Keegan-Michael Key (b. 1971) is an American actor, writer, and comedian. He is best known for starring in the Comedy Central sketch series Key & Peele and for his five seasons as a cast member on MADtv alongside Jordan Peele. In 2015, Key appeared at the White House Correspondents' Dinner as the character Luther, President Barack Obama's anger translator.
Key and Peele appeared in The Muppets episode "Swine Song."
On Sesame Street, he appeared in season 49 for a sketch where he works at the newsstand and is surprised by what all is in the newspaper, becoming so pre-occupied with reading it that he ignores his customers (First: Episode 4903). While on set, he taped a scene for the "Elmo's World Happy Dance" celebrity montage, and a "Sesame Street Memory" video.
Key voices SkekZok in The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.
His film roles include Role Models (with Paul Rudd), Due Date (with Robert Downey, Jr.), Tomorrowland (with George Clooney), and Dolemite Is My Name (with Eddie Murphy), with voice roles in The Lego Movie, The Angry Birds Movie, Toy Story 4, The Lion King, and The Swedish Chef-inspired character Bjornson the Cheesemonger in Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, among others.
In his 2023 book, The History of Sketch Comedy, Key writes, "As a child, before I was old enough to appreciate the finer humor of Dean Martin or Flip Wilson, my all-time favorite variety show was The Muppet Show. Yes, the Muppets were the hosts of some top-notch variety entertainment." He continues:
The passage is accompanied by a photo of he and his wife Elle Key (with whom he co-authored the book), posing with his Muppet hero, Animal.