Golf365 interview with Rich Fulcher

By Dave Tindall Last updated: 14th December 2009

Mighty Boosh star Rich Fulcher talks to Dave Tindall about his love of golf, his new book Tiny Acts of Rebellion and even gives us his tip for The Masters!

We at Golf365 love to find examples of celebrities who have an unexpected and seemingly incongruous passion for golf.

So how about possibly the biggest cult figure off one of the biggest cult comedy hits on TV - Bob Fossil from the Mighty Boosh!

Fossil - an explosion of blue khaki and absurd one-liners - is the comic creation of Rich Fulcher. The US comedian has been a regular on UK TV in the last few years, branching out from The Boosh by writing and starring in BBC Three sketch show Snuff Box and making appearances on Never Mind The Buzzcocks and C4 drama Skins.

Mighty Boosh fans will know that Bob Fossil doesn't like cricket but they'd never have guessed he likes, no make that loves, the game of golf.

Dave Tindall spoke to Rich Fulcher about his fondness for the fairways and also about his new book - Tiny Acts of Rebellion: 97 Almost-Legal Ways To Stick It To The Man.

-----

Golf365: Hello Rich, I'd put you into the category of unlikely golfer. Is that fair?

Rich Fulcher: (Laughs). No, that's good. A lot of people are surprised when they find out I play.

Golf365: I was thinking... good dancer = good co-ordination = good golfer?

Rich Fulcher: Exactly. I think there's a direct correlation between dancing and golfing.... and sex.

Golf365: So tell us about your game. Handicap?

Rich Fulcher: Well, see I haven't played a lot recently but when I was on my game I was around 12... and dropping.

Golf365: If we were to break down your game, how would you rate yourself in the various categories: Firstly, driving?

Rich Fulcher: I have a slice problem. But I've gone like (Lee) Trevino and tried to use it. So a lot of times if I do that I can get around 275 (yards) pretty consistently.

Golf365: Irons?

Rich Fulcher: Yes, I'm a good short iron player. Long irons I tend to go more for the 5-Wood.

Golf365: Short game?

Rich Fulcher: Very inconsistent on the chipping side. Sometimes if I haven't played in a while - everybody gets this - it just dribbles off to the side. It's like I have this fear that every time I'm going to chip it's going to go way off to the right. But then as I play some more it's fine.

Golf365: And putting?

Rich Fulcher: Putting is usually my strong suit.

Golf365: Are you a Ben Crenshaw?

Rich Fulcher: Yeah, I'm a Crenshaw. I can usually salvage a bad round by some good putts.

Golf365: I see you've got a home in London and LA. Where do you play your golf when you get the chance?

Rich Fulcher: I play some courses in Los Angeles and way out in the country there are some really good courses. And also on Griffith Park (in LA) is pretty good, just some public courses on the weekend. My flatmate in LA used to play there quite a bit and used to see OJ (Simpson) playing there.

Golf365: I see you studied as a lawyer. Does that mean you've got a great and detailed grasp of the rules of golf?

Rich Fulcher: Absolutely not! There is no correlation there. I know a little bit about the rules but I'm not a stickler. I usually defer to someone else.

Golf365: What do you say when people say "Golf's boring"

Rich Fulcher: .... "You're boring!" I find that only boring people get bored.

Golf365: My dad says that.

Rich Fulcher: Yeah, if you don't get it, you're probably not going to get it. I don't want to proseltyze (try and convert people) but there is the occasional person you get to and they become hooked and you feel like your work is done. I usually ask them what they're interested in and it's like, well to some people that's boring - like video games. But once you get into it and get competitive... sorry to go on about this but golf is a game where you can hit 80 crappy shots but then you hit that one good shot and you wanna go back. You think if I can string together four of these then I'm a professional.

Golf365: Does Bob Fossil (Rich's character in The Mighty Boosh) ever play golf?

Rich Fulcher: Bob likes to play but he doesn't really understand the concept. In one of the episodes he goes 'I'm going to go to Florida and play golf' and he makes the gesture of an archer. So he's not really mentally that up on the game but he likes the idea of golf.

Golf365: That reminds me of Take The Money And Run when Woody Allen's (Virgil's) Dad says his boy has no concept of the cello. "He was blowing into it."

Rich Fulcher: (Laughs). Yeah, I love it when he plays the cello in a marching band and every time he sits down to play he has to get up and move it.

Golf365: Do any other members of the Mighty Boosh play golf? I can seen Noel looking pretty natty in some good golf gear.

Rich Fulcher: Dave Brown, who plays Bollo (the ape), loves to play golf. And it's funny because we got a little bit jealous of Mike (Fielding), who plays Naboo, when, despite never playing, he got on the cover of GolfPunk magazine. We were on tour last year and they said to Mike "where would you like to pick up your clubs?" and we were like 'What! He hasn't even played before.' We were like 'Damn it!'

Golf365: Ever played golf with any other celebs?

Rich Fulcher: Simon Farnaby, the star of Bunny and the Bull (also stars in Jam & Jerusalem with French & Saunders), I play with him quite a bit when I can. And also, because of our love of golf, we wrote a 10-minute golf sketch called Golf War around the idea of the posh club versus the downtrodden one. Fun to make and silly.

Golf365: Do you watch golf on TV?

Rich Fulcher: Yeah, I love to watch golf. I don't watch all the tournaments but I definitely watch all of the majors.

Golf365: And do you have a favourite player?

Rich Fulcher: I like the new guy, Rory McIlroy, I'm pulling for him. It's just amazing how well he's doing. And, of course, I was rooting for Watson in the Open. I'm not too big a Mickelson fan.

Golf365: I read that you'd said Mickelson had played better this year because he'd lost his man boobs.

Rich Fulcher: I think it's proportional, yeah. But I think if you root for him invariably you'll be disappointed. I like to root for the one-off guys to win, like Rocco Mediate in the US Open.

Golf365: You like the underdog?

Rich Fulcher: Yeah, I like underdogs.

Golf365: I like to bet on golf. Do you ever have a wager?

Rich Fulcher: I don't. But Simon (Farnaby) likes to bet on golf so I might try it, give it a shot.

Golf365: Well, let's try now. How about a tip for the 2010 US Masters?

Rich Fulcher: Okay, I'm feeling that (Jim) Furyk is due. He's so consistent. (If you fancy following Rich's advice, Furyk is currently 25/1)

Golf365: I presume you've been following the amazing revelations about Tiger Woods on the net and in the UK tabloids?

Rich Fulcher: I have. What's his count up to now? I just said in stand-up the other night 'This is going to change the whole way how the gallery reacts to him. Can you really yell 'in the hole' now?' David Letterman (who recently admitted to infidelity) has got to be a little relieved that it's taken the heat off him.

Golf365: So let's talk about your new book 'Tiny Acts Of Rebellion'. Is this the must-have book for Christmas?

Rich Fulcher: Yes. It is!

Golf365: Tell us more.

Rich Fulcher: It's a handbook on how to rebel but not like overthrowing government or things like that but just everyday little rebellions that you need to do in order to be sane. So not like that Michael Douglas character in 'Falling Down'

Golf365: My three-year-old beat me at Wii golf the other day. You mention an example like that in the book I see. What should I have done?

Rich Fulcher: Yes, there's a thing in the book about not letting kids get the upper hand otherwise they'll just be terrible to deal with. So you've immediately got to beat your kid in something else to show them who's boss!

Golf365: Maybe a 100-yard dash or something like that?

Rich Fulcher: Yes, exactly. Be relentless! Another little act of rebellion is to tell a child 'no' to something like too much candy and then you secretly do that thing yourself so you're in the closet munching.

Golf365: I've done that! It sort of felt bad but good.

Rich Fulcher: One of the reasons I wrote this book is that I've been doing this all my life. When you're a kid you put stuff in your mom's shopping trolley and they get to the checkout and say 'what the hell is this?' And it's like a giant cupcake.

Golf365: How can we rebel on the golf course?

Rich Fulcher: Well, there's that obvious thing where you replace your friend's ball with a range ball. I did a different tiny act once. I was on the green and somebody, who had their view of it blocked, hit their approach which landed on the fringe and I moved it to within six inches of the hole. Putting it in the hole would have been too much but six inches was just enough.

Golf365: Nice touch! Thanks Rich, and good luck with the book.

-------

With that tiny act of rebellion fresh in the mind, I'm off to the shops to fill my basket with 12 things and then pay for them in the Ten-Item Express queue (Act.24 in Rich's list). Take that, Tesco's!

And, as I put the shopping in the boot and drive home, I'll contemplate the absurdly brilliant prospect of a Golf365 v Mighty Boosh 18-hole challenge in 2010.