The Lonely Island is an American comedy troupe composed of Akiva "Kiv" Schaffer, Jorma "Jorm" Taccone, and David Andrew "Andy" Samberg, best known for their comedic music. Originally from Berkeley, California, the group is currently based in New York City. The group broke out due to their collective work from 2005–2011 on Saturday Night Live. Samberg and Schaffer continue to work at the show, with occasional input from Taccone.
Once on the show, they wrote "Lazy Sunday", a music parody video that became an instant hit on YouTube. Following the success of this digital short, the group produced the Emmy-winning "Dick in a Box", "Jizz in My Pants", "Like a Boss", and the Grammy-nominated "I'm on a Boat", which have subsequently had huge success both on SNL and on the internet, and prompted the release of the 2009 album, Incredibad.
In 2011, the group released their second album, Turtleneck & Chain, which featured songs from such SNL digital shorts as "I Just Had Sex", "The Creep", and "Jack Sparrow".
In August 2007, the group premiered its first feature film, Hot Rod.
Beginning in junior high school, Samberg, Schaffer, and Taccone began creating live comedy skits that expanded to comedic shorts, music parody (both songs and videos), and one full-length television pilot, before being invited to write portions of the 2005 MTV Movie Awards, which Jimmy Fallon hosted.
Impressed with the group's material, he brought the trio to the attention of Lorne Michaels, the producer of Saturday Night Live, who agreed to see them. Performing stand-up comedy in his free time, Samberg fulfilled a lifelong dream by auditioning for the show. He was called back for a second audition a few weeks later and was ultimately invited to be a cast member; Schaffer and Taccone were invited to join the writing staff based on their work in the trio.
Since their arrival, the group has written some popular bits in recent SNL history, most notably, the SNL Digital Shorts (collectively) and MacGruber (Taccone, with John Solomon and cast member Will Forte).
Everyone who has gambled with the marine corps, it's gone well. We figured it couldn't hurt to see how long we could ride it.
Uncertain if Michaels would approve of a wacky pre-recorded skit on the show, the group borrowed a video camera and filmed a faux lettuce commercial starring Samberg and fellow SNL cast member Will Forte. They presented the finished product to Michaels in December 2005, who liked the short and agreed to air it.
It was the first of what would become a regular feature of the program, called Saturday Night Live's Digital Shorts. "Lazy Sunday", the second digital short, enjoyed runaway success in the virtual media, as fans responded with t-shirts and response videos.
Many of these shorts have skyrocketed to internet fame, including "Natalie's Rap" (with Natalie Portman), "Iran So Far" (with Adam Levine), "Jizz in My Pants", "Shy Ronnie" (with Rihanna), and "I'm on a Boat" (with T-Pain), the latter of which was nominated on December 2, 2009, for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 52nd Grammy Awards.
The song "Dick in a Box", which was performed with Justin Timberlake, won the 2007 Creative Arts Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics.
Credited for its production are Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Justin Timberlake, in addition to Katreese Barnes and Asa Taccone for music. Based on 1990s contemporary R&B, such as Keith Sweat, Jodeci, and R. Kelly, the song is about giving gift-wrapped genitalia as a Christmas present to one's girlfriend. Samberg and Timberlake made a sequel to "Dick in a Box" called "Motherlover", which aired on May 9, 2009.
Other recent shorts by the comedy group include "On the Ground" which aired October 2009; "Great Day" aired on May 15, 2010; "Shy Ronnie 2: Ronnie & Clyde" featuring Rihanna aired on October 30, 2010; "I Just Had Sex" featuring Akon, was aired on December 18, 2010; "The Creep" featuring Nicki Minaj and John Waters was released on January 29, 2011; and "Jack Sparrow" featuring Michael Bolton, which was released on May 7, 2011. The sequel to Motherlover, "3-Way (The Golden Rule)," featured Lady Gaga and aired on May 21, 2011.
In the summer of 2010, Taccone quit Saturday Night Live, but has returned to work on a handful of Digital Shorts in the 2010–2011 season.
The comedic influences of the group include SNL forebears such as Adam Sandler, Chris Farley and Mike Myers, as well as luminaries such as Steve Martin, Mel Brooks, the Monty Python troupe and the Marx Brothers.
While the group is most strongly inspired by hip-hop and R&B the lyrics are commonly rooted in self-deprecation as is reflected in a 2011 interview conducted shortly before the release of Turtleneck and Chain. The Lonely Island's debut Incredibad was produced with the goal in mind to make an impact on listeners just as They're All Gonna Laugh At You (1993), a musical comedy album by Adam Sandler, which heavily influenced Samberg. Songs by The Lonely Island rarely exceed three minutes, as brevity is very important to the troupe, who believe that is "about as much as the audience can stand."
