u do have something on ur tie tho :(
March 7, 2012 4:48 PM   Subscribe

"This is a less-than-six-minute video and I had to take five breaks to watch the whole thing because I don’t think I could stand being subjected to this much grace and perfection all in one sitting. It was causing me emotional turmoil." – Adam Lisagor, on a fantastic comedy sketch by Key & Peele. More on their upcoming show.
posted by Rory Marinich (65 comments total) 78 users marked this as a favorite
 
Yeah that was actually pretty funny.
posted by empath at 4:59 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Wait. Seriously? What?
posted by metaxa at 5:00 PM on March 7, 2012


It looks like the first three episodes are online, if you have Hulu Plus. I really enjoyed their interview on Bullseye.
posted by roll truck roll at 5:02 PM on March 7, 2012


Don't go in there!
posted by roll truck roll at 5:03 PM on March 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


I'd buy that dude.
posted by Bookhouse at 5:07 PM on March 7, 2012 [22 favorites]


oh that is good duo work. Oh that is suburb.
posted by The Whelk at 5:08 PM on March 7, 2012


These guys are great...I love the skit about their wives, where they keep looking around before saying, "I said Biiiitch." "Really, that's what you said?" "Yup"

Pee your pants funny.
posted by schyler523 at 5:16 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Omega Pi Omega. Jesus, my sides hurt.
posted by Homeboy Trouble at 5:29 PM on March 7, 2012 [9 favorites]


I want to favorite this 15 times, but 1 will have to suffice.
posted by jquinby at 5:33 PM on March 7, 2012


Key & Peele is a very smart and funny show.

Which is kind of interesting in that not too long ago, Keegan-Michael Key was the host of The Planet's Funniest Animals, which was the single dumbest thing that has ever been on television ever.

Glad he got something good.

(Here's the whole official YouTube playlist, btw.)
posted by Sys Rq at 5:35 PM on March 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


Oh god! Violent High Five. Killing me over here.
posted by wobh at 5:35 PM on March 7, 2012


I'm amazed that it's taken this long for someone to figure what's funny about Obama. Hopefully this'll replace SNL's horrible Fred Armisen take on satirizing the president.

I've been watching every week, but Watching that flicker sketch last night really sold me on the show. I think they're still trying to find their voice, so to speak, but I'm looking forward to them being around for a while.
posted by billyfleetwood at 5:44 PM on March 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


Speaking of Adam Lisagor, it's worth noting that today saw the release of the first new episode of You Look Nice Today in sixteen months, and that it is really, really good.
posted by JimBennett at 5:45 PM on March 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


I'm with billyfleetwood - been watching and laughing every week, but "Flicker" is the greatest. The husband and I have watched it a few more times today on YouTube and have cried tears of laughter each time!
posted by sc114 at 5:48 PM on March 7, 2012


Okay, this are frickin hilarious.
posted by rmd1023 at 5:49 PM on March 7, 2012


Speaking of...

!
posted by One Thousand and One at 6:02 PM on March 7, 2012


Been watching the show since it started (not sure why it's described as 'upcoming' here); it's pretty good. Pretty pretty pretty good.

But there's a fair bit of dross packed in around the nuggets of comedy gold.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:07 PM on March 7, 2012


SERIOUSLY? If this video is the best this team's got, then they're hurting. Flicker wasn't even funny, it was tired. I will watch some more of their work for a better sample, but damn - that wasn't even in funny's neighborhood.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:10 PM on March 7, 2012 [8 favorites]


I laughed.
posted by mochapickle at 6:12 PM on March 7, 2012


SERIOUSLY? If this video is the best this team's got, then they're hurting. Flicker wasn't even funny, it was tired. I will watch some more of their work for a better sample, but damn - that wasn't even in funny's neighborhood.

Everybody is entitled to his opinion but yours is fuckingly wrong.
posted by Rory Marinich at 6:13 PM on March 7, 2012 [19 favorites]


"Funny" is such a strange and subjective thing, eh? I have no doubt that the video in question is funny to many people, but some combination of my expectations and my personality and experiences just made it completely unfunny to me. Didn't even crack a smile.
posted by stray at 6:15 PM on March 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


Okay, I take it back - Auction Block was devastating. Ouch.
posted by Lipstick Thespian at 6:16 PM on March 7, 2012


I laughed at the beginning. Then it was just a slow-mo train wreck. I like comedy I don't see coming a mile away. I'll give the show a watch though.
posted by P.o.B. at 6:18 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


I laughed quite a bit. It isn't the concept so much as the execution, the timing and performance that gets me.
posted by El Sabor Asiatico at 6:20 PM on March 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


It isn't the concept so much as the execution, the timing and performance that gets me.

Agreed. The execution and performance of "Flicker" was just about as perfect as can be imagined. Normally, that sort of thing fills me with envy, but honestly I am so filled with admiration that there's no room for envy right now.

It will come later.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:29 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Flicker is good, but not as good as some of the other stuff. Soul Food in particular.
posted by scrowdid at 6:30 PM on March 7, 2012 [9 favorites]


Hey billyfleetwood: Don't knock Fred Armisen. Portlandia is pretty choice stuff.
posted by Saxon Kane at 6:40 PM on March 7, 2012


Honestly not that good, IMHO. Not Mitchell and Webb caliber, on these examples.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 6:41 PM on March 7, 2012


Soul Food is Monty Python level good.
posted by Joey Michaels at 6:43 PM on March 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


That wasn't very good, but I've now hit a threshold of hype for them where I'll give them some more chances. Thanks for the post.
posted by Kwine at 6:44 PM on March 7, 2012


Mitchell and Webb are on the shortlist for greatest comedy duo of all time. Calling a brand-new comedic duo "not Mitchell and Webb caliber" is like saying some new, excitingly talented director isn't as good as Ethan and Joel Coen.

Furthermore I'd submit that Key and Peele are attempting comedy on fronts Mitchell and Webb never did. There's more than a little bit of Edgar Wright to Flicker; I've seen sketch comedians attempt tricky editing but it's usually horrible. I can safely say that this is one of the best-edited sketches I've ever seen. The timing is immaculate.

Some of the other sketches in this thread (which I hadn't seen before) are much funnier; I don't think they approach the whimsy or chaos necessary to be on my list of all-time greats. But this is from the first season of their first-ever sketch show. This shows a hell of a lot of promise and it's funny enough right now that I'll actually enjoy watching it regardless of if it ever hits the realm of legendary comedy.

I further submit that people may find this funnier if they've ever been subjected to intense games of nose-flicking. My laughter comes, in large part, from familiarity with that feeling: you're not getting me this time, you fucking shit. Followed by getting got, because I am either a gullible son of a bitch or some of my friends are collectively the Antichrist.
posted by Rory Marinich at 6:50 PM on March 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


Yeah admittedly I didn't like much from the one linked in the post, but I kept watching and damn. Especially Phone Call and the Hell's Kitchen one.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 7:11 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


I can see why Key and Peel should be funny on an intellectual level, but it does absolutely nothing for me in the guttal region.
posted by Gilbert at 7:12 PM on March 7, 2012 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I was a little skeptical until that soul food one...which totally made me lose my shit.
posted by neroli at 7:22 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


But this is from the first season of their first-ever sketch show.

I'm with you, but this bit's not really true. Key & Peele each did five years on MadTV.
posted by Sys Rq at 7:36 PM on March 7, 2012


Well, OK, so maybe I did seem to set the bar a little high, but . . . someone said "I don’t think I could stand being subjected to this much grace and perfection all in one sitting," which is a little more than "good for a laff."

I, for one, could have stood a lot more grace and perfection. Who among you did not anticipate, from the moment it was announced that Terry was dead, that that Terry's corpse would continue the prank, and secretly hope that this would accomplished quickly? It had the remorseless logic of a SNL character sketch that keeps running through the loop. Without, unfortunately, getting here.

Will try to watch a whole episode, though.
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 7:39 PM on March 7, 2012


That Soul Food sketch? Tears. Streaming down my face.
posted by gwint at 7:43 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]


Especially Phone Call and the Hell's Kitchen one.

Oh man, I thought the Hell's Kitchen sketch was pitch freakin' perfect.
posted by joe lisboa at 7:43 PM on March 7, 2012


Their Kanye the Giant sketch and the most recent episode's bit about Game of Thrones makes me think one or both of Key & Peele is quite the geek, possibly even a gamer geek. Kanye the Giant was one of the most accurate depictions of RPG gaming on TV in a long time, and that made it all the funnier for me. Wonderful stuff. (But not linkable -- couldn't find either of those sketches online.)
posted by jiawen at 8:09 PM on March 7, 2012




Shot in the Dick.
posted by peep at 8:47 PM on March 7, 2012


less-than-six-minute video and I had to take five breaks to watch the whole thing

That happened to me too, but it's because my Internet is running so slow.
(Though when it finally loaded it was pretty funny).
posted by eye of newt at 8:51 PM on March 7, 2012


Ooooh, snap!

These were all pretty awesome, and I suspect the show has one new viewer now...

And, if it was anyone but you, Rory, I would be busting out with the whole Pepsi Blue/You made yo money remarks, but it's you, so thanks for the share.

Anyone want to hear about one of best friend's forcing me to create the "Somebody's Mom" jokes?
posted by Samizdata at 9:21 PM on March 7, 2012


Whoops. Dropped the ball on this one...

Ahem...

Is this something I would have to have a TV to appreciate?
posted by Samizdata at 9:22 PM on March 7, 2012


Can I just say -- even though the term makes me cringe a little, I acutually love this Black Nerd thing that seems to be bubbling up everywhere. I think code-switching is such an interesting metaphor for the way so many people, of all races, deal with contradictory and overlapping cultural norms...and now it seems like there's this group of young artists taking this on as their main conceit.
posted by neroli at 9:41 PM on March 7, 2012 [3 favorites]


I sorta accidentally caught the most recent episode on Comedy Central. I wasn't a great fan of Flicker past the first encounter (which was pretty awesome), but the sketch I'd refer to as Two Black Guys In A College Town Bar (sorry, I'm failing to find a link) sketch was great. Ultimate Fighting Match Preview sketch was also spot on.
posted by maryr at 9:59 PM on March 7, 2012 [4 favorites]


I would never have guessed from the ads I'd seen that Key and Peel would be awesome, but then metafilter curated the right pieces and I understood that it was awesome. right on!
posted by jrb223 at 10:01 PM on March 7, 2012


OMG! I'm glad I decided to give the show a watch. That Flicker sketch is not as good as a bunch of their other stuff. They have some really subtle comedy going, which I really dig.
posted by P.o.B. at 10:02 PM on March 7, 2012


Is this something I would have to have a TV to appreciate?

No, it appears to work just fine off the Youtubes.
posted by davidpriest.ca at 10:13 PM on March 7, 2012


I think code-switching is such an interesting metaphor for the way so many people, of all races, deal with contradictory and overlapping cultural norms...and now it seems like there's this group of young artists taking this on as their main conceit.

You've totally articulated exactly what I love about this kind of comedy, and how it's awesomely becoming more prevalent. I'm not black, but I am a Middle Eastern immigrant, and the core humor of code-switching is something I really relate to. It's a kind of humor that, even if you're not part of one of the in-groups, still feels funny and inclusive because the situations are familiar and relatable.

Count me as another person who wasn't impressed or interested by the ads for this show, but have now been won over. Key and Peele are a lot more subtle and clever than the ads led me to believe.
posted by yasaman at 10:14 PM on March 7, 2012 [4 favorites]


I think this show is going to be CC's penance for "Mind of Mencia."
posted by RakDaddy at 10:46 PM on March 7, 2012 [1 favorite]




Aaah, maryr, I was just going to look up that Ultimate Fighting Match clip! Thank you! Even just from the ads that only showed a bit of that skit, I was crying laughing.
posted by cadge at 1:01 AM on March 8, 2012


I want that Obama with anger translator sketch to be put on some alien ray gun and beamed into everything so it replaces all election coverage. It might make some racists racister but fuck it, they weren't voting for him anyway.
posted by angrycat at 4:19 AM on March 8, 2012 [4 favorites]


Also, the idea to have Obama cruise by and win a free-style contest by declaring "I am the leader of the free world" and then throwing the mike down is genius.
posted by angrycat at 7:02 AM on March 8, 2012


I'm impressed with how far they're willing to take sketches. They tend to end up in a "Kids In The Hall" type land of absurdity that I respect.
posted by HumanComplex at 7:43 AM on March 8, 2012


I've enjoyed K&P since it started. It's a pretty good sketch show which isn't afraid to tackle race as subject matter (similar to Chapelle in that regard), and is actually pretty funny without being offensive and racist, which I applaud.

The show where one of the sketches had an App which told you whether you were allowed to say the "n word" that was then called back later earned a guffaw out of me of a sort I haven't experienced from a television series in quite a while.

I'll keep watching. And they aren't a guilty pleasure which I feel ashamed for watching, like Tosh.0. They're quality, and this being only their first season, I'm confident they will continue to improve for at least one or two more seasons before the suits begin to recognize formulae and demand that they follow them.

That, of course, is the point which Chapelle describes as being presented with a giant stack of money and then having someone's dick laid on top of it and you're told if you want to grab one, you have to grab the other. He walked away at that point. I wonder what K&P will end up doing at that point.
posted by hippybear at 8:41 AM on March 8, 2012


The first gotcha was sublime. The second was kinda silly. The last was predictable and daft. But that first one... I was laughing a lot. They should have ended it there. It was perfection.
posted by Decani at 8:51 AM on March 8, 2012


davidpriest.ca: "Is this something I would have to have a TV to appreciate?

No, it appears to work just fine off the Youtubes.
"

Then this is something I would need the Internet to appreciate?
posted by Samizdata at 9:18 AM on March 8, 2012


I thought this sketch was noteworthy as well, if not for the actual joke, but the execution and persistence of the style. Yeah, I saw the end coming from a mile away, but I also know how Hamlet ends too.

I was iffy on this show at first, as it felt a bit like they were leaning on edgy race humor a bit hard at first, but they really seem to be coming into their own, and each week I find myself more fond of these two. Good stuff!
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 9:20 AM on March 8, 2012


Yeah, I saw the end coming from a mile away, but I also know how Hamlet ends too.

I agree with this - what sold the ending wasn't the surprise of the ending, but how he sold it.
posted by Joey Michaels at 11:42 AM on March 8, 2012


I said biiiitch
posted by wobh at 2:13 PM on March 8, 2012 [1 favorite]


They're pretty good, but prison rape jokes arn't funny
posted by Blasdelb at 2:30 PM on March 10, 2012


They're pretty good, but prison rape jokes arn't funny
posted by Blasdelb at 10:30 PM on March 10


They can be. Anything can be funny if done right. That one made me smirk, but not LOL.
posted by Decani at 1:39 PM on March 13, 2012


Here's a great interview with Key and Peele, where they talk about how being biracial informs their comedy and. their time on MADtv.
posted by yasaman at 11:51 PM on March 19, 2012


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