Akiva Schaffer
Sketch comedy challenges the audience and explores unconventional ideas; this pushes directors to bring this mindset into feature films.
You will see the term postmodern to describe the comedy of The Lonely Island, the comedy team responsible for this film and the birth of the Saturday Night Live Digital Short, as you read opinions on their newest film, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping. It is a vague term that means comedy that deconstructs the art and is self-aware.
The comedy trio The Lonely Island made their name in the shorts scene, contributing 5-minute pieces to the monthly festival Channel 101 before becoming synonymous with the Saturday Night Live segment Digital Short. Since then, they’ve only become more popular, making the feature film Hot Rod and performing their hit song Everything is Awesome at the Oscars, while member Andy Samberg has become a household name. You may not recognize the other two members, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, but I guarantee that you’ve seen bits that they either wrote, directed, or featured in.
