The History of Sketch Comedy and Time Warp 2010

This weekend, I listened to the entire podcast series, The History of Sketch Comedy by Keegan-Michael Key. I read about it in the New York Times and downloaded it for free on Audible. I usually don't listen to podcasts, but this one sucked me in. I'd listen in the car, while I was cooking, while I was working on my new jigsaw puzzle or coloring. (Don't judge me.)

I loved the series. It was so entertaining. Instead of showing clips from Saturday Night Live or the Carol Burnett Show, Key would act out the scene using voices and while he explained what was going on. He is a terrific voice actor. That alone is worth the price of admission, even though it is free, it can be a pain in the butt to set up an Audible account.

This podcast is more than entertaining. I was learning something new. In one of the articles, Key said his wife pitched the idea as an NYU lecture on comedy. I had seen or heard of most of the stuff he was referring to, but I didn't realize why I thought it was so funny. He talks about an SNL skit called "Black Jeopardy" with Tom Hanks, and "Meet Your Second Wife!" with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, both of which I has seen before and laughed.

There was some comedy I had never heard of before, like some of the sketches from Dudley Moore and Peter Cook's "Frog and Peach" sketch from the 1960's or so. When there was something new and interesting, I'd google it and watch the skit on YouTube.

There was some comedy I completely missed, though: Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island. They write parody songs making fun of pop music and rap. This trio rocked the comedy scene in 2010. In 2010, my kids were in elementary school. I was driving places and making sure kids did their homework and running a PTA or two. The only media I consumed was Facebook, Stephen Colbert, and paper copy of the Seattle Times. That was it. I didn't watch television or movies. Watching television during the day makes me depressed, and at night I didn't have time with the kids around.

Now, thanks to the power and glory of YouTube and Spotify, I am catching up on pop culture circa 2010. I feel like I am in a time warp, like I missed a decade or something. What should I have been wearing? What about hairstyles? I have no clue. I was stuck back in 2000 like when Claire-Adele was born.

Anyway, The Lonely Island is hilarious. I've watched Jack Sparrow featuring Michael Bolton like ten times. Mona Lisa is funny, and also an earworm. Some of their songs are completely raunchy and inappropriate, but man it is good to laugh.