Flight of the Conchords Are Tha Muthaflippin'

If you go to the official Flight of the Conchords website, you will see that it was about the time they started work on their HBO special that they stopped updating. However, you will also read that they don’t mind too much. In fact, they are very quick to point to other fan sites that are doing a much better job.

This self deprecating humour is part of what makes the duo so endearing. For those who have not yet seen the programme, Bret McKenzie ( formerly of Wellington dub band The Black Seeds) plays the naïve Bret, who is a vertible emotional rollercoaster when compared to the dour-faced Jermaine (Jermaine Clement. See him in Eagle vs. Shark). Together they look for gigs and . . . well that’s pretty much it: they look for gigs. But it’s enough. Just because the show’s premise isn’t robust, doesn’t mean the show falls flat. Hell, remember Seinfeld? That was a show supposedly about ‘nothing,’ and look how well it did. FOTC is at least about one thing, so it’s got that much more going for it.

The show itself is a better-produced version of their BBC radio show which aired in mid 2006. Fans of the radio program—such as myself—will recognise songs like ‘Bowie in Space,’ and the hilarious ‘Rhymenocerous vs. Hiphopopotomus’ (see here) The latter is like watching your little brother act tough by aping the movements and tone of gangsta rappers. In the case of your little brother (or sister, or cousin, or anything little, for that matter), it’s funny because it’s cute. But with FOTC, it’s funny because they’re ridiculous . . . but they’re also witty funny, which means they’re good, which means they’re kinda tough, but at the same time they know they’re witty and funny and they’re also making fun of themselves—oh, it’s often too much to handle. Bottom line: they work on a number of levels.

One of the problems for New Zealanders (we haven’t actually got the program here yet, but everyone’s already seen it via YouTube or file sharing. And Kiwi file sharing is old school. It’s not a country of torrent leeches; it’s literally sharing files. One fella will have a mate in the US who’s TiVoed the episodes and sent him a copy. And once one person has it, it’s only a matter of days before the rest of the country’s got it, too. Sorry, RIAA / MPAA, that’s just the way it works these days), is the worry that other nations won’t “get” Kiwi humour. Which I find a bit silly considering Kiwi humour is a blend of British, Australian, and American humour. It’s like being worried that someone won’t understand stew. But still I—as one of the resident Americans here—am asked, “Do you think the Yanks will get it?” I smile and reassure them that we will. Yet I, too, worry.

So, Flight of the Conchords: Do you get it?