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Feminist Pirate Chantey

Key & Peele
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.

The setup

A tavern full of rowdy pirates launches into a sea chantey whose bawdy setups keep swerving into surprisingly respectful, feminist punchlines.

Community rating

– / 10

The premise

Here’s the bit.

In a candlelit pirate tavern, a band of grizzled buccaneers led by Peele's and Key's pirates trades verses that open like the usual lusty tall tales about women met in port. Each one swerves into a lesson in decency: a woman too drunk to consent is tucked safely into bed, a night with a lass from Leeds becomes all about her pleasure, and a pregnant sweetheart gets her man's full support when she chooses not to keep the baby. Between verses the whole crew roars a chorus about which words for women they refuse to use. Will Sasso's knife-throwing pirate poses an old riddle about a dying lady whose twist depends on the listener assuming her doctor was a man. When another pirate launches into a crude verse, the room falls silent, and the ship's captain, a woman played by Rebecca Romijn, appears on the balcony, draws a salute from the crew and leads them through a rousing final chorus.

The funny people

Meet the cast. 8

Behind the scenes

The people who made it.

A little extra

Notes from the archive.

Guest Will Sasso, who sings the riddle verse, is, like Key and Peele, an alumnus of MADtv.

The rabbit hole continues

One more couldn’t hurt.

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