What are the essential sketches, performers, and shows every comedy nerd should know?
Our guest editors offer a master class
1.
To think about48 HRS.,Trading Places.
Credit: Art Streiber for EW
(Chase: Jungle bunny.
Pryor: Honky honky.
Pryor: Dead honky.)
This is my favoriteSNLsketch, says Key.
Peter Sellers and Richard Pryor, theyre it for me.
Its classic Python absurdism, says Key.
It beats a joke into the ground to get extra laughs, which I think only masters can do.
If youre new at that, you shouldnt even tread on those waters.
Mork & Mindyblew my mind.
Like, A person can do that?
Pam Dawber is just stuck in between these two irresistible forces that couldnt be stopped.
Its so thick with laughs, says Key.
Its prurient material, but it just blows me away how well constructed that piece is.
Hes just amazing and still has it in his late 70s.
Version, 2001-03
You have to watch every episode ofThe Office, says Peele.
That was a game changer as far as tone for me.
Henrys other credits include the sketch showThree of a Kind, which costarred Tracey Ullman, and the sitcomChef!
Everybody at the launch is talking to him: The iRack looks unstable.
In this sketch, Marsh volunteers to translate CEOs at a multinational business summit.
Instead, she lets loose a string of gibberish-filled imitations of their native tongues.
I just cant stop laughing at it.
Its so silly, says Key.
Veep
2012-Present
Veepis so well written but also so well acted, says Key.
A lot of that has to do with Allison Jones, whos the casting person.
Theres a poetry in the way [show creator] Armando Iannucci and his writers write those words.
Hans…are we the baddies?
A lot of what Jordan and I wanted to do initially withKey & Peeleis influenced by Mitchell and Webb.
And it was just very well put together.
We love realizing full musical numbers.
Im a fan of all that stuff.
Theres a style there that is indicative of really quality thought-out comedy in the 21st century.
That was one of the first sketches I saw that really embraced a childlike silliness, says Peele.
I always talk about the difference betweenha-halaughter andahalaughter.
Ultimately, I think the heady stuff is something that everybody has different opinions on.
The stupid-funny is just more universal.
Theres such a verisimilitude to everything that they do, says Key.
But still there are always the really fun laugh-out-loud moments in the midst of all of it.
Richard Pryor
Think about how amazing, how unearthly good Richard Pryor was, says Key.
And think about the fact that he was fettered by drugs.
Imagine if he wasnt.
What would that have been?
The fun they have with each other is infectious, says Key.
Dudley Moore was just a heavyweight, and hes one of those guys that we forget about.
I preferAnimal CrackersoverDuck Soup.
But in a comedy syllabus, you should watchDuck Soup.
Shouldnt be that big of a deal: Its not a long movie!
Hes so heartbreaking and hilarious inBeing There, says Key.
That was robbery, that he didnt win an Oscar.
It messes with your reality, says Peele.
Costars include Guest regulars Eugene Levy, Parker Posey, Catherine OHara, and Fred Willard.
Mr. Beanis something Ive always enjoyed, says Key.
That kind of physical comedy is really important to me.
