Fifteen years ago, it was business time for Flight Of The Conchords. Back in 2007, Kiwi comedy duo – comprising Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie – took their songs-on-stage stand-up show and radio series, and turned it into a cult HBO sitcom. Swiftly, they became Hollywood stars, attracted famous fans ranging from Peter Jackson to Snoop Dogg, and made ‘a capella-rap-funk-comedy’ into a legitimate musical genre. It all came to an end two years later with the show’s second and final season – and though they’ve played live occasionally in the years since, it’s been a while since the Conchords flew as one. Until now. To mark 15 years of the show, the Hiphopopotamus and Rhymenoceros reunited for a brand new major Empire interview – and dazzling photo shoot – looking back on the series’ hardscrabble production, creative challenges, and huge success.
If the Conchords series turned Clement and McKenzie into household names, it also brought a breakthrough for director and co-creator James Bobin (who went on to direct The Muppets and sequel Muppets Most Wanted, and is currently working on Percy Jackson And The Olympians for Disney+), and featured episodes written and directed by Taika Waititi. “I worked with [Steven Spielberg] and he said, ‘You guys changed comedy in America’,” recalls Clement, who’s currently working on James Cameron’s Avatar sequels. “I don’t know if I would have said that. But that’s what he said. So he must be right, Steven Spielberg.”
While it all looked effortless and charmingly ramshackle on screen, making each series was a massive creative undertaking – working on minuscule budgets, and with multiple new laugh-out-loud musical numbers required for every single episode. “We would use the weekends to record the songs,” Clement recalls, noting that it was a key factor in the decision not to move ahead with a Season 3. “That was the tricky part: we worked seven days, every week. That was the part that was tiring for us, and ultimately led to us deciding not to do it anymore. I remember Bret kept a tally of how many days we had without a day off. And our longest work week was 110 days.”
All the work was worth it, though – the show was an instant hit, a word-of-mouth sensation, and became a multiple-Emmy nominee. “There was such a massive change from the first season, where we could just film on the street – in fact, people would tell us to get out of the way,” McKenzie remembers, looking back on the inner city pressure of the New York shoot. “And then very quickly with the second season it became a little more difficult to film on the street. At nights, if you would go out when people were drunk, it was quite crazy.” The duo quickly became two of the most recognisable faces in comedy. “It completely changed our lives. It was quite intense,” says Clement. “In Florida, this guy on the beach went, ‘Jemaine, when’s Season 3 coming out, man?’ I was like, ‘We don’t think we’re doing a Season 3.’ He went, ‘WHAT THE FUCK?’”
True to their word, a third season of the show never materialised – though in the years since, they recorded a Red Nose Day charity single together (‘Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)’), played live in New Zealand and the UK, and released the Flight Of The Conchords: Live In London special. Their comedy legacy remains as strong as ever. “The best compliment I remember was a guy going, ‘You’re Flight Of The Conchords? I love that shit and I’m a gangster,” laughs Clement. All these years later, Conchords are still for the geeks, the gangsters, and lovers of a capella-rap-funk-comedy everywhere. If that’s what you’re into.
Read Empire’s full Flight Of The Conchords reunion interview in the House Of The Dragon interview – on sale Thursday 4 August and available to order online here.
Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie were photographed exclusively for Empire in Wellington, New Zealand on 30 June 2022 by Dean Mackenzie. Illustrations by Chris Bianchi at Debut Art. Styling by Chloë Hill, with Josh Moran as Fashion Assistant. Grooming by Michelle Triggers.