Keegan-Michael Keyis living proof that you should always listen to your spouse.
“So I do every character [in the podcast], fromMonty PythontoChappelle’s Show.”
Here, theKey & Peeleco-creator previews some of the quintessential comedy creations getting the deep-dive treatment onHistory.
Audible
I like to study, I’ve always liked enjoyed school.
There’s just been kind of a historic interest about sketch comedy for quite some time.
My business partner is my wife, Elle Key, and it was her idea.
In my case it wasEddie Murphy.
I didn’t know that was a job!
I had heard him do stand up and he’d become the biggest standup comedian in the world.
When people started talking aboutSNL, my dad really wanted to watch Eddie Murphy do hisStevie Wonderimpression.
My dad was a huge Stevie Wonder fan.
I knew [SNL] was different than stand up.
I saw that there was some kind of interesting differentiation.
The most formative thing for me was, “Wait a minute,that’sa job too?”
And then I started to become very curious.
What did my dad find funny?
Andwhydoes he find that funny?
That was the beginning of it for me.
He did a sketch where he was making a dating video tape.
In the sketch, he played a dentist, and I remember him making this sexy dentist tape.
Even at that age, I started to understand what a juxtaposition was.
Meaning, “Oh dentists aren’t sexy, and he’s a dentist making a sexy video.”
I was like, “Oh, I see why this is funny.”
But Eddie doing Stevie Wonder was the thing.
You’ll hear me tell a story inThe History of Sketch Comedyabout Eddie impersonating Stevie Wonderin a sketchwithStevie Wonder.
You ain’t doing it right."
In another episode, you’ll explore the role of comedy in Medieval times.
I thoroughly enjoyed working at the Renaissance festival.
[They delivered] news and current events within the Court.
There’s something very akin to sketch in that.
Can we c’mon hear more about your time at the Renaissance faire?
It was something I’d studied in school…
I went around the festival in character and in my Comedia mask.
I would take a stab at stay in character the entire day in heels, by the way.
I was 20, so I could handle it.
That’s one of my favorite sketches ever.
I love at the end that we go find Shakespeare and make a run at shake him down.
It was right up my alley because I got to write all the Elizabethan English for the dialogue.
My favorite line in the whole sketch is when Jordan goes, “Moor, just!”
It was one of my favorite sketches.
In episode 5 of the podcast you explore variety shows, including Sid Caesar’sYour Show of Shows.
He changed the variety format.
It was people like Sid Caesar who decided, “What if we just did the comedic bits?”
He wasn’t the only one doing it at the time.
It was also the fact that he did so much really wonderful physical work.
There’s a sketch that we mention in the Audible series called “The Bavarian Clock.”
The sketch is like seven minutes long, and it’s all mimed.
It tells an entire story.
You also give some props toThe Muppet Showin the variety show episode too.
Animal the drummer was my favorite.
I didn’t know I was watching a variety show.
It’s an actual legitimate variety show it’s got sketches, it’s got musical acts.
One episode of the podcast is called “Sketch Goes to the Movies.”
Another term we use is “joke bucket.”
[Directors] Jim Abrahams, and David and Jerry Zucker were the masters at that.
I think I do a little bit of Chris Farley.
Sometimes I’d just start laughing, and Elle was like, “Keep rolling.
Just keep recording him.”
The History of Sketch Comedypremieres Thursday, January 28 on Audible.
