DETROIT – Keegan-Michael Key recently described how his path to comedy started with watching "Saturday Night Live" with his father while growing up in Detroit.
Well, Key is about to have one of those full-circle moments. The Emmy-winning star of movies and TV — a sketch comedy veteran of "Key & Peele" and "Mad TV" — will be hosting "SNL" for the first time.
Key will host the May 15 episode, with "Drivers License" singer Olivia Rodrigo joining him as the musical guest.
"Dreams do come true," tweeted Key of the news.
The Shrine Catholic High School and University of Detroit Mercy alum got one of his first comedy jobs at the now-defunct Second City Detroit troupe.
On his 2021 Audible podcast "The History of Sketch Comedy," he talked about how "SNL" changed his life.
Telling listeners he grew up "a block south of 8 Mile in Detroit," Key described how watching the NBC late-night show as a kid changed his life in 1983 when he heard his stoic dad laugh at a sketch featuring Eddie Murphy as a talent agent and the real Stevie Wonder as a Stevie Wonder impersonator.
“Nobody in my house was ever the same again,” said Key, who calls the moment "the beginning of my sketch comedy path."
Key recently starred in two films for Netflix, "The Prom" and “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Story.”
He currently is working on the AppleTV+ series "Schmigadoon!," which co-stars "SNL" regular Cecily Strong. It's about a magical place where everyone behaves as if they’re living in a vintage Hollywood musical.
