I just wanted to do a quick review of the Flight of the Conchords show I went to last night.  They played in San Francisco at the Nob Hill Masonic Center.  The venue itself is just ok.  If you are sitting on the side, your view of the stage sort of sucks, but if you are in the center the view is great.  You can only drink in the lobby so if there is no intermission; your buzz is pretty much gone by the middle of the show.  Losing the buzz isn’t really the problem, but it can sometimes leave you a little tired which obviously makes it difficult to keep your energy up.  The last time I was at this venue was for a Van Morrison show.  My girlfriend and I would head down to the lobby after every four or five songs to slam a drink.  This actually worked out fine for me as she is the Morrison fan.  I really only know his hits.  I think though any show I went to at this venue I would get up every so often to go grab a drink.  A little bit of booze always makes a show more fun.  None the less, this says something about the Conchords.  I didn’t once get up for a drink because I was afraid that if I did I would miss something hilarious.  

 

The opening act was Aziz Ansari who aside from appearing on the Conchords show has his own show on MTV and it looks like he’s in some upcoming movies.  He’s a pretty funny dude.  Nothing special, but he got me to laugh and I am usually tough critic when it comes to standup.  When he was done, he announced the Conchords who came on immediately and played Robots.  They did a bunch of songs that have appeared on the show and some of their older songs.  They also did a couple of new ones.  The songs are all funny, very consistent.  There isn’t a yawner in the bunch.  The thing though that makes the show really enjoyable and funny is the banter in between songs.  The two play off each other wonderfully and they play off the crowd quite well too.  Unlike duos such as the Smothers Brothers, there is no straight man.  They are both goofy.  To me, Jemaine is the funnier of the two but Bret is right there with him.  Aside from being hilarious they are both talented singers and musicians.  That is what makes their act work.  Any good comedian can write funny lyrics, but if they can’t sing it or the music is no good no one is going to laugh. Aside from being funny, the songs are good and catchy.  You definitely find yourself singing along like you would any pop song.  I assume that is why their album has done so well.  These guys are singing hysterical things but at the same time appear to be so serious about the song.  Their stage personas are very uncomfortable and I can imagine some people not getting it, but if you do these guys are as funny as anyone out there. 

 

The crowd was eating up every bit of it.  The cheers were loud and long as were the laughs.  The place was filled with obvious fans of the duo (they like to be referred to as a band, which is hilarious); it didn’t sound like a room filled with recent bandwagon jumpers.  Everyone knew the songs and got the humor.  The one thing though that I will never understand is why people feel they have the right to yell things out in the middle of a comedy show.  It irritates the hell out of me and you can usually tell that it bothers the performer too. It’s one thing to yell out a request at a rock show where it’s loud and everyone is screaming, but these guys are trying to talk.  It’s part of the act.  Quit yelling out requests.  Also, no one came to the show to listen to your unfunny jokes.  I paid $120 per ticket on Stub Hub for balcony seats because these guys crack me up not because some asshole in the 13th row thinks he’s witty.  Anyway, they are playing again here in San Francisco on Thursday night.  The show is sold out, but if you are willing to pay I am sure you can find something on Craigslist or Stub Hub.  It was well worth it.  All in all one of the best comedy shows I have seen live.  If you aren’t familiar with the guys check them out on Youtube.com or rent the DVDs of their HBO show.