A Month of... Board Games! Day 19: What Does the Fox Say?*

Let's learn a little about a British television and comics character you probably don't know about unless you grew up in the UK: Basil Brush!

Like another famous British pop culture legend, this guffawing fox hand puppet made his first television appearance in 1963, and tho' he's been on and off the air since then, still has a special part in the heart of his many, many fans who love his cheeky, irreverent humor, over-the-top Terry-Thomas impersonation, and fluffy, fuzzy tail. There's no real American equivalent of Basil — possibly the closest equivalent is Kermit the Frog, but while Kermit's known world-wide, Basil has never been a big hit outside the British Empire. Remember Topo Gigio? Pretend he's still popular in America today. And like Signore Gigio, Basil Brush has occasionally had his very own comic book:





And of course, in those comics, he had (as you may have guessed from this post) his own board game!

"Basil's Spanish Holiday" in TV Comics Basil Brush Holiday Special 1978 (Polystyle Publications, 1978); artist unknown
(Click picture to Fantastic Mister Fox-size)
I became a Basil fan back in 2011 (when I was only six) when I holidayed in London and attended the BBC Radio 3 Comic Relief Concert at the Royal Albert Hall, at which I (and several thousand other concertgoers) set the Guinness World Record for Most Kazoos Played at One Time by People (and a Little Stuffed Bull). one of the show's hosts was — you guessed it — Basil Brush! Here's my personal photograph of of Basil from my seat. I really zoomed in on him.


Wanna see more? You can watch some Basil Brush short videos here:




And he's got an entire YouTube Channel devoted to his foxy deeds!

* Oh, and to answer that question I posed in the header, Basil's frequent catchphrase is..."BOOM BOOM!"