FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS

'Flight of the Conchords' is a folk, pop, and comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie of the rock band The Black Seeds and Jemaine Clement of The Humourbeasts. Billing themselves as "Formerly New Zealand's fourth most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo",^[1] (having been bumped by a tribute band of themselves) the group uses a combination of witty banter, characterisation and acoustic guitars to work the audience. The duo's comedy and music became the basis of an American television series that premiered in 2007, also called ''Flight of the Conchords''.
Named Best Alternative Comedy Act at the 2005 US Comedy Arts Festival, Best Newcomer at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and receiving a nomination for the Perrier Comedy Award at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2003, the duo's live performances have gained them a worldwide cult following.^[2]

Contents

Career history

Albums

Appearances

Television series

Discography

References

External links

Career history

The pair first teamed up in 1998 after meeting at Victoria University of Wellington where both studied film and drama.

Albums

The band released ''Folk The World Tour - Live Album'' in 2002. As of 2007, the duo is signed to a recording contract with Sub Pop, released an EP on August 7, 2007 entitled ''The Distant Future'', with a full-length record to be released in January 2008.^[3]

Appearances

In 2002 they performed at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival for the first time. Returning in 2003 with a new show, they were nominated for the prestigious Perrier Award.^[4] They also performed there in 2004.
The band was featured in a 2004 campaign for British mobile phone retailer Phones 4U.^[5]
In 2004 The Flight of the Conchords were featured on Australia's ABC TV in the show ''Stand Up!''^[6]
In 2005, BBC Radio 2 broadcast their first radio series.^[7] Largely improvised, it features Rob Brydon as their narrator,⁷ Rhys Darby as their manager and Jimmy Carr as a devoted fan called Kipper. The series won the duo a Sony UK Comedy Award. Also in 2005, HBO gave the group a special on their Friday night half-hour stand-up comedy series ''One Night Stand''.
In 2006, the band also performed at the South by Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas. They recorded a documentary titled ''Flight of the Conchords: A Texan Odyssey'', which aired on New Zealand's TV3 in late 2006.^[8] In June 2007, the band performed on David Letterman's ''Late Show''.^[9] The band also appeared at the 2007 Bonnaroo festival in Manchester, Tennessee.^[10]

Television series

Main articles: Flight of the Conchords (TV series)

The duo currently stars in a television series for HBO, titled ''Flight of the Conchords'' which premiered in the United States in June 2007. The series revolves around the pair as they try to achieve success in New York City as a band. The regular cast includes fellow comedians Rhys Darby, Arj Barker, Kristen Schaal and Eugene Mirman and features many other comedians in guest starring roles. Their brand of humorous songs are woven into the plot of each episode. The first season consisted of 12 episodes, with a second season announced for 2008. The DVD should be released on November 6, 2007.³

Discography

Date of Release	Title	Label	Charted	Country	Catalog Number
2002	''Folk the World Tour''	Flight of the Conchords Music	-	-	FLIGHT01
2006	''	BBC Audiobooks LTD 2006	-	-
2007	''The Distant Future''	Sub Pop	116	US	370746

References

1. http://www.tuscaloosanews.com/article/20070810/TUSK02/708100302/-1/tusk02
2. http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/CU0708/S00197.htm
3. HBO Orders 2008 Editions Of CONCHORDS & ENTOURAGE!!
4. if.comedy - Past winners
5. What the Folk! - Vision
6.
7. The Flight of the Conchords
8. Flight of the Conchords
9. Monday, June 11, 2007: Show #2768
10. Bonnaroo.com - Flight of the Conchords

External links

★ Flight of the Conchords' official site

★

★ Flight Of The Conchords Profile Page - NZMusic.com

★ Flight Of The Conchords Forum - NZMusic.com