JORDAN PEELE’S EMPIRE
From the Sketch Scenes to Movie Screens
Would you believe that one of the best producers of crime and horror in Hollywood was once a mainstay of a long-standing comedy show? If not, you’re not alone.
Jordan Peele has spent a career tapping into his imagination. Peele started in improv, along with his comedic partner-in-crime Keegan-Michael Key on FOX’s hit show, Mad TV in 2003. Their creative and innovative talents have served them well. It was there Peele began his rise to fame. He wrote and acted in many sketches during his five-year tenure on the show. Despite that, the comedy star’s relationship with FOX soured, leading to an untimely exit in 2008.
In interviews compiled by Comedy Hype, Peele had strong aspirations to land on NBC’s Saturday Night Live one day. Under contract with the rival show, Mad TV allegedly held back Peele from seeking greener pastures. He hoped that his impersonation of President Obama would help him make the move. But after SNL elected to cast recurring cast member Fred Armisen as Obama, Peele swiftly moved on to create new ventures.
Though his exit from Mad TV was not the smoothest, it motivated Peele to test the producing and directing waters. While a vast majority fell in line with his comedy expertise, many ideas he worked on in the late-00s were dramatic. His efforts include blockbuster hits like Get Out and Us.
During that time, Peele teamed-up with his former partner once more. Alongside Keegan-Michael Key, he created a new sketch comedy series on Comedy Central titled, Key and Peele. The star had grown more through the show, with one sketch ironically featuring his Obama impersonation he once refined for SNL.
So when Peele’s name was linked to horror and drama films, the notion was: “the Key & Peele guy?? He’s doing THESE movies?” A handful of years later, Peele stands as one of the most influential producers of the modern-day, introducing inquiring minds to the likes of Daniel Kaluuya and Lakeith Stanfield on a grander scale. He had a hand in bringing The Twilight Zone and the TBS show The Last OG into the twenty-first century.
Peele’s next project will be the reboot of 1992’s Candyman, in which critics, as well as the actors of the original, have given their blessing based on the resume Peele has built over the last decade.
He, like many other comedians, had to break a mold. The great ones grow beyond that. Peele entered the entertainment business wanting to be a part of a show. But restrictions drove him to become THE show.
Ironically, from comedy to horror, one could say his wide range of talent is, in fact, “Mad.”
