So anytime people want to talk about Jordan Peele’s switch from comedy to horror, I always want to bring up this sketch, which is basically horror – but with a few key things that transition it to comedy.
Thing that makes it comedy: Absurdity.
The juxtaposition of the bad news with ‘80s competitive aerobics
The overly long cue cards that were nonetheless written in apparently under a minute, for at most a one cue-card message, just to apparently unnecessarily draw out things out
The apologetic look on the card holder’s face, while the director mimes a little dance that in no way matches the choreography
The idea that somehow the main character is supposed to answer these questions while he’s dancing? Live on air?
Imagine sitting at home and what these guys would’ve looked like – the one dude looking off camera and mouthing “motive??”, etc. Without knowing the story, that’s a pretty funny visual
The idea that anyone would go to these lengths to win, again, ‘80s competitive aerobics
However, note the horror elements:
The tension of more and more revealed information, changing from accident to not-an-accident to suspicion to revenge
The music starts as funny (and sets the scene), but it’s on an unending loop, again raising the tension as we wait for it to resolve – and it doesn’t
Actually, the music cues in general, along with the switch back and forth between the grainy ‘80s video recording and the more slick and dark “real time” camerawork, are both very horror-tastic
The dancers’ smiles are really interesting – they start very fake and open-mouthed, with a lot of teeth, and then the main character’s transitions to a grimace, which maintains the open mouth with lots of teeth, but has a very different meaning. Then, as the scene progresses, the other character’s smile – while looking essentially the same as it started at the top of the scene – appears suddenly sinister
The idea that someone you’ve worked with for potentially months – talked to, choreographed with, probably stayed at the same hotels, bonded over the bagels on the craft table – has been planning to kill your entire family
Alternately: What if it really was an accident? So instead we’re watching the total breakdown of a man into paranoia and undeserved murderous rage
You can do this with a lot of Key and Peele sketches – there are a ton of horror elements, and what tips them toward comedy are the levels of absurdity and, to a degree, the resolutions (i.e., the punchlines described previously). “Turbulence” is another good example of this, I think, along with “Black People Telepathy”, “Weird Playlist”, and “The Telemarketer”.
