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'Mom, I'm moving out!' Jay Pharoah recalls moment he landed 'SNL' gig

The funnyman told Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford about the moment he learned his dream was about to become a reality.
/ Source: TODAY

Jay Pharoah will kick off his sixth season on "Saturday Night Live" this fall, and it's still his dream job. But back in early 2010, it seemed more like a pipe dream.

During a Wednesday morning visit to TODAY, the funnyman told Hoda Kotb and Kathie Lee Gifford about the moment he learned his dream was about to become a reality.

"'Jay, are you ready? ... Are you ready to start a new life?'" he recalled "SNL" creator Lorne Michaels asking him during a phone call. "I was like, 'Are you Jesus? What's happening?'"

Michaels then made himself clear: "Are you ready to come to New York?"

And that's all Pharoah had to hear.

"Mom, I'm moving out!" he shouted.

And his mother wasn't even sad to see him go.

"She was just so happy 'cause I always told my mom, I said, 'Mom, I want a job where I can travel. I also want a job where I got a suit, a tie, a desk and a mouse,'" he explained. "When I got to 'SNL,' I got up in the studio, and I went in there and I had an office, a mouse and a desk."

And the suit?

"I make enough money to get a suit now," he assured them.

See more from Pharoah in the TODAY clips. And catch even more from him on Aug. 1, when his comedy special "Can I Be Me?" airs on Showtime.

And be sure to take a look at this video to find out where some past "SNL" stars are now:

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