Need to talk tougher? Two comics show you how

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Keegan-Michael Key (left) and Jordan Peele go for laughs on Comedy Central’s “Key & Peele.”

Updated: March 1, 2012 8:23AM

Former Second City standout Keegan-Michael Key and partly Chicago-trained Jordan Peele, stars of a new sketch show on Comedy Central, have been gaining notice online for impersonating President Obama and his “anger translator.”

But “Key & Peele” (9:30 p.m. Tuesdays) also features a scene in which two black men — strangers — try to sound far tougher than they actually are while talking on their respective cell phones so as to intimidate each other and avoid getting jumped.

Is it offensive? Possibly. Does it reinforce negative stereotypes? Absolutely.

But the two proudly biracial former “Mad TV” players insist they have more leeway than most comics to explore racial issues and push boundaries. As Key told the Sun-Times, “There’s more space to vacillate through.”

Q. How many white people have you recently tried to scare in a similar way?

Peele: You generally do that if there’s a white person who scares you, and so you want to beat them to the punch (Keegan howls with laughter in background). That could be a gang of drunk frat guys.

Key: Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Peele: You know — you change your walk a little bit.

Key: They’ll steer clear.

Q. You sort of dial up the attitude.

Peele: Dial up the attitude …

Key: Change your gait a li’l bit.

Peele: A little swagger …

Key: A little swagger up in it. Maybe zip your jacket up …

Peele: Look at them. Don’t let them look at you.

Key: And then you give them a Negro nod. Like, “S’up!” I had to teach my wife.

Peele: And by the way, black people — I don’t care what they tell you, it can be the hardest dude in the world and I think he still does it when he senses trouble. He still turns up the tough.

Q. You have to assert your dominance before the other party asserts theirs.

Key: Yes, it’s a very NatGeo situation. You have to assert your dominance.

Peele: Especially if you want a lady to display her hindquarters.

Mike Thomas