Sorry about that. The transcription appeared on the press table sometime right before the press room closed for the night, but it was there bright and early this morning.
Here are some highlights of the event:
* After stumbling his way through a preface that involved the phrase, “Bret, there’s this kind of depressed, fidgety, insecure vibe that you give off that’s not unlike your character” (which raised Bret’s eyebrows, I can assure you), one reporter finally got around to asking the difference between TV Bret and Real-Life Bret. When neither Bret had an immediate answer, Jemaine stepped up and revealed, “The TV Bret is a bit stupider. I notice the difference. They’re subtle. They’re subtle.” (Over the resulting laughter, Jemaine pointedly added, “I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding!”)
* Jemaine isn’t interested in pursuing a solo career…nor, apparently, has he even thought about the concept. “That’s the sort of thing I would want to do when I was a kid,” he said. Bret, however, had far different aspirations: “I wanted to be a tiger.” (Jemaine: “That’s not going to happen.”)
* How have the guys’ lives changed since the debut of their show? “A lot more people want photos with us,” said Jemaine, explaining that, “before, people didn’t know who we were, and, so, less of them wanted photos.” Added Bret, “Yeah, just families. And when you’re at birthday parties. But, now, it’s just strangers coming up, taking photographs with us.”
* If you thought that last quip sounded straight out of “This is Spinal Tap,” try this one. When asked how the guys rate each other as musicians, Jemaine answered, “Bret’s better than I am, and I’m worse than Bret is,” while Bret concluded, “And I think we’re both just above mediocre.”
* Oddly enough for a New Zealand band, these guys have virtually no profile in their homeland…except, however, for making the occasional nightly news report. “We’re on the news a lot for having a show in America,” explains Jemaine. “We’ve been on TV more in New Zealand from being on the news than anything we’ve done there. There’s also great irony in that New Zealand doesn’t make very many good comedy shows, and we were turned down for a show there. So it’s a great ironic story for them.”
* Lastly, that New Zealand accent leads to a bit of comprehension issues in the States…but at least Jemaine makes the most of it. “Sometimes I’ll use it to my advantage,” he says. “If I can’t think of an answer to something, I’ll just make a few sounds, and people will be polite about it, and that will be that.”
