Follow, Listen, Laugh, Watch, Read: Five Recs From Comedian Jay Pharoah

The multihyphenate star on his fav entertainment—and how a simple sandwich can spice up your sex life—in this edition of FLLWR

Entertainment October 20, 2020


Actor, musician, Saturday Night Live alum and master impressionist Jay Pharoah is juggling a wild array of 2020 projects—including the terrifying movie Bad Hair, which premieres October 23 on Hulu. So it’s no surprise that he packed several recommendations into each FLLWR category. Read on, and try to keep up.

FLWR follow-Jay-Pharoah

I would say WorldStarHipHop, but I’m going to say Complex because WorldStar is for teenagers and early 20-somethings who don’t have any money. I follow the political stuff and what’s going on with celebrities and what have you—basically updates on Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. But let’s break it down: @theestallion and @iamcardib! Those are two accounts I like to follow. Do I need to say why? No. Come on…WAP, WAP, WAP-ity, WAP! You know what I’m talking about.

FLWR listen-Jay-Pharoah

I’m a weirdo, so I like listening to musical scores from different movies, like Transformers and John Wick soundtracks. But I’m going to go back to it: Megan Thee Stallion and Cardi B. I’m not listening to Tory Lanez. No way. And I’ve been listening to my own music because I’ve got stuff I’m about to release. I’m about to drop this project early next year, Spitting Image, where I’m doing impressions and I’m doing my own features. So it’s like the artist is on a track with me, but it’s really me. But when you hear it, you’re like, “Wait a second, is that….” You’re not even gonna know it’s not them.

FLWR laugh-Jay-Pharoah

Comedian Aida Rodriguez is really funny, and she has a thing on Netflix. Also Sam Jay and Tacarra Williams. Giving a highlight to all the lady comics who people are probably overlooking but are really funny. And I like funny ladies: You make me laugh, I’m good. If you don’t, then you out the door, you know what I’m saying? My favorite comedy special of all time is Delirious—any time I need a good laugh, I can always look at that—or The Original Kings of Comedy or Robin Harris’s One Night Stand. But keep a lookout for those ladies.

FLWR Watch-Jay-Pharoah

Lovecraft Country is crazy. And also that show on Amazon with the superheroes: The Boys. And Forest Whitaker’s Godfather of Harlem. Forest is phenomenal. I hope I get to work with him one day, even to just pick his brain and try to figure out how he’s sustained such longevity. I could give myself a plug: 2 Minutes of Fame! Besides that, I’m an action/horror-type dude. I find horror like comedy: It never scares me, it just always makes me laugh. Number one horror film that people should watch, besides CNN and the election coverage? The 2018 Halloween was dope. Michael Myers never, ever turns his neck. He obviously needs a massage. That’s why he’s killing people. If you just give him a $100 gift certificate to a spa, he’ll stop killing people. All he needs is some TLC, baby.

FLWR read-Jay-Pharoah

This book definitely changed my mind-set. One of the biggest things that stuck out to me was unpredictability: Always make sure you’re unpredictable to your audience so they never know where you’re coming from. I try to apply that to my career, and I feel like I’ve been putting it into motion this year. A Nickelodeon show, two movies that I’ve dropped already, another one that’s going to drop October 23—Bad Hair—another movie I’m filming now, a sketch-comedy prank show, dropping music…. That unpredictability always keeps your fan base on their toes. If you’re predictable you’re going to get a divorce. But if your wife comes home one day and you’re in the middle of the living room and you’re butt naked and you got a sandwich on your package, she be like, “Ooh, you ain’t never done this before!” You got to keep things spicy, man.

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