We have plenty of time to prepare for when Jay Pharoah makes his next trip to town. Now, whether that preparation is more centered around looking for the best winter coat, or if he’s going to have a fully-charged brand new hour to show off remains to be seen. But by the sounds of it, it’s probably a little bit of both.
Heading to The Wilbur in the early weeks of 2024 on January 19, Pharoah is ready to bring a whole new standard of his comedy to a city he loves. While the energy of the crowd and that of a classic venue like The Wilbur has the Saturday Night Live alum psyched to come back to a stage he knows all too well, he’s really looking forward to performing with his comedy friends in town and to feel the camaraderie that comes along with putting on a show in a comedy-crazed city like Boston.
“I love Boston. Every time I’ve gone, it’s been a lot of fun, and looking back, Boston is one of those northern pockets that I can call home, just because I’ve been there so much,” Pharoah tells Vanyaland. “Every time I’ve come to town, it’s been a great experience, so I’m really just looking forward to getting back to my family up there.”
On August 26, Pharoah will be making his way to Chicago to record his special. So, although the hour that Boston will see this winter is more than likely going to be different than the one he’s running now, it won’t be lacking in the aspect of it being a more personal hour for the Virginia native.
“It’s completely different than before,” Pharoah adds. “I’ll be telling some personal stories, and I’ll talk about uncomfortable situations I’ve been in, and the state of the world right now, and insecurities. It’s different from what you’ve seen from me, and you’re just getting me. Doing the impressions in my set now, where they used to be more of the cake and the frosting, now they’re more like the sprinkles. I use them more to enhance stories now, and I still give people what they came to see, but I’ll leave them with more now.”
After years of being known mostly as an elite impressionist and a critically-acclaimed improv and sketch comic, Pharoah is adding, or pulling back a new layer of his creative approach that will shed a deeper, more from-the-heart light on the comedy vet in a way that he hopes will give fans even more than they initially expected.
“I really feel now, where I’ve gone through a lot, and I’ve opened myself up to observe more, that I feel like I’m in the best part of my creative bag, as far as being an artist goes,” says Pharoah. “I feel like if people see this Jay Pharoah, they’re going to forget about all the viral videos and everything. I mean, I’m sure they’ll still see me as a great impressionist, but when you see it live and all put together, you’ll see more of how I am as a dope comedian. I feel like I’m finally in a place I’ve been trying to get to.”
Pharoah, of no surprise, has been on the grind in the comedy game for a long time now, and while he isn’t comparing himself to the greats like Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy and Bernie Mac, he’s determined to bring the same type of “old school” comedy gold and attitude those icons brought to the table.
As he continues to bust out of the creative shell he feels he was in for so long, while not abandoning a huge part of what brought him international recognition over the years, Pharoah is feeling a new sense of excitement and a fresh perspective on his own comedic and creative journey, and hopes that this other side of him will deliver as powerful of a punch as he did before.
“It definitely feels fresh,” says Pharoah. “I haven’t really talked about myself like this before, and I don’t think I’d want to put it out there as hiding behind something before, because it was more of using a superpower, but for it to have been the bulk of everything before, and now to have switched the other way, it’s just different, it really does feel fresh, and I’m just so excited.”
JAY PHAROAH :: Friday, January 19 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 6:30 p.m., $30 :: Advance Tickets