Interview with the stars of Comedy Central’s ‘Key & Peele’

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele are the stars of Comedy Central’s new sketch comedy show, Key & Peele. The two worked together on Fox’s MADtv and now they have graduated to their own show, which airs on Tuesdays at 10:30 p.m.

The Celebrity Cafe: How long have the two of you been performing together?

Keegan-Michael: Jordan got to MADtv in the fall of ‘03 and I came in at the beginning of ‘04, so we were there together...I think, five seasons all told...And that’s kind of where the partnership started...sort of an ad hoc partnership. We were working with each other, you know, in the confines of the system we existed in so we would write together as much as we could and we gleaned certain characters from that partnership, so I think five years...and at that point we went our separate ways for a little bit.

Jordan: The first thing we wrote together were these characters called the “Superstitious Dudes” who did these fully coordinated step dances to break bad luck hexes. So, that was something we worked very hard on. We put in an extra bit of effort just to pitch it in the first place...and the rest was history.

The Celebrity Cafe: How did Comedy Central approach you to do a show?

Keegan-Michael: We have the same manager and our manager had been in a discussion with them about both of us individually and we had that great working relationship, so it was just sort of a no-brainer. We went in and pitched the idea of a sketch show about a year and a half ago. And at the time, it was very loose. It was just that, just us doing sketches.

Jordan: Yeah, and so they liked the idea of a two-man sketch show. They dug it and they bit. And we just went on from there. They said, ‘Yeah, if you can write us a pilot, we’ll shoot a pilot.’ So we shot that pilot about in March 2011 and we just kept going from there.

The Celebrity Cafe: This is the first traditional sketch comedy show on the channel in a long time. Did you ever think that your brand of comedy might not fit with the rest of the network?

Jordan: Well, they have has some sketch shows...Nick Swardson had one and they did two seasons I guess.

Keegan-Michael: Their last season just finished.

Jordan: The format of our show shouldn’t be off-putting to anyone or at the very least, we played it safe with the format. We’ve kept it similar to some of our favorite sketch shows of all time and then we just really concentrated on the content to break form and to zag when people are really expecting us to zig...to really surprise people with that stuff.

Keegan-Michael: Yeah, and as we continue to write material for them...We would say, this is the kind of direction we want to go in and they would say, ‘That sounds good’ or ‘Well, could you go into this direction?’ ...And we just continue to move around until the sketches and the pieces begin to funnel into kind of a singular voice. So we get help from them in regards to what we wanted...But at the same time, I was thinking ‘Kudos to them for allowing us to have out own voice comically.’

Jordan: I think that there’s always going to be a place for a good, cutting edge sketch show. It’s an art form, just like any other style of things that people continue to work on and continue to push. It’s easy for people to think that, maybe because they don’t like a certain show that maybe sketch is outdated. But I always think that it’s of the future.

The Celebrity Cafe: Is there a particular celebrity you enjoy impersonating? Jordan does a pretty good impression of Lil Wayne in the first episode.

Jordan: Between those two that I do on the first episode, Obama’s more fun. I mean, let’s be honest, my Lil Wayne isn’t actually very good.... We just found [the sketch] hilarious. And more importantly, we felt like we were shivving what people think of sketch comedy itself... By starting a video and implying we’re going to see a complete music video, like what we used to do on MADtv all the time... and cutting it before it began, we felt like we were shivving traditional sketch comedy as well. So, I didn’t answer that question at all but...Obama.

The Celebrity Cafe: With so many people performing President Obama impressions, did you ever think that you might want to stay away from that?

Jordan: No...not really. Obama is so relevant to what we do and why we’re here...So I think it was a no-brainer that we would have to deal with him at some point. You know, the impressions fun, so...

The Celebrity Cafe: You open the first show with a joke about how both of you are the product of interracial parents. How does that effect your brand of comedy, if at all?

Keegan-Michael: Oh, I think that it does. A lot of it...Obviously all comedy is subjective, but I think we have a more objective way of looking at...two cultures that make us. So, I think that we see foibles...Actually, it’s funny, it’s not that we see foibles in white cultures and foibles in black cultures, you can actually do that. I think that a lot of times, our comedy is just human as opposed to just black comedy. We just happen to have darker skin than...a part of the population of the world. You’ll see in our comedy that it looks at human behavior, very specifically what humans do, not specifically what black humans do or what white humans do. And then, you’ll also find scenes that examine this certain aspect of African American culture or an aspect of white culture or mainstream culture. So what happens is that we have twice as many scenes to write inside of us than other comics. Oh, and [Jordan’s] not biracial.

Jordan: I also think it has to do with the reason we’re attracted to sketch comedy and acting at all. It has to do with being a chameleon and our lives...there’s something amorphous about our lives. The other day, I just realized that as a kid, growing up, on applications and things, you’re always asked to declare what you are... and you have that thing “Other.” And it’s always confusing as a kid. To constantly categorize oneself, I don’t know. There’s something messed up about that.

Keegan-Michael: ...It should be more, ‘Who cares?’ If you think about Martin Luther King Jr., it should be ‘content of your character’... It’s comfortable for humans to categorize. It’s something that we as a creature on this planet do that others don’t. And we categorize in a very conscious way, but I go back to Martin Luther King Jr. and what he’d say. And you go ‘Huh...content of your character not the color of your skin.’ So I often think, because we have a color to our skin and that I’m the product of...several different cultural communities. It’s more of an MLK thing than a racial thing. People say that’s redundant, well, I’m not sure if it is the same thing!

Jordan: And I think that we would be guys or kids filling out that little other circle that lead us to the direction of sort of being different characters and I think that’s what makes us chameleons to our core.

The Celebrity Cafe: Between sketches, you perform in front of an audience. Do you prefer performing in front of an audience or do you like to have the control you get while filming sketches?

Keegan-Michael: Well, I always prefer performing in front of an audience. Always. It’s what I’ve done the majority of my career. I enjoy the input of other people and trying to help people get the shot right. It’s very much a team effort. It’s also a team effort to perform live, but with that, it’s just three people, me Jordan and the audience. And that spontaneity...there’s just a lot of titillation for me there to be in front of an audience and hanging by a thread. That’s why I prefer it.

Jordan: I probably have the sketches beat out by a slight margin for me. I think it’s just exemplifies the differences in Keegan’s and my personality...I enjoy the luxury to pace over a joke for a couple of minutes to figure something out. And you get all the time in a trailer to meditate. I’m a little more introverted.

Keegan-Michael: I’m a little more extroverted, I get all of my energy from people. I get my energy and my focus from others. Jordan’s kind of content with it. [To Jordan] You kind of have to be by yourself for a little bit...I recharge by being around others.
Jordan: He absorbs energy like any villain in a comic book movie. [The two laugh.] Like how every villain goes at the end of a comic book movie, ‘Now I can absorb energy and use it....

The Celebrity Cafe: Everyone has probably been influenced by a particular comic, so who would you credit as your major influences?

Jordan: Well, we always cite Richard Pryor...

Keegan-Michael: Yeah, he’s the master. He was everything. He had the pathos, which always impressed me. He was a monologist...He’s another guy, here’s a black man who is simply... There was a time when the humor was black and he was filtering it through his personality and there was a time when his humor for humanity... We’re also attracted to him because, without any training, he was an amazing actor. He and Eddie Murphy both [are] like these gifted performers, who are great actors, but this was not their line of work. They were stand up comedians....But, they ended up being great actors. And in our business, most African Americans go to stand up because that’s where our heroes were... But, In Living Color is another example to site because...David Allen Grier, formally trained actor who went to Yale, and the Wayans Brothers... So you had a hybrid there of actors, stand up performers and comics. That was a big revelation in both of our lives.

Jordan: Yeah, those were big... That’s where my most irreverent influence comes from...In Living Color, because they just didn’t care... We love Mr. Show, SNL, The State on MTV.

Keegan-Michael: We liked Dave Chappelle because I just thought so much of his comedy was smart. I mean, he did irreverent stuff...but there was a lot of smart stuff in there. His mother’s a really smart woman and you could tell by his comedy that his mother just raised him and so I’ve always loved his comedy.

The Celebrity Cafe: You have to figure out a way to be irreverent, but to show your intelligence in some way.

Keegan-Michael: Yeah, and Jordan and I have never been fans of shocking for the sake of shocking. I just don’t understand what you want the viewer to consume. You want them to consume shock and bad feelings? I don’t know why I would want to do that to the viewer.