Bret McKenzie

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Bret McKenzie

Bret McKenzie (right), with Jemaine Clement, performing as Flight of the Conchords in New York, 2007.
Background information
Also known as Rhymenoceros, Video Kid
Born June 29, 1976 (1976-06-29) (age 33)
Origin Wellington, New Zealand
Occupations Musician/Comedian
Instruments Guitar, Piano, Drums, Vocals, Ukulele, Synthesizer
Years active 1994-Present
Labels Sub Pop
Associated acts Flight of the Conchords, The Black Seeds, So You're a Man, Video Kid
Notable instruments
Casio DG20 digital guitar (1987)

Bret Peter Tarrant McKenzie (born 29 June, 1976 in Wellington, New Zealand) is a musician, actor, producer, writer and comedian, best known for being half of the musical comedy duo Flight of the Conchords with Jemaine Clement.

Contents

[edit] Background

McKenzie is a former member of The Black Seeds. He has released an album called Prototype as Video Kid[1] and is a member of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra.[2] McKenzie attended Clifton Terrace Model School (model in the sense of a standard school for training teachers; not a school for models), Wellington College and then Victoria University of Wellington where he met Jemaine Clement who was also studying film and theatre. Together they were members of So You're a Man. They later formed Flight of the Conchords.

As The Conchords they have toured internationally and released four CDs: Folk the World Tour in 2002, Grammy Award-winning The Distant Future in 2007, Grammy nominated Flight of the Conchords in 2008, and I Told You I Was Freaky in 2009. The Conchords produced a six-part improvisational comedy radio program for the BBC and have appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman and The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. After a successful appearance in 2005 on HBOs One Night Stand , the Conchords were offered their own 12-part HBO series Flight of the Conchords. Its first season ran from June to September 2007, and its second season premiered on HBO January 18, 2009.

McKenzie has appeared in the first and third films in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. His silent role in the first film achieved some internet notoriety as Figwit. His father Peter McKenzie played the role of Elendil in Lord of the Rings.

Along with fellow Conchord Jemaine, McKenzie was featured as one of 2008's "100 Sexiest People" in a special edition of the Australian magazine Who.

[edit] Personal life

He is married to New Zealand publicist Hannah Clarke[3][4] and currently lives in Los Angeles, New York and Wellington, New Zealand. They have a daughter, who was born in 2009.[5]

[edit] Selected filmography

Year Title Character Format Notes
2001 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring Elf at Council of Elrond Feature film Uncredited
2003 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King Elf Escort (Figwit) Feature film
2007-present Flight of the Conchords Bret McClegnie TV series Also creator, co-writer & executive producer
2008 The Drinky Crow Show Rob, the Alien TV series Episodes: "Beer Goggles" and "Old Girlfriend"
2009 Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job! TV series Episode: "Tennis"
2009 Diagnosis Death Dr. Cruise Film

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Video Kid". http://www.videokid.tv/. 
  2. ^ "Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra". http://www.ukulele.co.nz. 
  3. ^ "Bride of the Conchord - Bret marries childhood sweetheart". New Zealand Herald. 2009-03-22. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=10562875. Retrieved 2009-05-21. 
  4. ^ "Conchord has wings clipped". Fairfax New Zealand. 20 March 2009. http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/2278386/Conchord-has-wings-clipped. Retrieved 2009-05-17. 
  5. ^ "Fatherhood keeps 'Conchords' stars busy". New Zealand Herald. 5 November 2009. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/music/news/article.cfm?c_id=264&objectid=10607282. Retrieved 2009-11-08. 

[edit] External links