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<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   CONTACT THE HERALD Melanie Munk, Features Editor munk@heraldnet.com   Published: Friday, August 3, 2007 The 'Lazy Sunday' gang talks about transition to big screen in 'Hot Rod' By Robert Horton, Herald Movie Critic The three comic teammates behind the new movie "Hot Rod" came to the area recently on a publicity tour, and I talked with them about their hyper-silly, absurdist style of comedy. New "Saturday Night Live" star Andy Samberg plays a dim-witted, self-styled stuntman; he co-wrote the film with his partners from the Lonely Island comedy group, Jorma Taccone (who co-stars) and Akiva Schaffer (who directed). The three had an unusual path to TV and movie success; their self-made video shorts, launched by YouTube, brought them prominence. Their "SNL" short "Lazy Sunday" became one of the most talked-about sketches in recent comedy history. The three showed their chemistry by frequently finishing each other's sentences. Question: Some of the funniest things in the movie have a non sequitur quality - like the scene that begins with somebody slapping palms - Andy Samberg: Yeah, Rico (Danny R. McBride) is just high-fiving Kevin (Taccone) and Dave (Bill Hader) over and over again. For no reason. Jorma Taccone: ... and somehow that kind of makes sense with their lives, it feels so lonesome in this little town where these guys have nothing to do, this is what they would do. Akiva Schaffer: Like he woke up that day and thought, "Hey, I figured out how to do something." Samberg: And Rico is the master of that thing. Q: How can you tell when something like that is working? Schaffer: The "cool beans" scene [a sequence that consists of two actors repeating the words "cool beans" to each other] - everybody agreed it was really funny, but I was the most skeptical, 'cause I thought it was so out there, maybe it would lose people. I'm sure it does, for a few people. I was very afraid. And the audience, the first time we tried it out, informed me very clearly that they enjoyed it. Taccone: I was totally terrified that people were not going to enjoy that at all. Samberg: The first time we screened it, we were all holding hands going like, "Oooh, here we go, brace yourself for the boos." Taccone: By the way, there's probably a half an hour of footage of the [cool beans] thing. Q: That's a DVD extra waiting to happen. Samberg: An extra DVD of me doing "cool beans" over and over... Schaffer: I don't know, you might get enough of it just in the normal movie. Q: It sounds like you guys had a surprising amount of control on this movie. The history of "Saturday Night Live" spin-offs has a lot of bad films because the people in charge didn't seem to know what to do with the star. Taccone: We've gotten lucky enough that if this fails, it will be completely our fault. Schaffer: There's not a lot of places to put the blame. A lot of the credit for us getting that kind of freedom goes to Lorne [Michaels, longtime "SNL" producer], who was like, "No, no, just let them do their thing." Q: Was that because you guys had made short films already? Taccone: I think partly it was due to the phenomenon aspect of the way the short films really took off [on the Internet] for some reason, which was honestly surprising to us, too. Samberg: I don't know if I would use the word "phenomenon." That might sound a little lofty... Schaffer: Some of the "interest" in "Lazy Sunday" - Samberg: It generated interest in the press. People knew we were there, and how closely linked "Lazy Sunday" was with the rise of "YouTube," and it was good timing, really. Q: With the physical comedy, a lot of the humor comes from character - the blissful way Andy's character believes absolutely that he's going to do one thing and then exactly the opposite happens. Samberg: "Nave optimism" is the phrase we've been using. Q: Are you guys preparing another movie? Schaffer: No, not right now. We still work at "Saturday Night Live," and the season's gonna start. It's actually very nice to know that no matter what, we have a job to go back to. Samberg: Well ... not "no matter what." Schaffer: Absolutely not, you never know. Q: With the damage from using the word "phenomenon" - Taccone: Andy hates that word (they all laugh). I didn't mean in that way, like it's awesome, although it does imply the word "awesome" in it, but - Schaffer: We know what you meant. Taccone: - a surprising reaction from people. Samberg: Now this whole thing's gonna be about how we're self-conscious about it. Taccone: We're self-deprecating guys, right? Samberg: Yeah, we're self-deprecating guys who believe in our own "phenomenon," apparently. "Oh man, we're such nerds that created a huge phenomenon that changed the world." Schaffer: "Yeah, I was so surprised when we blew everybody's minds open. It was so average to us, but everybody else's head exploded when they saw it." Samberg: "Yeah, but I'm super-self-deprecating." Q: I'm sure it will read well on the page. Samberg: Sarcasm always comes across well. (pause) That quote will also seem incredibly arrogant. Associated Press Jorma Taccone (left), Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer pose at the premiere of "Hot Rod" July 26 in Los Angeles.

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