Key & Peele

Barack Obama and Luther

The 44th President of the United States, impersonated by Peele, often has difficulty expressing his true feelings. President Barack Obama's "anger translator" Luther, played by Key, works to interpret the President's low-key statements into raging, profanity-laced tirades. Oftentimes, Luther goes too far with these and has to be reeled in by Obama, while other times Luther's influence ends up rubbing on Obama, prompting him to swear. Other sketches reveal that Obama's wife and two daughters each have their own anger translators as well, whom they request help from to speak with each other, as do other politicians such as Hillary Clinton.

Key appeared briefly in-character as Luther at the Annual White House Correspondents Dinner as an anger translator for the real Barack Obama in early 2015. On January 5, 2017, Key debuted an "Obama-Luther" sketch on The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.^[17]

In 2024, a sketch from Key & Peele gained public attention when the real Barack Obama was filmed at USA Basketball’s 50th anniversary party in Las Vegas acting in a similar manner to Peele's Obama in one of the sketches.^[18] At the USA Basketball party, Obama was filmed shaking the hands of white athletes but giving hugs to black athletes.^[18] This was noted as similar to a 2014 Key & Peele sketch where Peele's Obama is shown at a political event where he greets white guests by shaking their hands but greets black guests by hugging them.^[18]

Mr. Garvey

Mr. Garvey (played by Key) is an ill-tempered and distrustful substitute teacher with 20 years of experience in inner-city schools, which he applies to his now mostly-white suburban class. While taking attendance, Mr. Garvey proceeds to butcher the names of his students, rendering Jacqueline as "Jay-Quellin", Blake as "Balakay", Denise as "Dee-Nice", and Aaron as "A-A-Ron". The implication is that Mr. Garvey has trouble pronouncing "white" names, mirroring the experiences of minority students with similar-minded white teachers. However, when the students correct him, Mr. Garvey thinks they're deliberately messing with him, and refuses to accept their word. Instead, he vigorously defends his errors, causing him to become progressively more enraged and threatening with each correction. He proclaims that he has his eye on Jacqueline, asks Blake if he wants to go to war, and breaks a clipboard in front of Denise while demanding she say her name "right". Mr. Garvey eventually snaps at Aaron, sending him to Principal O'Shaughnessy's office - whose name he mispronounces as "O'Shag-Hennessy" - for insubordination. The only student Mr. Garvey seems to trust is an African-American boy at the back of the class named Timothy ("Tim-Oh-Thee"), who is played by Peele. Timothy does not correct Mr. Garvey when his name is called, and also replies with "pree-sent" instead of "present", suggesting he may come from a similar background to Mr. Garvey.

In Substitute Teacher Part 2, Mr. Garvey's class - including a new student named Jessica ("Ja-Seeca") - seem to have gotten used to their names being mangled. During roll call, Aaron informs Mr. Garvey that some students need to leave class early, so that they can meet up with their clubs for yearbook photos. Mr. Garvey misinterprets this as a fabricated excuse to ditch class and go clubbing, something his students are too young for. Jacqueline nonetheless confirms that Aaron was referring to the students' school clubs, but Mr. Garvey simply takes this as confirmation that, yet again, the students are messing with him. In this mindset, Mr. Garvey questions his students about their club activities, then finds a reason as to why they must be lying. Jacqueline's involvement in Future Leaders of America is dismissed due to her not being clairvoyant; Blake being in the Spanish club is ridiculed on the grounds that he isn't "Spanish" enough; and Denise saying she's in the chess club is misinterpreted as being in the "chest club", which Mr. Garvey hurtfully claims she isn't. When Mr. Garvey learns that Aaron is the president of the glee club, he loses his temper; he refuses to believe that such a club exists, as, in his mind, no one would ever dedicate a club to a TV show (never considering that it might be the other way around). Once again, Mr. Garvey sends Aaron to Principal O'Shaughnessy's office out of rage and spite. Immediately afterwards, O'Shaughnessy himself makes an intercom announcement to remind students to meet with their clubs, but Mr. Garvey dismisses it as fake (possibly because O'Shaughnessy said his name correctly rather than "O'Shag-Hennessy"). Despite all of this, Mr. Garvey is happy to excuse Timothy so he can pick up his daughter, as he deems this a "legitimate reason".

In November 2022, Key reprised the role in an advertisement for Paramount+, in which he teaches a mountaineering class consisting of various children's show characters. These students include "Blah-Zay" (Blaze from Blaze and the Monster Machines), "B-Louie" (Blue from Blue's Clues), Peppa Pig (whose name is not called), "Big Naughty" (Nate from Big Nate), "K-Room" (Krumm from Aaahh!!! Real Monsters), "Doh-Rah" (Dora the Explorer), and "Bum-blee-bay" (Bumblebee). Unlike the original sketches, "A-A-Ron" (Aaron Donald) plays the Timothy role, and is not sent to the principal’s office.^[19]

The Valets

Played by Key and Peele, the two valets from the Berkshire Restaurant (who always use unnecessary plurals in names of people, places, or things) love discussing their favorite movie stars and characters. Despite this, the valets mangle their names and films – such as "Liam Neesons" from Tooken, "Peter Dinkels" (who plays "Taiwan Lannister"), "Bruce Willies," "Michelle Pa-feiffers," "Timothy Elephants" and "Racist-Ass Melly Gibsons". They end the sketch by saying that something related to the star in question is "MY SHIT!", then disappearing, by ways such as flying into the air like a rocket or exploding.

In February 2014, a sponsored sketch with the valets titled "What About Non-Stop?" – in which "Liam Neesons" himself shows up to collect his car – was used to promote the film Non-Stop.^[20][21]

Key and Peele also appeared in a parody of "The Valets" in one of the teaser trailers for Toy Story 4.^[22]

East/West Bowl football players

The East/West Bowl features college football stars whose names become increasingly ridiculous. The concept came from Peele discovering there was an actual player with the name of D’Brickashaw Ferguson while playing Madden NFL, and utilizes introductions such as those on NBC Sunday Night Football in which the player states their name and school.^[23] Most are played by either Key or Peele, including "Javaris Jamar Javarison-Lamar" of the University of Middle Tennessee, "Hingle McCringleberry" of Pennsylvania State University, "Donkey Teeth" of Boise State University, "Huka'lakanaka Hakanakaheekalucka'hukahakafaka" of the University of Hawaii, "Squeeeeeeeps" of Santa Monica College, and "Firstname Lastname" of "College University". In addition, some West Team players come from non-university organizations, such as "Torque (Construction Noise) Lewith" of "Nevada State Penitentiary", "Morse Code" of "Army/Navy Surplus Store", "Wingdings" of "Online Classes", and the home-schooled "God". The West Team’s introductions are always finalized by a white player with a conventional name played by neither Key or Peele - with the two being "Dan Smith" of Brigham Young University and "A. A. Ron Balakay"^[b] (a mispronunciation on Aaron Blake) of Morehouse College.

In the third edition of this sketch, the fictional athletes were joined by actual players with unusual names, such as Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Ishmaa'ily Kitchen, and Ferguson himself. The last West Team player was "A. A. Ron Rodgers", with his name modified, in reference to the Mr. Garvey sketches^[24]; according to Key, Rodgers improvised his own punchline.^[23]

Critical reception

The first two seasons of Key & Peele received positive reviews, maintaining a score 74 of 100 by the review aggregator site Metacritic.^[25] The third season of Key & Peele received critical acclaim, receiving a score of 82 on Metacritic.^[26] The series won a Peabody Award in 2013 "for its stars and their creative team's inspired satirical riffs on our racially divided and racially conjoined culture".^[27] On April 24, 2012, during an interview on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, President Barack Obama told the story of how he had watched the Key & Peele sketch featuring himself with "Luther, his Anger Translator", saying that "It's pretty good stuff – it's good stuff."^[28] Additionally, on April 25, 2015, during the White House Correspondents Dinner, Key reprised the role of Luther, President Obama's anger translator during the event.^[29] Dave Chappelle has accused the show of copying the format he established years prior for Chappelle's Show, but states that he is still a fan of the show.^[30]

Awards and nominations

Vandaveon and Mike

Key & Peele have also created a YouTube commentary of their episodes under their alter-egos Vandaveon Huggins and Mike Taylor.^[34] Vandaveon and Mike analyze an episode, and suggest that low brow humor would make it funnier. These videos were also added to On Demand offerings of Key & Peele episodes. On March 12, 2014, Comedy Central announced the network was developing an animated spinoff starring Vandaveon and Mike as 12-year-old hall monitors, in association with Key and Peele.^[35]

Other film and television

Key and Peele have appeared as a comedic duo, usually in tribute to the show, in various film and television series. This includes the following:

• In the final three episodes of the first season of Fargo (2014), Key and Peele play wisecracking FBI agents Bill Budge and Webb Pepper, who seek vengeance against main antagonist Lorne Malvo (Billy Bob Thornton) after he takes advantage of their distraction from their conversation to commit a rampage.
• Key and Peele dueled in two episodes of Epic Rap Battles of History. The first involved Mahatma Gandhi (Key) vs. Martin Luther King, Jr. (Peele), while the second involved Muhammad Ali (Peele) vs. Michael Jordan (Key).
• In the film Keanu, Key and Peele play cousins Clarence Goobril and Rell Williams, who infiltrate a gang to retrieve a stolen kitten, as well as Smoke and Oil Dresden, the dreaded Allentown Brothers. Both also served as producers, with Peele contributing to the script.
• In the animated film Toy Story 4, Key and Peele voice carnival toys Ducky and Bunny, who assist Buzz Lightyear throughout the film.
• In the animated film Wendell & Wild, Key and Peele play the titular demons. Peele also co-wrote and co-produced the film.