Key & Peele is coming to an end after five seasons of skit-based magic and mayhem. We salute them with our favourite sketches from the comedy duo.
Substitute Teacher
If you haven't watched any Key & Peele, firstly, what's wrong with you? Secondly, Substitute Teacher is one of the best places to start. It's the pair's best known and funniest clip, with amazing use of the words 'insubordinate' and 'churlish'.
We've all had an experience with a substitute teacher mispronouncing names while trying to take roll call, but never quite like this. Keegan-Michael Key plays hardened inner-city teacher Mr Garvery who becomes enraged while trying to take attendance for a predominately white middle-class classroom. Things escalate quickly. The skit was followed up by a few sequels which aren't bad, but in no way compare to the hysterically funny original. Ja'Cqueline, B'la-ke, De-nice and A-a-ron, do you wanna go to war? You better check yourselves.
Teacher's Centre is an absolutely pitch-perfect parody of the intense scrutiny given to players in the sporting world, re-imagining what ESPN's SportsCentre would be like if we cared about teachers as much as we cared about athletes. Teachers are picked in the 'Teacher Draft' ("just like that, you're a millionaire") and high test scores put teachers in line for 'season bonuses.'
The skit's dialogue is hilarious but so are the visual gags in the background - you have to watch it a few times to catch all the jokes. Also, the way Jordan Peele says, "William Wu" always makes me do an abrupt shout-laugh. Make sure to stay on the page for the fake BMW ad that follows the main skit.
- Tess Nichol
Prepared for Terries
Forget about sudden nose dives or an engine catching fire - my all-time worst in-flight nightmare is exactly what happens in this super-weird, seriously funny plane skit. The premise is simple: two terrorist hunters armed with a box cutter, a 3D gun and the worst facial hair of all time scare the bejeezus out of their terrified seat neighbour.
The duo cram so many quotables into this five-minute skit you've almost certainly heard a friend say one - or seen a T-shirt with another. Like, "Draxt them sklounst," or, "We're definitely going to drop some hypotheticals on their clavicles," or, my personal favourite, "With great power comes great responsitrillitrance." I would pay good money to see the outtakes from this - they must have corpsed the hell out of it.
-Chris Schulz
Family Matters
First, confession time: I've never actually watched an episode of Key & Peele (until I series linked it last night) as I'm a latecomer. All my viewing comes from YouTube binges. Much like funny cricket moments and full episodes of MacGyver, I intend to watch one, click on another and suddenly I've lost a good few hours.
This was the first ever Key & Peele clip I saw and I was hooked. If you've never seen Family Matters or have no idea who Steve Urkel is, it will make little sense to you. But for me it's perfect. For a child growing up in the '80s and early '90s I was brought up on family sitcoms like The Cosby Show, Family Ties, Growing Pains, ALF, The Nanny (shudder), Full House, Step by Step, Home Improvement and Fresh Prince ... to name a few.
Family Matters introduced uber-nerd Urkel midway through season one (back when people said nerd, sometimes while eating Nerds). He had an annoying catchphrase - "Did I do that?" - and America lost their collective shit. The idea that Jaleel White was pulling all the strings behind the scenes while producers and writers were doing cocaine is brilliant - but also so believable. Peele's Reginald VelJohnson impression is also perfect. Thanks to these guys I'll never watch a boxing press conference or hear the name Aaron the same again.
I'm not the most up-to-date with Key & Peele sketches, but if I see one trending, I always quick to stop what I'm doing and watch. My eye was caught the other week when I saw their Gremlins 2 sketch floating around, and I have been unable to stop watching it since.
The simple concept of an eccentric Hollywood sequel doctor 'fixing' movies doesn't sound like great comedy material, especially paired with a movie as potentially obscure as Gremlins 2. Yet Jordan Peele truly commits to the character of Star Magic Jackson Jr, making him as loud and sassy as possible and turning what could have been a simplistic gag into something wonderful.
- Ethan Sills
East/West College Bowl
I could rattle off a few favourite Key & Peele skits, but the one that never fails to elicit belly laughs is East/West College Bowl. Similar to Teacher's Centre, this piece parodies ESPN-style player introductions broadcasters do before a big game. It also parodies the odd names athletes can have. The NBA player formerly known as Ron Artest became Metta World Peace. NFL player Chad Johnson became Chad Ochocinco, and then back to Chad Johnson.
For me: Part of the appeal is seeing which weird name links up to which US college football team. Is college football a thing? Americans, particularly those in the South, may pledge stronger allegiance to their college football team than a NFL team. Does the University of Miami really have a player named Tyroil Smoochie-Wallace? Does Penn State really have Hingle McCringleberry? Quatro Quatro, San Jose State University? Torque [Construction Noise] Lewith, Nevada State Penitentiary?
