We’re rolling through every episode of Key and Peele on Pop Thruster. Here we go with “I’m Retired,” Season 2 Episode 4. Follow along on the journey!
Also: check out ALL 351 Key & Peele Sketches Ranked (In Painstakingly Funny Detail)!
Da Struggle Is Real
“Preach from my ass, my farts is my sermon.” – Peele
Often, the strongest sketches are the ones where the concept becomes evident immediately, and this is one of them. It’s a music video that starts off with Da Struggle (Key), an erudite and dapper rapper conveying a social message: “Da Struggle in the house, using words and rhymes to get through hard times.” We then cut to the next verse and Peele, decked out in sports attire and bling, pipes in with “Preach from my ass, my farts is my sermon,” before continuing with a wildly over the top satire of rappers who are mainly focused on women, partying, and getting paid, shall we say. Most of all, this sketch shows off boys’ immense musical skills on top of the super sharp satire on deck with this one.
Decker: Part One
“I guess I could come out of retirement.” – Decker
Peele is Decker, an old dude with long gray hair and beard who returns to his cabin in the woods. When Key is waiting there in a military outfit and beret, and tells him “it wasn’t easy tracking you down,” we know we’re in for some kind of Rambo parody scenario. Decker might grudgingly be convinced to join the time sensitive, urgent mission… but the general just wanted to see if Decker could recommend someone else for the job. This one is cute more than funny.
Mr. Garvey: Substitute Teacher (Chapter One)
“Insubordinate and churlish.” – Mr. Garvey
Mr. Garvey (Key) knows how to handle his substitute teaching gig: he explains to the class that he “taught school for 20 years in the inner city, so don’t even think about messing with me.” He then “takes roll” with his room full of white kids and start off with “Jay Quellen.” Thus begins a brilliant satire in which Mr. Garvey can’t pronounce the names the kids (and we) perceive to be “normal” (Jacquelin in this case), and gets angrier (and funnier) as he goes down the list. It’s both hilarious and makes us question why “we” get to decide what’s “normal” about our names and other aspects of our lives. Sidenote that Key’s wig game in this one is so substitute teacher-on-point.
Best Bachelor Party Ever
“What’s the bup-bup-bup-bup?” – Key
It’s Key’s bachelor party, and Peele is the best man. The latter says they should “get a stripper,” and then goes on to use innuendo to suggest what they should do with the stripper… and the fun starts when no one can quite understand what he’s getting at. The key here is defining what the Seinfeld-ian “bup-bup-bup-bup” means. Well, there are other arguably easier codes to decipher, such as “Tinker toy it man… we go to town!” and “Baby elephant walk!” but you get what I mean. Bup-bup-bup-bup, right?
Bald Brotherhood
“What’s up, homie? Nice haircut.” – Lewis Lawrence
Poppyridge Maximum Security Prison. “Lewis Lawrence is beginning his life sentence,” the voiceover guy tells us. “In order to survive, he must join a gang.” Lewis (Key) figures out that his “gang” is his fellow “bald brothers”… who happen to be bald members of the white supremacist gang. This one has a strong kinship to Dave Chappelle’s “white power” sketch in all the best kinds of ways, and it goes to the next level when Lewis believes that he’s been “jumped in” to the gang.
The Color of Parts
“My penis is white.” – Peele
K&P are in high school, and the sketch features two scenes in front of their lockers. The crux of it is that Peele is nervous about potentially “hitting it” with his girlfriend because, as he says, “My penis is white.” This one is a smile at best versus a laugher.
Some stats and info about Key & Peele, “I’m Retired”
TV SHOW – Key and Peele
SEASON/EPISODE – Season 2, Episode 4
AIRED ON – October 17th, 2012
NETWORK/STREAMING SERVICE – Comedy Central/Hulu
GENRE – Comedy, Sketch Comedy
CREATED BY – Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele