Jay Pharoah brings 'Deis Day to a close
Saturday Night Live comedian Jay Pharoah performed a comedy show on campus to round out an afternoon packed full of activities and school spirit for the Student Union's second annual celebration of 'Deis Day. The early evening show lasted for about an hour on Chapel's Field, drawing a massive crowd of both current and recently admitted students.
Before Pharoah took the stage, two students announced to the crowd the results of 'Deis Day's Battle of the Bands that took place earlier that afternoon-the group Froy Steinhardt, composed of Antoine Malfroy '17, Austin Koenigstein '17 and Ryan Gebhardt '17, won the contest. Along with their winning title, the group will get to play at the beginning of this year's annual SpringFest concert.
Student Union President Ricky Rosen '14 followed the Battle of the Bands announcement with an outwardly happy speech to conclude 'Deis Day, the organization of which was largely an effort that he shouldered. "This day has been everything we could have hoped for and more. The parade this morning was amazing," he told the crowd. Rosen then introduced Pharoah, who burst onto the stage as the song "All Me" by rapper Drake played. "This my sh*t!" Pharoah yelled over and over, pumping up the crowd.
Pharoah's routine for 'Deis Day drew upon several elements familiar to fans of stand-up comedy: stereotypes, technology and popular culture. However, some of his sketches were borderline offensive, often drawing upon negative racial, ethnic and social stereotypes. Although the more brusque parts of his routine may have edged off some audience members, those in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves, letting off waves of uproarious laughter during the set.
The first sketch in Pharoah's routine had perhaps the most visceral potential to offend the audience-focusing on racial slurs against black people. Pharoah used the slur countless times throughout this first part of his routine and the entirety of the hour as well.
He started in saying, "Let's break down the situation. Whether you white, black, purple, Nicki Minaj-whatever you are." He moved on to crack jokes about television personality and celebrity cook Paula Deen, alluding to the scandal she has been ensconced in since earlier this year when several racially offensive comments she made in one of her restaurants were publicized. "For the people who think she owes us something-black people something-she ought to bake us a thousand Popeye's biscuits," he said, trying to cast some humor on the situation.
Pharoah then moved to focus on several topics that the average person finds annoying in daily life such as the failure of technology that we rely on. A sketch about smartphones versus "dumb phones" got the crowd laughing wildly, as Pharoah yelled "shout-out to everybody here right now that got a smart phone with a cracked screen," and went on to joke about the popular, addicting cell phone game Candy Crush.
It was Pharoah's impressions of famous people, though, that often made the audience laugh the loudest. He imitated the distinct voices and intonations of several other comedians, ranging from Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle to Eddie Murphy. He also delivered a hilarious-albeit distasteful in light of certain sexual innuendos-impression of President Barack Obama and sang rap songs in the voices of musicians Drake and Lil Wayne.
Although Pharoah's material was not the most family-friendly, and some of the jokes he made were indeed extremely offensive to certain groups, some would argue that the bristle comes with the territory of stand-up comedy.
On the whole, the audience seemed to really enjoy Pharoah's routine which closed out 'Deis Day with a bang.
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