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20 'Key & Peele' Behind-The-Scenes Facts

A truly presidential sketch comedy.

20 'Key & Peele' Behind-The-Scenes Facts

July 18, 2022

Key & Peele is one of the most celebrated sketch shows throughout the 2010s. The pairing of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key has brought in some of the most absurd yet poignant comedy in popular culture. Not many comedians would have the idea and the drive to create an existential sci-fi sketch about the writing of Family Matters.The show has cemented itself among other sketch comedy powerhouses like Saturday Night Live, The Kids In The Hall, and Mr. Show, along with other contemporaries like A Black Lady Sketch Show and I Think You Should Leave.

You all know this. But what about the stuff you didn’t know? What about the stuff that happened behind the scenes, or little inside jokes you may have overlooked?

There’s plenty to learn and discover, so let’s get to it. Here are some facts and Easter eggs about Key & Peele that you probably didn’t know about.

20

Key & Peele

KEY& PEELE THE TWO HAD A COMEDY MEET CUTE AT SECOND CITY IN CHICAGO. Back in 2003, Jordan Peele first saw Keegan-Michael Key's Coach Hines character on stage. Later that night, Key then saw Peele play a female Eurovision presenter. It was love at first laugh. CRACKED.COM — Source: Entertain This! (via archive.org)

19

President Obama

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE THEY CREDIT PRESIDENT OBAMA FOR THE SHOW'S SUCCESS. We actually felt like Obama was kind of responsible for us even getting a show in the first place, Keegan-Michael Key has said, because there's this biracial person who might have to ride the divide between two different races. — Source: NPR

18

'Mad TV'

KEY& PEELE THEY AUDITIONED AGAINST EACH OTHER FOR MAD TV. In the early aughts, the two were paired with each other for a single spot on the sketch show. They impressed the producers so much as a tandem that they made a spot for both. CRACKED.COM — Source: Onward State

17

'Beige'

KEY& PEELE THE SHOW WAS ALMOST TITLED BEIGE. The two came up with a bunch of names, but when they got to Beige they realized they were trying too hard. So they settled on just using their last names. CRACKED.COM — Source: The A.V. Club

16

Key & Peele

KEY& PEELE THEY DIDN'T SKIMP ON PRODUCTION PRODUCTION VALUES. Production designer Gary Kordan decided to treat backgrounds and sets like a feature film every single day, and not just any feature film, but like an Oscar- winning, historically accurate feature. CRACKED.COM — Source: Motion Picture Association

15

Unproduced Sketches

KEY& PEELE THEY HAVE TONS OF UNPRODUCED SKETCHES. The wall of the executive producer's office (known as Camp Awesome) has all of the unused sketch pitches written on it, numbering in the hundreds. CRACKED.COM — Source: Collider

14

Jordan Peele

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE JORDAN PEELE ALMOST WAS ON SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Peele was approached to do his Obama impression on SNL, but was unable to do so because he was still under contract with Mad TV. When the contract expired, he took his impression to his own show. — Source: The New Yorker

13

Mr. Weed

ANNI CRACKED.COM W ST E BOWL SAGGITARIUTT JEFFERSPIN KEY& PEELE MARIJUANA INSPIRED THE EAST/ WEST COLLEGE BOWL SKETCHES. Key and Peele would get high to get into a silly space and start coming up with ridiculous names. According to Peele, Mr. Weed an amazing writer. WEST NN EA T COLLE D'MARCUS WILLIUMS — Source: Vulture

12

Epic Rap Battles

KEY& PEELE THEY'RE BOTH DECENT RAPPERS. You can see the two get into it on the Еріс Rap Battles YouTube channel, with Keegan-Michael Key as Mahatma Gandhi and Michael Jordan, and Jordan Peele as Martin Luther King Jr. and Muhammad Ali. CRACKED.COM — Source: TV Guide

11

Affordable Care Act

KEY& PEELE KEY AND PEELE TURNED DOWN THE PRESIDENT. President Obama's people approached the comedy duo about doing a funny promotion for the Affordable Care Act, but they couldn't fit into their production schedule. The opportunity went to Zach Galifianakis' Between Two Ferns. CRACKED.COM — Source: Entertainment Weekly

10

The Peabody Award

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE THE SHOW WON A PEABODY AWARD. For their creative team's inspired satirical riffs on our racially divided and racially conjoined culture, the comedy program received a Peabody in 2013. — Source: The Peabody Awards

9

Metta World Peace

EWS M METTA LANDIS the KEY& PEELE METTA WORLD PEACE'S SKETCHES WERE THE FIRST NOT TO STAR KEY OR PEELE. As they were writing a sketch involving Metta as a character, Key and Peele found out he was a huge fan of the show and approached him to do the sketch of himself as himself. Не happily agreed. CRACKED.COM — Source: Mental Floss

8

Movies

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE THEY STILL WORKED TOGETHER AFTER THE SHOW ENDED. While their careers went into different directions, Key and Peele still collaborated occasionally with projects such as Keanu, Storks, and Toy Story 4. — Source: TheThings

7

Key & Peele

KEY& PEELE THEY BOTH DRAW INSPIRATION FROM COMEDY ICONS. Keegan-Michael Key cites Richard Pryor and Peter Sellers as his comedy dads, whereas Jordan Peele grew up loving Steve Martin and Martin Lawrence. CRACKED.COM — Source: Ranker
Photo Credit: Angela George/Wiki Commons

6

Mr. Garvey

CRACKED.COM AN B. HONY ES ST KEY& PEELE MR. GARVEY WAS GOING TO HAVE HIS OWN MOVIE. Paramount signed on for a movie based on the Substitute Teacher sketch in 2015. Still waiting on that one. — Source: Entertainment Weekly

5

Favorites

KEY& PEELE THEIR FAVORITE SKETCHES ARE MICHAEL JACKSON HALLOWEEN AND GREMLINS 2. Key loves Michael Jackson Halloween because of Peele's genuine laughter and great one-liners. Peele loves Gremlins 2 because it's so inside and nerdy. CRACKED.COM — Source: Ranker

4

Fargo

FBI Nestle 200m FBI SPECIAL AGENT - sport AL AGENT KEY& PEELE THEY HAVE NO IDEA WHY THEY WERE CAST IN FARGO. Key and Peele were puzzled when show creator Noah Hawley approached them to play FBI agents. Still, they enjoyed having dramatic parts. CRACKED.COM — Source: Ranker

3

Long-Lost Dad

KEY& PEELE THE LONG-LOST DAD SKETCH WAS INSPIRED BY JORDAN PEELE'S REAL LIFE. Raised by a single mom, Peele never really knew his father. The sketch has Peele finding his father (played by Key) at a trailer park. CRACKED.COM — Source: The New Yorker

2

Peter Atencio

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE PETER ATENCIO DIRECTED EVERY EPISODE (UNTIL THE FIFTH SEASON). Atencio, a trusted collaborator, was the sole director until Comedy Central doubled the number of episodes. As he didn't want to give up doing post- production of his own episodes, he let other directors do a third of the fifth season. — Source: The New Yorker

1

Anger Translator

CRACKED.COM KEY& PEELE THE ANGER TRANSLATOR TRANSLATED THE REAL PRESIDENT OBAMA. To poke fun at himself, Obama took the Key & Peele sketch featuring his Anger Translator and made it real at the 2015 White House Correspondents' Dinner. ES — Source: TDC/YouTube

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