Key and Peele

I'm not a big fan of "raunchy" comedy.  Gross-out humor for the sake of grossing people out just isn't my thing, and it's why I walked out of the first Scary Movie film feeling like I should ask for money back.  Unfortunately I saw it for free, so I was just out the time it took to view it, but the feeling stood.

Comedy is hard.  If your humor is too broad, you risk having no real lasting impact with your message.  If you're too afraid of ruffling feathers, your humor isn't memorable (outside of a few exceptions).  If you're too far over the line, you get hit with a backlash and are accused of either being hateful, ignorant, or just crass.

There are few comedians I feel walk that line perfectly, and two of them are Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele, easily two of the comedians in my top five "of all time as of this writing" list.

Ask Erik: Episode Sixty-Seven

To Erik: Who are your comedic influences?

Despite the fact that I tend to not be able to stand any of the newer "comedies" that come out in movie theaters, comedy has always been a pretty big part of my life.  Watching stand-up performances, classic humor movies, and even older cartoons all set me down the path of trying to be "funny" (or if not that, at least mildly entertaining) from a young age.

There are some pretty obvious influences, but some that might not be as well known.  I've even included a few modern influences, since my sense of humor is constantly shifting and adapting as I find just the right tone of humor to be "me."