HI, I’M MIKE TV

(WINTER TV EXTRAVAGANZA)

Television for the week of January 30th

KEY AND PEELE

** 1/2 (out of ****)

Key and Peele

 

Sketch shows are hard to pull off. I know this from the vast amount of both televised and live sketch shows I’ve seen try, and fall flat on their face, and seen others barely try at all and be forgotten forever, and perhaps two that have tried and soared like they were wing-ed like a majestic mythical bird of yore.

For every Kids in the Hall or Mr. Show, we get eighty Blue Collar Comedys or Hypes. SNL has forever in a cycle of hit or miss, and if it came out today for the first time, I’m sure it would fail like 90% of sketch shows that attempt to mimic it. The Chappelle Show revived interest in new sketch shows after so many failures, and since it’s departure many have been trying to fill the slot. With the advent of internet videos, sketches have found a new vigor and really made a sketch show seem needless. Why sit down and watch an entire episode of sketches, most which will be awful, when you can get 2-5 minute chunks of laughs and choose your choices by using the comment section? And if you happen upon an awful sketch online, because you trusted the comments section (which is a stupid thing to do, only douche nuggets leave comments) you can just skip to the next one instead of having to sit through the unfunny.

Whether it’s an ensemble cast, like SNL or MADtv, or centered around a single person, like Important Things with Demetri Martin or Nick Swardson’s Pretend Time, televised sketch shows center around personalities. Each sketch show is different, whether they center on parodies and impressions, absurdism, overarching themes or stand alone vignettes- it’s the personality that drives the show. SNL goes in waves depending on who the head writer is, and who the main star the show is trying to launch. It’s also one of the rare sketch shows that dabbles in every kind of sketch, and often can pull it off (at least in comparison to the majority of its competition. The single personality sketch show is riskier than the ensemble, because if the audience doesn’t like Dave Chappelle or Amanda Bynes and their worldview, they won’t like the show at all. Even though there’s an entire staff of writers, the show is filtered through the view of the main personality. Ensembles are safe, because though the show’s generally shaped by the head writer, there are a lot more brains creating the funny, therefore making different kinds of funny. The danger of that is creating a choppy show that never manages to fall into a rhythm.

Key and Peele is Comedy Central’s newest attempt at fill the shoes of The Chappelle Show. The format is the same, bouncing back and forth between the hosts (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) talking to the crowd about different subjects that loosely lead into the sketch following it. Key and Peele are both long time sketch and improv performers, both doing long stints on MADtv in its later seasons (also known as the era of Skinny Sasso). Key and Peele tell the viewers immediately that they’re going to often deal with race, both in the first sketch, and then in the monologue after it. They’re both halfsies (I’m pretty sure that’s the politically correct term- only my Gizmo uses mulatto anymore, and there’s way I’m putting that out on the internet.), the halves in question being black and white, which I’ve been told by songs doesn’t matter, but apparently it does.

 

It makes me feel better that no one feels safe when they hear people talking about the theater.

They’re in a unique situation having to jump between the two cultures, and succeed in bringing laughs to a tired comedic comparison of the differences between black people and white people. Mostly because they’re not even doing that at all, other than that first sketch, the characters could be any race (other than Obama and Lil’ Wayne of course). I’m sure there will be people out there who argue with me, and see the whole show as racially-focused, but it just comedy focused. The show jumps between celebrity impressions, daily minutiae and absurdity, and handles it all fairly well.

It’s apparent that the two have worked with each other for years, both in the skits and the monologues (dialogues would probably more more accurate…). They’re chemistry, and ability to toss the straight man character back and forth is excellent. My biggest complaint is the monologue section, the jokes just didn’t hit hard enough. For the most part the sketches are strong enough without needing the introductory tie-ins, and if Key and Peele feel the need to insert their personalities even further into the show, they need to sell the bits talking to the crowd. They are crazy charming though. If I rated on potential, I would give this show ***; more than any other sketch show in recent years, it seems like it has the drive, balance, and lead personalities to improve and bring more laughs as time goes on. Let’s just hope these young chaps get the chance.-MG

Below is the final sketch from the pilot, and one of my favorites.

When the bullhorn gets thrown, it’s gigglefits.