Comments on: These players really are the creme de la creme!

These players really are the creme de la creme!

inturnaround — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:23:38 -0800

Jordan Peele and Keegan Michael Key star in a series of East/West Football videos wherein they play a number of increasingly uniquely named characters playing in a fictional football game. East/West Bowl 1, East/West Bowl 2, East/West Bowl Rap, Hingle McCringleberry's Excessive Celebration and East/West Bowl 3 (Pro Edition).

It's possible that this was inspired by stand-up comedian Bob Nelson's 1980s routine about football players.

By: komara

komara — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:26:26 -0800

It's possible that this was also inspired by Mr. Weed.

By: komara

komara — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:28:26 -0800

Also, real-life then-Saints player Lance Moore got some inspiration from Mr. McCringleberry.

By: kmz

kmz — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:30:21 -0800

I was wondering why there were non-Key/Peele players in the latest lineup until it got to D'Brickashaw Ferguson and I was like, oh shit, real players!

By: dogwalker

dogwalker — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:51:56 -0800

I love the East/West run on Key and Peele. It's not their smartest or funniest bit in my opinion, but it does show how strong their comedic chops are because they have taken a really simple, dumb idea and done so much with it. Like, SNL would have just repeated the first sketch just with different names. But K&P did the rap, which was amazing, and now threw in real players and a callback to another one of their recurring sketches. I have no doubt these dudes can make a killer feature length comedy.

By: Lemurrhea

Lemurrhea — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:56:37 -0800

My profile picture is now the EWB3 player who has the same name as me. I am so excited! Well, partially the same name, an exact match would be crazy. Just my middle name is [construction noise].

By: East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94

East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 14:58:13 -0800

mfw i realise ha-ha clinton-dix is real

By: mannequito

mannequito — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:22:46 -0800

interview with Ozamataz Buckshank

By: Room 641-A

Room 641-A — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:43:35 -0800

Triple Parakeet-Shoes's face mask/helmet hair is my favorite, but Creme De La Creme is just inspired. What I really want to see are the outtakes; I can't believe they can get through these in one take each! (But after googling, I'm disappointed to learn that Fozzy is just a nickname.)

By: tonycpsu

tonycpsu — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:53:45 -0800

We were so psyched when we saw that they were going to do a special edition for the Super Bowl. Definitely among their best recurring bits -- I'd say right there with Obama/Luther and the valet guys.

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:57:41 -0800

I can never decide whether these are hilarious, or whether they indulge a certain sort of white jock bro racism. But dude seriously though Myriad Profiteroles is amazing.

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 15:58:44 -0800

The original East/West bowl is one of Key & Peel's best bits of all time. EWB2 was just OK. EWB3 was weak until they got to "Myriad Profiteroles" at which point I lost it. And big props for putting in "A.A. Ron." Are you testing me, A.A. Ron?

By: oneswellfoop

oneswellfoop — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:00:27 -0800

Actually, this reminded me of Hudson & Landry's cringeworthy racist routine from the '70s, "The Soul Bowl", with Landry doing a bad Howard Cosell impression and the very white Hudson doing a stereotypical black coach who talks in rhyme (go to 2:30 in the bit to hear him list his team's roster)

By: bleep

bleep — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:11:26 -0800

This sketch cracks me up but I hope it doesn't completely overwhelm them. I just hope the public doesn't start seeing them as the "funny name guys" and not accept them doing anything else. And then they go live with Dave Chappelle in Ohio.

By: jason_steakums

jason_steakums — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:16:42 -0800

I can never decide whether these are hilarious, or whether they indulge a certain sort of white jock bro racism. I think it's definitely both but I can't put the latter on K&P because that's not the context they created it in, it just gets co-opted by racist dicks. It really sucks for K&P (and Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle and plenty of other people who have had to deal with this specific kind of thing), I'm sure it leaves them feeling like they can't win - they hit on a genius bit of comedic inspiration and they have the talent to follow through, one of those brilliant moments in a creative career where something clicks and you knock it out of the park, and some assholes always have to crawl out from under a rock and try to make it a justification of their own gross views (hurf durf black people names, etc). I think if you laugh along with it in the spirit in which it was created and don't try to turn it into a justification of something awful you're alright though.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:17:31 -0800

[construction noise]

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:18:32 -0800

Also, TDS' similar routine still makes me spit whatever I'm eating out of my nose.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:50:01 -0800

Love the callback to Substitute Teacher. ST is one of my favorite K&P skits because, yes, Aaron is in fact fucking with Mr. Garvey and deserves to be sent to Principal O'Shaghnessy's office.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:52:59 -0800

I don't care if all of MeFi knows it, I fucking love K and P AND I AM READY FOR SOME MOTHERFUCKING FOOTBALL!!!! The most exciting team in a decade is playing the CHEATERS who CHEATED their CHEATING way all the way to Super Bowl. Who will win? The guys who play with skill, teamwork, and fun or the LYING CHEATERS who CHEAT?

By: delfin

delfin — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 16:57:07 -0800

Punt Speedchunk! Crunch Buttsteak! Blast Hardcheese! ...wait, wrong sketch.

By: Potomac Avenue

Potomac Avenue — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 18:33:00 -0800

The names are good but that excess celebration sketch is GOOD.

By: johnnydummkopf

johnnydummkopf — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 18:42:32 -0800

I dunno, these always are in the set of K&P sketches that make me laugh and also feel a little uneasy. Because they're...sorta racisty? Maybe? Continental Breakfast, on the other hand, is probably one of the greatest sketches I've seen in any show.

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 19:05:50 -0800

Yeah I think that gets to the heart about why I feel weird about the football name sketches. So much of K&P's work, which doesn't get shared quite as often, is really not about race. Or if it is, it's in a much more subtle way that can't be easily co-opted by the Hurf Durf crowd. If I saw more people sharing the Make A Wish or Aerobics Meltdown sketches on social media, I probably wouldn't have the reaction I have to the fact that when you google Key & Peele, East/West Bowl is the first thing that comes up.

By: 1066

1066 — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 19:17:59 -0800

I love how they slipped Benedict Cumberbatch in. I felt as though it was a very slick piece of social commentary about how we view unique names -- POC from poor backgrounds with different names are hilarious; white man with British accent and different name is swoon-worthy.

By: Cool Papa Bell

Cool Papa Bell — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 20:06:28 -0800

People of MetaFilter, I give you the South Dakota high-school wrestling names, ranked. They're as on-the-nose as Key & Peele's real-life targets, only with much less melanin. Blade Foreman Creighton Klinkhammer Dylan Colt Then there's the Lacrosse All-Name Team. See if you can guess their socio-economic background. Covington Stanwick Talley Perkins Courtney Petherick III

By: gladly

gladly — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 20:13:57 -0800

I just finished watching their Super Bowl special, and I think the Sherman/Lynch joint press conference might have moved me from not caring who wins the game to rooting for the Seahawks.

By: uosuaq

uosuaq — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 20:42:47 -0800

Mornington Crescent!

By: tonycpsu

tonycpsu — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 20:58:12 -0800

Biscuits and gravy.

By: KathrynT

KathrynT — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 22:50:58 -0800

Oh my god I hadn't seen the East/West Bowl Rap. That is. . . I was only dimly aware of the Super Bowl Shuffle when it happened, but that was such a dead-on parody I recognized it right away. And then when Dan Smith comes out at the end and just WRECKS it. I . . . I may have witnessed greatness on this day.

By: echo target

echo target — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 22:51:50 -0800

POC from poor backgrounds with different names are hilarious; white man with British accent and different name is swoon-worthy. To be fair, 'Benedict Cumberbatch' is ridonkulous and it took me like a year before I believed it was dude's actual name.

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 00:17:03 -0800

I enjoy substituting literally any similar sounding name when referring to BC. Here are some examples to get you started - Bimbleflan Cummerbund, Brembleboo Clamberhand, Bronskibeat Christmastape. See how much fun you can have by ragging on what is an exceptionally silly name.

By: Room 641-A

Room 641-A — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 00:47:15 -0800

Wasn't there was a huge thread about switching out Benedict Cumberbatch's name?

By: longbaugh

longbaugh — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 00:54:24 -0800

Apparently yes. I had not seen that before.

By: droplet

droplet — Sat, 31 Jan 2015 08:53:25 -0800

Plus, BC looks like an otter, which I think has also been commented upon by many! I grew up around people with similar names. At my grade school I would get into the occasional argument about "Why do those people give their kids such stupid names?" and I would inevitably remind these (usually UMC white) kids that their names were as made up as the kids they were making fun of, that somebody decided this would mean that and use it. I'd get blank stares in return: "Yeah, but why do you have a normal name?" Of course, the racial, social, and class dynamics were beyond my 4th grade ability to juggle. The only reason why I can't enjoy these East/West bowl sketches 100% is the different affects Key and Peele put on for each player, and that's my issue to work through. When I was growing up, my Aunt Guardian would react to such boys with distaste and comment sotto voce on how ignorant they were/acted/looked. I was definitely brought up to behave a certain middle-class way, and I daresay it was to be as much like upper middle-class white people as possible so I could "get over"; no shouting out to friends in the streets, no loudness period, no "weird" accents - even though she had a Southern AAVE accent. I came to her without one, and she was adamant that I not develop one! Nor was I to even joke about the stereotypical gestures, head movements, that whole "OH NO YOU DI'INT!" affect, much less incorporate those into my non-verbal vocabulary. She always shook her head and "tsk-tsked" when she saw kids behave and talk like the guys in the East/West Bowl or women who carried on like they were on Maury or Jerry Springer, because she thought they were straight-up stupid. I always have to catch and check myself when I make judgements on that sort of behavior when I see it in public. It's not my place to police how people name their children, express themselves, or speak. It's up to me to look past it, if they're not hurting anybody, and get over myself. That said, my favorite? Myriad Profiteroles. Who doesn't like Myriad Profiteroles? Solid halfback.

By: The corpse in the library

The corpse in the library — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 08:43:27 -0800

> I dunno, these always are in the set of K&P sketches that make me laugh and also feel a little uneasy. Because they're...sorta racisty? Maybe I'm not seeing the racism. There are many professional football players with unusual names; this is a skit based on that. Just like there are traditionally white names that don't stick to the rules of pronunciation, and that's what the excellent Substitute Teacher skit is based on.

By: Sara C.

Sara C. — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 10:39:18 -0800

Yes, but both of them have unspoken undertones of "black people have funny names". Obviously Key and Peele themselves didn't write these sketches to be racist or to punch down at black people with less assimilationist names than theirs. But, as has been said, the existence of these sketches allows people who aren't anti-racist allies to do that punching down. Which doesn't mean I don't think these sketches are funny or that there's something wrong with you if you watch them and laugh. I just wonder at how popular these are vs. some of Key and Peele's other, less punch-down-able sketches, and why some of my bigoted southern relatives love sharing these particular sketches on facebook so much.

By: tonycpsu

tonycpsu — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 10:45:54 -0800

The thing is, your bigoted Southern relatives are going to find something bigoted to share on Facebook. Wouldn't you rather it be something produced by PoC who can control the way the message is delivered than something produced by someone else? If my choices are (a) East vs. West or (b) a GIF of Obama with a bone through his nose, I'm choosing (a) every time.

By: infinitewindow

infinitewindow — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 14:39:16 -0800

I doubt anyone laughs at Dave Sasser and Geoff Worthing at the beginning of the skit, but they're definitely laughing at Dan Smith by the end. I felt most uncomfortable during East/West 1 when the sportscasters mispronounced the names of the East players. I got exasperated--"Ibrahim Moisooz can say his name right, why can't you?"--and I wonder if that was written into the skit or if it was a "happy accident."

By: Room 641-A

Room 641-A — Sun, 01 Feb 2015 16:38:21 -0800

I just wonder at how popular these are vs. some of Key and Peele's other, less punch-down-able sketches, and why some of my bigoted southern relatives love sharing these particular sketches on facebook so much. I think it's really hard to tease this out because the overwhelming popularity of anything football and Super Bowl related (especially in the south?) probably factors into their decision to share them. I'm very cautiously going to suggest it could be worse if the substitute teacher sketch was more popular.