'Key & Peele' on Comedy Central shows potential

There are not enough quality sketch comedy shows currently on the air these days. Without Mr. Show, The State or The Whitest Kids U' Know, audiences are starved for smart, fresh sketches from funny people. Sure we've got Saturday Night Live and Nick Swardson's Pretend Time, but neither has that starry-eyed, silly comedy that accompanies new sketch shows. Luckily, Comedy Central premiered a new show, Key & Peele, Jan. 31, which may fill that sketch comedy sized hole in our hearts.

The program, starring Keegan-Michael Key (MAD TV, RENO 911!) and Jordan Peele (MAD TV, Children's Hospital), is half standup, half sketch comedy. Allow me to explain: After an introductory sketch, Key and Peele come out and essentially just talk about themselves or about funny things they've done or noticed. These segments were hit and miss in last night's episode. The segments about "blackness levels" and reality shows were the highlights of the stand-up portions. The real stars of the show were the excellent characters in the sketches themselves. Both comedic actors are serious about their funny, which really shows in their superbly written and performed short sketches.

Where some sketch shows go for shock value or specifically targeted comedy, Key & Peele aims for broader laughs without being low-brow. Every sketch features some level of relate-ability, be it in the love of reality shows, love/hate relationships, or the plight of Lil Wayne in prison. Both Key and Peele are experts at the sketch comedy format from their experiences on SNL protégé MAD TV. Both comedians know how to play ridiculous characters in short videos.

The sketch sure to get the most attention (unfortunately) is their Obama bit. While mildly funny, most will take the sketch as a political statement where it should be taken as a parody. The sketch features Peele as President Obama and Key as the president's anger aid. Every calm statement by Obama regarding his accomplishments was followed by the angry aggressive version of that statement from "Luther." While this sketch will get the most attention, the funniest segments were "Gideon's Kitchen" (A hilarious parody of reality show Hell's Kitchen) and the "Medical Marijuana" sketch, featuring a cameo from "badger" of Breaking Bad fame (Doctor: "So I'm going to ask you a couple of questions" Patient: "Aids..." (wink))

So after one episode, what can we expect from the rest of the series? From the looks of it, Key & Peele shows an enormous amount of potential. Certainly there is room for improvement, but I for one am excited to see what these guys think up next.

Key & Peele airs Tuesday nights at 10:30/9:30 Central after Tosh.0 on Comedy Central