“Key & Peele” fans know that Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s genius knows no bounds, which is what made the task of compiling their 100 best sketches on their Comedy Central series so daunting. The show’s four seasons so far span dozens of hours and hundreds of bits, from full-length epics like “Flicker” to the understated moment when a man who knows he’s about to die decides to pour an abnormal amount of sugar into his coffee — because why not?
But somehow the impossible was done, and 100 sketches were chosen. Fair warning: There isn’t a single dud on this list, and these really are the best of the best. Compiling this ranking was a challenge, but not an unwelcome one, and was a fun excuse to revisit every episode of “Key & Peele.”
100. ‘Phone Call,’ Season 1, episode 1: The first “Key & Peele” sketch — the one that plays in the first episode before the title sequence even rolls — is not the best or the funniest sketch, but it kicks the show off perfectly: With both actors turning on their “black voices” as they each believe the other is about to mug him.
99. ‘Flicker,’ Season 1, episode 6: You may see the punchline coming a mile away, but you have to love this sketch involving a man who can’t stop playing the “something on your shirt” prank on one coworker — they really committed to the concept here. Watch it here.
98. ‘Pussy on the Chain Wax,’ Season 3, episode 13: Ever wonder where the latest slang originated? Yeah, someone like Key’s character in this sketch probably made it up. Now go put that pussy on the chain wax, if you dig. Watch it here.
97. Cheating wife, Season 4, episode 5: Sometimes you think you know what a “Key and Peele” sketch is going to be, and then Keegan gets into a passion-fueled brawl with a dog he thinks is boinking his wife. Watch it here.
96. ‘Sex With Black Guys,’ Season 3, episode 11: Any sketch that begins with random banter about “Game of Thrones” (“I want to know what’s going on with the huge woman, and I want to know what the deal is with the red witch lady”) is starting off on the right foot, and the overheard conversation in which a pair of white women discuss their theories on why black men are better lovers does not disappoint. Watch it here.
95. ‘Tackle & Grapple,’ Season 3, episode 9: It’s one of those rare “Key and Peele” bits without Jordan Peele in it, but sometimes the concept of a sketch — a low budget infomercial in which Keegan-Michael Key wrestles gaggles of beautiful women (face 10, body 10) to the ground in the name of advertising his Jiu Jitsu studio — is too good to pass up. Tackle and grapple! Watch it here.
94. ‘LMFAO’s Non-Stop Party,’ Season 2, episode 7: You haven’t heard the latest track from LMFAO’s multi-platinum album “Songs in the Key of Party?” It’s totally NOICE!
93. Gay adoption, Season 2, episode 10: Jordan Peele’s character LaShawn cannot wait to adopt a baby, but it seems like the weekly “Tuesday night dress-up parade” he’s planning might be more for his benefit then the kid’s.
92. Return of substitute teacher, Season 3, episode 1: When Key and Peele revisit the classics — the infamous substitute teacher, in this case — they always make sure to do them justice. Naturally Mr. Garvey doesn’t believe that any of his students actually need to duck out of class early to go to their “club meetings” (“Ain’t none of y’all old enough to go to the damn club!”), but he lets Jordan’s character — high school student “Tim-oh-thee” — go pick up his daughter. Watch it here.
91. Bald brotherhood, Season 2, episode 4: The concept here is simple: Key’s character Louis has a fundamental misunderstanding about race relations in prison. (Here’s a hint, buddy: Gang membership isn’t based on how much hair you have.) Watch it here.
90. ‘Baby Forest,’ Season 1, episode 8: It’s not the funniest sketch, and Jordan’s Forest Whitaker impression isn’t his best, but they just had to do this one once they thought of putting that impression on the body of a toddler and intimidating a babysitter until he’s the one crapping his pants. Watch it here.
89. Obama family translators, Season 3, episode 5: There are so many good Obama sketches, and many are better than this one. But there’s just something irresistible about young Malia telling the First Parents — through her own anger translator — that she’ll get a tattoo on her face if they don’t let her go to a party.
88. ‘Michael Jackson,’ Season 2, episode 6: Sometimes Key and Peele pick the low-hanging fruit, and this sketch definitely it. Still, the moment when dude doing the irritating Michael Jackson impression at the Halloween party learns for the first time that Jacko has passed makes up for it. Watch it here.
87. ‘Twilight Gangsters,’ Season 2, episode 9: If “Twilight” ever did one good thing for the world, it was bringing these two gangstas together. There’s just one question, though: “You a Edward n**** or a Jacob n****?” Watch it here.
86. ‘Karim and Jahar,’ Season 2, episode 8: It might be a little bit racist, but this sketch about Karim and Jahar admiring passing burka-wearing ladies’ noses and “foot nuts” is worth it just for the absurdity of these characters. And the erotic way they grind each other in excitement. Watch it here.
85. Human centipede, Season 2, episode 6: Everyone’s real interested in the idea of a human centipede, but no one thinks about what it’s like for the victims as they try to go on with their lives after their centipede days are done. No one besides Key and Peele, that is, who here explore the awkward moment when the bottom has a chance encounter with his middle and top. And the punchline is amazing.
84. Internet porn, Season 3, episode 1: This could have been a sketch about a woman confronting a man about his internet porn habit, but instead it’s more about watching Jordan spew sweat from his head like a fountain. Gross, but good. Watch it here.
83. ‘Speaking After MLKJr.,’ Season 2, episode 2: This sketch is interspersed throughout the episode, and it’s a little bit more painful every time the show cuts back to the guy who had to follow the civil rights hero’s famous speech. Naturally he accidentally incites a race riot and gets sprayed with a fire hose. Watch it here.
82. Gay R&B group, Season 1, episode 2: Sometimes a “Key and Peele” sketch is as simple as watching a boy band member grapple with his sexuality on stage in front of his screaming female fans. Watch it here.
81. ‘Party Games,’ Season 2, episode 5: This a simple sketch — during a friendly social game, a man actually comes out — but the look on Peele’s face makes it a classic. “He’s pretending to be straight, but he’s really gay — ” “ME!” Watch it here.
80. ‘Tim Cook Meltdown at iPhone 5 Launch,’ Season 2, episode 3: Tim Cook has done a decent job as CEO of Apple since Steve Jobs’ passing, but he may very well have felt like doing exactly this the first time he took the stage to introduce a new i-thingy.
79. ‘Retired Military Specialist,’ Season 2, episode 4: You can tell Key and Peele are really huge fans of cheesy old action movies, particularly in the ways they tear apart those films’ tropes, like the aging action star being pulled out of retirement for one last assignment. Unfortunately Jordan’s character Decker really isn’t as spry as he used to be. Watc it here.
78. ‘Boarding Group One,’ Season 3, episode 4: Airport humor is a little easy, but this bit manages to hit close to home for anyone who’s stood around their gate for half an hour while everyone and their moms gets called up to board first. Watch it here.
77. Steampunk, Season 4, episode 2: Levi and Cedric are two of the most underrated “Key & Peele” characters, and while this sketch isn’t their best it is definitely their most ridiculous. When Levi decides to go Steampunk and “live in a clock,” Cedric calls off their friendship for good. Hopefully these two reunite in future seasons, though. “Say goodbye, Ratatouille!” Watch it here.
76. Pour one out, Season 3, episode 4: It’s the simple story of a homey who wants to honor his fallen comrades but can’t stand to waste a drop of beer. He might be an alcoholic.
75. ‘Dunk the Vote,’ Season 2, episode 5: Jordan and Keegan explain the Electoral College: “They’re the folks who actually do the real voting after we do our pretend voting. Yeah!” Watch it here.
74. ‘Obama’s Anger Translator – Victory,’ Season 2, episode 7: On a list of things Key and Peele’s Barack Obama and Luther, his anger translator, should tackle next, the signature MC Hammer dance may not have been high. And yet here it is anyway, and it’s kind of great. Watch it here.
73. Underground railroad, Season 2, episode 5: When Peele as Harriet Tubman does parkour around a farmyard, he and Key aren’t really making any particular statement. That’s OK though, because it’s funny that they poke fun at history remembering her network of secret routes and safehouses used to free slaves in the American south as the “underground railroad,” when it likely didn’t involve many actual railroads. Watch it here.
72. ‘Metta World News – Rhetoric,’ Season 3, episode 1: As many “Key & Peele” fans probably know, Metta World Peace is an actual former professional basketball player. The joke of these sketches, which premiered in Season 3 episode 1 and continued throughout the season, is that he’s ridiculous. They’re more weird than actually funny. Watch it here.
71. ‘Insult Comic,’ Season 3, episode 6: In a meta turn, Key and Peele tackle the experience of performing at a comedy show, with a requisite dark twist. When Key’s comedian character promises to mock every member of his audience, he didn’t realized there’s a horribly burned, gay, breast cancer-supporting, wheelchair-ridden man with a “robot voice” ready to be teased. It’s horrible and amazing all at once. Watch it here.
70. ‘Georgina and Esther and Satan,’ Season 4, episode 3: You think the joke is that Georgina and Esther, two decent church-going ladies, want to seduce the devil and then “snap that n****’s c*** off with a divine kegel,” but then Satan actually shows up and possesses one of them and he finds out just how real all their big threats were.
69. Drugs are for losers, Season 4, episode 6: Some people will try anything once, but even Jordan Peele’s character in this sketch draws the line at “Long Island Brain Slice,” “a razor sharp crystal you tuck under your eyelid” that makes you “realize the face of God is somewhere inside your body, but you can’t find it and it hates you.” Also it makes you “poop out of your mouth.” Luckily Keegan’s character is game, but what you don’t know is that it’s all an elaborate anti-drug ad. Watch it here.
68. ‘Puppy Dog Ice-T,’ Season 2, episode 3: The special effects — which put Jordan’s head doing an Ice- T impression on the body of what appears to be a pug — make this one worthwhile. Even if it’s not the duo’s best dog-based sketch (that comes later on the list). Watch it here.
67. Brain freeze, Season 4, episode 9: This far into Season 4, the brain freeze sketch started out feeling like an almost typical “Key & Peele” bit, with Jordan writhing around in feigned agony from eating his fro-yo too quickly while Keegan watches in disbelief. And then Jordan’s character shows his badge and it gets real. Watch it here.
66. Lando Calrissian, Season 3, episode 10: Of course Key and Peele are “Star Wars” fans. But when Keegan’s Lando Calrissian encounters a typical annoying fan the audience sees firsthand one of the downsides of fame: Everyone wants to ride your coattails to the top of Cloud City. Watch it here.
65. ‘Soul Food,’ Season 1, episode 7: The comedians become embroiled in an impromptu competition to up the ante on one another’s soul food, culminating in an order that includes a dandelion greens, cow hip and dog face sandwich wrapped in an issue of Ebony magazine and served in a shoebox, and a platter of stork ankles on an old cellar door with a possum spine and a human foot. And don’t forget the gravy, obviously. Watch it here.
64. Mary Magdalene’s pimp, Season 2, episode 1: Any sketch in which Jesus has to explain that he’s “not a pimp” is bound to raise some eyebrows and earn some laughs. Watch it here.
63. ‘Manly Tears,’ Season 2, episode 8: There’s nothing funny about a grown man crying, unless that grown man is Jordan’s not-so-gangster character Carlito. The way his lips quiver makes you want to give him a big old hug — at least until he pulls out his nine. Watch it here.
62. Pullin’ my dick, Season 3, episode 8: Any time Levi and Cedrick come onscreen is a guaranteed hit, and though the duo have better moments than Levi mixing up the words “leg” and “dick,” there’s just something about the way he says “Foghorn Dickhorn” with such absolute certainty.
61. Not racist rednecks, Season 4, episode 1: Jordan and Keegan always have a good time turning stereotypes on their heads, but it’s not often they do it to the ones who are usually doing the stereotyping. This pair of rednecks is more racially sensitive than you might think, but then again, is that just a stereotype anyway?
60. Ty Burrell Nazi returns, Season 4, episode 2: Ty Burrell’s first appearance as a Nazi commander on “Key & Peele” is hard to beat, but his return does an admirable job trying. The fact that he spends the whole sketch condescendingly telling his subordinate about a chance encounter with Hitler at the farmer’s market helps.
59. ‘Bling Benzy & Da Struggle,’ Season 2, episode 4: Da Struggle is in the house, using words and rhymes to get through hard times. But he brought his friend, Bling Benzy, whose lyrics — “your mouth is the church where I shoot my holy sperm in” — aren’t quite as inspiring.
58. Prison snitch, Season 2, episode 9: Jordan Peele’s character in this sketch took one for the team, but he’s assimilated into prison life surprisingly well. Particularly with the Daisy Dukes. Watch it here.
57. Right to bear arms, Season 3, episode 5: Plenty of people fantasize about going back in time and killing Hitler, but it’s probably safe to say that fewer have considered doing the same to the founding fathers. Key and Peele make a pretty good case for it in this sketch, though, but Peele’s mistake is bringing uzis with him. Watch it here.
56. ‘Consequences,’ Season 4, episode 8: There are tons of great moments in this sketch. Key’s totally straight delivery of the school principal just makes Peele’s completely ridiculous alleged ex-gang member all the more absurd, and that’s before Peele starts describing his hijinks as the star of “Back to the Future,” takes a hit from a crack pipe and gets smashed by an actual wrecking ball in the middle of a high school gymnasium. Watch it here.
55. Nuclear sugar, Season 4, episode 8: This is one of the shortest “Key & Peele” sketches ever, but it’s essential for that moment when the dude says “screw it” after seeing the mushroom cloud in the distance and switch the Sweet’N Low for some real sugar.
54. ‘Funky Nonsense,’ Season 3, episode 9: Key describes this sketch during the show as a fascination with funk lyrics, which he says “are kind of a combination of some mode of transportation, a food and an animal.” And sure enough, he and Peele deliver, with lines like “iridescent pork belly galactic super train” and “penicillin trap door laser currency beans.” Those out-of-this-world costumes don’t hurt, either. Watch it here.
53. ‘Loco Gangsters,’ Season 4, episode 11: Why haven’t they kicked Carlito out of the gang yet? In his obsession with becoming the “loco one,” he pulls down his pants, flashes his nine separate Fro-Yo Universe punch cards and puts a trash can on his head. Will these gang members ever learn? Watch it here.
52. ‘Futbol Flop,’ Season 3, episode 5: Some of the best “Key & Peele” bits have to do with sports, and although the best have yet to come soccer flopping easily makes it onto the top 100 list. The twist involves Peele’s character actually dying and turning back at the pearly gates to return to the game for one final kick. Watch it here.
51. ‘Text Message Confusion,’ Season 4, episode 3: The duo’s comedy can get beyond ridiculous, but sometimes they also capture the simple things, like the way tone gets lost in translation when you’re texting. Keegan’s ample abilities with physical comedy are on full display here as well as he puts his hands on the countertop and kicks his legs in the air in frustration. Somehow this still hasn’t gotten old by Season 4, and it seems like it never will.
50. Zombie extras, Seasons 3, episode 7: The joke here is not that Jordan’s character — an extra on a zombie show — seems to have no idea how a zombie is supposed to act, but that Keegan’s fellow extra is the only other person who seems to notice. And that includes the show’s director and star actor.
49. ‘Obama & Luther – Addressing the Critics,’ Season 4, episode 7: Drones have been a hot topic lately, which of course is why Key and Peele had to tackle it with an Obama and Luther sketch. Nothing beats the original, but seeing Luther almost strangle the president — and then get taken down by an actual drone in the middle of the White House – makes it one of the best of these. And the subtle way Peele’s Obama has gotten grayer over the seasons is not lost on fans.
48. ‘Power Falcons,’ Season 2, episode 9: Even as a kid the fact that the black Power Ranger was actually black — and the yellow ranger Asian — seemed a little off. Naturally Jordan and Keegan use this oddity to perform a bit in which a racist “Power Falcons” refers to Jordan’s character — the green ranger — as the black ranger by mistake. And obviously they totally nail the laughably terrible look and feel of the actual original show.
47. ‘Rap Battle Hype Man,’ Season 3, episode 1: You only get to do “Of Mice and Men” one time, and Key and Peele chose for their one time a sketch in which a rap battle contestant played by Keegan has to take an overenthusiastic rap battle hype man played by Jordan to a lake and shoot him in the head. Watch it here.
46. Civil War reenactment, Season 2, episode 1: There’s something strange about a bunch of white dudes gathering in a field and reenacting battles from the American Civil War, particularly when half those dudes inevitably have to play confederate soldiers. Key and Peele highlight this by goading a group of such men into dropping the n-bomb and then — quite righteously — robbing them blind. Watch it here.
45. ‘Obama – The College Years,’ Season 2, episode 1: Jordan’s expert portrayal of President Obama does not begin and end with Barry’s time in office. In this segment the show turns to the president’s home movies, in particular a video he probably wouldn’t want getting out. The really great thing about the character is that you could totally see Barack doing some of this stuff — including using America as an allegory for rolling a joint — in real life.
44. ‘Ultimate Fighting Match Preview,’ Season 1, episode 6: Key and Peele perfectly capture the way in which the trash-talking hype before professional fights can get a bit out of hand. And the way Keegan delivers lines like “When you eat through plastic tube, when you are paralyzed from neck down, then your family will gather around your hospital bed to see the new Derek” just has to make you shiver. It’s a shame these characters never reappeared, but given how it ends it’s not really a surprise. Watch it here.
43. Continental breakfast, Season 3, episode 7: This is one of the weirdest sketches ever seen on “Key and Peele,” and this is a show where a pair of gangsters poop their pants before a hit in one scene. But in the continental breakfast a hotel guest gets way too much enjoyment out of a hotel’s crappy complimentary buffet, before it’s revealed that he’s been there for a very long time. There’s no punch line and it’s not very funny, but there’s just something endearing about it — like you can tell it was an idea that just stuck with them for some reason. Also the way he bites into that banana. Mmm.
42. Crackheads house hunting, Season 1, episode 8: Sometimes an entire sketch hinges on the punchline, like when this nice-looking couple whips out a crack pipe at the end. Keegan’s landlord character, who will reappear later in pursuit of a “disturbingly short” man with a purple beard, makes an essential appearance here.
41. Bachelor party, Season 2, episode 4: Just what is the “bup-bup-bup-bup”? Or a Baby Elephant Walk, or an Armenian Conveyor Belt, for that matter? Here’s hoping the answers to these questions are revealed in a follow-up sketch about a bachelor party that Jordan’s seemingly closeted character is way too excited about. “You guys are so gay!” Watch it here.
40. ‘Boxing Press Conference,’ Season 3, episode 4: Key and Peele really have a knack for taking things too far, and nowhere is that more evident than in this bit about a pre-fight press conference that ends with the two competitors actually falling in love with one another. It’s surprisingly touching.
39. ‘Fighting Meegan’s Battles,’ Season 3, episode 9: Meegan and Andre have had some of the greatest moments in all of “Key and Peele,” and their first — and arguably best — appears higher up on the list. But watching poor Andre get socked in the mouth over and over because of Meegan is too good not to include. Watch it here.
38. ‘Auction Block,’ Season 1, episode 3: “Slave humor” is not a phrase you hear often, but it’s something that Jordan and Keegan excel at. They consistently turn this horrible blotch on American history into something laugh-out-loud funny, particularly when they start to get self-conscious about no one wanting to buy them.
37. Gay insurance, Season 3, episode 10: This LaShawn and Samuel appearance chronicles the many ways Jordan’s character wants to enhance his body now that the gay couple is on the same insurance. Getting a fang, seeing how many parts of his body he can make surgically able to blink and having the lower half of his body cut off and his top half sewn to a horse so he could experience what it’s like to be a centaur are only a few of these. Watch it here.
36. Black country music, Season 2, episode 3: It’s true that there’s something awesome about watching a black guy sing country music, but Keegan’s character’s refusal to acknowledge his racist lyrics is even better.
35. If the dookie can make it out of the hood, Season 2, episode 2: This frankly amazing sketch starts out as a conversation about poop and winds up with one of the most uplifting messages ever seen on “Key & Peele”: “If the dookie can make it out of the hood, maybe we can too.” It also introduces Levi and Cedric, two of the duo’s most underrated characters. Watch it here.
34. ‘Strike Force Eagle 3: The Reckoning,’ Season 4, episode 7: Strike Force Eagle 3 is one of the biggest gems of K&P’s latest season. Any time they square up the aspect ratio and go all grainy it’s guaranteed to be awesome, but when Keegan starts breaking dudes’ necks with a frisbee is when it hits the next level. Anna Camp’s appearance as the doomed damsel in distress is the cherry on top.
33. ‘Gay Wedding Advice,’ Season 4, episode 1: The discomfort that this fictional African American family feels at the thought of a gay wedding — coupled of course with their exhaustive desire to prepare for every aspect of it they erroneously feel may differ from a straight wedding — may hit very close to home for some, but that’s what makes it so great. Questions like “Do the men wear dresses and the women would wear suits?” and “When in the ceremony do we sing ‘Over the Rainbow'” sound all too realistic, and the cast for this sketch is fantastic.
32. ‘Das Negros,’ Season 1, episode 3: Ty Burrell’s first appearance as a Nazi is another K&P sketch that gets funnier the longer it goes on — from Burrell’s character’s belief that black people are enraptured by cat toys to Peele’s characters confirmation of that belief when he dandles it uncontrollably once the Nazi has departed.
31. The cult, Season 3, episode 12: Cults are a fascinating subject, especially if you’re not in one. And Jordan and Keegan show here that there’s often dissent even within cults about just what their purpose should be.
30. ‘Wendell – The Power of Wings,’ Season 3, episode 11: Poor Wendell. Even the fantasies he pays for don’t pan out the way he wants. When he’s not ordering pizzas, breaking Superman beds and attending sex addict recovery programs, the Peele-played character is blowing all his money on poorly produced music videos, then running out of cash three quarters of the way through. Watch it here.
29. ‘Ratatouille,’ Season 3, episode 2: Levi and Cedric have finally left the front stoop in this sketch, and Levi has a new friend. Which is probably for the best, since Ced doesn’t really want anything to do with Levi after his pet rat makes Ced a poop-covered sandwich.
28. ‘High On Potenuse,’ Season 3, episode 8: You really feel for Jordan’s character when Keegan’s steals his joke, to the delight of the class and the teacher, the school principal, and comedian Gabriel Iglesias. But it’s really capped off when, later in the episode, President Obama presents Troy with the Congressional Comedy Medal of Honor. God, Troy is a jerk. Watch it here.
27. ‘Slave Fight,’ Season 3, episode 3: Key and Peele’s “Django Unchained” parody sees the two disagreeing on which one should pretend to be killed when their masters force them to fight to the death. When slavery is unceremoniously cancelled, they implore their former owners to settle which one would have come out on top. It’s perfect. Watch it here.
26. ‘White Zombies,’ Season 2, episode 6: “Key and Peele” answers the question: what would black people do in a zombie apocalypse in which all the white zombies small-mindedly refused to eat them? Have a party is what. It’s a great concept made better by moments like the old white zombie locking the door of his windowless car when they go near.
25. People park, Season 3, episode 13: This is how Key and Peele capped off the final episode of their third season. Not with a big punch line or something super high budget, but with a black and white performance piece in which humans act like dogs at a dog park. This is why “Key and Peele” is one of the best shows on TV. Watch it here.
24. ‘Mr. T PSA,’ Season 3, episode 6: Jordan’s Mr. T impression is so spot-on it’s a little eery, especially when he starts to cry at the end. He really makes you believe that “it’s not even a haircut! It’s a rare form of male pattern baldness!” Kate Micucci of Garfunkel and Oates’ guest spot is great as well. Watch it here.
23. ‘McCringleberry’s Excessive Celebration,’ Season 3, episode 8: Another sports-related gem from K&P, the three pumps sketch is an instant classic from Season 3. It really shows off how expressive Keegan and Jordan can be using just their bodies. Especially certain parts. Watch it here.
22. ‘Dicknanigans,’ Season 4, episode 10: Chelsea Peretti makes a too-rare appearance on “Key & Peele” to introduce the pair’s high-concept performance art piece “Dicknanigans.” If that doesn’t make you want to see it …
21. ‘Gay Marriage Legalized,’ Season 1 episode 5: LaShawn and Samuel’s first appearance is also their best. The lovable duo are the perfect complement to one another, and a testament to what true love can achieve. Especially since based on Sam’s reaction here it didn’t seem like their relationship would last the day, much less long enough for them to adopt their baby girl — Carousel — and get on the same insurance. Watch it here.
20. ‘Dubstep,’ Season 2, episode 2: Key and Peele perfectly portray the magic of dubstep, including the way it causes your nose to bleed uncontrollably and makes you want to jump out a window. The way this scene was shot and edited — including the freaky single frame shots interspersed as the comedians flip their lids — make it a top choice. Watch it here.
19. ‘Fronthand Backhand,’ Season 2, episode 5: This is a great example of Key and Peele’s mastery of physical comedy and line delivery. Everyone in this sketch is on point, including the extras — and it doesn’t get any better than Jordan literally leaving his shoes on the ground from getting smacked so hard, then getting up and asking for another.
18. ‘The Batmans,’ Season 3, episode 2: There’s a reason there are two sketches starring K&P’s enthusiastic valets up at the top of this list. These dudes straight love Liam Neeson, and their very physical ways of expressing that love are some of the funniest things this duo does. This is one of the best, as the conversation about how no one can mess with “da Batmans” inevitably turns toward their favorite actor in the end.
17. ‘East/West Bowl Rap,’ Season 3, episode 2: Another of their most memorable sketches involves a bevy of made-up names and the faces to go along with them. From that humble beginning came an epic rap showdown between the players from the east and the players from the west, and just like the original, when it seems over it’s really only halfway done. The way the production values shift partway through hammer it home, while the incomparable Dan Smith kills it (obviously). Watch it here.
16. ‘Alien Impostors, Season 4, episode 1: Luckily Key and Peele don’t pull the same joke as racist zombies when the show turns to aliens, although they probably could have. Instead the aliens are the opposite of racist. In fact, they’re too nice, which is exactly what tips the pair off. It’s fun seeing Jordan and Keegan in badass alien hunter mode, especially when their strategy is asking the shape shifters questions like “Would you let me date your daughter?”
15. ‘Pizza Order,’ Season 2, episode 5: Wendell’s first appearance is also his best. A pizza order goes awry when the person on the other end of the phone pries a little too deeply into his fabricated party guests, and everything about it is perfect, from Keegan’s hair net to the way Wendell refers to his figure of Gollum as “Andy.”
14. ‘Aerobics Meltdown,’ Season 4, episode 9: This aerobics class sketch earned some buzz when it debuted in Season 4, and only for Key and Peele’s inspired Richard Simmons acts. It’s the twist — wherein Jordan’s character had Keegan’s family attacked to throw him off his game — that really gets you.
13. ‘Les Mis,’ Season 3, episode 1: Key and Peele take on the classic music “Les Miserables” by asking a single question: Why the heck is everyone always trying to sing over one another? This naturally becomes one of the show’s biggest productions of all, with a massive cast and an epic finale that perfectly encapsulates everything bad about Les Mes and everything good about “Key & Peele.” Watch it here.
12. ‘Dungeons & Dragons & B****es,’ Season 1, episode 4: This sketch too encapsulates what’s fantastic about this show, though in much smaller form. It’s these actors’ ability to portray such a wide range of characters, from blithering nerds to hardcore gangsters. It also gives us the line “slap that hobbit’s dick off, yo,” among many other underrated classics. Watch it here.
11. ‘Sexy Vampires,’ Season 3, episode 7: If Jordan and Keegan were going to take on the vampire craze, this is how they were bound to do it. As a recently converted creature of the night, Keegan’s character isn’t having all that leather-and-black-lipstick jazz. He just wants to see “future cars.” It’s a wonderful deconstruction of the vampire genre’s many silly tropes, and a great example of Key’s perfect comic timing.
10. ‘Dueling Hats,’ Season 2, episode 10: This is humanity’s plight boiled down into one two-minute-long sketch about two dudes trying to one-up one another with increasingly fresh headwear, culminating in Jordan wearing an actual person making a hat on his head. Tuck it, dawg.
9. ‘Party Motivators,’ Season 1, episode 8: One of the funniest “Key & Peele” sketches is also one of the duo’s best ideas: As black people at a Bar Mitzvah, Gefilte Fresh and Dr. Dreidel are the life of the party. From the way these characters casually slip a bit of yiddish into their everyday speech to how the whole thing is framed as a documentary about them, complete with interviews with slightly bemused Jewish moms and dads, make it a classic. Watch it here.
8. ‘Black Theatre,’ Season 3, episode 8: It’s not just “Battlestar Galactica” star James Callis’s cameo as William Shakespeare that makes this one of the best “Key & Peele” sketches, though that doesn’t hurt. Really it’s their ability to perfectly translate their dialogue into Shakespearean English, with plenty of clever references thrown in, just in case anyone forgets how smart and funny these dudes are.
7. ‘Meegan, Come Back,’ Season 2, episode 7: This sketch isn’t Meegan’s first appearance, but it is the first time the character feels truly developed. It’s an instant classic, and a prime example of Jordan and Keegan taking their comedy further than anyone else would bother. That’s very much clear when Meegan and Andre collapse on the savannah in the wake of countless other terrible couples like them.
6. ‘Liam Neesons,’ Season 2 episode 3: The original valets sketch was truly the birth of a legend. Why these two guys are so obsessed with Liam Neeson will hopefully remain a mystery forever, but what’s certain is that “Key and Peele” fans will never get sick of watching them express it. One might wonder what Neeson thinks of it all, if he hadn’t shown up himself in a later valets sketch. Watch it here.
5. Inner-city wizard school, Season 2, episode 6: Once again it takes Key and Peele to answer a tough question that even J.K. Rowling never touched. Not every wizard school can be Hogwarts, so what’s life like for students everywhere else? Like, for example, at Vincent Clortho Public School for Wizards, overseen by Principal Parnabus Jackson and head of security Lester Bigglesby — where sometimes the students get turned into animals, and they don’t have the money to turn them back. Watch the sketch here.
4. ‘Obama’s Anger Translator – Meet Luther,’ Season 1, episode 1: President Obama and his anger translator, Luther, may be the sketch that cemented “Key & Peele” as a must-watch back when Season 1 debuted. It’s a fantastic concept, and the two always carry it out with aplomb, but it’s the original that still stands as the best.
3. ‘I Said B****,’ Season 1, episode 1: Here’s the original “Key and Peele taking a joke way further than you thought they would.” The concept of two dudes talking big with one another just out of earshot of their wives is funny enough, but it’s not get-lost-in-space-just-to-make-a-point big. Thankfully K&P are not afraid to go there, and “I said biiiiiiiii***” is one of the first things a lot of people think of when the show comes up.
2. ‘Substitute Teacher,’ Season 2, episode 4: It’s amazing just how funny it is to watch Keegan-Michael Key play a substitute teacher who’s so confident from his years teaching in the inner city that he refuses to accept he’s mispronouncing the names of every student in the class (well, except for Tim-oh-thee). But whoever does the show’s casting deserves an award for this one as well, as A-aron, Ja-quel-in and all the rest are perfectly indignant in their roles. And people love poor, misguided Mr. Garvey so much that K&P might actually make a movie out of him. Fingers crossed!
1. ‘East/West College Bowl,’ Season 2, episode 2: Hopefully this sketch needs no introduction by now. Suffice to say it’s one of the single funniest things ever made, and also the most absolutely perfect encapsulation of the pure genius of Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key.