party lines

Party Lines Slideshow: Jay Pharoah, Jason Sudeikis, Rashida Jones, and More at Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Ball

Jay Pharoah. Photo: Patrick McMullan

If you ever run into Saturday Night Live’s Jay Pharoah while you’re out in New York, ask him about his spot-on Jay-Z impression … he just might do it for you. At least, that’s what happened when Vulture brought it up to him at last night’s Amnesty International Secret Policeman’s Ball, when Pharoah kindly obliged us by laughing like Jay-Z, Jigga-rapping like Jay-Z, and clueing us in on the secrets of his impersonation. “He does the thing with his hand like this,” said Pharoah, waving in a jerky manner. “I just try to pick up the little things, like, Ooh, wow, who does that? It’s like an old man trying to move. He needs to put some oil on his joints.” The impression took him about three years to perfect, he told us, but he’s still working on it. “There’s still stuff I can learn even today, now that he has this kid. The way he holds his girl up, I’m probably going to be impersonating that, like Nants ingonyama,” he said, continuing to chant from The Lion King’s “Circle of Life.”

For more quotes from the carpet, including celebs on free speech and favorite curse words, click through our slideshow.

Party Lines Slideshow: Jay Pharoah and More at Amnesty International’s Secret Policeman’s Ball