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Negrotown
SKETCH-O-VISION
A VERY GOOD USE OF YOUR TIME.
The setup
Watch on YouTube
Watch onYouTube
The premise
Here’s the bit.
A man walking at night is stopped by a police officer who treats his questions as defiance and arrests him. After hitting his head on the patrol car, he finds himself following Wally, a homeless man who becomes a brightly dressed musical guide. Wally introduces a town where Black residents can shop, travel, obtain loans and gather without discrimination or threats. The visitor keeps interrupting the song with excited observations, to Wally's irritation, as the townspeople dance around them. The fantasy dissolves when the officer wakes the man and puts him in the patrol car. The officer's reply to his confusion turns the promised escape into a bleak final joke.
The funny people
Meet the cast. 16
Say it with us
Highly quotable.
Negrotown? What, like, Atlanta?
Yeah! But seriously, shut the fuck up.
Oh, you are.
Behind the scenes
The people who made it.
Peter Atencio
Director
Jordan Peele
Writer
A little extra
Notes from the archive.
Comedy Central released the sketch online on May 6, 2015, ahead of its September 9 broadcast in the series finale, The End.
Script
Automatically generated script; wording may contain errors. Speaker labels are inferred.
- 00:08
Wally
There's some change
- 00:10
Man stopped by police
Sorry, man. I got nothing
- 00:12
Cop
All right. Hold Hold it right there. Let's see some ID
- 00:26
Man stopped by police
Doing anything man.
- 00:29
Cop
Are you talking back to me?
- 00:30
Man stopped by police
No, I was just walking
- 00:31
Cop
Look, there is no reason for you to get upset sir.
- 00:35
Man stopped by police
I'm not I'm not
- 00:36
Cop
that's it Put your hands on your head
- 00:38
Man stopped by police
put my hands
- 00:38
Cop
put your hands on your head.
- 00:40
Man stopped by police
Yes
- 00:42
Cop
You met your chance
- 00:46
Man stopped by police
Listen, I just asked you like politely what it is that I did
- 00:49
Cop
think I was born yesterday Come on, man. Get in the car. Duck your head.
- 00:53
Man stopped by police
All right,
- 00:59
Wally
All right, officer. I'll take it from here.
- 01:04
Cop
Hi, Wally. Good to see you. He's all yours.
- 01:11
Wally
All right.
- 01:15
Cop
Y Y'all have a good night.
- 01:17
Man stopped by police
All right. Thanks, man, but where are we going?
- 01:20
Wally
I'm glad you asked. Follow me.
- 01:25
Man stopped by police
Through there? Whoa!
- 01:32
Man stopped by police
Whoa, look at this place where are we
- 01:36
Wally
just be patient, and I'll show you Follow me to a place. I know it ain't no pain ain't no sorrow. It's a place to be if your skin is brown I'm talking about Negro town
- 01:50
Negrotown, Negrotown.
- 01:53
Man stopped by police
Negro town What like Atlanta?
- 01:56
Wally
Almost. Now be quiet while I sing. In Negrotown you can walk the street Without getting stopped, harassed, or beat And there's always a cab when you need to get around And they always stop in Negrotown
- 02:14
Man stopped by police
I think I'm getting it. It's like a utopia for black people.
- 02:18
Wally
Yeah! But seriously, shut the fuck up! You won't get followed when you try to shop You can't wear your hoodie and not get shot No white folks to cross the street in fear No trigger-happy cops or scared cashiers That loan application can't get turned down You're always approved in Negro Town
- 02:45
Man stopped by police
This is amazing!
- 02:46
Negrotown Dancer
I know, right? We're going down to Negro Town Where the strong black men are raining down There's light skin, dark skin, every shade And there's no white bitches to take them away
- 03:01
Man stopped by police
This sounds too good to be true
- 03:03
Wally
It does, doesn't it? But can a nigga finish a song? I mean, can a nigga finish?
- 03:10
Man stopped by police
I'm sorry, I'm sorry
- 03:12
Wally
In Negritown you live long and well There's no disease, no sickle cell No stupid-ass white folks touching your hair Or stealing your culture, claiming it's theirs Hanging out in a groove doesn't make you a gay Every word that you say ain't considered slang No one trying to get in on the latest trend By making you their token black friend
- 03:37
Wally
It's the place where harmony is found It's a motherfucking black playground
- 03:45
Talking about Negro time Talkin' bout negro, negro, negro Talkin' bout negro Alright, Tide!
- 04:04
Cop
Sir? Sir? Sir? Sir?
- 04:11
Man stopped by police
What?
- 04:14
Cop
Alright, get up. Let's go, get up.
- 04:18
Man stopped by police
Wait, wait, wait, hold on. I thought I was going to negro town.
- 04:23
Cop
Oh, you are.
The rabbit hole continues
One more couldn’t hurt.
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