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.