‘Saturday Night Live’ impressionist crack up packed Russell House audience
More than 500 eager USC students filled the Russell House ballroom Friday night to see comedian Jay Pharoah perform. A key player on the late night sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live, Pharoah is known for his uncanny impressions of over one hundred different people, such as President Barack Obama, rappers Jay-Z and Kanye West and sports commentator Stephen A. Smith.
During his show on Friday, the comic showed the exact reason he has been one of the few to succeed on the national level. Pharoah’s impression-heavy performance resembled a collection of sketches rather than the average stand-up, which pays obvious tribute to the time he has spent on SNL.
“Being in an institution such as SNL has really sharpened my writing skills and allowed me to get my voice out more, especially with stand up and having those clap moments,” Pharoah said.
Pharoah described “clap moments” as a point when the audience would acknowledge the quality of the show.
“I don’t know if I had that before (SNL) because before it was just mainly voices,” Pharoah said.
While voices are a hallmark of Pharoah’s comedic abilities, they are not the only skill in his repertoire. He demonstrated these skills when he began to perform the raps he wrote for USC students during his show. The comic said he spends a lot of his free time writing.
“During week days, I’ll wake up and I just write. I write some raps or I’ll write some sketches. I just do a lot of different stuff. No day is the same except Saturday,” he said.
Pharoah has demonstrated his talent on the big screen during his performance action comedy “Ride Along” which was released in January. The work flow of a feature film was a change in pace for Pharoah, who performs for a live audience almost every week.
“You know the difference is you can do multiple takes whereas on Saturday Night Live where you have one chance,” Pharoah said. “That one chance will define everything.”
The affable funnyman demonstrated his large inventory of impressions during his performance and after the show. Pharoah’s uncanny impressions have helped solidify his presence on SNL as well as draw attention from the celebrities he impersonates. Chris Tucker and Jay-Z are a few of the numerous stars that have said Pharoah’s impressions are accurate.
“Chris Tucker brought me around with him at a party and wanted me to do it for everybody. I thought he would have had a problem with it,” Pharoah said.
Despite newfound fame, Pharoah remains grounded. The moment he realized his dreams came true was only shortly after being hired at SNL.
“I always told my mother that I wanted a job with a mouse, a desk and a computer. When I got to SNL, I walked in my office and there was a mouse, a desk and a computer,” Pharoah said. “So I hit up my mom and I said, ‘Guess what? I have a mouse, a desk and a computer.’”
While an office job is far from what he does now, Pharoah attended community college briefly with an interest in studying science. However, he has not left his childhood dream completely.
“I wanted to become an astronaut. It didn’t happen. I became a different type of astronaut. You know astronauts, are always in the stars, literally, figuratively,” Pharoah said. “So I am an astronaut.”