Jay Pharoah Gets Real About His Name, His New Comedy Special and His Place in ‘SNL’ History

When some fans hear the name of Jay Pharoah’s new YouTube special Jared, they ask a simple question: “Who’s Jared?” 

“A lot of people didn’t even know that was my real damn name,” Pharoah laughs when we talked about his comedy career this week. “‘Who’s Jared?’ Shut up. Okay, it’s me. Jared is me. Jared is just a metaphor for everything that people haven’t really gotten a chance to see. You can just expect the tumultuous trail of life that I’ve been going on in this past decade.”

The special, which premieres September 22nd, is “free for everybody to see. You don’t need a subscription. You can watch it anywhere,” he tells me. “I want y’all to enjoy it — growing-up stories, some pop-culture references in there, it’s pretty much a buffet of comedy.” 

Get amped for Jared with Pharoah’s thoughts on his early days in comedy, the art of comic impressions and his time on Saturday Night Live.

“I remember the first time I made a crowd laugh. I was five years old, and I pressed through security to get to my pastor. He had security like the club. I just pushed. I don’t know how I did it, man. I don’t know why I was allowed to do so. I pushed through everybody, ‘Excuse me, excuse me.’ Little five-year-old. And I’m talking to him, and he asked me, ‘Hey, man, can you fight?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I’m like Muhammad Ali, you want to see?’ Everybody starts laughing.”

“I would always say slick stuff as a kid. My Uncle Patrick, he would definitely pay attention. He was keen to it. I was really shy around my parents. Everybody else knew, but they didn’t because I was just shy around them.” 

“My parents are hilarious. They’re really funny. So my measure of comedy will always come from, ‘Are they laughing?’ Even when they come to a show or something. I don’t give a damn about anybody else in the room. I’m looking at them.” 

“(My first impression) was Gilbert Gottfried, Iago from Aladdin. That was my first one and that just kept going on, kept building. Gilbert, that’s crazy, right? White Jewish dude was my first impression.” 

“There was this thing called the Virginia Idol Talent Search where I got up at a comedy club. It was about 300 people. I got fifth place out of it, and the only only people in front of me were four singers. Hey, I’m good with that. I’m not going to beat Beyoncé. If you put me next to Alicia Keys, you’re about to go sing ‘Songs in A Minor.’ You ain’t coming to listen to damn jokes.”

“I was 16 years old. To be that young and to get that was a boost of confidence. That was the time that my parents were exposed to the funny because they hadn’t seen it before. My parents would hear me say wild stuff sometimes, but it never was like, ‘Oh, he’s gonna take this to another level’ type of thing, you know?”

“My sister became my manager when I was 19. She’s just been riding with me ever since. She’s always been encouraging in anything I wanted to do, whether it was rapping, whether it was comedy, whether it was singing. She’s just always been one of my biggest cheerleaders.” 

“Impressions I do that no one else does? The dude revitalized battle rap so I would say Cassidy. The rapper Cassidy and then Gillie. Nobody’s done those two but me. I’ve seen people try to do it. I’m like, yeah, that’s alright. But for the people to actually hit you up and tell you it was good? I’ve heard from both of them, and they’ve both been like, ‘Hey man, keep going. That’s hilarious, man. I don’t even understand how you switch your voice like that. Like, that’s mad wild and crazy.’” 

“Will Smith was the one at first, but then a lot of Mini-Mes were born and they started doing him. People have it down like 75 percent, but they’re not 100. Will Smith finally commented on the video I did. And he was like (impeccable Will Smith imitation), ‘Yeah, the next time I got to do some ADR, I’m definitely calling you.’” 

“When you have validation from the actual artist, you know. For the people that hit you up personally, you got it. I would say those three, and they’re all from Philadelphia, which is wild. It’s full of silly people!”

“Shannon Sharpe, he didn’t like it at first. Then I refined it, and now he likes it. Looking back at it, it wasn’t as good as it is now. When I first did it, it was like I was mocking him and not really doing the impression. Once I dialed into it, then it became one of the good ones.”

“And then Kanye. But you know, that don’t count because he just has a problem with life.”

“Come on, man. it’s SNL. I feel like I’m getting old, but I feel good to be a part of such a prestige institution. You’re not going to get higher than that. As far as sketch comedy goes, it’s literally the NFL of sketch comedy.” 

“I really flipped my wig when I saw Sam Rockwell. When I saw Jay-Z. And Eddie Murphy! Drake. Yo, when I tell you I was such a Drake fan? And getting to do his first sketch on SNL and and forming a camaraderie with that guy? That messed me up. I was like, ‘Yo, are you kidding me? This is Drizzy Drake! This is Wheelchair Jimmy! Are you kidding me?’”

“I feel good to be a part of that history and to actually be invited back (for SNL's 50th party). You know, everybody didn’t get the invite, so the fact that I got sent three of them? I thought one was spam. Then I’d show up and it would just be a shack.”

“I saw Taran (Killam) yesterday. We did After Midnight together, and we were talking about it. He’s like, ‘Dude, where you staying?’ I said, ‘I don’t know but I'm gonna be there, god daggit.’” 

“I've definitely grown. I definitely learned a lot at that place, and I got the job when I was 22. I was a freaking baby, which is wild. I just feel blessed, man.”