- one of the most iconic sketches on key & peele involved barack obama and his alter ego, luther. - a lot of folks say that i haven t done a good job at communicating my accomplishments to the public. - because y all mother (beep) don t listen! - and it was so popular that obama himself invited luther to come up on stage with him during a white house correspondent s dinner. so funny. - we won t always see eye-to-eye. - oh, and cnn, thank you so much for the wall-to-wall ebola coverage. for two whole weeks we were one step away from the walking dead! - key & peele proved that an all-black sketch show could be something that was bankable, and the best thing about it is that it paved the way for the next one. - kevin was a good boyfriend, okay? now he stole my car one time, but he brought that shit back. - uh-huh, with a girl in it! - the creator of a black lady sketch show robin thede, packed that show with so many talented black women,
progression is possible in this country sometimes. (upbeat music) - when barack obama was elected president, there was such this exhale and you felt that the world had shifted, it changed. - and not only has america changed, but we have changed as a culture. we expect fair representation. - when chappelle decided not to renew his contract and return with the chappelle s show, comedy central knew they needed to do something to capture that magic again. and they looked to mad tv alums, keegan-michael key and jordan peele, and decided to give them their own show. - where d the picture go? - we deleted it. - gross. - what? - i had child-birth face. - yeah, i looked like my grandmother having an orgasm. - [both] deleted! - key & peele was so brilliant to me because the range of characters was out of this world. - man, how you want me to smoke somebody when i got poop in my pants? - from the wigs to the voices to the risks that they were willing to take, it s unbelievable work.
who helped us very early on in our career, the way he treated us and took us under his wing that will always, like, stand out to me. - desus and mero are two of the most hilarious brothers out there. - you know, you in the hood mcdonald s when the drive-through says, yo, no walking, like, you can not walk through here. - people be knocking on the glass like. (knocks) hello! hello! i see y all in there. - yo, i m in a car, i m in a car, don t worry about it. look, ten-and-two, ten-and-two. look. and they re like, sir! i was like, hold up. (imitates window rolling down) (audience laughing) how can i help you? - late night tv has certainly expanded its stable of black voices and people who can not only entertain, but offer black perspectives, which have long been missing from late night television. - as far as like pressure and feeling like, oh, i have to represent this, i have to represent that, it s like we are who we are, and we are that. - the show we make is a reflect
- and if you can t get sponsorship, you can t exist. and when the show was canceled, what he said was, madison avenue is afraid of the dark. and they were. (smooth rock music) - in the late 50s, early 60s, the country starts to change more when civil rights hit. then you re getting grittier comedy that is gonna deal with race. - i hate to see any baseball player having troubles cause that s a great sport for my people. that is the only sport in the world where a negro can shake a stick at a white man and won t start no riot. (audience laughing) - dick gregory put politics in his comedy. it was like seeing a curve ball, and he d throw it and you couldn t see it coming. - 1961, appearing on the jack paar show, dick gregory becomes the first black comedian ever to sit down on the couch after his performance. - what kind of car you got? - a lincoln, naturally. - [jack] well, that s a. (audience laughing) - dick gregory in the 50s and early 60s
and then they get spike lee to film the show. it makes like another $100 million. so it s this runaway success. - i ve had three black people over at my house. if you know how many niggas been over at your house, you racist like a mother (beep). (audience laughing) - i think the king s of comedy tour was a game changer because you were seeing something that you d never seen before, harvey, cedric, bernie, and d.l., you talking about four heavyweights. - i said, where you going? he said, to get some milk and cookies. (audience laughing) he said it so funny, i wanted to hear it again. i said, get some what? he said, some milk and cookies. (audience laughing) - so at the same time, this happens in 2000, over on hbo, dave chappelle does killin them softly. - oscar, you are so mean. isn t he, kids? - he talks about race, you know, poverty, stuff like that. - he s like, bitch! i live in a (beep) trash can! (audience laughing) i m the poorest mother (beep) on sesame street.