SNL alum Jorma Taccone suffered a dangerous fall from a ladder, which has left him temporarily unable to walk.
The 48-year-old comedian said he is ‘insanely lucky’ to be alive as he detailed the scary incident while appearing from a hospital bed during the new episode of The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers Podcast.
Taccone revealed he ‘shattered’ his pelvis when he fell 20 feet from a ‘rickety’ borrowed ladder inside a barn at his farmhouse in Connecticut, on the morning of his daughter’s birthday.
The funnyman called the incident ‘life-changing’ and said doctors told him he should be walking ‘within three to six months.’
‘One of the projects I wanted to do this summer was I wanted to build… there’s a barn, and the back half of the barn has this big white wall. I was like, this is great, we can do a big mural,’ he told his co-hosts Seth, Andy Samberg, and Akiva Schaffer.
He said he ‘borrowed tons of ladders’ for the project.
SNL alum Jorma Taccone, 48, suffered a dangerous 20-foot fall from a ladder, which has left him temporarily unable to walk; Pictured in 2022
Taccone is best known as a member of SNL’s comedy trio The Lonely Island, alongside his childhood friends Andy Samberg and Akiva Schaffer; (L-R) Taccone, Samberg and Schaffer pictured in 2009
‘I was painting this barn, and as a final touch, I was like, I should hang these lights that will go around the eve of the barn to highlight the barn. I was doing that on the day.’
‘I’m using this ladder that my neighbor let me borrow, and he was like, “Hey, this ladder is bad, like, you shouldn’t use this ladder. This doesn’t have a footing thing,” I was like, “It’ll be good,”‘ he said.
He went on: ‘When this happens, I’m probably 20 feet off the ground on this very rickety ladder and I have it diagonal. The legs are not good, the base of the ladder is not good.’
Jorma then recalled feeling the ladder ‘give way’ and go down under him.
‘In this moment, my life flashes before my eyes, I’m like, oh no, I’ve got to get off this ladder. I had enough time as I’m falling to be like, I’m going to die.’
‘I drop, I look over, I see the yard, I’m like, this is going to hurt a lot. I fall straight on my butt, taking all of the impact on my butt. Then I do a lot of screaming and cursing. Keep in mind, it’s my daughter’s fifth birthday party, so it wasn’t the coolest way to start the day. I’m like, “Call an ambulance!”‘
After the fall he recalled feeling ‘sort of numb’ while waiting for help.
The comedian said he is ‘insanely lucky’ to be alive as he detailed the scary incident while appearing from a hospital bed during the new episode of The Lonely Island & Seth Meyers Podcast; Pictured in July
Taccone revealed he ‘shattered’ his pelvis when he fell 20 feet from a ‘rickety’ borrowed ladder inside a barn at his farmhouse in Connecticut, on the morning of his daughter’s birthday; Pictured in an Instagram snap
The funnyman called the incident ‘life-changing’ and said doctors told him he should be walking ‘within three to six months’
Taccone will still need ‘acute rehab’ for full recovery; (L-R) Schaffer, Samberg and Taccone seen in 2016
He was then taken to the hospital where doctors said he ‘shattered’ his pelvis on the left side and that his ‘sacrum has detached from my spine.’
‘A disc is bad now, so they have to chuck that out,’ he said.
‘It takes a while to schedule the surgery because they wanted to do the front part and back part as well.’
Jorma said that his recovery could take around six months. While he has already managed to get up with assistance, he will still need ‘acute rehab’ for full recovery.
‘I’m just gonna have to fight through the pain … it’s definitely no joke,’ he said.
‘On the plus side, all the doctors have been like, “You’ll be walking within three to six months and you’ll be back to like all of the stuff that you normally do,”‘ he shared, before adding, ‘So we shall see.’
Taccone is best known as a member of SNL’s comedy trio The Lonely Island, alongside his childhood friends Andy and Akiva.
The Lonely Island’s hits include ‘I’m on a Boat’, ‘I Just Had Sex’ and ‘D**k in a Box.’
The Lonely Island’s hits include ‘I’m on a Boat’, ‘I Just Had Sex’ and ‘D**k in a Box’; Samberg, Schaffer and Taccone pictured in 2019
The trio pictured performing during the 87th Annual Academy Awards in 2015
Taccone made his directorial debut in 2010 when he co-wrote and directed the SNL spinoff film, MacGruber.
He later co-directed his second feature, the musical comedy Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping, which he also co-wrote and co-starred in with his Lonely Island bandmates.
Taccone married film director Marielle Heller in 2007.
They share a son, born December 2014, and a daughter, born August 2020.
