By Bryson “Boom” Paul
As the week concludes, comedy sensation Jay Pharoah promises to make Dallas laugh hysterically as this weekend’s headliner at the Arlington Improv.
After Katt Williams made comedy the hot topic last week following his bombshell interview with NFL hall famer-turned-conversationalist Sharon Sharp, Pharoah, 36, invites the city out to watch more must-see comedy.
“Bring ya’ll asses out to the Arlington Improv this weekend, man,” says Pharoah sitting on his hotel bed over our Zoom interview on Friday morning. “So you can laugh and forget about your problems. And have something else to talk about in addition to that Katt Williams and Club Shay Shay interview.”
In a two-and-a-half hour interview on the Club Shay Shay YouTube channel last Wednesday (Jan. 6), Emmy winner Katt Williams (“Friday After Nex,” “Atlanta”) revealed his longstanding issues with fellow comedy legends such as Kevin Hart, Steve Harvey, Cedric The Entertainer, and Tiffany Haddish. The conversation broke the internet as comics – like Pharoah – commented on Williams’ accusations of joke theft, film roles, and Illuminati with mixed reactions.
“The person that started this, I’m fully behind; that’s my friend,” he says when asked about the interview. “I’m cool. I know ain’t nothing bad coming my way cause he mess with me, you know what I’m sayin’. I wish I coulda got a shout-out in the young comedian joint, but it’s all good – I ain’t worried about it [laughs].”
On tour, the Resort To Love star is excited to make his annual return to the metroplex to headline at one of his favorite places in the Lone Star State.
“I love Texas, man,” says Pharoah. “I come here all the time, at least twice a year. It’s one of the best live shows you’ll ever see in your life, and I’m not just saying that. These are the reviews that people leave me. So, I’m ready for you, Texas [laughs]. Everything is bigger in Texas. Shoot, even flat girls are bigger here. You take a flat chick, and you put her in Texas. All of a sudden, she got a little bubble. She got a Megan thee Stallion. Where did that come from [laughs].”
Heavily regarded as one of the best impressionists in comedy, Pharoah’s stand-up will remind audiences that he is more than just someone who imitates your favorite celebrities. Even though the internet promotes his impressions, his stand-up shows a much broader range of material, he explained:
“The internet will tell you that this guy sits around and does impressions all day. That is a bold-faced lie. I don’t sit around and do impressions. What do you think I’m crazy? I’m just sitting here just talking to myself as Denzel, Will Smith, and Jay-Z. I don’t do that. I practice, but I don’t do that.”
Pharoah was born and raised in Chesapeake, Virginia. He began performing stand-up comedy at 15 and became a cast member of Saturday Night Live at 23 in 2010, where his career exploded. SNL noticed Pharoah’s classic Barack Obama impression on YouTube.
He left SNL ranked as the 55th greatest cast member of all time by Rolling Stone magazine in 2016. As a teenager, Pharoah traveled with stand-up superstars like Charlie Murphy and Kevin Hart, but he attributes being cast on Saturday Night Live to his faith.
“I’m from Virginia. I’m from the 757, man. I didn’t know how to get on SNL. I just said it’s going to happen. I put it in the universe, and somehow it all worked out. When you have unrelenting faith, you can move mountains if you want to. You just got to have faith that you can do it.”
He rose to fame after SNL, showcasing his impressions on stand-up specials, TV series, and films like Resort to Love (2021) and The Blackening (2023). While he is blessed that his impressions are in popular demand, he understands the shadow it casts over his other stand-up content, which is an impression he plans to change in 2024.
“Impressions are a gift and a curse,” he said. “I’ll say they’re a gift because, of course, millions, millions in the bank stacked up, been making great money over the past 13 years, but it is detrimental because that fan base that keeps growing is only going to come to McDonald’s for the quarterpounder with cheese. If you got McChickens up there, you got a Big Mac up there. You don’t know because you’re always looking for that quarterpounder with cheese. That’s why I’m so happy about 2024: there is no hold barred, fully going in on everything. I got my special coming out, and I can’t wait for everybody to see that.”
As this weekend’s headliner, he plans to deliver a stand-up filled with impressions and jokes about his life and things left behind in 2023.
“2024, we’re ain’t going back with you internet trolls,” says Pharoah. “Because ya’ll are dumb. Ya’ll don’t know anything. Ya’ll don’t research enough to have an opinion on anybody. So we not going back and forth no more. It’s either a block or it’s a delete – straight up. I’m over 35 now. I can run the country legally. I have the right to tell you to shut the hell up. You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
Jay Pharoah is a famous comedian who continuously performs with a hunger for the craft. Coming to the Arlington Improv this weekend will showcase it’s more than the internet when it comes to unleashing his full potential. He explained his work ethic with the following:
“I’m still on the grind. I’m not in stadiums yet. I will be. That’s gon happen. I’m still getting offers sometimes … I get Chuckle’s Comedy Club or the Rooster House in Memphis or Jay’s Backyard in Richmond – something like that. There’s a multitude of different levels of work that I get. I get theaters and all types of stuff. But when it comes down to it, I’m still on the grind, still trying to get out and do my thing and show people what they haven’t seen yet. And the only way you can see what I do is if you come to my show and you see it because the internet won’t tell you anything. It doesn’t tell you anything at all.”
Jay Pharoah, Friday, January 5, Saturday, January 6, Sunday, January 7, showtimes at 7 PM & 9 PM, Arlington Improv, 309 Curtis Mathes Way #147. Get tickets now.
