‘Key And Peele’ Is Officially 9 Years Old, So Here Are Some Of The Show’s Best Sketches
"I said, Biii...."
Ten years ago today, Key and Peele, the iconic comedy sketch show created by and starring Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key premiered on Comedy Central.
Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key’s comedy style was, and remains to be, characterised by a mix of observational comedy and satirical absurdism that fearlessly and cleverly wrapped up scathing social commentary into hilarious three-minute bites. The comedy duo’s impact on pop culture over the last decade cannot be overstated and to celebrate the show’s 10th anniversary we’re looking back on some of Key and Peele‘s most legendary skits.
Substitute Teacher
No list of Key and Peele skits would be complete without the instant classics that is Mr Garvy and his chaotic take-no-prisoners approach to pronouncing names.
I Said Bitch
Poking fun at faux macho masculinity in marriage, the petty pair go to extreme lengths to lie to one another that they cuss on their wives in this iconic sketch.
Obama’s Translator Series
Cast your mind back to a time before Trump neutered presidential-related humour by being a complete joke IRL. Key and Peele performed many skits about Obama, most notably featuring Luther, AKA Obama’s “translator”. The skits famously played with code-switching, translating Obama’s diplomatic addresses into AAVE (African American Vernacular English), and expressing his true feelings.
Game of Thrones Recap
Before the world was embittered with Game of Thrones, back when the show was a revered cultural juggernaut, Key and Peele recapped Seasons 1–3 — the best seasons — using their hilarious movie valet characters.
Continental Breakfast
If this skit’s main character’s absurd enjoyment of the buffet breakfast doesn’t get you, that The Shining-esque twist at the end will. To this day, I think of sporks as “fpoons” because of this sketch.
i haven’t traveled in years at this point and the only thing i dream of doing is getting to stay in a hotel and going full key and peele continental breakfast guy pic.twitter.com/Wfa396jHFA
— Friedrich Bengals (@ElSangito) July 27, 2021
White Zombies
Jordan Peele is now known for his award-winning horror films, Get Out and Us. White Zombies is one of the many Key and Peele skits where Peele’s love for horror as a vehicle for social commentary shines early and true.
When A Text Conversation Goes Very Wrong
As someone who struggles with decoding the tone of text messages, this skit is too real. The duo perfectly demonstrates the perils of misinterpreting your mate’s tone when they’ve sent you a text.
Duelling Hats
A perfect skit parodying cap culture, almost all kudos for this one goes to Key and Peele‘s prop department for their creativity in bringing this to life.
Movie Hecklers
It’s no secret this pair love movies. There are whole compilations dedicated to breaking down movie references in Key and Peele, but nowhere is the pair’s knowledge of filmmaking shown off more hilariously than in their Movie Hecklers skits.
The NFL Series
Often ranked among Key and Peele’s top skits are the ones in which they’re parodying American football culture. Thanks to their immaculate gift for coming up with the most ridiculous character names of all time, ‘Player Interview’, East/West College Bowl’, and ‘McCringleberry’s Excessive Celebration’ are universally wheeze-inducing, even for those who’ve never seen an NFL game.
Happy 10 year anniversary to this show and the works of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key that, even a decade on, are still making me laugh, think, and irritate my loved ones when I incessantly quote them.