Key & Peele’s musical parody “Funky Nonsense” is hilarious proof that lyrics don’t have to make sense. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele’s titular Comedy Central series isn’t just one of the funniest, sharpest sketch shows in history – it’s also one of the most acclaimed, winning two Primetime Emmys and a Peabody Award during its five season run. That’s thanks to Key & Peele’s side-splittingly witty and creative send-ups of everything from popular culture to race relations.
The comedy genius of Key & Peele has seen many of the show’s sketches go viral. The “Obama Meet And Greet” skit sees Jordan Peele give a pitch-perfect impression of former POTUS Barack Obama as he hilariously code-switches between his white and black supporters and has racked up over 20 million views on Comedy Central’s YouTube channel. With 188 million views, the duo’s “Substitute Teacher” sketch is even more popular and features Keegan-Michael Key as a former inner-city teacher subbing at a suburban high school who hysterically mispronounces his white students’ names.
Key & Peele’s many musical parodies are another comedy gift that keeps on giving. Over the sketch show’s five seasons the titular duo lampooned everything from dubstep and Ray Parker Jr. to country music and Les Misérables, alongside other memorable musical skits like their surprisingly feminist pirate chantey and their parody of creepy holiday classic “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” In the Key & Peele season 3 sketch “Funky Nonsense,” the inimitable duo turned their attention to the world of funk music.
An affectionately funny love letter to funk, the skit sees Key and Peele play the frontmen of an unnamed 1970s funk band performing their song “Funky Nonsense” on a Soul Train-style TV show. Donning outrageous outfits reminiscent of the clothes worn by George Clinton and his Parliament-Funkadelic – AKA P-Funk – collective, Key and Peele belt out absurdly hilarious lyrics like “Got a pocket full of funky with a peppermint twist” and “Slick crawfish solar blast with a phosphorescent brain” in homage to the often outlandish lyrics found in the funk genre.
Towards the end of “Funky Nonsense,” Key asks Peele what the hell they’re singing about to which the latter replies “I got no idea, man. I’m just hungry and talking about the galaxy and trains. I think they’re buying it though.” From the word salad lyrics and psychedelic, George Clinton-esque get-ups to the grainy 1970s-style production values, “Funky Nonsense” is definitely one of Key & Peele’s best-executed and funniest musical sketches.
