The Lonely Island have been making hilarious songs and sketches for years, and they have had a big impact on the landscape of modern comedy. Since ing best Saturday Night Live sketches of all time.
The Lonely Island's recent SNL comeback was a pleasant surprise for fans of the group, but they have had plenty of other big projects since leaving the sketch show. They have directed and starred in two movies, made their own musical Netflix special, and produced the hit romcom Palm Springs which stars Andy Samberg alongside Cristin Milioti. It's unclear what's next for The Lonely Island, but they already have plenty of hilarious sketches and music videos which are worth watching again and again.
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15 Sushi Glory Hole
2024
Saturday Night Live after six years away is just as funny as ever. In some ways, "Sushi Glory Hole" seems like classic The Lonely Island, lampooning corporate culture like "Like A Boss" with some '80s flair like "Dick in a Box". However, Sushi Glory Hole is a little more surreal than The Lonely Island's older songs. While some of their old hits push a normal premise to comedic extremes, there is nothing normal about "Sushi Glory Hole" to begin with. If The Lonely Island have some more surprises in store in the near future, they could get even weirder.
14 Threw It On The Ground
2011
"Threw It On the Ground" shows off The Lonely Island's unique talent for parodying musical genres which barely exist. In this case, "Threw It On the Ground" makes fun of hip-hop with an anti-establishment message that doesn't quite know what it's talking about. The Lonely Island won't let musicians get away with adopting the attitude of a social movement without committing to it. "Threw It On the Ground" isn't just about music though. It's about anyone who rages against some nebulous "system". "Happy birthday to the ground" marks the point when this sketch gleefully careens off the rails.
13 Jizz In My Pants
2009
Many of The Lonely Island's best songs find a lot of joy in the contrast between the music and the lyrics. While "Jizz in My Pants" looks and sounds like a club hit made for dancing, the lyrics are comically pathetic. The video is filled with similar contrasts. The bright lights of the club give way to a contest between Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone to see who can make the funniest face, accompanied by the relentless refrain of the song's title. The whole premise is crass, but some of the best lines in "Jizz In My Pants" are the ordinary throwaway gags, like when Jorma says he'll pay by cheque at the grocery store.
12 Jose & Mark
2019
The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience is a half-hour Netflix special from The Lonely Island about Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire in the 1980s. It is billed as a "visual poem," and this title lends some pomp to what is essentially a visual concept album. The special is best enjoyed as a whole. If there's one standout song which can be enjoyed out of context, it's "Jose and Mark," which introduces the two Bash Brothers. "Jose and Mark" highlights the insecurity and paranoia of the two characters, which they mask behind their celebrity egos.
11 I'm On A Boat
2009
The Lonely Island often do some of their best work when they have a big star to collaborate with, and T-Pain buys into the joke of "I'm On a Boat". The song is a parody of rap music which flaunts obscene wealth, and the fans who sing along despite having no frame of reference. "I'm On a Boat" gives some regular Joes a free boat ride, won in a box of cereal, and they immediately start acting like T-Pain. They seem to believe that merely being on a boat is the ultimate statement of the wealth, so they don't have to talk about anything else throughout the whole song.
10 Boombox
2010
The Strokes frontman Julian Casablancas lends his vocals to "Boombox," and he brings a lot of legitimacy to a ridiculous song. Few singers could make lines like "everyone was wearing fingerless gloves" sound so cool. It's important to the appeal of "Boombox" that Casablancas takes it completely seriously, because the song itself is about the transformative power of music. There are also repeated mentions of boiled goose for no apparent reason. This is the kind of joke that The Lonely Island make in a lot of their songs, where a random distraction is thrown in. It works especially well in Boombox.
9 Finest Girl (Bin Laden Song)
2016
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping was a box office flop, but it's still one of the funniest comedy movies of the last decade, and it has developed a cult following. Popstar stars Andy Samberg as Conner4Real, a talentless musician with an oversized ego, designed as a parody of several different artists. Only a few songs in Popstar hit the heights which The Lonely Island are capable of, but the rest of the movie is funny enough to make up for this. "Finest Girl" is the standout hit, and it shows how The Lonely Island know how to commit to a bit.
8 I Just Had Sex
2010
There are countless rap songs about sex, but very few that talk about it with the childish glee of "I Just Had Sex". Akon is the ideal guest feature for "I Just Had Sex," and he throws his whole heart into it. The music video also has a fun cameo from John McEnroe, as well as Jessica Alba and Blake Lively playing two very disappointed and regretful women. "I Just Had Sex" piles so many punchlines on top of one another that it's easy to miss gems such as "I think she might have been a racist". "I Just Had Sex" is The Lonely Island's most-viewed YouTube video and most-streamed song on Spotify.
7 The Curse
2013
Not all of The Lonely Island's digital shorts for Saturday Night Live have songs, although most of the big hits do. "The Curse" wouldn't work without its musical element, but it's a great sketch that shows how The Lonely Island can get laughs without singing. Jon Hamm is as funny as ever playing a mysterious saxophonist named Sergio. His dedicated performance is so enjoyable that the sketch can telegraph its punch line and still be hilarious. It doesn't take a genius to guess that the baby is going to be none other than Sergio, but Hamm's gyrating hips and glistening sax are still hilarious.
6 Like A Boss
2009
"Like a Boss" features Seth Rogen playing the straight man, but it also has hilarious split-second cameos from Bill Hader and a giant fish. The song is a take down of a certain corporate mentality, which treats business like an extreme sport to mask the quiet tragedy of selling out. Before Andy Samberg's character leaps out the window and into the bizarre, "Like a Boss" has some moments of painful satire, like the abrupt segue from "swallow sadness" to "send some faxes". This is strangely relatable for a sketch which ends with the main character turning into a jet and bombing the Kremlin. "Like a Boss" has such a rapid pace that both jokes are possible.
