Photo from sbusg.org
By Justin Cole
Reviews Editor
As we learned over winter break, this year’s Undergraduate Student Government Comedy Show performer is Nasim Pedrad. Pedrad gained fame from her five-season stint on “Saturday Night Live.” In order to get you up to speed on her work, we’ve compiled a few of the “SNL” star’s best impressions and characters from the show.
1. Arianna Huffington
On the weekly satirical news segment, “Weekend Update,” Pedrad nails a spot-on impression of the Huffington Post co-founder and editor-in-chief discussing the 2016 election, as well as French President Francois Hollande’s affair.
2. Ravish
Video from nbc.com/saturday-night-live
Pedrad shows her unique range of characters by playing roles that vary in age and sex. In this “SNL” skit, she plays a young Indian boy named Ravish, who is hosting a talk-show out of his living room.
3. Kim Kardashian
In this segment on “SNL”, Pedrad co-stars with Jay Pharoah as celebrity power couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian in the recurring segment “Waking Up With Kimye.” Pedrad and Pharoah channel the entertainers as they discuss their approaching wedding date.
4. Shallon
In her recurring theme of playing a small child, Pedrad acts as the anarchy-inciting student Shalon, who, in the course of five minutes, convinces her class it’s okay to take candy from strangers.
5. Aziz Ansari
Video from funnyordie.com
While this impression didn’t make it to the final cut of the show, it may be one of the most accurate depictions of Aziz Ansari by any person, let alone a person from the opposite sex. Follow Pedrad as she channels her inner Tom Haverford in accomplishing the simple task of buying a jacket.
6. Heshy Farahat
Need encouragement? This character in Pedrad’s “SNL” repertoire delivers an inspirational personal success story loaded with sound effects and achievements like “being approved for an OkCupid account.”
Don’t forget to check out Stony Brook University’s USG Comedy Night featuring Nasim Pedrad February 9th at 8 p.m. in the Staller Center For The Arts!