julian tried on his best southern accent,

'Genius!'

'Oh right, suppose I do, ha!'

They both headed backstage and Julian produced a page of notes and began looking through them. Noel just stood there awkwardly. Until he remembered he hadn't mentioned the double act. 'Hey, Julian!'

'Yes?' He looked up from his notes questioningly.

'You ever thought about being in a double act?'

'Hmm. No, not really, I've never thought about it. You?'

'Yeh I was thinking the other night, and I just thought it'd b...'

'Be what?' Julian smirked. Noel faked annoyance and played along,

'Certainly not genius! But anyway, I reckoned us two would be great together, 'cause, you see, our comedic styles are practically identical,'

'I'll be deciding that in a minute, thanks!'

'Trust me, yeh! They're like identical twins separated at birth out styles! But, right, our everything else is, like, opposite, so people would love us!' Julian couldn't help but chuckle, so eager. They'd only met each other twice. But weirdly Julian thought he wouldn't half mind taking the kid up on his idea. But, no! It would be weird, they hardly know each other and this was a kid he was talking about here, he must only be eighteen, that gives them almost a ten year age gap!

'Noel, you're on in a sec!'

'Oh. Wish me luck!'

'Luck.' Julian watched the kid prance onto the small stage with such presence, his heels creating a racket with his every step on the wooden floor. Noel pointed at a woman on the front row,

'Look at you lady, you've got a face, I've got a face, it's all gonna be alright!'