We are The Lonely Island - our new movie, Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping” opens this Friday - Ask Us Anything!

Hey guys! How does it feel knowing your "Everything is Awesome!" song has been throughly engrained in every parents' head?

Akiva: Oh I'm a total Lego fiend.

Andy: It feels great.

Akiva: Yeah, that's the goal.

Andy: You're welcome parents. From us, and Tegan and Sara. We're speaking on their behalf.

Why is it called the lonely island? You don't live on an island.

Andy: First off, u/amnotjelly, wonderful name.

Akiva: We consider all of North America to be an island.

Jorma: And I have always considered our world, Earth, to be an island. But that's just me.

Akiva: He only got to second grade, I think.

Hey Andy, Jorma, and Akiva! I'm a huge fan of your work and am so pumped for Popstar.

1) I was wondering if there would be a possible continuation in the Andy/Justin Timberlake digital short series in the future?

2) What would you recommend to upcoming aspiring comedians?

Andy: First off, thanks! Second, no immediate plans, but we are always buds with Justin, and who knows? Next time he hosts, he might ask us to do it again. And then, the advice we always give to anyone is, if you want to make comedy or any other kind of film, or TV, or whatever you're interested in, the best advice we can give is to just start doing it, and don't wait to have people give you permission to do it, or wait for huge budgets, or huge crews. You can shoot on your phone now, and edit on your laptop, and start getting whatever is your style is, going. And that seems to work really well for people.

Akiva: What a nice concise thoughtful answer, Andy.

Andy: Thanks Akiva.

Jorma: I liked it too.

I’m a huge fan of Andy’s appearances on the Comedy bang Bang podcast. Is there any chance we’ll see you or even all of Lonely Island on there any time soon?

Andy: This Friday on the premiere episode on this season, we are the guests, the three of us. We're on it, and then I was on the podcast again, and I don't know when that is gonna be up.

Jorma: So the answer is yes.

Andy: And let's just say there will be mention of the Hollywood song.

Hi! I love you all very much! I have two questions. 1) What was the biggest difference from filming the movie compared to Digital Shorts? 2) Any plans on coming to Boston, MA soon? I would love to meet you guys!

Akiva: This is not to be confused with Jesse McCartney, the teen sensation. I just wanted to let, I knew where Jorma’s mind was going, so I wanted to just--

Jorma: My second grade education was racing.

Akiva: Right to Jesse McCartney.

Jorma: Yeah, big fan.

Akiva: But this is u/jessmccarthy.

Jorma: Okay, I'm fine with that too. I'm also a fan of u/jessmccarthy

Akiva: Next Question.

Andy: What is the difference between shooting the movie versus digital short?

Jorma: Longer...

Akiva: Main thing is that is was longer...

Jorma: A bunch longer.

Akiva: And you can curse.

Jorma: Yeah, that was a big plus.

Akiva: But on the actual, practical side of shooting it, there was a bigger crew and it made it more exciting to attempt larger things. Could you back me up as a co-director on this?

Jorma: I...would normally back you, Akiva, on that, yes.

Akiva: And Andy, as an actor, was it different for you when we were shooting? Or was it the same?

Andy: The scale was definitely bigger, we rented out the forum, in Los Angeles, to shoot 11 days of concert scenes. Uh, how many cameras did we did we have?

Akiva: Uh, five?

Andy: I think it was even more.

Akiva: Well during the concert we had...no five, it was still five.

Andy: Well, anyway, 5 cameras is a lot of cameras, and we had a ton of background actors filling in the stadium and huge dance numbers and...

Akiva: And were me and Jorma different?

Jorma: Like how did we act toward you?

Akiva: When we were like, "Woah, these are movie directors, I better...listen to what they have to say."

Andy: No, you guys were pretty much the same.

Jorma: We had more footage too. We had about 450 hours of footage, which is a lot.

Akiva: The edit was very different. Next question!

Jorma: B town that's what we call it, we also call Berkeley B-town, but we'd love to go to B town.

Akiva: Beantown.

Andy: we have no immediate plans to go to Boston.

Akiva: Aw, thanks dad.

What's up with Jorm's butt?

Jorma: Somebody finally read the bio.

Andy: Guys, I told you not to ask about that.

Jorma: It's less toned now.

Akiva: Are you happy you got it then recorded and locked in ice on that thing because now there's a record of what was happening at that time in your life on your butt.

Jorma: First of all, Akiva, thank you for that question and the answer is yes. Yeah, that's what's up with my butt.

Andy: Use it or lose it.

Akiva: Would you describe yourself as angry or even mad that someone asked about your butt? And follow up question, if the answer is yes, would you say you're as mad as a hatter?

Jorma: Kivs, I want to thank you again for asking such poignant questions. I'm going to tell you right off the bat - yes, I am very angry. Two, angry as a hatter - two to three hatters.

Andy: We always say Jorm is an angry hatter.

Akiva: Well, he loves having tea parties and it's always his unbirthday.

Hi guys, thanks so much for doing this! My question is what's been the hardest part of your career?

Andy: He's the 456th NeoBaba. It was a long day that day: NeoBaba1, NeoBaba2, NeoBaba3, all taken. 456 was the magic number.

Akiva: Can you imagine how happy he was the moment it happened?

"YEEEAAAASSS"

Andy: Oh yea, it's up to 2,000 at this point.

Jorma: 456, it's round number. It's a good round number.

Akiva: Ahhh, I already forgot the question.

Andy: What's the hardest part of your career?

Jorma: THANKS DAD.

Andy: I'm happy to be dad if that means not immediately forgetting what we're doing.

Akiva: Uhhh...

Jorma: Hmmmm

Andy: Probably overcoming Jorm's ugliness. Having to travel around with him and have people recoil in terror every time they see his ugly face and his ugly butt.

Jorma: Ok, because this is being typed out, you can't hear just how sarcastic Andy's being. We're all laughing in here. There's like 15 people in this room and everyone is laughing so hard because they know that I'm very handsome. And you don't need to overcome anything. It's like more of a blessing.

Andy: Because you have a great personality.

Jorma: Yeah, yeah, yeah. That.

Akiva: You have something stuck in your teeth.

Jorma: I still look good, though.

Akiva: Make sure we get that verbatim.

Jorma: No, strike that part.

Andy: Jorm, while arguing his own handsomeness, has food in his teeth.

Akiva: He's got something green, but that's just because he always eats his vegetables. That's something I will say on the record about Jorm.

Jorma: Ok, travel. We travel a lot.

Akiva: I really don't remember the question at this point.

Andy: What's the hardest part of your career? Second time I've told you.

Akiva: Some people in the group are forgetful and they don't pay attention to anything and that's really annoying. Like they'll be at a big important interview thing and they'll just be flakin' off, wisenheiming all over the place.

Andy: I love that you're the one who reminded us that we needed to make our answers concise.

Akiva: But we clarified we got the mod squad over here to keep it tight for us.

Andy: You have full-faith in the brain trust.

Akiva: Yeah, look at them. They're bespeckled, just like us. They know what they're doing.

Jorma: I'm just trying to get this stuff out of my teeth. That's what I'm doing.

OMG IM ON TIME FOR ONCE.

Okay I won't ruin this opportunity.

Where did the band name The Lonely Island come from?

Killed it.

Akiva: Killed it.

Andy: He likes the name.

Jorma: No, he liked that he killed it that he got here in time to ask the question.

Akiva: Ohhh that's correct. He said, "Omg can't believe I made it. BOOM. Killed it. That's my question.”

Andy: Asking the most normal question...

Akiva: ...we've been asked the most amount of times.

Jorma: Did destroy it.

Akiva: I even have a suspicion that this person knows the answer already and was just trying to think of a question to ask us.

Jorma: The quick answer is that it is the name of the apartment that we all lived in when we first moved to LA.

Andy: We named it.

Jorma: It was on a sea of traffic. On Olympic Boulevard in Los Angeles. It was basically like a six lane highway and so, it was an island on a sea of traffic.

Andy: That's good.

Jorma: But you killed it. With your question.

Akiva: For sure.

If you guys could have one superpower, what would it be? (Also you guys are my comedy inspiration and I think Incredibad is one of the most genius albums ever made.)

Akiva: This is so good. It'd be like laser eyes and X-ray eyes I guess? And like super, I mean you probably wouldn't even need any because I could do so much great stuff, I'm so strong and cool already.

Jorma: Yeah but you'd definitely want X-ray vision so you could like...

Akiva: Check out girls.

Jorma: Peep on girls. You wouldn't even need to, because you'd have so many girlfriends.

Akiva: Or like the ability to drink like a hundred shots of booze.

Andy: I think it would be Steve related.

Akiva: Like the ability to kill Steve.

Hey guys, I'm at Popeyes and I'm debating what flavor chicken to get. It would be awesome if I could say the lonely island chose my order.

So, spicy or mild?

Andy: Spicy

Jorma: Spicy.

Akiva: Also, you should get an order of those weird prawn, spot prawn...like little mini-lobsters that I always see in the window?

Jorma: Yes, now that we're ordering for you, you have to get them.

Akiva: I don't know if you eat them, but I would order those as well.

Andy: The little Popeye's crawdads?

Akiva: Crawdads!

Jorma: That's the one and also get a number 4. I don't know what it is, but you have to get it now.

Akiva: Post a picture on Reddit!

What was you're favorite thing about making a movie and being on set?

Andy: The food.

Jorma: Oh, craft service. It was so good. It was by a guy named Chance of a Lifetime.

Akiva: That really was his name. Chance of a Lifetime.

Andy: The food was good during the shoot.

Akiva: Big shout-out to Chance of a Lifetime.

Jorma: What else was good? The camaraderie, ya knowhatimean?

Akiva: It’s a dream come true: three childhood friends get to grow up and make a movie.

Jorma: I mean, when does that happen? Never. Except for like Seth and Evan. They get to do it.

If you were all stuck on a deserted island together, who would be the one remaining survivor rescued a year later?

Jorma: Akiva.

Andy: Akiva, yeah. We've actually been asked this before and we say Akiva because he's the most crafty.

Jorma: He would develop some sort of way to trap water.

Andy: He would definitely filter water and learn how to make a fire.

Akiva: And I wouldn't share it.

Andy: He would make good weapons with which to kill us and then eat us.

Jorma: He would probably die of skin cancer the quickest though.

Andy: That's true.

Jorma: Because he's the most pale.

Akiva: Huh, yeah.

Jorma: So, there are plusses and minuses to it.

Akiva: Yeah, so it's a really interesting question with a lot of folds to the answer.

Are we ever going to get a song featuring Weird Al? Or a song of his featuring you guys?

Jorma: He's the doctor of taints though, right?

Akiva: "Is my name great? Or super great?" Thank you!

Andy: I hope so.

Jorma: That is a great question.

Akiva: I hope!

Andy: Super good question, we should definitely do that.

Akiva: We love him.

Andy: Definitely thought about it before.

Akiva: Circling back to the first question, he's on Comedy Bang Bang this season. So you can see us together on screen this Friday.

Andy: Right, yes.

Akiva: If you turn to IFC at whatever time it airs.

Andy: Yes, but also along those lines, we've become friendly with him, which for us is the craziest childhood dream come true.

Jorma: He is the best.

Akiva: And if you keep your eyes really peeled and really know what he looks like, you might see him for a split second in out movie.

Andy: Oh yeah! What's the name of the movie again?

Akiva: It's called Pop Stars: Never Stop

Andy: Yeah, it's June 3rd.

Akiva: Seamless, seamless transition. But, while you're waiting for it to come out, why not see another movie with a guy who is mad as a hatter, Alice in Wonderland.

What are some of your favorite concerts that you've been to?

Jorma: Ok, first of all, sorry about last night, u/oklahomastudent.

Akiva: He's referring to the Warriors game.

Andy: Sorry, not sorry.

I had wonderful experiences seeing The Roots in concert, many times. The Farside was a wonderful concert. The Strokes were a great concert. I saw The Pixies reunion concert. Radiohead was one of the best concerts I've ever seen.

Jorma: Wolf Parade.

Andy: Wolf Parade, yeah in Vancouver.

Jorma: When we were shooting "Hot Rod", me and Andy went to go see it. We had a super early call time, but we powered through.

Andy: It was right after the Apologies to the Queen Mary album came out.

Jorma: It was such a good concert.

Andy: We were so drunk.

Akiva: We went to the Jay-Z Madison Square Garden 9/11 concert.

Andy: Yea, the big FUSE show. So many people came out and joined him.

I think, obviously I'm biased, but the best show I've ever been to was my wife, Joanna Newsom, at Disney Hall in LA with a full orchestra. That was fucking incredible.

Akiva: Ehh, she's pretty good.

Jorma: What a sweet answer.

Andy: Truly, regardless of if I had ever met her, that was the best show I've ever been to.

Thoughts on Frisbee the dog?

Andy: That’s Seth’s dog. Seth Meyers’ dog, and I’ve very publically said I think it’s a really ugly rat.

Jorma: Why are you so mean about that? Besides the fact that it’s true.

Andy: Seth and his wife act like the dog is super cute, and that everyone should love the dog.

Akiva: It’s like their other child!

Andy: Yeah, I know, but it’s ugly.

Akiva: Sometimes you don’t have to tell the truth to everybody just...right away.

Andy: But he goes on television every night and rams it down America’s throat, like, “Look how cute this rat is.” And, by the way, I don’t even dislike rats. I kinda prefer rats to Frisbee.

Akiva: Wow.

Andy: I would say Frisbee is basically more like a pile of feces than an actual mammal.

Jorma: Ew. C’mon.

Akiva: I was just over at their house. Saw Frisbee. Seemed like a totally nice little dude.

Andy: It’s really context. It’s like when somebody tells you something is really amazing before you see it, or get to like it on your own terms.

Akiva: If he had said, “Hey, have you seen my shitty little dog?”

Andy: I’d be like, “Oh, your dog’s not so bad.”

Akiva: Yeah, I get it. He built it up too much for you.

Andy: Instead he was like, “Get ready for the best dog…”

Akiva: “...in the raspberry sound.”

Andy: And it was just a little hot dog sandwich.

Akiva: A hot dog sandwich, which does exist. A hot dog sandwich is fine because it’s not a hot dog anymore.

Andy: Which is to say it’s against god. Frisbee is against god, as is a hot dog sandwich.

Jorma, why does my phone want to keep changing your name to Norma?

Andy, same question.

Akiva, I love you.

Akiva: Why does it keep changing Andy's name to Norma?

Andy: No...why does it...he just wanted to...

Akiva: It could be so much worse.

Andy: Why I think their phone is changing Jorma's name to Norma also.

Akiva: Oh, got it. It doesn't also change your name to Norma. That would be weird.

Andy: Give your answer, and then I'll give mine.

Jorma: It's the closest there is in the United States, in the English language, I guess.

Akiva: Got it, so if they just would switch their phone to Finnish instead of English, then they'd be fine.

Jorma: Yeah, and, fun fact, in Finland my name is kind of insulting. It means, you’re a dick. "Don't be such a jorma". That's genuinely true. And it was a very sad day when I found that out. I was like, oh man, rats. And the first thing that I looked up was what the population of Finland was, and I was like, "Oh, it's only 16 million people that know that."

Akiva: Well why would it be a name? When did it become a name then? So it's not a name there?

Jorma: No it's like, I think it's the way that like Richard has become Dick, you know what I mean? It's a names deal, but like it now means, "Oh, don't be such a jorma."

Akiva: Got it, got it. It's kinda like a Melvin here. Like, don't be such a Melvin. That's a famous thing that everyone always says. And then Andy, same question?

Andy: I think it's because the name Jorma, much like Frisbee, is against god. And the phone knows that.

Akiva: And then for me I'll just be like, "Love you too!"

Who are each of your favorite rappers??

Jorma: Of all time? Whew, well let's give all-time and then right now. Kendrick would be my favorite dude now.

Akiva: Let's name people that we grew up listening to, that's easier.

Jorma: And then Lord Finesse is probably...

Akiva: Your Numero Uno? That's pretty good.

Jorma: I'm just trying to impress people with my knowledge of deep hip hop.

Akiva: I'll go with the Fat Boyz, Rakim, and Aaron Carter. Pretty generic answer, I know.

Jorma: It's good though.

Andy: I'll go a little less down the middle. I'll say J-Ro from Alkaholiks, Starang Wondah from Originoo Gunn Clappaz; love his verses, Hurricane Starang. Starang Wondah, no relation to Stevie. It's one of his lines. But you know, all of them.

Akiva: Every rapper, is your answer.

Jorma: All the rappers.

Hey guys!

Can you tell me what brand your glasses are? I've been trying to find the brands you guys wear on the internet forever with no luck. (And Andy, not your Warby Parkers)

Andy: Not my Warby Parkers.

Akiva: Oh, you gotta dig deep dude!

Andy: Mine are Sol Moscot; it's a place in New York, in the Village.

Akiva: Mine are Robert Mark I believe, I don't know because I rubbed off the label, because I didn't want people to know. Because they're like, artisan farm-to-table glasses.

Andy: Artisan CVS.

Akiva: Organic. Nothing but organic plastic.

Andy: Gas station. Farm-to-table gas station.

Jorma: I think mine are honestly the guys who left Oliver...people...I can't remember what their name was.

Andy: I thought that was Warby Parker?

Jorma: No, it's different.

When do you plan on stopping?

Akiva: Never.

Jorma: I'm gonna go out on a limb and say never. With a B. So, neber.

Andy: Quick amendment; probably like after the movie comes out. Gonna like stop on a dime and just rest, drink some fine vino, spend time with our loved ones.

Akiva: I think the fine print on the title is kind of implicit. Like, never stop, never stop, except for sometimes for rest, and spending time with your loved ones, and then just keep on going. But you know, take a break, treat yourself right, go to the gym or something.

Andy: Yeah, it's implicit.

Jorma: Read a book.

Hi guys! Greetings from the UK!

What prompted the idea to create this film?

Also, will all three of you be in Kung Fury II now that Jorm has opened the door for you?

Akiva: What prompted us to make this film.

Andy: We wanted to make a movie that utilized the fact that we make comedy comedy songs and our producer, Judd Apatow, had the same idea of doing sort of a pop documentary as the genre. That's very much it. We started writing. And as they say when, “Judd Apatow comes a-knocking, that's when you start a-rocking, and you can put that in quotes.”

Akiva: Ugh..that sucked..

Jorma: Yeah I didn't...first of all, I didn't say it!

Akiva: Yeah, don't blame Jorm!

Jorma: Don't shoot the messenger.

Akiva: He was just saying as they say...what was the other part of it?

Andy: Oh, sure! We just haven't been asked yet but we certainly hope to. Kun Fury I was a gem.

Akiva: But I assume, if we were asked, as a threesome, that there would be three Hitlers.

Andy: I'm sure my relatives would be psyched!

Is a hotdog a sandwich? Also what are your favorite condiments?

Andy: There's been a debate about this going on...raging on. I say no.

Akiva: I'm gonna go yes.

Jorma: Andy says no, because Akiva says yes.

Akiva: Here's the thing; it would definitely be a sandwich if you just break the bun, right? As soon as the bun breaks, now you're in sandwich territory. Would you need to slice the hot dog lengthwise?

Jorma: So if you slice the hot dog lengthwise, then it's a sandwich, and if you don't then it's a hot dog?

Akiva: As soon as it flattens, you mean?

Jorma: Yeah so if it's flattened, if it's been sliced in half and grilled...

Akiva: But the bun, if it's still intact, it's wrapped around it, it's more like a wrap or something. But the moment you pulled the little thing and it breaks along the edge, and you have two pieces of bread...

Jorma: Akiva? A hot dog is not a sandwich, because it's a hot dog. It's its own genre.

Akiva: But, so, like it's a sausage sandwich, is the other thing.

Andy: If you chop up a sausage and put it in a sandwich, that's a sausage sandwich.

Akiva: Well because the definition of a sandwich would be like, an item between two pieces of bread, and a bun is not two pieces of bread; it's just a bun. Unless...

Jorma: It's the presentation though. As soon as you slice it, it no longer becomes a hot dog. It doesn't have the hot dog shape.

Akiva: It becomes a sausage sandwich.

Jorma: Yes.

Akiva: So I guess...no. I guess I changed my answer. We're on the right side of history.

Jorma: So no, a hot dog is a hot dog.

Akiva: Because the moment it changes into a sandwich, it's a sandwich. So it can't be; a hot dog can't be a sandwich. There can be a hot dog sandwich.

Andy: I feel like we just worked through something really good as a group.

Akiva: We probably ended this Reddit meme, because we settled it.

Jorma: Because everyone agrees.

Andy: Dropping the mic.

Is Popstar on a new level?

Andy: Pop Star is definitely on a new level.
We got us a new shovel.
We put all of our work into the movie, into the dirt.
We got the chain with the new bevel.
And hanging on that chain is a Pop Star medallion.

Akiva: Very good. Brought it all around.