Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie are two comedians who have found success playing struggling musicians as Flight of the Conchords. Armed with two guitars, seven chords and a couple killer falsettos, they've reclaimed the world of musical-comedy from Jack Black's grubby hands and rejuvenated a post-Sopranos HBO. Since their series premiered last summer, their stars have been rising steadily. But the soft-spoken, mild-mannered New Zealanders aren't too keen on fame.
Their show tonight at Northwestern's Cahn Auditorium sold out in 45 minutes. To get tickets, some fans even slept at Norris University Center. Others stood in line through the early morning hours. When I spoke to Jemaine and Bret over the phone Tuesday, I asked how all this attention made them feel. They said they were a bit nervous because they hadn't played together in a while.
In conversation, as in concert, they work well as a pair. They finish each other's thoughts and can help each other through faltering answers. We talked for half an hour about their past, future, fame and secret powers. Here's the abridged conversation:
Q: You just recently won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album for your EP "The Distant Future." How did you feel about your win? Has it changed anything?
Jemaine: It changed our life in New Zealand for the last week we were there, 'cause it's quite big news there. We'd go down the road, and every third person, strangers, would say congratulations to us.
Q: Did you like that, or did it get annoying?
Jemaine: It's a little scary to tell you the truth. We were like principals at a huge school, just 'cause everyone knew us, and that's sort of what it felt like. I don't really like it, to be honest. It's nice, and I can see that it's nice, but it's been quite sudden. So it was quite weird.
Q: Before the Grammy win, were you well-known in New Zealand?
Bret: We had a strong live following. But the HBO show played there just a few months ago, and off the back of that we've gotten more popular.
Spring Break
The DAILY encourages you to share your thoughts on this story. Please help us keep the discussion lively, but civil. Comments that are abusive to others, off-topic or vulgar, or comments that misrepresent someone's identity, will not be tolerated. We reserve the right to delete any comments in violation or to close comment threads on articles.
Please e-mail online@dailynorthwestern.com to flag a comment or for more information.
Be the first to comment on this story