"Don't you dare 'bubbeleh' me, Gene!"
October 9, 2014 6:38 PM   Subscribe

 
Just here to say that everyone should be watching all of K&P because amaaazing.
posted by Fizz at 7:02 PM on October 9, 2014 [3 favorites]


I posit that Key & Peele are so refreshing in part because they are so traditional. Their skits are built on a very solid foundation of repetition and escalation. After decades of surrealist anticomedy, from Kids in the Hall to Portlandia to Adult Swim, Key & Peele's work feels revelatory.
posted by HeroZero at 7:08 PM on October 9, 2014 [13 favorites]


While it is likely that he is supposed to be in costume, I like the idea of Reginald VelJohnson just walking around in his everyday life wearing a police uniform. Because, seriously, why wouldn't he?
posted by Sys Rq at 7:10 PM on October 9, 2014 [19 favorites]


because they are so traditional

Did you watch that clip?
posted by gwint at 7:12 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


Did you watch that clip?

You're right. This skit is strangely structured. I admittedly watched it about an hour ago and then went on a youtube binging on skits like this one that, while outrageous, build in a very traditional way.

(I had a long day at work.)
posted by HeroZero at 7:19 PM on October 9, 2014


The true miracle of K & P is that they are alums of Mad TV.
posted by Going To Maine at 7:28 PM on October 9, 2014 [19 favorites]


youtube link for the geographically hindered.
posted by onya at 7:46 PM on October 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


Loved the sketch, but the warning of "Uncensored: Hide Your Mom"?
Hulu, this mom invites you to blow me.
posted by bibliowench at 7:55 PM on October 9, 2014 [14 favorites]


Now I consider my life a failure because I've never had the opportunity to utter, "I'VE DONE MORE COCAINE THAN YOU WEIGH!"?

Love Key & Peele. Every time I think the recurring East-West Bowl can't get any better, they bust out another one.
"Everyone's talking about Fudge. I could talk about Fudge all day."

Plus: Neesons!
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 7:55 PM on October 9, 2014 [8 favorites]


They really are amazing. Like SNL, only consistently funny. And no one else does an Obama impression like Jordan Peele.
posted by longdaysjourney at 8:04 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


Wait, did that say 1997?

Is this what it's like to feel old?

Because seriously Urkel Fever was definitely over by then. Also coke and Jheri curls were beyond over.

All in all, though, hilarious.
posted by Sara C. at 8:10 PM on October 9, 2014


Jheri curls were over long before Urkel.

Cocaine, however, never goes out of style.
posted by clarknova at 8:45 PM on October 9, 2014 [5 favorites]


Because seriously Urkel Fever was definitely over by then. Also coke and Jheri curls were beyond over.

I am not a regular user of cocaine. In fact, I have never used cocaine even once in my entire life.

Nevertheless, as a person who circulates more in weirdo society than outside of it, it has become apparent to me that coke is never over.
posted by brennen at 8:59 PM on October 9, 2014


I've been binging on the K&P Youtube videos the last couple of weeks, and above all else, I have to credit them with being consistently funny.

Also, they must work really hard. The production values are normally very very good.
posted by flippant at 9:53 PM on October 9, 2014


While I admit that I was high on post wisdom-tooth removal painkillers when I watched it a few weeks ago, Key's appearance in Hell Baby was a delight. Possibly mostly because he's just great no matter what material he's given, but either way: I had (hazy, bleary) fun watching him in it.
posted by pseudonymph at 10:33 PM on October 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


I read somewhere (on the blue, I think) that there are two major schools of sketch comedy, one out of Chicago/NYC, and the other out of LA (I think.) The Chicago/NYC school has an idea that sketches should have arcs, where a story/characters are set up, thrown a curveball, and then deal with the curveball to a satisfying conclusion.

The LA school of thought takes characters and throws them a curveball, and then as they deal with that throws them a bigger curveball. This repeats until by the end the story is completely absurd. Often in this school there isn't a resolution in the classical sense. More of a button to the sketch which knocks it out of the park. SNL traditionally does the the former, K&P's work is from the latter.

(I'd love it if someone who knows more about this than I do could expound on this and/or find the comment I'm thinking of.)
posted by nushustu at 2:28 AM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Key's appearance in Hell Baby was a delight

It's kind of a fun little terrible movie.
posted by fleacircus at 3:34 AM on October 10, 2014


Hell Baby is one of those movies that gets funnier every time I watch it. They got together a bunch of very talented comedians, and there is so much going on in every scene! Key does steal the show. He gets to say things like "terrifying man-sized opossum," and even when he isn't saying things like that, there's just something about his demeanor that's funny and endearing.

(In the days of Family Matters, I was an unpopular glasses-wearing nerdy kid with a last name that sounded conveniently like Urkel, so that show can go straight to hell.)
posted by heatvision at 4:16 AM on October 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


(I'd love it if someone who knows more about this than I do could expound on this and/or find the comment I'm thinking of.)

I don't know more about this, but having seen a number of Second City & SNL sketches that just throw a button on things, I'm inclined to disagree.
posted by Going To Maine at 5:49 AM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Key & Peele is so awesome. Key was also fantastic in the really underrated USA show Playing House.
posted by banjo_and_the_pork at 5:54 AM on October 10, 2014 [4 favorites]


Yeah, to me your "LA Style" sounds much more like Chicago comedy.

That said, all the major sketch/improv schools have a branch in LA, which makes it hard to separate out who practices what approach. Especially since, let's be real here, a lot of sketch comedy is just shitty and one-note and not really a structured narrative at all. I have seen plenty of theoretically "good" sketches where like the entire sketch is LOOK AT THIS WACKY CHARACTER. So, you know, whatever.
posted by Sara C. at 10:14 AM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


Wait, did that say 1997?

Is this what it's like to feel old?

Because seriously Urkel Fever was definitely over by then.


nope - about 2 or 3 years ago some smart assed neighborhood kids were calling me urkel

i told them to get off my lawn
posted by pyramid termite at 5:36 PM on October 10, 2014


I posit that Key & Peele are so refreshing in part because they are so traditional. Their skits are built on a very solid foundation of repetition and escalation. After decades of surrealist anticomedy, from Kids in the Hall

Are you kidding? Key & Peele are definitely doing brilliant things in the KITH vein--cinematic sketches, characters which don't rely on one joke and one only, and dark surreal turns when you least expect it. And KITH writing teams worked very well off comic foundations: Kevin MacDonald stabbing Dave Foley in the hand (and later to death) over a goofy argument about Citizen Kane may not be traditional, but the sketch is solidly constructed and well-executed. Key & Peele are a natural evolution of what I think the Kids wanted most to be.
posted by Spatch at 6:14 PM on October 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


In the days of Family Matters, I was an unpopular glasses-wearing nerdy kid with a last name that sounded conveniently like Urkel, so that show can go straight to hell.

In the days of Family Maters, I had my own annoying Steve with a whiny voice harassing me like I was Laura, so yeah, that show can also go straight to hell.
posted by jenfullmoon at 10:32 PM on October 10, 2014


Key and Peele are very much the product of Upright Citizens Brigade's particular brand of improvisational "heightening + exploration" structure. One of the head writers is a founding member of UCB and the writing team / supporting actors are peppered with UCB alums.
posted by EmGeeJay at 12:43 AM on October 11, 2014


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