GRAND PRAIRIE -- If folk-pop pair Simon and Garfunkel starred in a cult hit TV series, hailed from New Zealand, sang earnestly about racist dragons, rapped about rhinos and looked smashing in homemade robot costumes, there's an outside chance they could be mistaken for fellow folkers Flight of the Conchords.
Well, maybe not entirely: "Why so many condom shops, Dallas?" asked Bret McKenzie, one half of the self-described "digi-folk humorist" duo, not long after coming onstage. "We've been traveling for a month and we've never seen so many condom shops."
When is the last time you heard Paul Simon ponder that aloud?
McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, the comics who perform as Flight of the Conchords, made their north Texas debut Tuesday night before a raucous, sold-out Nokia Theatre.
Wielding, at various points, acoustic guitars, electric pianos, electric guitars and a tiny drum kit, McKenzie and Clement spent nearly two hours indulging a vocal audience with future classics like The Most Beautiful Girl (in the Room), Carol Brown, Business Time and Think About It (with its oh-so-timely nod to swine flu: "These pigs have issues/Can we get them some tissues?").
With only “Nigel,” a supposed member of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra to back them -- Clement explained the Conchords had been touring with a larger contingent, but "budgetary cutbacks" had slimmed the organization -- the Conchords repeatedly demonstrated the droll, easy-going charm that's marked their two seasons on HBO.
Most of the evening’s more amusing moments are, sadly, unprintable in a family newspaper. Still, these Conchords made it all look utterly effortless, delivering, in the process, one of the best shows – musical or comedic -- so far this year.
