Shot in the arm for Kiwi comedy

In my very first television review I went to great lengths to illustrate how rubbish most New Zealand TV comedy was, concluding that Leigh Hart's demented Moon TV was about the only thing worth watching. And now it's gone.

Thus are we once more forced to turn to overseas comedy shows for our chuckles. Fortunately, there's a new show from US cable TV giant HBO (home of The Sopranos, Rome etc) starting next week that's worth your time. It even has quite a strong Kiwi flavour.

That's because the stars of Flight of the Conchords (Prime, Monday, 10pm) are the members of the musical group of the same name, who bill themselves as "New Zealand's fourth most popular digi-folk parodists".

I first came across the band (comprising Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement; the latter the star of Kiwi flick Eagle vs Shark) years ago on one of those comedy gala events, at which they played their apocalyptic lament The Humans Are Dead - sung in character as a pair of robots. I concluded they were not very funny and changed the channel.

But last year I caught the Conchords opening for Bic Runga at Founders Theatre and observed them steal the show with their deadpan humour and songs ranging from the tender A Kiss Is Not a Contract to the unflinching novelty-folk protest track Think About It ( "Children on the streets using guns and knives/Taking drugs and each other's lives/Killing each other using knives and forks/And calling each other names like dork").

Earlier this year, I flipped for the CD set of the six-part series the group recorded for BBC Radio; an audio mockumentary chronicling the pair's travails in the UK with staggeringly inept manager Brian.

The TV edition is sort of a televisual translation of the radio show, but transplanted to New York. And their manager is now called Murray for some reason, though he's still played by comedian Rhys Darby. The Conchords (playing "themselves") live in a cramped one-bedroom apartment and have one fan, while Murray holds down his day job at the New Zealand consulate (adorned with promotional posters bearing slogans like "New Zealand: Don't Expect Too Much - You Will Love It").

The show bears a resemblance to the short-lived (and little seen) series from that other parody duo Tenacious D, as it follows the band unsuccessfully trying to make it in the big city - replete with numerous musical interludes.

In the first episode the pair attend a friend's party, at which Clement spies a pretty girl, making way for the romantic epic Part-Time Model ( "But you'd probably still have to keep your normal job"). It turns out she's McKenzie's ex-girlfriend, causing Murray to sagely note that Fleetwood Mac produced some of their best work when they were all shagging each other (McKenzie: "Yeah, Rumours." Murray: "Nah. It's all true").

The inevitable breakup leads to the moving I'm Not Crying ( "I've just been cutting onions/Making a lasagne . . . for one").

I would be lying to say the Conchords' debut outing is screamingly, consistently uproarious. Sometimes it's almost too dry for its own good, making for the occasional dead spot in between songs.

However, I'm informed by reliable sources that it gets better as it goes along, which is extremely heartening.

Indeed, the first season has proved a sizable cult success in its (now finished) run on HBO in the US, resulting in the network commissioning a second series. On a recent trip to the US, I was asked by a fellow from New York how long it would be before our $20 bills had a picture of the Conchords on it. The lads are taking dry Kiwi humour worldwide, and for that they deserve our applause.

- © Fairfax NZ News