1998–2006: early years McKenzie and Clement were flatmates at
Victoria University of Wellington, where they studied film and theatre before forming Flight of the Conchords in 1998. They first performed as part of a five-man group called
So You're a Man, which included
Taika Waititi and debuted at Wellington's
BATS Theatre, garnering a small but loyal following in New Zealand and Australia. The band first performed on television on
Newtown Salad, a show on Wellington's short-lived local TV station "Channel 7" (later renamed "WTV"). They played two songs on the premiere episode in 1999 and then later appeared over four nights in 2000 (3–6 May); the songs, in order, were "Bowie", "Ladies of the World", "Petrov, Yelyena and Me", and "Hotties". They performed at the
Edinburgh Festival Fringe in
2002,
2003—when they were nominated for the
Perrier Award—and
2004. They also performed at the
Melbourne International Comedy Festival where they won the Best Newcomer Award. They were later featured in a 2004 campaign for British mobile phone retailer
Phones 4U and in the show
Stand Up! on Australia's
ABC TV. In 2005,
HBO gave the group a special on their Friday night half-hour comedy series
One Night Stand. They then headlined at the opening weekend at Comix comedy club, where they recorded two tracks included on 2007's
The Distant Future. During this period, they had television development deals with
Channel 4 in the UK,
NBC in the United States, and
TVNZ in New Zealand but, ultimately, shows were not produced.
BBC radio series In 2004, the band created a six-part radio series for
BBC Radio 2. Largely improvised, the series was broadcast in September 2005 and based on the band's search for commercial success in London. It featured
Rob Brydon as their narrator, The radio series is clearly a progenitor of the television series: the plot is similar—the band arriving in a foreign country to make their fortune, Rhys Darby playing their manager and calling band meetings—and many of the songs were later used in the television series. The BBC Radio 2 series won the duo the Bronze
Sony Radio Academy Award for comedy.
2007–2010: HBO television sitcom and further acclaim TV sitcom The duo starred in a television sitcom for
HBO, titled
Flight of the Conchords, which premiered in the United States in June 2007. The series simultaneously premiered in Canada on
The Movie Network and
Movie Central, and was also shown on
The Comedy Network. The series revolves around a fictional version of the pair as they try to achieve success as a band in New York City and try to develop an American fan base. The regular cast includes fellow comedians
Rhys Darby as Murray,
Arj Barker as Dave, and
Kristen Schaal as their obsessed fan Mel. This show also features many other comedians in guest-starring roles. Their songs are woven into the plot of each episode. The show received an
Emmy nomination for Best Comedy. The show was shot primarily in the
Two Bridges neighbourhood of
Manhattan. The first season consisted of 12 episodes. The second season started on HBO on 18 January 2009 and consisted of 10 episodes. On 10 December 2009, the duo and co-creator/director James Bobin announced that the show would not return for a third season.
Albums The band's first studio release was the 2007 EP
The Distant Future which included three studio recordings and three live tracks; on 10 February 2008, they were awarded the
Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the record. In 2008, they signed with the label Sub Pop and released their
self-titled debut full-length album. Following the second season of the show in 2009, the band released their second album,
I Told You I Was Freaky.
Appearances in Stockholm, Sweden in May 2010 In June 2007, the band performed on the
Late Show with David Letterman and were interviewed by
Terry Gross on the
NPR radio show
Fresh Air. They appeared at the 2007
Bonnaroo Music Festival in
Manchester, Tennessee. On 19 June 2007, they appeared as the musical guests on ''
Late Night with Conan O'Brien''. Their EP
The Distant Future, produced by
Mickey Petralia and recorded in Los Angeles and New York by Petralia and engineer Matt Shane, was released on 7 August 2007; the live portions were taken from concerts at Comix comedy club in New York City. In January 2008, the band spoke and performed as part of
Comcast's presentation at
CES 2008. On 13 February 2008, Flight of the Conchords had their first post-Grammy concert, a freebie show, at a small
Wellington video store called Aro Video. On 5 March 2008, they performed at a private show at 'The Depot' in Salt Lake City, Utah, for the 2008
Omniture web analytics conference, and the following day in Cahn Auditorium at Northwestern University. On 24 April 2008, they gave a free show at Amoeba Music in Hollywood, California. On 28 May 2008, they performed at the
Google I/O conference in San Francisco. They performed on the Main Stage of the
Sasquatch! Music Festival on Monday, 26 May 2008 at The Gorge Amphitheatre in central Washington State. On 12 July 2008, they performed at
Sub Pop's 20th Anniversary Music Festival. The duo made a special guest appearance as the aliens in two episodes of
The Drinky Crow Show on
Cartoon Network's late-night television programming block
Adult Swim. On 31 March 2009, the duo performed in
Masterton, New Zealand, to 2000 locals as a benefit for Jemaine's old college
Makoura College raising around NZ$80,000 prior to setting off on a 50 date tour of the US. They also appeared on the season four finale of the
Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!, briefly replacing Tim and Eric during a high-stakes game of tennis. The duo guest-starred as a pair of camp counselors in "
Elementary School Musical", the season premiere of the
22nd season of
The Simpsons, which aired 26 September 2010.
2011–present: reunion, tours, and film In an interview with
Vulture, Bret said that plans were in the works for a reunion tour in 2012 and that he and Jemaine were discussing a Flight of the Conchords movie. On 28 November 2011, he stated that efforts were being made to bring the comedy folk duo to the big screen: "We're going to try and do a movie. We just need a story." However,
HBO has stated they themselves do not have plans for such a film. In an interview published in
Indiewire in August 2015, Clement said that a Flight of the Conchords movie was being written, although he indicated that it is still in the early phases. It was confirmed in March 2012, that a full 10-show tour of larger New Zealand venues was in place for June 2012. Tickets went on sale on 23 March, with the premium seats at each venue available only in person at the box office, to prevent
scalping. All original shows sold out within 10 minutes once they were released on general sale. For
Red Nose Day 2012, the duo recorded a
charity single composed of lyrics volunteered by
Auckland and
Wellington school children, titled "Feel Inside (And Stuff Like That)". The song features performances from other New Zealand celebrities, including
Dave Dobbyn,
Brooke Fraser,
Boh Runga,
Samuel Flynn Scott,
Luke Buda,
Savage,
Young Sid, Tyree,
Deach,
PNC,
Zowie,
Ruby Frost,
Kids of 88,
Rikki Morris,
Moana Maniapoto,
Nathan King, Maitereya, Victoria Girling-Butcher,
Elizabeth Marvelly,
Peter Urlich and Cherie Mathieson. The song entered at number one on the
New Zealand Singles Chart, becoming their first number one and was certified
Platinum, selling over 15,000 copies in its first week. On 23 August 2013, Flight of the Conchords co-headlined the Oddball & Curiosity Festival with
Dave Chappelle, kicking off the tour in Austin, Texas. In 2016, the duo performed new songs alongside old favourites on a North American tour; they also appeared at the 2016
Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island. In 2018, Flight of the Conchords reunited for
Flight of the Conchords: Live in London, a one-hour TV special on HBO. The special was preceded with a tour in the United Kingdom and Ireland that year. The duo will reunite with two performances at the 2026
Netflix is a Joke Festival in Los Angeles in May 2026. ==Related projects==