Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key are collaboratively known for their sketch comedy series Key & Peele. The duo created and starred in the hit show and worked previously together on Mad TV. Their partnership has created countless pop culture moments including their iconic 'Substitute Teacher' sketch.
Key and Peele met in 2002 at Second City, an improvisational comedy enterprise, where they "fell in comedy love." Key elaborated on the duo's history, telling Big Boy at Power 106 at the time, that Peele "had traveled from Amsterdam" to perform at Second City, where he had been working at a theater.
"A friend of ours on our writing staff introduced us. By chance, we both ended up on Mad TV," Key explained. "Mad TV was finished and about three years later, we have the same manager, and my manager said: 'What would you guys think about doing a show together?' And I was like, 'Why would I not want to do a show with the greatest sketch writer I've ever known in my entire life?'"
Key & Peele may have ended in 2015, but their careers are still persistent. Keegan-Michael has been active in the acting realm appearing in Friends From College, Toy Story 4, Dolemite Is My Name, and Keanu, where he starred opposite of Peele.
Jordan Peele wrote and directed the 2017 thriller Get Out, which he earned an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. He also had writing and directing duties for Us, a 2019 horror film that had one of the highest live-action non-franchise openings of all time.
During a 2020 appearance on Conan, Michael revealed he is afraid to be cast in a Jordan Peele film.
"It's just the terror, the terror that he evokes. The genre itself, I feel like I would be afraid to even be in the genre," he said. "And the other thing I'm afraid, cause he can be a bit of a prankster, I'm afraid that he would put spiders in the movie."
On a scale of 1 to 10, Key claims his Arachnophobia, fear of spiders, is a "8.726".
Based on the trailer for Peele's new film Candyman, Keegan-Michael Key won't be appearing in any of his friend's movies for awhile. The film is a direct sequel to the 1992 film of the same name and the fourth film in the Candyman franchise, which is based on the short story "The Forbidden" by Clive Barker. The film is set to be released on June 12, 2020, by Universal Pictures. The film will feature a mostly new cast, and also Tony Todd and Vanessa A. Williams reprising their roles as Candyman and Anne-Marie McCoy.
Although both Key and Peele are working on separate projects, viewers would love to see them reunite in some sort of capacity whether it be television or film. Their work and chemistry makes for great entertainment whether it be Mad TV, Key and Peele, Keanu or Toy Story 4. Maybe the comedy duo should consider appearing on Saturday Night Live as co-hosts? Whatever it may be, there's no doubt it will clever and hilarious.