How much of The Blackening skit is in the movie? A comparison

One of the things I wished I’d paid more attention to before The Blackening interview was the movie’s origin story. Or, more specifically, I wish I’d watched the Comedy Central The Blackening skit that inspired the movie before the interview. I would’ve loved to know who from the movie saw it back when.

The skit stars the improv comedy group 3Peat, of whom Dewayne Perkins was a member. (Perkins both co-wrote and stars in the movie version.) He got the idea for a The Blackening skit while performing in Chicago.

“My improv group, 3PEAT, were doing a web series of sketches for Comedy Central, and ‘The Blackening’ was one I pitched,” Perkins recalls. “That was the first one that they picked. We filmed it and it went viral. I was like, ‘This is crazy.’ I didn’t realize that it would be so impactful.”

Tracy Oliver, The Blackening movie’s other writer, offered an explanation for why the skit was such a hit. For one, like so many others, she found the concept “hilarious.” But she also “loved the way it was shot like a scene from a real horror movie.”

But the other part of it had to do with the writing, which she described as “funny, yet sharp and insightful, as well as unapologetically Black.”

That translates to the movie, too, as does a lot from the skit. But there are differences too. Let’s take a look.

The Blackening skit vs. the movie: Similarities and differences

The most obvious difference between the skit and the movie is the length. Naturally. Skits are, by nature, shorter. There are more minutes to fill in a movie, which is perfect for fleshing out the concepts the skit introduced.

A group of friends camping is something else the skit and the movie share in common. Or, more precisely, “glamping.” In both scenarios, the setting is somewhere remote out in the woods, but there aren’t any tents. They’re staying in nice houses.

However, the movie version of The Blackening centers around a group of friends reuniting to celebrate Juneteenth. All we glean from the skit version is that it’s a bunch of friends camping —and now regretting that unfortunate choice.

Or, as one of them puts it, “I told y’all. Black people ain’t got no business camping. This is black karma.”

Because that’s the other similarity: a White killer hunts the friends in both The Blackening skit and the movie.  But in the skit, we see his face. He’s not wearing a mask. He’s just wielding a knife. The killer in the movie uses a knife too, but also a bow and arrows. And he wears an awful Blackface-inspired mask.

And then there’s the confusion. Who does a slasher kill first if everybody’s black? In both the movie and the skit, that’s left up to the group to decide. The killer will spare the rest of the group as long as they turn over whoever they deem to be “the blackest.”

In the movie, they all play a game called “The Blackening” that somewhat helps to determine that —but then, in the end, really doesn’t. There’s no game in the skit, but there’s a montage with folks defending why they’re not the blackest, and that’s also a scene in the movie.

The same person who confesses to voting for Trump is ultimately sacrificed in both the skit and the movie. However, hot sauce is also involved in the decision in the skit, whereas it’s not in the movie.

Overall, both are enjoyable to watch. If you like the horror comedy of The Blackening skit, chances are you’ll find the movie equally entertaining.