Comedian never fails to make an impression

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This article was published 06/09/2024 (623 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Jay Pharoah aspires to be as big — if not bigger — than some of the 200-plus celebrities he can impersonate.

And at 36, he has the track record, talent and determination to make it happen.

Pharoah — born Jared Farrow — plans to sprinkle in some of those impressions during his four one-hour sets at Rumor’s Comedy Club tonight and Saturday. Some of his best are Barack Obama, Denzel Washington and an uncanny Eddie Murphy. (If cajoled, he’ll offer up an impressive James Brown he usually keeps to himself.)

It all started when he was six years old, trying to to impress a crush on a playground by imitating Gilbert Gottfried as Iago in Disney’s Aladdin.

“She said ‘You’re just so good at that, you’re going to be great!’” he recalls. “That does sound like a movie thing, but that’s how it actually happened. If there’s ever a biopic done, that scene will be prominent. I’ll be on top of the jungle gym, and we’ll be sitting there talking to each other.

“And then it cuts to 20 years later and I’m onstage.”

Pharoah’s not just a comedian — he’s also an actor, writer and musician. He’s appeared in dozens of movies, including Resort to Love alongside Christina Milian, The Blackening and Unsane, and he was a cast member on Saturday Night Live for six years, from 2010 to 2016, which he says was a dream come true for a “trash-talking” kid who got his start when his dad signed him up for a comedy competition at 16.

“I never would have thought that kid would have ended up on SNL,” says Pharoah, who religiously watched the late-night sketch comedy series, picking up whatever he could from his favourite stars, including Murphy and Will Ferrell.

“Being on SNL, you are forced to become quick because you have to audition for your job every week, and then you have to have a different show every week,” he says of his time on the show, during which he was known for his Kanye West, Dave Chappelle and Peter Dinklage impersonations.

“So you always have to make sure that you have your finger on the pulse, and you always have to stay sharp or you’ll just you’ll fade.”

While he admits he was “blessed” to get the SNL gig and his career’s been steadily climbing since, the Chesapeake, Va., native had a rough start; he had to find a way to laugh at his problems growing up.

He was born prematurely at seven months, weighing just over four pounds; his twin sibling didn’t make it to full term. He didn’t have a large social circle and worked on his impressions so he would have someone to talk to.

He was an overweight child, which continued into adulthood when he moved to New York and discovered a liking for fried Chinese food.

He recently started boxing and cut out sugar to stay in competitive form for movie roles; he has a couple more films coming out this year.

If he could write the next scenes in his own movie, he says, it would see him starring in his own sitcom and taking on the role of a celebrity in a biopic (he has his sights on Murphy, Richard Pryor or Marvin Gaye). He would also like to star in action movies and sees himself accepting an Oscar and an Emmy, directing, and entering the superhero realm.

“The next thing would be me breaking into the DC universe. I love the grittiness of the DCU. It’s my dream job to be John Stewart and to play the Green Lantern,” he says of the comic book film franchise.

“I know it’s going to happen, but if even if it didn’t and my life will be lived in a short period of time, I would still be happy about all of the accomplishments so far, and the legacy for another little kid who feels like it’s impossible to get out of (his) surroundings to accomplish things.”

arts@freepress.mb.ca