Andy Samberg (b. 1978)

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Biography

Andy Samberg is an American actor, comedian, rapper, writer and producer. He is a member of the comedy music group the Lonely Island, along with childhood friends Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone. Samberg was also a cast member and writer for the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2005 to 2012, where he and his fellow group members are credited with popularizing the SNL Digital Shorts.

In Their Own Words (2)

You have Mel Brooks and your Marx Brothers and your Larry David. So it's affected it enormously and really not at all. I don't think I've ever done anything comedically where the joke of it had to do with Judaism and Jewishness, but there's definitely a proud tradition of comedy in the Jews.

Quoted in Monica Kim, "Andy Samberg on SNL, his hair and other things not in a box," NorthbyNorthwestern.com (April 16, 2008). , 2008

We were not aware of YouTube until "Lazy Sunday." We’d had our own website with streaming capabilities. After "Lazy Sunday," we were like, "Why are we paying for bandwidth and shit?"

Timeline

The story of Andy Samberg, told in moments.

1978 Birth

Born David Samberg in Berkeley, California. Met future comedy partners Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone in junior high school. The three formed The Lonely Island.

Was meeting your comedy partners in junior high the luckiest break of your career? Is The Lonely Island a comedy group or a way of thinking?

2005 Event

Joined Saturday Night Live as a cast member and writer. "Lazy Sunday," a rap about going to see Chronicles of Narnia, got 5 million views in its first week on YouTube. NBC asked YouTube to take it down.

Did NBC asking YouTube to take down 'Lazy Sunday' teach you anything about the industry? Was 5 million views in a week proof that digital comedy had arrived?

2013 Event

Cast as Jake Peralta in Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The comedy ran for eight seasons. When Fox cancelled it after five, NBC picked it up within a day after a fan campaign.

Was Fox cancelling Brooklyn Nine-Nine the best thing that happened to the show? Did the fan campaign that saved it surprise you?

2015 Event

Hosted the 67th Primetime Emmy Awards. At 36, he was one of the youngest hosts in the ceremony's history.

Is hosting the Emmys at 36 more terrifying than SNL live sketches? Was the hosting gig comedy or ceremony?

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