Yeah, that's as easy, quick, and memorable as pressing ESC.

I realise there are alternatives - I personally have caps lock mapped to escape, but I'm yet to get into the habit of using it - but that's not really the point. The point is that ESC is in common use, probably enough use to justify a real physical key on the keyboard, unless there is a reason to remove it.

It's a joke.

Perhaps you should try that on a French keyboard for example. Ctrl + Alt Gr + ( on the top row instead of just banging Esc