Photo: Awesometown / CC BY 2.5 (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Akiva Schaffer represents something I deeply admire: building a career out of doing something genuinely stupid with your best friends, and refusing to grow out of it. The Lonely Island, formed with childhood pals Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, turned scrappy Channel 101 videos into a Saturday Night Live institution. What impresses me is his range, writer, director, producer, editor, even rapper, which signals someone who actually loves the craft of making things, not just the spotlight. Comedy is unforgiving, and sustaining it for two decades takes real discipline behind the goofiness. To me he is proof that play, taken seriously, is a legitimate art form.
Overview
Akiva Daniel Shebar Schaffer (; born December 1, 1977) is an American writer, producer, director, comedian, actor, and rapper. He is a member of the comedy music group The Lonely Island, along with childhood friends Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone. Schaffer began his career with The Lonely Island making videos for Channel 101. In 2005, Saturday Night Live hired the trio, with Schaffer joining as a writer.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Akiva Schaffer
- Name (Japanese)
- アキヴァ・シェイファー
- Reading
- あきゔぁ・しぇいふぁー
- Born
- December 1, 1977 (age 48)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Sagittarius / Snake
- Origin
- Berkeley, California, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- film director / screenwriter / film producer / film editor / songwriter
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Berkeley High School
- University
- University of California, Santa Cruz
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Film director — see all → · Screenwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.