Review: Key & Peele

Key & Peele Improves in Season Two (But It's Still Not Very Funny)
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Jordan Peele,
Keegan-Michael Key

When Comedy Central's Key & Peele debuted in January, we wrote a review that amounted to: It's not funny. To which a slew of TV critics responded with barbed comments that essentially said: You're crazy.

So, it was with some trepidation that we watched tonight's second season premiere (Comedy Central, 10:30pm). As it turns out, there's some good news in season two.

Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, both best known for starring in Fox's old skit show Mad TV, are now more comfortable with themselves.


What that means is that Key and Peele don't strain quite as much as they used to to be funny. Last season, just about every bit seemed to center on the guys being biracial. If you didn't see season one, trust me, there are a limited number of laughs coming out of that, and the ones that do take a lot of work.

On tonight's premiere, Key and Peele head to familiar territory. Peele, for instance, has a recurring bit where he is Barack Obama back in the president's doobie-toting college days - unearthed grainy footage and all. That's funny.

Another skit where Peele is Jesus being confronted by a street-wise pimp (Key) is, like most of Key & Peele, dragged out. It's too long to sustain more than a brief laugh.

Still, Key & Peele isn't terrible. In fact, it's moderately entertaining. On stage, when Key and Peele introduce segments, the two guys are at their best. They're friends chatting with the audience. It's then that the show briefly shines.