PARODY TRUMP? HA HA!
Keegan-Michael reflects on past & his new podcast
Keegan-Michael Key might just have the key to cheering you up.
The “Key & Peele” co-creator and host of Audible’s “The History of Sketch Comedy,” out Thursday, admitted to the Daily News that Comedy Central’s Peabody-winning sketch series, in which he starred with co-creator Jordan Peele, would have been infinitely more challenging to write in the age of Trump than during the Obama years.
“We’ve just left an era, or, I should say ... we’re leaving an era in American politics that had become a parody of itself,” Key, 49, told The News shortly before President Biden’s inauguration.
“I don’t know how you can actually parody what they were doing. I mean there must’ve been … days in the writers room at ’Saturday Night Live’ where they’re going, ’Well, how the hell are we supposed to make this funnier than it already is?’ ”
The “Prom” star, who frequently played President Barack Obama’s “anger translator” Luther, pointed to the 44th President’s “mystique” as a virtue for those parodying his administration.
“There was a stateliness about him and a grace about him,” the “Friends from College” star explained.
Though it would be rife with obstacles, the Emmy-winner noted the one scenario in which he could envision himself and the “Get Out” director tackling the current climate.
“If we came back to do the show again, it would probably take quite some time for us to figure out what is the best and most evergreen way to figure out why what’s happening to us is happening,” said Key. “Sketches would have to be written about what the causes of systemic violence and racism [are], as opposed to the people.”
For now though, Key — who made his Broadway debut in Steve Martin’s 2017 play “Meteor Shower” — is more than happy exploring his love of sketch comedy and its origins through the 10-episode Audible podcast, which he developed with writing
partner, director and wife Elle Key.
“I think it’s easy to see that I love performing comedy, but what a lot of people don’t know is that I also love learning about comedy — different comedians, how that works, all that stuff,” he said.
When the coronavirus pandemic got underway, Bronx native and “August” producer Elle suggested the “Jingle Jangle” actor share a bit of his “encyclopedic knowledge of all things related to sketch comedy” with the rest of the world.
“She said to Audible: ’What if Keegan were a guest lecturer at NYU and he was teaching a 10-week course in sketch comedy?’ ” said Elle.
The educational one-man course in all things sketch covers everything from ancient and medieval comedy and tropes to the enduring impact of British humor, what’s influenced Keegan-Michael himself, and more.
Keegan-Michael hopes that audiences will allow “The History of Sketch Comedy” to “elevate them and bring some buoyancy to what’s going on” in the world.
“Oh, right, comedy, haven’t thought about that in a while,” he laughed.
The rest, as they say, is history.