Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key on the Personal, Collective and Humorous ‘History of Sketch Comedy’

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 2 October 2023

⏱️ 56 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

The new book “The History of Sketch Comedy,” based on Keegan-Michael Key and Elle Key’s award-winning podcast of the same name, explains how sketch comedy works and how we arrived at the sketch comedy landscape we enjoy on our phone, laptop and TV screens today. Weaving in the authors’ own history — from watching sketches to scripting jokes themselves — the book analyzes why we love the Monty Python and late-night sketches we do, where the greats drew inspiration and why unexpected escalations can make us laugh so hard we need to leave the room. We’ll talk about the sketches that make us giggle days, months, years and decades after watching them — and why and how they work. Guests: Elle Key, author, producer, writer co-creator of "The History of Sketch Comedy" podcast and book Keegan-Michael Key, actor, producer, writer and co-creator of "The History of Sketch Comedy" podcast and book Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Support for KQED podcasts comes from San Francisco International Airport.
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0:35.0	From KQED.
0:54.4	The From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Mina Kim.
0:58.9	Coming up on forum, we talk sketch comedy with Kagan Michael Key and El Key.
1:04.1	Gigan starred alongside Jordan Peel as the comedy duo Key and Peel, and in series and films,
1:06.4	including Shmigadoon, Reboot, and Wonka.
1:11.1	He's brought characters to life with voice work in The Lion King and Toy Story 4, among others.
1:15.7	Elke is known for her film, TV, and commercial writing, producing, and directing.
1:23.3	She's worked with Keegan on Brain Games and won a Webby for her podcast version of today's topic, The History of Sketch Comedy.
1:26.0	I want to know absolutely everything that happened up tomorrow.
1:31.3	Well, let's see. First, the Earth cool, and then the dinosaurs came. What do you want to know about sketch comedy? Join us.
1:37.3	Welcome to Forum. I'm Mina Kim.
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