It's only 10am in America and Kristen Schaal is already brimming with the laughter and squeals characteristic of her Flight Of The Conchords alter ego Mel.
"I usually wake up at dawn and feed the homeless and go for a run so it's pretty late actually," she says cheerfully.
Although Kristen sounds a lot like psycho-stalker Mel, this kind of wit is one of the many differences between the two.
In the HBO comedy, which follows New Zealand musicians Bret and Jemaine in their hopeless quest to find fame in New York, Kristen plays the band's one and only fan.
The first series had her regularly popping up - by coincidence, she would claim - outside their flat to strike up conversations and proffer gifts. Portraying an extreme form of girl groupie syndrome, Mel is often driven to the flat and to their sparsely-populated gigs by her long-suffering husband Doug.
"Having Doug involved was one of the things that attracted me most to doing the character because I thought it grounded her and made it more interesting," Kristen explains.
"James Bobin, the director, was trying to explain to me about how it really happens and how husbands go along with it and they don't treat it as anything serious.
"It's just like, 'Oh she really likes chocolate so we're going to go'. That sort of thing."
Though she plays the role for big laughs, many of her lines are directly taken from things fans said to Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement (who play exaggerated versions of themselves) in real life, after the pair found fame as a comedy band.
"In the second season Mel gives Bret and Jemaine cookies with their faces on them," Kristen giggles.
"That episode went out in the US on Sunday and on Monday I get a MySpace message from one of their fans saying, 'I made those cookies'."
Her mad fan act is in reality a "great thank you" from Bret and Jemaine to their fans, she explains, adding that most recognise her deranged tendencies are an exaggeration.
"I hope that I push the fan character a little bit further than any of them would. I think most of them would be like, 'She's nothing like me... but those were my cookies'," she deadpans.
Baking cookies aside, there is a lot in store for Mel's character in the new series - and Doug, sidelined to comedic effect in the first series, also comes into the foreground.
"Further down the line you see the strain on her marriage with Doug. That's explored in one of the episodes. The final episode is dedicated to their relationship, so it's pretty fun."
Also new for Mel - and for Kristen - is her own musical number.
During the first series, Bret and Jemaine used songs from their comedy act. Sending up all musical genres from rap to ballads, the songs were accompanied by spoof music videos and worked into each episode.
For the second series, the duo have had to come up with some new songs written especially for the series. Not only did this give them more freedom in writing the show, but it means characters such as Mel, the band's friend Dave and their dithering manager Murray have their own songs.
"My song is about Mel's sub-conscience and what the world would be like in her dreams," says Mel.
"It's based on Karen Carpenter's music and one of her videos. It was really fun because the director was really into CGI so he was willing to take any idea and make it happen," she says.
The video sees Mel take off into the skies on a bicycle before being saved from various sticky situations by Bret and Jemaine, and then giving birth to twins who look just like them. So it's strange to hear that she channelled Beyonce for her performance.
"I'm not trained as a singer and I should never be paid money to sing but they were really supportive, and it's a silly song so it was easy. In the studio I just had to pretend I was Beyonce or Mariah Carey and just go for it," she jokes.
Although singing is not her forte, Kristen has plenty of other strings to her bow, including stand-up comedy and writing. It was while working as a stand-up that she met Bret and Jemaine, who were also on the circuit, and she is due to film a pilot for Channel 4 based on Penelope Princess Of Pets - a web series she and her comedy partner Kurt Braunohler created.
In Kristen's words, the show is about "a girl who can talk to animals and they tell her she has to kill a member of government to save the world".
Her decision to play slightly insane characters is, she claims, because there are no other interesting female characters around.
"I like characters that are interesting and weird and deranged and out of the ordinary. I'd rather play a character like that than the love interest with no line but who's sitting there with her tits out," she says.
Adding with a howl of laughter: "But if I could find an angle on that character then I'll do it!"
