Leslie Jones just proved why she’s one of the ‘SNL’ greats
If you’re an avid watcher of Saturday Night Live, you might recognize the name of Leslie Jones. She’s one of the newest additions to the cast, a hilarious comedian, and one of the stars of the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot we’re all dying to watch. But while Jones has only been part of SNL for roughly a year (first as a writer and now as a featured cast member), it’s obvious that she’s destined to go down in history as one of the greats.
Jones was recently profiled in a piece in The New Yorker titled “Ready for Primetime,” a play on a gaff made by SNL cast member Kenan Thompson, who reportedly said that the reason there weren’t more black women on the show was because they weren’t “ready” at the auditions. In the piece, we learn all about Jones’ lengthy journey to get to the position she’s in today. Here are some of the highlights from the article, which prove to us that Jones is not only ready for SNL, but ready for full-on comedic stardom:
She has the confidence of a mediocre white man and then some
Writer Sarah Hagi coined a variation of the above phrase, and it’s never been more applicable than while reading Leslie Jones’ profile. Right off the bat, two podcasters attempt to pigeonhole her as one of the “funniest women in the game,” but she quickly corrects them and says, “funniest comedian in the game.”
She’s been vetted by long-time comedy genius, Chris Rock
Jones and Rock have been friends a long time and he recognized her talent straight away. He’d given her name to managers over the years, all of whom had passed, but SNL’s Lorne Michaels was the one to finally give her a shot. With little familiarity of the show, and no writing background, Jones soon became a writer and cast member on the show and is totally killing it.
She’s already paid her dues
Jones has been doing comedy since she dropped out of college at nineteen. She got picked up by SNL at forty-five and admits that she’s actually glad her success is coming now and not when she was just starting out. “I’m glad this whole success thing is happening now. I can’t even imagine a twenty-three-year-old Leslie in this position. They would have kicked me off the set after two days.”
She’s not about pulling punches
While doing stand-up, Leslie is not afraid to involve her audience members in her punchlines. But those aren’t the only people she’s willing to confront. When she finally met Kenan Thompson, she wasn’t afraid to let him know that he was dead wrong about there being no black female comedians ready to take a spot (or two or five) on SNL. And after she let him know it, the two became good friends.
And oh yeah, she is freaking hilarious
If you’re still not sold on Jones’ awesomeness, check out a few of these clips from her past year at SNL and see if they don’t convince you that she’s definitely the next big thing.
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(Image via Shutterstock)
