Noticeably missing from recent Saturday Night Live casting announcements is even the slightest indication that the show may finally hire another black person, relieving Kenan Thompson of the burden of impersonating every single African-American save Barack Obama. However, The Comic’s Comic—which earlier broke the news that Taran Killam, Vanessa Bayer, and Paul Brittain had been signed—is now reporting that 22-year-old comic Jay Pharaoh is “just about a done deal” to be added to the cast. Pharoah has been working the club circuit since he was 15, and one of his specialties is impersonating famous black people, which means Kenan can take a much-needed breather. Better get him before Jamie Foxx does.
Here's Pharoah doing Jay-Z for a BET segment.
And here he is doing Will Smith and Denzel Washington.
And both Eddie Murphy and Charlie Murphy.
And finally, here's Pharoah doing a crucial impersonation of Obama. Could an end to the era of Fred Armisen in blackface be at hand?