Jay Pharoah

Pharoah was a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 2010 to 2016. In 2015, he was ranked the 55th greatest Saturday Night Live cast member by Rolling Stone magazine.

Jay Pharoah
Pharoah in June 2016
Birth name	Jared Antonio Farrow
Born	(1987-10-14) October 14, 1987 (age 36) Chesapeake, Virginia, U.S.
Medium	Stand-up television film
Education	Tidewater Community College (AA, AS) Virginia Commonwealth University
Years active	2010–present
Genres	Observational comedy impressions sketch comedy blue comedy racial humor satire
Subject(s)	African-American culture American politics pop culture racism race relations current events human sexuality
Website	www.jaypharoahworld.com

Pharoah was born and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia. He began performing impersonations at age six and cites Gilbert Gottfried's character Iago in Aladdin as his first voice, explaining, "My father put me in a talent competition a couple of months later, and out of the whole thing I got fifth place."

In 2005, Pharoah graduated from Indian River High School in Chesapeake. One of his characters, Principal Daniel Frye, is heavily influenced by IRHS's former principal, James Frye. Pharoah graduated from Tidewater Community College with an Associate of Arts degree in 2008 and an Associate of Science in 2010. He briefly attended Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

Pharoah has been performing stand-up comedy in community theaters and at comedy clubs in Virginia since he was 15. He at one point toured with Corey Holcomb and Charlie Murphy.

He became known for his many celebrity impressions, including Barack Obama, Will Smith, DMX, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Kanye West, Stephen A. Smith, Peter Dinklage, and Denzel Washington.

Pharoah became an internet phenomenon when his impersonation of Barack Obama became widely seen on YouTube.

2010–2016: Saturday Night Live

In 2010, Pharoah was hired by Saturday Night Live as a featured performer for the show's 36th season. Pharoah debuted on Saturday Night Live on September 25, 2010 and was regarded by Rob Moynihan of TV Guide as the "breakout player" for that season, for his impressions of Barack Obama, Ben Carson, Kanye West, Jay-Z, Stephen A. Smith, Will Smith, Eddie Murphy, Tracy Morgan, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Chris Tucker, Michael Strahan, Lil Wayne, Kevin Hart, Kendrick Lamar, Shaq and Denzel Washington. He debuted his SNL impersonation of Barack Obama in the 38th season premiere on September 15, 2012, succeeding Fred Armisen in that role. Rolling Stone magazine described him as the "Jimmy Fallon of 2 Chainz impressions."

Pharoah appeared in the independent film Lola Versus, released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in June 2012. In 2014, he had a small role in the buddy cop film Ride Along, starring Ice Cube and Kevin Hart, and appeared in the independent film Balls Out, a sport comedy starring fellow SNL cast members Beck Bennett and Kate McKinnon.

In 2016, he appeared in a commercial for Old Navy, alongside fellow SNL cast members Nasim Pedrad and Cecily Strong. On August 8, 2016, it was announced Pharoah alongside fellow cast member Taran Killam would be exiting the show ahead of its 42nd season. Pharoah hosted the American Music Awards of 2016 with model Gigi Hadid. Pharoah has been working on his first album with record producer Myles William.

2020 encounter with police

In June 2020, amidst the ongoing George Floyd protests, Pharoah released footage showing how, in April 2020, he was detained at gunpoint by the Los Angeles Police Department, with an officer kneeling on Pharoah's neck in the same manner as that which caused the murder of George Floyd. Pharoah had met the generic description of a "black man in grey sweatpants and a grey shirt." After the officers Googled Pharoah's name, they apologized and let him go.

Film

Television

Video games

• Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) – Andre