Kristen Schaal and Kurt Braunohler | Photo:

What an amazing few weeks it's been for Kurt & Kristen. The Apiary faves and never-not-hot-for-each-other comedy duo opening for Flight of the Conchords at Radio City Music Hall before flying to England to start raising their surrogate comedy baby -- the Penelope: Princess of Pets pilot episode. The Apiary helped a little while ago, so we thought it prudent to check back in with the ginger-haired taller of the two, Kurt, to see what was up. We also asked him what he thought of The Square Mile, which apparently is a nickname for London Town -- fun fact!

Cheerio, Old Boy. Throwin' another shrimp on the barbie?
We tried, but it fucking rained.

Blimey, too bad, innit? How's the pilot going?
The pilot is going really well. We just had our final production meeting, where every little detail is gone over, including if we can get away with Kyle robbing a KFC in broad daylight. We start shooting in five days. Everyone on the crew is super amazing and talented. So it just feels like we're doing things the right way.

Last time we checked, you didn't know whether you'd get much say in casting the pilot.
We did auditions and everything. It was pretty awesome. One thing we learned is that the comedic talent in the U.K. is HUGE. It was overwhelming. We also got to meet a bunch of comedians whose work we respect, so that was worth it in and of itself.

And your producer is , who is quite famous in the British comedy scene. How has it been working with him?
Spencer has been amazing. He was the producer for for the second and third series, as well as a bunch of other really great comedy series that are not as well-known in the states. He seems to know everybody, and everybody seems to like him. He's not only funny, but also a really good producer. We lucked out that he wanted to work with us. But Kristen wants him to quit smoking. Because she wants him to live forever.

You've also cast Daniel Kitson and Isy Suttie to do some of the animal voices. Can you tell us which animals?
Daniel is an Alley Rat and Isy Suttie is a dog. Both of them are amazingly hilarious.

And we're stoked Brett Gelman is reprising the role of Ruby. Is he in London with you?
Actually Brett is in LA. He just did all his voiceover work from there. He added so many amazing lines, as he always does. We should just give Ruby's part to him and have him write it.

Have you and Kristen been able to hang out British-style in London?
Kristen and I have taken to having after-work pints, which feels very British. But mostly we've been staying in and writing. Two weekends ago we had a little picnic in and then hung out on a friend's house barge on the Thames. I went swimming.

That sounds pretty awesome. Name three more awesome things about London, but also three shitty things.
Three awesome things: Seeing Banksy's pieces all over the place, the parks are amazingly beautiful and seemingly everywhere and riding your bike along the canals.
Three shitty things: Nobody eats turkey sandwiches here, everything closes at 11 pm, so if you don't have your drinks in the early evening, you get kicked out of everywhere you go and the weather. But we've been pretty lucky since we got here. It's been pretty sunny.

Speaking of food, what's the most recent British food or food-type product you've eaten? Anything you've become particularly fond of?
We just tried today. That's a weird concept. Its like the British didn't get enough yeast in their beer at night, they needed to find out how to get some in the morning. The chocolate and chips (crisps) are particularly good.

But you will be back because Kurt & Kristen are in SketchFestNYC. Do you worry you'll come back with English accents?
Kristen keeps giving me shit for ending my questions with an upwards inflection. But I've recently caught her doing it, too. It's hard not to do it. But there is NO way we're coming back with that. That's fucking annoying.

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