Keegan-Michael Key

Keegan-Michael Key (b. March 22 1971, Southfield, Michigan) is an American comedian and actor best known for his appearance on "MADtv". As many "MADtv" regulars start, he first appeared on the show as a "featured" player during the 2003-04 season and was subsequently promoted to a regular cast member in the 2004-05 season. He has also become known for his role as the exuberant valet on a Yukon Denali commercial series. Keegan-Michael Key is entering his 6th Season on Mad TV and has been named by some fans the best Barack Obama impersonator.

Biography

Keegan-Michael Key was raised in Detroit. His father is African American and his mother is Caucasian. He is a graduate from Shrine Catholic High School in Royal Oak, Michigan (class of 1989). He attended the University of Detroit as an undergraduate and a member of Phi Kappa Theta, andearned his Master of Fine Arts at the Pennsylvania State University School of Theatre. He is currently married to Cynthia Key.

He was one of the founders of Hamtramck, Michigan's Planet Ant Theatre, and was a member of the Second City Detroit's mainstage cast before joining the Second City e.t.c. theater in Chicago.

MADtv

Key joined the cast midway into the ninth season. He was groomed to be the next only black male cast member to be chosen over Jordan Peele. But the latter created memorable characters, and had the most chemistry with Key in sketches, including one where both played jinx-breaking radicals called "The Superstitious Knights". Both were promoted to repertory player status during season 10.

Keegan's characters include the semi-psychotic Coach Hines, who threatens students and others at school assemblies. During seasons 9 and 10, appeared as "Dr. Funkenstein" in blaxploitation parodies, with Jordan Peele playing the monster. Key also portrayed various guests on "Real Mother****ing Talk" - the strong African Rollo Johnson and blind victim Stevie Wonder Washington. He often goes "backstage" as Eugene Struthers, an always-ecstatic water or flower delivery man who accosts celebrities. Struthers' catch-phrase is "taking it to a 'hole 'nother level." There is also "Jovan Muskatelle", a shirtless man with a jheri curl and a shower cap who interrupts live news broadcasts by a reporter (always played by Ike Barinholtz), annoying him with rapid fire accounts of events that have happened. Like "Saturday Night Live" castmembers, Darrell Hammond, Maya Rudolph, and Fred Armisen, Key plays many different races (mostly Hispanic and Arab) and can play both male and female characters (cf. Eva Longoria as Gabrielle Solis on a "Desperate Housewives" parody). Key has also done well with celebrity impersonations, including Ludacris, Snoop Dogg, Pervez Musharraf, Star Jones, Phylicia Rashād, Soulja Boy, Matthew Lillard, Bill Cosby, Al Roker, Terrell Owens, Tyler Perry, Robin Antin, Chris Brown, Eddie Murphy (as his character James "Early" Thunder from the movie "Dreamgirls"), Sherman Hemsley (as his character George Jefferson on "The Jeffersons"), Charles Barkley, Sendhil Ramamurthy (as Mohinder Suresh), Tyson Beckford, Lionel Richie, Tupac Shakur, and Barack Obama.

Keegan is in his 6th Season on MADtv as of 2008 - 2009 Season

Characters

* Carl Hall (one half of "The Superstitious Knights")
* Chad Bascar ("Holly Meadow Estates")
* Caress
* Coach 'Sandoval' Hines
* Dr. Funkenstein
* Eugene Struthers
* Gordon ("Sesame Street")
* Jorge ("Taco Hell")
* Jovan Muskatelle
* Knee High ("Condi Comes to Harlem")
* Mandigo Babafume ("Real **********ing Talk")
* Rollo Johnson ("Real **********ing Talk")
* Rudolph Poozer ("The Lillian Verner Game Show")
* Stevie Wonder Washington ("Real **********ing Talk")
* Eddie Thundercloud
*

Television

Key is also the current host of Animal Planet's "The Planet's Funniest Animals". He made a cameo in Weird Al Yankovic's video - "White & Nerdy" with fellow MADtv co-star Jordan Peele.

During the 2008 NBA finals, he was featured in a series of GMC Denali commercials playing an overzealous attendant in a parking garage.

He has been in several episodes of Reno 911!

See also

*MADtv Recurring Characters

External links

* [http://www.madtv.com/cast/keeganmichaelkey.html MADtv Bio]
* [http://www.theatre.psu.edu/ourstory/news/111105_key.html Penn State Alumni News Page]
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