When the just about perfect sketch series Key and Peele went off the air last year, it left a massive hole in the landscape of television comedy. Don't get me wrong, I'm excited to see what they do in movies, but that was a big blow. One of the most provocative and incisive comedy series on TV, Key and Peele established itself as an all-time sketch comedy giant in short order thanks to the consistently tremendous work from writers and co-stars Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, incredible flexibility from director Peter Atencio, and all-around phenomenal work from every crew department that helped deliver the specificity of vision that set Key and Peele apart from its peers.
With Key and Peele's first feature film Keanu arriving in theaters this week, I've tried to narrow down their best sketches to a list of 25...and then rank them...which is crazy. There are nearly 300 Key and Peele sketches, almost all of them successful, and most of them an outright triumph. Narrowing it down to 25 is a daunting and nearly impossible task, which could only be guided by my own sense of humor. The upside of that is that if you like what you see here, there's an abundant back catalogue to get more of your Key and Peele fix.
Since 25 out of 300 is a real scarce number, here are a few honorable mentionss: 'Cute Puppies', 'The Batmans', 'Inner City Wizarding School', 'Ficker', 'Backhand Fronthand', 'Clear History', and 'Magical Negro'.
25. The Ray Parker Jr. Collection
Let's start this off with a couple points that are bound to be repeated a few times -- the costuming and wig work on Key and Peele is remarkable, Peter Atencio's gift for capturing the essence of a genre (and his ability to dance through them so frequently) is completely mind-blowing, and Jordan Peele's knack for disappearing into characters is almost eerie. All of that is on fine display in this sketch, which features Peele as Ray Parker Jr., the man behind the iconic 'Ghostbusters' theme song, who never quite saw that success replicated. Thanks to Key and Peele, we get a taste of what his other theme songs might have sounded like...for the most unlikely of films, from 'Lawnmower Man' to 'Passion of the Christ'. It's hard to pick a favorite song, though Peele's delivery on '12 Years a Slave' might take the cake for the best comedic bit, but personally, I'm partial to 'Apt Pupil' ("There's a kid and a Nazi down there!").
The sketch takes a hit for lacking the chemistry between the co-stars that makes the series so electric, but Peele is more than up to the task of carrying this one single-handedly, giving Ray Parker Jr. an exuberant daftness...and whoever wrote the songs absolutely killed it. Atencio is also on point, recreating the cheesy late-night infomercial feel to a tee. It's one of Key and Peele's most light-hearted sketches, which also means it's one of the most purely fun. I'm just sad we didn't get to hear the 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang' song.
24. Mexican Standoff
Featuring some more pitch-perfect genre work from Atencio, this sketch takes on the great cinematic tradition of the Mexican standoff. Centered on three armed men in an alleyway locked in a life-or-death standoff, the sketch sees a series of escalating reveals and betrayals that culminate in one of the series' peak moments of fearless absurdism. It's the kind of sketch that drops a fantastic line like, "Let's just take a moment to figure out who's double-crossing themselves while dressed as each other," and only gets weirder -- way weirder -- from there.
23. Make-A-Wish
Quite possibly Peele's most unsettling performance in the series run, the 'Make-A-Wish' sketch is some of the series' darkest fare, which is really saying something. Key plays the gloriously sensitive straight man, Dr. Gupta, to Peele's genuinely disturbing incarnation of the classic 'evil child' trope, Liam. When Dr. Gupta and a representative from the Make-A-Wish foundation offer Liam an opportunity to live out his dying wish, Liam -- dressed in a fuzzy rubber ducky onesie and sporting a serious bowl cut -- demands final deeds so disquieting each one could be the basis for an all-timer horror movie. Shot in a David Fincher wash of blue and grey, the camera spinning into a series of Dutch angles as Liam the devil child takes his toxic toll on Dr. Gupta, the sketch ends on a deeply fucked up button that perfectly encapsulates the streak of pitch black humor that runs through Key and Peele.
22. Dungeons and Dragons and Bitches
Dungeons & Dragons & Bitches from Peter Atencio on Vimeo.
Some of Key and Peele's peak geek material, the sketch centers on a group of quintessential D&D nerds joined on their latest journey by the Dungeon Master's cousin -- a prototypical thuggish youth who assumes the mantle of Kanye, a giant on a quest to get some bitches. Key infuses his knack for top-shelf exasperation with a nasally dweebishness while Peele gives the so-called Kanye the Giant a soft-spoken intractability, an immovable force for money and bitches who quietly usurps his cousin's hard-won, if inconsequential position of power as the Dungeon Master. While the sketch brings the laughs in a classic fish-out-of-water scenario, it also brings the meta-commentary on masculinity and culture clash that makes Key and Peel's best work rise above their goofy set-ups.
21. Ancestry.com
A standout sketch from Key and Peele's pilot episode, this one doesn't strive for the cinematic heights of some of its predecessors, but it immediately set the tone for the series' irreverent take on race and history. Thanks, once again, to Atencio's chameleon ability to adopt the tone of any material at hand, the true magic of this sketch is the bait-and-switch of making you think it's a real commercial. I'll never forget my cartoonish double-take when the first African American actor said he traced his lineage back to Thomas Jefferson -- sitting there thinking to myself, "Holy shit, who at Ancestry was asleep at the wheel when they green-lit this one?" Even with the surprise gone, the sketch holds up as a good laugh and an indicator of the great heights to come in Key and Peele's subversive racial bent humor.
20. Family Matters
A deliciously dark spin on the indignity of a respectable studio and a serious actor subject to the whims of a cultural phenomenon, 'Family Matters' turns Steve Urkel into the horrifying menace you never knew he obviously always was. Centered on Peele's Reginald VelJohnson and Key's Dean, the Senior Vice President of ABC, both of whom have become "pawns in that nerd's game" after Urkel Mania swept the nation. In true Key and Peele tradition, the sketch takes that experience to it's darkest possible conclusion, turning the earworm catchphrase "Did I do that?" into chilling words of previously untold measure.
19. Video Game Sensors
One of the great delights of Key and Peele is the myriad ways the sketches slip behind the mask of propriety to reveal the darker, sadder truths beneath, and 'Video Game Sensors' is one of the most creative, visually satisfying examples. Set at a friendly gathering hosted by a man whose wife just left him (Key), the sketch uses 360 body sensor technology to reveal the heartbreak behind the veneer of polite society (and has a bit to say about the perverse delight we occasionally take in our friends' suffering). As Key's heartbroken divorcee takes to his private quarters to deal with his grief, his all-too-intimate mourning process is broadcast to his group of friends thanks to the video game sensors. A bit dark, but mostly funny, it's one of the rare Key and Peele sketches that hinges more on concept than performance, and huge props are due to the graphic department, who carry most of the comedic weight here.
18. Obama - The College Years
Jordan Peele's Obama impression is second to none; the voice, the mannerisms, the tics and inflections, all flawlessly replicated. While Peele's most iconic Obama is owed to the 'Anger Translator' sketches, those largely belong to Key's volatile Luther character, while 'Obama -- The College' years is all about celebrating Peele's spot-on impersonation. It's impressive enough in the expected, modern day context, but transplanting the leader of the free world to his 1980s college days is a piece of genius that leads to, no exaggeration, an award-worthy performance from Peele. 'The College Years' finds Obama back at a university party, putting his smooth-talking charisma and diplomatic efficacy to use in the pursuit of diversity in the "pussy department" and an equal distribution of the weed. The concept alone is delightful for the way it cracks the veneer of mannered civility we expect from our political figures (or at least, we used to in the pre-Drumpf days), but it's Peele's performance that escalates the idea to become one of Key and Peele's best.
17. White Zombies/Alien Imposters
It's a little bit of a cheat to do a 2-for-1, but these sketches are the opposite side of the same coin, and what can I say, I'm greedy for all the Key and Peele goodness. Both are highly cinematic sketches that find the world overrun by a deadly menace where racism is the saving grace of our heroes. In 'White Zombies' Key and Peele are on the run from the flesh-hungry undead only to find the have no interest at all in a certain kind of flesh -- black flesh. Instead, the zombies are terrified of Key and Peele, locking their doors and protecting their children. In 'Alien Imposters', Key and Peele navigate the war-torn cityscape of an alien invasion that has left the world devastated. With the aliens able to assume human form, the only way they can pinpoint the extra-terrestrial threat is by their complete lack of racism. 'White Zombies' has more laugh out loud moments, while 'Alien Imposters' has a better cap on the end, but both put Atencio's expert eye for world-building to good use for two knock-out high-concept sketches about the reality of navigating the world as a black man.
16. Gay Wedding Advice
A common theme throughout Key and Peele is the extensive reach of bigotry, spanning cultures and generations (or to quote 'Avenue Q', bigotry has never been exclusively white.) 'Gay Wedding Advice' centers on an African American family confronting the reality of Cousin Leroy's imminent gay wedding. Unaware of what to expect from the occasion, the family recruits Key's Gary, a friendly homosexual who attempts to explain the utter normality of such an event. Unaware of their own offensive beliefs, the family has visions of a cross-dressing, Village People-bumping, jazz hands-mandatory anal orgy with Skittles instead of rice. As the family's question's grow more absurd and inappropriate, Key becomes ever more exasperated, one of many performances from Key and Peele's run that demonstrate no one does befuddlement and escalating frustration better. However, the entire ensemble deserves a shout out on this one for the well-meaning earnestness they bring to the family's offensive line of questioning and learned discrimination. A hilarious spin on homophobia, this sketch also pairs like fine wine with 'Office Homophobe' for a contrasting look at the subject of prejudice and persecution.
15. Pizza Order
The introduction of one of the most pathetic characters on Key and Peele's roster -- Wendell, the chronically obese, lonely, and dishonest mega-nerd with a gift for getting in over his head, 'Pizza Order' is a heavy-hitter that checks almost all the boxes of the Key and Peele comedy trademarks. It's got the incredible costuming and makeup, fantastic character work, commentary on concepts of masculinity, a deeply twisted sense of humor, and a story that takes the joke way farther than you'd expect. Alone in his collectable-ridden man cave, Wendell masks his abnormally large pizza order with the claim he's hosting a party, but gets too deep in the lie when Key's pizza man believes he's fallen in love with a fictitious woman, Claire. The sketch works because it's not mean-spirited about either man's desperate loneliness, and keeps the laughs alive through the insanity of the lie as Wendell's increasingly twisted attempts to extricate himself from his predicament only lead to further grief.
14. Shady Landlord
The best of Key's appearances as Devon, the titular 'Shady Landlord', this sketch is pure insanity. When Devon busts into the home of his unsuspecting tenants, he does so under the ruse of a routine inspection, but before too long it becomes clear he's on the hunt for a very particular individual -- a purple-bearded dwarf named Gerald who may or may not be hiding in any one of the apartment's nooks and crannies. Thanks to impeccable character design for Key's landlord, including a sword cane that is put to excellent use, and a fantastic bow on the end of the episode, 'Shady Landlord' is one of Key and Peele's all time wonderfully bizarre entries.
12. Auction Block
Centered on two men who grow increasingly annoyed as they're picked last at a slave auction, this is a sketch only Key and Peele could pull off. Fearlessly taking on one of America's great taboos with a casual tone that belies the thoughtfulness at work, 'Auction Block' thrives on Key and Peele's bread and butter of masculine pride. Certainly, the sketch has racial overtones thanks to the slavery setting, but the comedy at the heart of 'Auction Block' lies in Key and Peele's constant fronting and self-aggrandizing as they're consistently passed over in lieu of who they perceive as inferior male specimens. It's the kind of sketch that could never play in less agile comedic hands, and it's quintessential Key and Peele.
11. Where My Dookie Go?
This. Fucking. Sketch. Centered on Sid and Levi, two inner-city deadbeats pondering the afterlife of dookie while lighting up a joint, it's a sketch that starts out utterly ridiculous before taking a hard left toward the touching. To be honest, I just don't dig on bathroom humor, so the first time I saw this sketch, which drops the word "dookie" at an alarming per-minute ratio, I sat with a grimace and turned head through a good portion of it. Imagine my surprise when all that talk of dookie clouds and dookie flowers ultimately had nothing to do with scatological humor, but thanks to two disarmingly sincere comedic performances from Key and Peele became something much funnier. Unfortunately, there's no official link for this one at the moment, but I highly recommend looking it up as an example of how Key and Peele can turn even the most absurd subject matter into something sincere.
13. Continental Breakfast
Maybe the weirdest thing Key and Peele ever produced, 'Continental Breakfast' is a delightful little jab at the inane perks of corporate amenities and a tour-de-force of unhinged ridiculousness from Jordan Peele. The sketch centers on Peele's bizarrely titillated hotel guest, a dandy dressed man with Ken Doll shellacked hair who is thunderstruck by the "international" delights of a low-rent continental breakfast, and it's a gift that keeps on giving. 'Continental Breakfast' gets funnier on every rewatch, each of Peele's nonsensical exclamations better sinking in (I'm particularly partial to "A delight to the senses, isn't it, my friend?!") as he relishes in this banal indulgence. 'Continental Breakfast' is an exemplary demonstration of Key and Peele's commitment to concept, bolstered by an unpredictably eerie cap, a la The Shining (unless you were quick enough to catch that slick Room 237 reference at the get-go). It's a sketch that's unexpected in every way, completely one of a kind, and the type of thing that could only come from the outlandish inventiveness of Key and Peele.
10. Meegan, Come Back
Though not the first appearance of Peele's slightly sociopathic drama queen, Meegan, it's certainly the most iconic. In an all-too-authentic post-clubbing lovers' spat, Meegan and her boyfriend Andre drunkenly stumble out of the bar in an epic quarrel. Perhaps nothing better demonstrates Key and Peele's range than when they are able to inhabit women with such authenticity, and Meegan is the pinnacle. Peele's Meegan is an enthralling nightmare, occasionally attractive on a morally and sexually confusing level, who has the enduring, jacket-toting Andre wrapped around her sadistic finger. As Meegan barks out her "No"s and "Uh-uh"s like an obstinate chihuahua, Key plays a genius beleaguered straight man to the madness. It's insanely relatable if you've ever been in a toxic relationship (if not, props), but even if you can't relate on that level, it's a fundamental representation of one of Key and Peele's most successful dynamics -- pitting the affable logic of Key's straight man against the depraved insanity of Meegan, the puppy slayer.
9. Negrotown
The title sketch of Key and Peele's series finale, and one of the most topical bits in the series run, 'Negrotown' finds Key as a harmless black man on the streets, arrested on nonsense charges. When the officer slams his head into the police car, Key enters a dream sequence wherein Peele's amiable vagrant ushers him to 'Negrotown'. Another exemplary example of Key and Peele's elaborate costuming and cinematic design, 'Negrotown' is a vibrant, rainbow-colored paradise where cabs always stop, without "trigger happy cops or scared cashiers", so basically a fantasy of a day in the life of your average white person. While Key and Peele always has a streak of dark humor, 'Negrotown' comes to one of the grimmest and most relevant conclusions with the reveal that the real Negrotown isn't a wonderland of freedom from prejudice, but the American penal system.
8. Georgina and Esther and Satan
Forgive me for my repetition, but 'Georgina and Esther and Satan' is yet another example of the tremendous costuming and character work that sets Key and Peele a mark above the rest. A conversation between two devout church-going women, Georgina and Esther, whose complaints against the devil lead to a series of escalating perverse and descriptive threats against the devil himself, this is one of those delightful two-hander sketches that give Key and Peele highlight moments in equal measure, feeding off the comedic chemistry when both actors are turned to full blast. A bit of skewering of the pew-dwelling gossip of proper church ladies, a whole lot of profanity, and a riotously blasphemous climax (pardon), I will sing this sketch's praises to the end of days...with my prayers.
7. Liam Neesons
This. Is. My. Shiiiiiiit. Perhaps the most accessible of Key and Peele's offerings, the Valet sketches are the magic of Key and Peele translated into kinetic energy. There's nothing that's not ridiculous about this -- from the very concept of two full grown men salivating over Liam Neeson's resume in exquisite detail, to the excessive reenaction of the actor's greatest hits, the Valets are the overblown representation of every die-hard action fan (including yours truly). While the valets made plenty of other appearances, including one with the "incomparable Liam Neesons" himself, the first and original is the best. To be honest, I think we're all still wondering why Liam Neesons and Bruce Willy haven't made a movie together, and really guys, what about Dark Man, though?
6. I Said Bitch
A pilot sketch that has stood the test of time, "I Said Bitch" was one of the first sketches to demonstrate just how far Key and Peele was willing to go for the joke. Key and Peele headline this bit as a two-hander, leading as a pair of men griping about their wives. Right off the bat, "I Said Bitch" introduced Key and Peele's hallmark of competitive masculinity, as the husbands recount their common marital grievances with an air of disingenuous authority. More than anything, "I Said Bitch" is a commentary on gender roles in marriage, the men hiding further and further from their wives in an attempt to prove their false relationship dominance, but it's also got some ripe commentary on socio-economic cognitive dissonance as Key and Peele revert to slang to prove how tough they are, all the while cowering in the distance from their spouses, promising kitchen islands and showing off sunken baths. The code-switching, the commentary, and the follow-through on the joke all mark "I Said Bitch" a formative and defining entry in Key and Peele's catalogue.