The Lonely Island: They're Ka-Blamo!

How three childhood friends hit the big-time thanks to a camcorder and a modem

by Anthony Rando

 The first time I met The Dudes, it was through an e-mail from a friend, a link to their music video, "Jizz in My Pants." I laughed. I nearly cried. I jizzed in my pants. After that, I went on a mission. And by mission, I mean I ignored all other work and the ringing phone to watch just about everything they've ever made. To my surprise, I realized that I'd actually met The Dudes before.

You've probably seen them. You've probably laughed at their often-sophomoric, often-shirtless humor. If you've spent any amount of time watching videos on the internet, you've probably heard one of their songs -- Jizz in My Pants or Ka-Blamo! or maybe Bing Bong Bros. It probably stuck in your head, as most of their mantra-like lyrics will. But who, exactly, are The Dudes?







Their success story reads like a movie pitch: three high school friends go their separate ways for college, then reconvene in their hometown before moving together to New York City to form a comedy troupe, The Lonely Island. Almost overnight, they hit it big together, all for one and one for all.

Andy Samberg is the most recognizable face of the group, having been a Saturday Night Live player since 2005. But few people know that the other two Islanders, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer, joined SNL's ranks as writers the same year.

Their equation for comedy is simple enough: silly antics, melodramatic acting, and over-the-top physical humor. They write characters that don't seem to interact much with the real world, which creates hilarity when they do. All of this, usually peppered with vulgarities at just the right moments, is just enough to make it shockingly funny.

Their first big-time project was a sitcom pilot titled The Lonely Island, the first of three (all of which were summarily rejected, mostly due to their R-rated content). The pilot episode of the low-budget comedy, White Power, saw the Dudes get addicted to tooth-whitener, jonesin' for their next fix like heroine junkies. They later created a second episode that featured Brooke Shields, who - through her Hollywood charm - convinces the guys to perform fellatio on each other. I can't imagine why this stuff wasn't picked up.



For years The Dudes have made sketch after sketch, adding to their growing library of web hits. Some of their shorter videos include The Backseatsman, about a taxi driver who can't get rid of the old man in the back who keeps preventing him from picking up fares, and "The Bing Bong Brothers," a parody of a whispering rap song. These videos led to the eventual positions on SNL, and they continued their online work simultaneously, posting their videos to YouTube and their own site, www.thelonelyisland.com.



The 'Bu was a TLI-produced web-series created for the online Channel 101, a monthly short competition in which viewers vote on which series stays on, and who gets the cut. The 'Bu (a spoof of The OC) managed 11 episodes total, the second-longest running series in Channel 101 history, and featured Sarah Chalke of Scrubs fame. The Dudes have recruited several famed actors to star in their web videos, including Kal Penn, Jack Black, Brooke Shields, Superman Brandon Routh, and Justin Timberlake (The Lonely Island, in my opinion, is personally accountable for making Justin Timberlake cool again. If he ever was in the first place.).

The trio is also responsible for over 30 of the SNL Digital Shorts, a relatively new format for the legendary sketch series. They've created some of the most memorable Saturday Night Live moments since the show's glory days, with their videos skyrocketing to internet infamy beyond the show. Their first success was Lazy Sunday, in which Samberg and fellow cast-member Chris Parnell rap about their journey to see the Chronicles of Narnia movie. The Digital Short Dick in a Box, with Justin Timberlake, earned a Creative Arts Emmy in 2007, with The Dudes credited for its production. And then there's my personal favorite, a three-part series called LaserCats, in which a nuclear war results in cats being able to shoot lasers from their mouths… much to the chagrin of producer Lorne Michaels.





In 2005, they got another chance at primetime, creating a sketch comedy pilot for FOX called Awesometown, a kind of "greatest hits" compilation of sketches old and new. Despite getting a pass by the network, the pilot was not in vain – it became another big hit on the internet, earning them an even bigger fan base.



The latest venture for The Lonely Island involves stepping out of the computer and into the iPod-- their album, Incredibad, hits stores (and iTunes) on February 10th. In anticipation of their big "drop," their first single, Jizz in My Pants, became the most popular YouTube video in December 2008. I've been saying for a couple of years now that Samberg has the presence of early Sandler -- it remains to be seen if their album can stand up to the Sandler/Farley/Spade collaborations Stan and Judy's Kid or What the Hell Happened to Me?. One thing is certain, though -- to make it big with your childhood friends through short, homemade videos using little more than the internet… well, that's ka-blamo.

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