Artist

The Lonely Island

The comedy trio of Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, and Andy Samberg is best known for its short videos and musical parodies. The Bay Area-based group began making short films around 2001. Their first "episode," entitled "White Power," followed a stream-of-conscious pattern similar to Mr. Show while referencing teen dramas and pop-art movies. The group built a reputation by making several entries to Channel 101, a short-film contest. These included a meta parody called "The 'Bu" and the TRL-is-really-just-porn critique "Ignition TV Buzz Countdown."

In 2005 the group was invited to write material for the MTV Music Awards. Jimmy Fallon, the host of the show, introduced the group to Saturday Night Live producer Lorne Michaels. Michaels hired the group as writers and Samberg as a cast member. The group has since become known for introducing the acclaimed SNL Digital Shorts, a series of recorded short videos that have become both regular features in the show and Internet successes. The shorts have mostly been musical parodies, including "Lazy Sunday," "Dick In A Box," "Jizz In My Pants," and "I'm On A Boat."

Some of the material from the digital shorts reappeared on the group's 2009 debut album, Incredibad. And since the album's release, several more songs from the album have been made into SNL Digital Shorts, including "Boombox," featuring the Strokes' lead singer Julian Casablancas.  ~Dan Nishimoto

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