The Lonely Island and Seth Meyers Podcast

Episode: “Just 2 Guyz”
Date: February 17, 2026
Hosts: Akiva Schaffer (Keev), Jorma Taccone (Yorm), Andy Samberg (guest via voice memo), Seth Meyers (partial), Liz (guest/spouse)
Theme: Deep dive into the making, meaning, and legacy of the “Just 2 Guyz” Lonely Island digital short.

Episode Overview

This episode sees Akiva ("Keev") and Jorma ("Yorm") (with Andy and Seth dropping in for segments) take an in-depth retrospective look at “Just 2 Guyz,” one of their earliest, most awkward, and beloved pre-SNL digital shorts. They reminisce about its DIY production, the comedic philosophy behind its painfully self-conscious characters, viewer reactions over the years, and why it endures as a Lonely Island fan-favorite. The episode includes playful banter, technical insights, anecdotes from the era, discussion of creative choices (and accidents), Q&As from fans, and contributions from their spouses and friends.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

“Just 2 Guyz” Origins and Vibe

• Nostalgia for Early Lonely Island:

  • “Just 2 Guyz” was first created purely for fun in 2004, before SNL, when digital shorts being put online was still novel.
  • The characters channel memories of awkward early adolescence. Akiva sums it up:
    “If I had acted like the just two guys guys, it would have been a more honest representation…I was always at least self-aware enough to try to put on a good face, put on a facade.” (03:17)

• Embodiment of Adolescent Anxiety:

  • Both recall how the characters’ cringey bravado and forced coolness mirrored their own feelings at 11–13.
  • Jorma: “These were like, it feels like the manifestation of like how you felt when you talked to someone you liked. That’s like how I felt at 11 and 12.” (03:43)

• DIY, Low-Stress Process:

  • Akiva: “At worst we’ll just put it on YouTube. It doesn’t have to be on the album. It certainly will never be on SNL because we knew they didn’t want them…never stressful. Which is really nice.” (06:29)

• Their Crew and Filming Style:

  • The videos were shot by three people total (Keev, Yorm, and often friend Jonah Goldstein, sometimes Chester).
  • Most locations: their own apartment, a friend’s pool, nearby street corners.

Creating the Characters and Performance Technique

• Getting Awkwardness ‘Just Right’:

  • “It’s just this little lane they have to be in. It’s delightful, but it was always delightful and never stressful…they’re not that awkward, but they’re not that cool.” (06:29)
  • “Played with our pockets because these guys are so terrified to be on, fidgety…It took us a while always to, like, get into character, be like, is that awkward enough?” (05:29)

• Intentionally ‘Off’ Music & Editing:

  • Jorma composed all the beats, usually riffing on the same file, swapping out instruments.
  • Akiva: “We would go offbeat, and then it would sound intentionally offbeat, and then we would go on beat and it would start to sound slightly too good…just a sweet spot these guys have to live in that is shockingly slightly more difficult than you would think for how bad they sound.” (06:00)

• ‘Madlibbing’ Their Own Work:

  • Each sequel followed a formula to keep the energy identical—music stays same tempo, with minor melody or style tweaks.

Production Anecdotes

• Set Design:

  • Their apartment was “frat furniture, essentially”—with milk crates and donated couches.
  • Balloons were water balloons, repurposed in different shots for anti-continuity.
  • Decoration was intentionally shoddy and inconsistent: “early Lonely Island videos…point of pride to have shit be fucked up looking.” (14:06)

• Location Serendipity:

  • Many shots occurred within 100 feet of their house, except a pool scene at a friend’s place.
  • Graduation scene filmed spontaneously when they spotted an empty setup from their window.

• Costumes & Era Details:

  • Early outfits were their real clothes—later videos saw sarcastic t-shirt shopping at Kmart.
  • “Our outfits are decidedly, like, 90s. Wearing big Patagonia style fleeces…in 2004, of course, stuff you’d have worn in the 90s seemed out of fashion to us.” (35:38)

Reception, Legacy, and Fan Engagement

• YouTube’s Role in Their Rise:

  • “Seeing ‘20 years ago’ is wild on YouTube because YouTube barely existed. When we made ‘just two guys,’ it didn’t exist because it was 2004.” (09:07)
  • The video went from their website to YouTube after Lazy Sunday blew up.

• Audience Confusion vs. Artist Intent:

  • Many viewers couldn’t believe “polished” Lonely Island would intentionally make something so “bad.”
  • “There’s a type of fan that couldn’t wrap their heads around choosing to look bad. They just assumed if you look bad, it was an accident, no matter what.” (16:32)

• Inside Jokes & Notable Comments:

  • Top YouTube comments boggle over the video’s age and joke, “We still don’t know who the hell invited Steve.”
  • The phrase “Party over here!” became the name of their production company.

Recurring Characters and Spouses’ Insights

• Andy as ‘Steve the Cunt’:

  • Voiced-in Andy Samberg: “Not every day you get gifted a cherry roll like Steve the Cunt, but you know, sometimes in life the cards just fall in your favor.” (48:56)
  • Both Jorma’s and Akiva’s wives regard these as their favorite Lonely Island characters.

• Liz’s Involvement:

  • Liz (Akiva’s wife) appears to discuss watching and helping film the video in its original shoot:
    “It reminded me of, like, what I did growing up… just reminded me of me and my best friends, like, having a camera and being like. Like, let’s shoot something.” (43:39)

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the Creative Approach:

  • “It feels like the manifestation of like how you felt when you talked to someone you liked… Just You Guys was basically like, yes. How I felt inside when thinking about trying to do something cool when I Felt very, very uncool inside.”
    — Jorma, [03:43]

• On Intentionally Low-Quality Elements:

  • “There’s just a sweet spot these guys have to live in that is shockingly, slightly more difficult than you would think for how bad they sound.”
    — Akiva, [06:00]

• On Audience Reaction to Aesthetic Choices:

  • “There’s a type of fan that couldn’t wrap their heads around choosing to look bad. They just assumed if you look bad, it was an accident.”
    — Akiva, [16:32]

• Andy on the Role of ‘Steve the Cunt’:

  • “Not every day you get gifted a cherry roll like Steve the Cunt… In a lot of ways it is the thing that brought me the most joy in all of my entire life.”
    — Andy Samberg, [48:56]

• Liz on Witnessing the Shoot:

  • “It reminded me of, like, what I did growing up… it was really joyful… just reminded me of me and my best friends, like, having a camera and being like…let’s shoot something.”
    — Liz, [43:39]

• Akiva on the Crew:

  • “These videos were shot the way they look, which is that there are three people total. Me, Yorm and one other person mostly.”
    — Akiva, [07:47]

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Discussing Channeling Adolescent Awkwardness: [02:32]–[04:18]
• Performance Technique and Getting the Right Level of Awkward: [05:29]–[06:29]
• YouTube and the Video’s Reception: [09:07]–[10:31]
• Production Details (costumes, set, anti-continuity): [12:00]–[14:06]
• Fan & Commenter Reactions to the Videos: [10:29]–[11:18]; [16:09]–[16:40]
• Andy Samberg’s Reflections as Steve: [48:56]–[50:13]
• Liz’s Perspective and Help Filming: [43:17]–[44:52]
• Fan Q&A: [50:40]–[65:19]

Fan Q&A Highlights

• Are the Just 2 Guyz Still Having a Good Time?

  • “Hard to say… they seem pretty nervous and scared.” — Akiva, [51:08]
  • Yorma pictures them working at different Quiznos.

• Why Two Guys and Not Three?

  • “If you leave, then people are going to do shit without you.” — Jorma, [56:39]

• Tiny Details/Easter Eggs:

  • “We talked about anti-continuity—point of pride to have shit be fucked up looking.” — Jorma, [14:06]
  • Calls to the weird continuity, nervous palm shots, homemade choreography for ‘smoking pot’, the copy of The Spy Who Came in from the Cold.

• On Never Pitching to SNL:

  • “I can’t think of anything that Lorne would like less.” — Jorma, [60:07]

• Fan Stories:

  • Listeners share about parrots laughing along, chemistry notebooks filled with lyrics, and finding ways to bond with their kids using “Just 2 Guyz” lyrics.

Memorable and Funny Moments

• The Anti-Continuity Pride:
  • They actively avoided making the video look professional as “a point of pride.”
• Party Over Here:
  • The phrase goes from video gag to production company name.
• Andy on Meeting His Wife:
  • Joanna’s reaction: “Oh, my God, Steve the cunt.” — leading to his marriage.

Tone & Style

• Warm, nostalgic, self-deprecating, and improvisational — the episode is full of inside jokes, playful roasting, and unguarded reminiscing.
• The crew makes little effort to sound slick: they openly derail, munch on burritos, and digress into in-jokes and extended fan Q&A riffing, keeping the mood friendly and organic.

In Summary

This episode is a love letter to the lo-fi beginnings of Lonely Island’s comedy, highlighting both the accidental genius and carefully crafted “failure” of “Just 2 Guyz.” Jorma and Akiva dive into the joy of awkwardness, the freedom of making art no one else cared about (yet), and how these early experiments influenced their later, bigger work. With fan mail, voices from their partners, and Andy dropping in, the vibe is celebratory and self-mocking—a celebration not only of what’s “cringe,” but how it makes us laugh together.

For more questions, to share awkward fan experiences, or to request a Klondike sponsorship, listeners are invited to write in to thelonelyislandpod@gmail.com.