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David Knox is a sucker for a good musical, even if it stars New Zealanders.
Who doesn’t love a good gag about New Zealand? It’s the accents, the sheep, Helen Clark, the bloke who had sex with a wombat, the perception that it’s stuck in the ’70s, and the fact that it’s far away enough to allow us to feel superior.
So the last thing I expected was two New Zealanders actually taking the piss first. No fair!
But that’s exactly what comedians Jermaine Clement and Bret McKenzie do in Flight of the Conchords. The two singer-guitarists are already well-travelled performers, working the comedy circuit from Melbourne to Edinburgh.
Their self-deprecating humour sits comfortably alongside ‘university’ humour of cool comics like Tripod. They quickly endear themselves as lovable losers, and it’s this tone that has been transported into an offbeat, narrative comedy produced by none other than HBO.
The plot of their self-titled comedy sees these two out of work musos trying to crack the big time in New York. They share an apartment while writing songs, busking, trying to hold down part time jobs, win girlfriends and haggling with their vacuous manager Murray (Rhys Darby).
Murray has aspirations bigger than his capacity. He works in a rundown New Zealand Tourist office, walled by brown wood panelling that looks like something straight out of The Castle. Posters of mountains and Lord of the Rings on the wall look down on band meetings where nothing is ever achieved or inspired.
Like the comedy of Ricky Gervais, this is understated humour sans laugh track or multicam. It also draws upon the original songs of the boys who break into song at any given moment.
Their music is a mix of folk and rock, peppered with lots of wry lyrics: I’m sitting at this table called love, Staring down at the irony of life, How come we’ve reached this fork in the road, And yet it cuts like a knife? Some numbers are parodies of other artists (wait til’ you see West End Girls reinvented in the second episode).
Arj Barker is a regular as a pawn shop employee and comedienne Kristen Schaal steals the show as the boys’ slightly demented number one fan.
I’m hoping Ten’s audience won’t be too thrown by the unconventional storytelling and breakout songs (Viva Laughlin anyone?), which is actually the reason the show has some genuine originality.
Flight of the Conchords premieres 10:10pm Sunday on Ten.
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