Are they comedians with guitars or just really funny musicians? And are they characters or real-life personas?

HBO-buoyed musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords came close to answering the latter question three-quarters of the way through their two-hour Minneapolis debut Tuesday at the Orpheum Theatre, when they finally broke down the fourth wall. Or at least they gave it a little nudge.

"Where's Murray?" a fan asked in the sold-out crowd.

This was one of countless shout-outs the infallibly adoring but incredibly annoying audience had for the New Zealand-reared duo, whose real names and character names are Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie -- and whose cultish U.S. fan base was proven two weeks ago when their new album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard chart.

The fans should have left the comedy to the professionals. Still, when it came to the question about Murray, the fumbling manager on their HBO series of the same name, the droll Kiwi partners had a terrific response.

"I got some bad news for you," said Clement, the drier and just plain funnier of the two. "Murray is fictitious."

That set off a long riff in which Clement tried to explain the difference between the people "you last saw in your little box at home" and the ones on stage.

Clement could have explained all night, and some fans never would have bought it. They paid to see the duo from the HBO show, and except for that one moment, that's exactly what they got -- sometimes a bit too forced and cheap, but always well-received.

Coming off as a cross between the Smothers Brothers, Tenacious D and two indie-rock-loving slackers, Clement and McKenzie spent half the night singing songs from their new self-titled Sub Pop album (also featured on their TV series), and the other half spewing wacky, über-witty banter.

The songs ranged from the sci-fi-fried opener "Robots" -- where imitations of C-3P0 and Daleks tellingly drew big laughs -- to the terrific, zig-zagging-Ziggy spoof/homage "Bowie" to a sexy, tongue-wagging-in-cheek new song that would've even had Prince laughing at such lines as, "I'm gonna take the month of August off just to get you off."

Some of the between-song antics felt canned and routine (in a Smothersly way). Before the coy anthem "Think About It," for instance, they mocked rock-star do-gooderness by riffing on how hard it is to actually save a whale: "They can't dial 911; they have flippers."

The duo sparkled, though, during the spontaneous moments, like when Clement admonished McKenzie for tipping his microphone stand into the front row: "Bret, what was the first thing they warned us about in America? Lawsuits."

Moments like these eventually answered the comedians-or-musicians question. The Conchords are definitely comedians first, a point also hinted at by the fact that the opener was a standup comic, Arj Barker (also a big hit with the crowd).

As comedians, Clement and McKenzie will find it's harder to keep their routine fresh than it is for musicians. But their first time was truly a charm.

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

See the Conchords' set list and fan comments at startribune.com/poplife.