Two weeks ago, I had never heard of Jay Pharoah. And I bet you haven't, either.
Pharoah is one of the new featured cast members on "Saturday Night Live." The guy stands out for two reasons: he's new, he's black.
Two black male cast members on "SNL?"
That's quite a feat for a show not known for winning many TV diversity awards in its 35-year history.
So far, Pharoah has proven himself to be a skilled celebrity impressionist. Last week he nailed Will Smith on "Weekend Update." This week, he was brilliant as Denzel Washington working at a department store to research a movie role.
While Pharoah looked nothing like the debonair film star, that didn't matter. Pharoah got all of Washington's vocal inflections and facial tics just right.
If I were Fred Armisten, I'd be a little worried. You have to wonder if Pharoah has an Obama impression is his bag of tricks and if show creator Lorne Michaels would have the nerve to let his rising star dip into it.
It's way too soon to tell, but Pharoah could be the next Eddie Murphy. Hopefully we'll see more of him in the coming weeks. I'd like to see if Pharoah can be funny when he's not impersonating a celebrity.
Something tells me he can.
Pharoah is one of the new featured cast members on "Saturday Night Live." The guy stands out for two reasons: he's new, he's black.
Two black male cast members on "SNL?"
That's quite a feat for a show not known for winning many TV diversity awards in its 35-year history.
So far, Pharoah has proven himself to be a skilled celebrity impressionist. Last week he nailed Will Smith on "Weekend Update." This week, he was brilliant as Denzel Washington working at a department store to research a movie role.
While Pharoah looked nothing like the debonair film star, that didn't matter. Pharoah got all of Washington's vocal inflections and facial tics just right.
If I were Fred Armisten, I'd be a little worried. You have to wonder if Pharoah has an Obama impression is his bag of tricks and if show creator Lorne Michaels would have the nerve to let his rising star dip into it.
It's way too soon to tell, but Pharoah could be the next Eddie Murphy. Hopefully we'll see more of him in the coming weeks. I'd like to see if Pharoah can be funny when he's not impersonating a celebrity.
Something tells me he can.
1 comment:
Hi Mother Schlepper.
I hope he starts doing his Obama impression on the show at some point.
Post a Comment