Every Monday, NBC takes out the weekend’s trash in the form of Saturday Night Live’s Web “Exclusive” clips, which is the show’s nice way of saying, “This sucked so we cut it from the actual show.” Today, the Twitters are going nuts over a cut clip from Weekend Update that features Jay Pharoah as Stephen A. Smith discussing the Miami Heat in the NBA Playoffs. If you’re not familiar with Pharoah, he’s the hilarious impressionist who is rarely used because, “Hey, a 107th Gilly sketch is just easier, bro.”
Pharoah’s previously aired impressions include Will Smith, Jay Z and Morgan Freeman, and they’re all hilariously spot on. Not surprisingly, his Screamin’ A is pretty much perfect as well, from the slowly-building payoff shouting to the shameless name-dropping. But the one little problem with it all is that SNL’s typical studio audience apparently doesn’t know who Smith is. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure they’d be dying over this bit.
It’s a shame, but maybe we can read all about it in Pharaoh’s eventual book, “Here’s My Impression of Me Leaving SNL After Three Seasons.”
