Monday, April 21, 2025

September 23, 2021

2OV Throwback Thursday – The ‘Obama Anger Translator’ Viral Videos

I was doing some digging down a YouTube wormhole this week and I came across a sketch featuring Luther, perhaps best known as Obama's anger translator.

[imagesource: YouTube / C-SPAN]

You really have to love a Thursday that’s followed by a public holiday.

Tomorrow is Heritage Day (not Braai Day), and that means a long weekend.

Go ahead and crack a cold one a little earlier than usual today. You’ve earned it.

I was doing some digging down a YouTube wormhole this week and I came across one of Key & Peele’s most famous characters, Luther.

He’s perhaps best known as Obama’s anger translator, and his antics didn’t go unnoticed.

But before we get to that, let’s take it way back to the beginning. Here’s the first sketch Keegan Michael-Key’s character featured in:

Luther would go on to appear in a number of sketches, and Jordan Peele’s Obama impersonation also became very popular.

This ‘Meet & Greet’ sketch is a real peach:

Eventually, Barack Obama himself would join in the fun, inviting Michael-Key to the 2015 White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

The then US President used Luther to sound off about some of the things that had irked him during his time as commander-in-chief:

A president who can laugh at himself, hey? Those were the days.

You can enjoy five of our favourite Key & Peele sketches here.

Happy damn long weekend.

[source:key&peele]