Everything Jay Pharoah Did

Everything Jay Pharoah Did

If only SNL cast member Jay Pharaoh could come up with jokes worthy of his killer impressions, he’d be a legend. Instead, the world was laughing at Pharoah’s series of appearances for all the wrong reasons Sunday night. Playing the Kevin Hart pseudo-host role for the evening, Pharoah first emerged to deliver a creepy monologue about how aroused he gets whenever he sees Ariana Grande. Then he came back to do his on-point Jay Z impersonation, which fell flat when it became apparent he spent all his effort mimicking Jay’s tics and none crafting punchlines. His third time on stage, Pharoah revived the Kanye West routine that has served him well on SNL — with Kim Kardashian West looking on, no less — but without the support of a professional writing staff, he bricked harder than Yeezus’ sales figures. When Pharoah returned for a fourth time, he wisely didn’t even try to be funny.