Here I Go

Pop-ups (41 · 6 fan picks from YouTube comments)

1. Andy reached out to Charli XCX

   1:25

   Andy was already in New York for the season when Charli was announced as a host and musical guest. He pitched her a song, and she agreed quickly, which set the short in motion.

   And then they announced that Charlie was going to be there, and we're huge fans.

2. Why Charli got a smaller role

   2:43

   Charli had a busy schedule as host and musical guest, so the crew chose a short verse at the end instead of full participation, a balance of comedy, energy, and time commitment.

   Obviously, we would have loved her to be all over it. But I had a feeling energy-wise, comedy-wise, and time commitment-wise, it was a nice Venn diagram.

3. Written during the strike

   3:27

   The short was written during the writers' strike, with Asa Tacone helping on the beat. Akiva helped with the breakdown section and the Charli-specific changes.

   It's a beat by Yorm's brother, Asa Tacone. And he was in there with me and helped me a little bit.

4. The wife joins the song

   5:42

   Charli initially received the song without a wife verse. Adding her gave the song its signature reveal, flipping one line and building a new breakdown.

   His wife joining is the best. His wife joining is the best. So we flipped that one line.

5. Fans point here

   10:30

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 39 likes.

   Someone else said that they thought it might've been the guy from Great Day. That was the act together, yeah. Yeah. I was going to say that one too. So those are the two. There's one of two prequels for this guy. Yeah.… — Andy

6. Fans point here

   11:30

   1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 103 likes.

   This is Andy all over it, but yes. It's really a funny dance the whole way through. The track really moves me, you know?

7. Hands through the wall idea

   12:52

   The hands-through-the-wall phone performance was Andy's pitch from the song writing stage. Crews cut holes in a wall during the shoot to fit dancers' hands.

   That was my idea. I had that idea when we were writing the song.

8. Joanna suggested Jost

   15:25

   Andy's wife Joanna proposed Jost for the white reveal, and Andy loved the idea. Jost is a longtime SNL colleague who was hired the same season as Andy.

   The idea for it to be Jost was actually my wife, Joanna's.

9. White clouds font

   16:01

   The font used for the white reveal was designed to resemble white clouds, a detail Andy kept in his notes app for a long time.

   And I wanted that font to look like white clouds.

10. Fans point here

    19:14

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 104 likes.

    Also, the having the cake, eating the cake, like that's very, I would have enjoyed listening to that on a sonic level, but like the fast cuts of the different ways you're having the cake, like just so funny. That's… — Seth

11. Mike Diva's shoot day voice note

    20:15

    Director Mike Diva's voice note describes scouting, a last-minute wall build, and shooting in a short window before dark. Shot in one day, it was a logistical puzzle.

    Diva sent a voice note. Do we want to listen to it?

12. Andy's shorts height debate

    22:14

    The team debated how high Andy's shorts should be, deciding against matching Charli's outfit and cutting them higher. Andy nearly flopped out during the dancing.

    I kept being like, well, Charlie's are going to be pretty high because that's how she rolls.

13. Charli's full takes impressed the crew

    24:16

    Akiva and Andy praised Charli's performance, noting her full takes were usable and that she knew the lyrics and choreography immediately, unlike many guest pop stars.

    she had little... like choreographed things, not by anybody else, just herself.

14. Full takes from Charli

    25:18

    Charli hit her moves and lines perfectly across full takes, so the crew could have used a single take as-is.

    She has full takes where from start to finish, it would be usable if you wanted to use it as a full take

15. The extra syllable in invented

    25:40

    Seth singled out the stretched syllable in the word 'invented' as his favorite piece of writing in the song. Andy explains he took liberties with syllables throughout.

    My favorite bit of writing in the entire thing is the extra syllable in invented.

16. Choreography evokes a half-remembered beauty-salon musical

    27:09

    Akiva says the choreography recalls a scene of women under hairdryers, something the hosts couldn't quite place. Someone guessed Little Shop of Horrors, but they weren't sure.

    a bunch of women in like an old school beauty salon with like the hairdryer things over their heads

17. Handcuffed baby dog was a late request

    28:38

    Andy had a list of arrest dreams and asked for the baby-dog handcuffs late in the process. The team agreed the gag was worth adding.

    But baby dog handcuffs, I believe I requested Thursday night.

18. Fans point here

    29:00

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 10 likes.

    So, yeah, and once again, props to, well, frankly, props. Props. For making them, because they were funny. You know, obviously, I don't have to tell the whole world that I do a digital-only thing on my show called… — Andy

19. Seth requests three limp ferrets for Corrections

    29:15

    Seth asked the design department for three limp ferrets on short notice for a Corrections joke. They delivered stuffed-animal ferrets in about three hours.

    I need three limp ferrets.

20. Fans point here

    34:11

    2 YouTube comments timestamp this moment, 104 likes.

    I have a voice note. Guys, Jorm here. Big compliments on the short. I watched it in Finland. I showed most of the people on set and everybody loved it.

21. Jorm's voice note critiques the lyric

    34:42

    Jorm sent a voice note from Finland praising the short while asking what "listening to my conditioning" means. The hosts treat it as a running gag about his absence.

    One question I had, which is, in Andy's overly written line, I'm in my kitchen listening to my conditioning.

22. Social conditioning as shorthand

    35:38

    Akiva argues that "social conditioning" is a common shorthand, and Andy notes a similar phrase on a Black Star album sample. Andy invites listeners to weigh in on the comments.

    A lot of other people I asked did, which is social conditioning, which to me is a shorthand thing.

23. Charli's outfit

    36:56

    Seth and Andy joke about the quilted vest and salmon pants, and the flower raincoat at the end. Andy refers to Charli as a best friend.

    I can say things like, it's Charlie now because we're like best friends.

24. Devin Walker plays the exasperated cop

    37:17

    Devin Walker's look at the camera works as a cop who has been called to the house too many times. The concept was that the officers know the neighborhood and that Andy has called them repeatedly.

    I think there were a lot of great cameo glances from the cast in this, but I liked Devin Walker's look at you

25. "Pigs" versus "bacon" wordplay

    37:58

    The hosts laugh at the idea that the cops are called "fucking pigs" by people who summoned them. Charli's bridge calls them bacon and says she gets giddy for it.

    That was the funniest, in my opinion, when Andy played me an early version.

26. Fans point here

    38:19

    1 YouTube comment timestamps this moment, 34 likes.

    He's just so excited. That's how I read it. He's just, yo, it's the fucking pigs, man. Yeah, they're coming. Once I got my grubby hands on the song and there was a new bridge to be written, opening it up for a Charlie…

27. Charli's added ending

    39:32

    Charli added the rising "O" to the end of "hell yeah, motherfucker." The team was surprised, and Seth says he grew to love it.

    She added that. It's so good.

28. Keeve's neighbor cameo

    40:04

    Akiva plays a neighbor who films the dog's arrest in case anything goes wrong. Andy says they almost lost him from the cameo and promised he'd be in it.

    And I'm just going to record it just in case.

29. One-day shoot, 7 AM to 11 PM

    40:44

    The crew picked the hosts up at 7 AM and they returned at 11 PM. Shooting wrapped around 10:30 PM and editing began immediately.

    I know the car picked us up at 7 AM and we got back at 11 PM.

30. Editing sprint to air

    41:26

    Akiva left before the final setup to start editing and worked into the night. They slept briefly and returned at 8:30 AM for final work before air.

    And then we just went straight from eight 30 to air midnight, 1130.

31. Double-team editing with VFX

    41:36

    Akiva handled the core edit while Andy worked on the cake, stars, and visual touches with VFX. They used Akiva's rough cut as the base to keep it feeling like a Lonely Island video.

    And we get to double team it, which is also nice with Diva and his whole crew of great VFX people

32. Laughing in the edit suite as a gauge

    42:16

    Andy says they gauge success by whether they still laugh at a cut during editing, even after living with it for weeks.

    no we definitely laugh that's how we gauge if we're if we think it's working

33. Making another short to delay Daiquiri Girl

    42:54

    Seth jokes that doing a new short every week would buy them another week before discussing "Daiquiri Girl." The hosts tease it as a future discussion topic.

    Did you know that if you did a new short, it would buy you one more week before you had to talk about Daiquiri Girl?

34. Julian Casablancas at the after-party

    43:37

    Andy mentions an old friend spotted at the after-party. The hosts ask whether talking about the after-party is allowed.

    Well, we saw our old buddy Julian Casablancas.

35. The 1975 frontman at Charli's party

    43:49

    Charli is engaged to George Daniel, drummer of the 1975. Frontman Matty Healy was there, and the hosts say hello. The comedian Alex Edelman was also present.

    so charlie is engaged to this dude george who's in that band the 1975

36. Lauren's birthday cake at the party

    44:12

    Guests sang happy birthday and brought out a cake for Lauren, who appeared miserable. Seth says he dislikes the moment when people assume they'll get cake.

    And sang to him, and he seemed absolutely miserable.

37. Fake cakes and the bit about real cake

    45:01

    The hosts riff on fake birthday cakes. Akiva says a fake cake might look like a cake and turn out to be a tire.

    Do they ever do ones that look exactly like a birthday cake and then you cut into it and it's like a tire or something?

38. Swedish "fart" and meme feed

    45:33

    Akiva says he learned from Sweden that "fart" means speed, a fact that later showed up on his feed as a meme. Andy and Seth mock him for citing memes.

    I just want to tell you that four episodes, five episodes ago, I was talking about how I was just reeling about Sweden

39. "Ground zero for memes" joke

    46:38

    Seth and Andy riff on Akiva's dancing baby meme, calling it the first meme. The hosts joke that Akiva uses the podcast to share memes he saw.

    Ground zero for memes.

40. Listener comment about Jorm's absence

    46:46

    A listener notes that the Lonely Island only starts filming again when Jorm leaves the country. Andy says the timing was not on purpose and the hosts laugh it off.

    Somebody commented, I love that after years of nothing, Lonely Island starts filming videos again as soon as Yorm leaves the country.

41. Criterion Collection shout-out

    47:04

    Seth says the short is Criterion Collection-worthy for him. Andy says it's too early for that, and they both laugh.

    It's Criterion Collection for me.
    Criterion

42. Dress rehearsal audience was lackluster

    47:17

    Andy says the dress rehearsal audience seemed less responsive. The theory is that fans waiting to see Charli performed may have been spent by then.

    I think the audience was a little lackluster in general at dress.

43. Sound volume too low at dress rehearsal

    47:54

    Akiva says the sound team set the volume too low, so the first 30 seconds of the short were hard to hear at dress. The live broadcast went much better.

    So it played incredibly quiet. Right.

44. Andy dances during "Sympathy Is a Knife"

    48:36

    Andy watched Charli's performance from the floor and started dancing spontaneously during "Sympathy Is a Knife." He compares himself to Neo in The Matrix.

    I went out to the floor to watch both her songs, and they were so fucking dope.

45. Charli XCX on Seth's early show

    49:27

    Seth notes Charli was a guest on his show with Troye Sivan. He also mentions she appeared in his first week or two with Iggy Azalea. Akiva estimates she was about 22 at the time.

    Also, she was on my first week or two of shows.

46. "Fan podcast" and "hot tea"

    50:33

    Andy suggests they might discuss the SNL episode in 10 years, but Seth replies that the episode is too recent. The hosts admit they'd be just a fan podcast if they only talked about what they had watched.

    Then we're just a fan podcast. That's why it would be fucking hot tea, brother.

47. Spicy midnight-hour talk

    50:41

    As the episode runs late, Andy says they get spicy near the midnight hour. Seth tries to wrap the show, and they sign off.

    That's why it's getting spicy. Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry. Not sorry. When it gets to the midnight hour, we get spicy.