Trevor Noah was announced as Jon Stewart’s replacement for host of The Daily Show a few months ago. It took less than a week for the backlash to begin. To be fair to the backlashers, the first thing Trevor Noah should have done when he got TDS gig was either delete most of his tweets or simply delete his Twitter account, because it was very easy for everyone to go through his tweet history and pick him apart for being racist/anti-Semitic/sexist/ageist/whatever. Since the announcement & backlash, Noah has been quietly and gently trying to reintroduce himself to American audiences. He did a breezy interview on The Tonight Show a few weeks ago, and now GQ has published Trevor Noah’s first major sit-down print interview since he got the Daily Show gig. He addresses much of controversy and criticism surrounding him and… I don’t know, he seems genuinely humbled. You can read the full piece here. Some highlights:
His abusive stepfather: “I just saw something behind the smile, you know? But as a kid, people don’t take you seriously—they’re like, ‘Hey, calm down. Everyone doesn’t like their stepdad.’ Over time, his true colors came out. He was an alcoholic; he was an extremely angry drunk person, very abusive. He was sporadically abusive. I could count the abuse—in a twelve-year marriage, I could say, three times, probably. Three or four times. But the scale at which the abuse—like, the first time was slaps, a few slaps. The second time was slaps that turned into punches. The third time was basically using a blunt object or whatever.”
His stepfather shot Noah’s mother twice: “She says, ‘No, no. Please, look at the bright side. I’m still here. Just be grateful that I’m still here.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, but still.’ She says, ‘And on an even brighter side…look at my nose. I’ve got half a nose now. So now you’re officially the best-looking person in the family. There’s no contest.’ And then I start crying. Everyone’s laughing and crying. You know? But that’s who we were as people; that’s who we’ve always been. It was one of those turning moments in life where I was like, ‘You know what? No one can ever tell me that line of ‘There’s nothing funny about X.’ If you can’t laugh, you have nothing.”
Viewing African-American culture as a South African: “In my world, honestly, we grew up idolizing black Americans.”
His comedy act (making fun of African-Americans) from a 2012 appearance on The Tonight Show: “I look back on it and I go, ‘Had I known, I would’ve done it differently.’ Because when you come from a different place, you don’t realize the minefield you’re walking into. I do know this: I continued doing the Leno bit after I’d done it on Leno. But the way I did it slash would do it today is completely different. I’ve now learned how to be emotionally aware of how people may use your joke in a negative way. And that’s something that you’re always trying to navigate in comedy. You know, Dave Chappelle talked about it as well—if you’re not careful, someone can use your words to hurt somebody else. I said: ‘You’re not African, but we play along.’ I had given some people ammunition to oppress those who had already been oppressed. I hadn’t fully understood the African-American experience. I hadn’t read the books; I hadn’t met the people; I hadn’t traveled the country.”
Racial humor: “I may not be American, but I am black. It’s not like I had to learn how to be black.”
The future of The Daily Show: “It’ll be like a face-lift. Because, don’t get it twisted, I’m a big fan of The Daily Show, and that’s what it’s still gonna be. It’s still gonna be The Daily Show. It’s the same way, when Fallon took over from Leno, it’s still The Tonight Show… Just the mere fact that I’m gonna be there in the chair changes a whole bunch of the show, you know?”
His jokes from a few years ago: “You show me half my jokes from even two years ago, three years ago—I hate them. Because you see, like, a young version of yourself. You’re like, ‘Why would you say that? You idiot! That makes no sense.’ Or, ‘That’s just stupid.’ Or, ‘Ahh, I can’t believe I said that about a woman.’ You should not like what you did back then, because that shows that you’ve grown. If you’re still doing it, that’s a scarier place to be. So that’s a great thing for me. When I get a chance to look back and go: ‘I was an idiot.’ “
I came away from this piece feeling like Noah really is a tremendously bright guy. I’m not sure if he came up with these explanations all on his own or if Comedy Central hired a crisis manager/PR professional for Noah to get him to this greatly improved place. I believe that he has evolved and probably will evolve even more as a comedian. I believe he probably regrets many of his older jokes, jokes from just two years ago. So… I don’t know… I hope it works out for him. While it will be hard for me to say goodbye to Jon Stewart, as a fan of TDS for more than a decade and a half, I have to say – Jon’s lack of enthusiasm as TDS host has been evident for a few years now. Jon was always going to have to be replaced, and why not a bright and quick-on-his-feet South African comic who has already survived one backlash right out of the gate?
Photos courtesy of Peggy Sirota/GQ.
He does seem douchy, but won’t judge until he has been in TTS for a few months. I will miss Jon dearly, not only is he hilarious, he brings so much humanity to the show it will be hard -if not impossible- to replace.
I can’t help but feel that this guy is the one who does really, really well in the job interview. Just makes it look so easy. Ingratiating. Glib maybe.
But then he starts the job and you realize what a con artist he is.
He almost got me here, but as I keep reading, he’s still That Guy.
I got the exact same vibe from this interview. But I’m hoping like hell that my spidey senses are wrong on this one, and that he finds his way soon on TDS.
He’s brainy. And edgy. And I keep reminding myself that comedians & performers often fear they are faking their way to success… so it can be difficult not to pick up on that and have it influence your impression when you try to read them.
Jon S walked into an abandoned jock humor show and basically re-invented it into a thinking & feeling person’s schoolyard where the truly cool kids finally won most of the showdowns. This gentleman is coming to a very different environment and smack into a serious legacy – and I’m honestly crossing my fingers he finds his feet fast and keeps running with it.
I’ve seen his stand up and it was very funny. It’s sad how comedians are demonised and hounded for telling jokes, there is always someone waiting to create offence where none was intended and if they censor themselves to suit every professionally offended person there will be no comedy left.
Even Chris Rock says he won’t play at universities anymore because they are so overly sensitive and desperately looking for offence. That’s nuts. Censorious people are indulged way too much nowadays.
That’s not what censorship means.
And his jokes were meant to offend — they were straight insults playing on outdated stereotypes. Methinks it’s the comedians who are too sensitive. Criticism and response is not censorship.
When you try to silence someone because you don’t like what they say, it’s censorship. A loud mob shouting people down, demanding they lose jobs, demanding they not be allowed to speak in public etc because they said something someone deems ‘offensive’ is just as oppressive as government that arrests people for what they say. If the ‘you can’t say that’ people could overturn the first amendment so they could send the government after people who disagree with them they would. Just as their equivalents the world over have done.
Everything is offensive to someone, comedians wouldn’t be able to say anything at all if they had to keep from offending anyone. The overly sensitive ones are those who have to get into hysterics and bully people who say something they dislike. That Chris Rock can’t even do a show in a university nowadays because every ‘activist’ group will protest him????!!!!! Not normal and disturbing that those people could have any power in the future.
People objecting to something is not censorship. If it is, then you are censoring me and please stop.
Objecting is censorship when the overly offended silence an opinion that they don’t agree with.
Chris Rock has some insightful views and can be incredibly funny but I would also never take his advice on women or marriage. It’s okay to point out that someone might have a blind spot. It doesn’t make me humorless to roll my eyes at Chappelle’s whore costume joke.
And that’s student tuition being used to fund Chris Rock’s appearances. Chris can publically say whatever he wants but those kids aren’t obligated to pay for it.
Chris Rock is at his very best when he’s joking about politics, race and social issues. His misogynistic and myopic views on women and marriage, however, make me sad…
Hey you men out there, not all women like shopping, going out with the girls, and nagging their “man”, got it?
I am rooting for this guy, not because I am convinced of his great Twitter personality, but his talent. Also, I am a champion for diversity, if you have the goods, you should get the job. As simple as that, nothing else should come into question. Best of luck to him.
i like that he acknowledged that he was joking about things he really didn’t understand, and has since made an effort to educate himself. Everybody says stupid things at some point, it’s where you go from there that matters. Do you double down and insist you are right, or admit you were wrong, and use it as a learning experience?
I hope he does well on the show, it’s become such an institution I would hate to see it crumble. I’m going to miss Jon Stewart terribly though.
I’ve watched some of his stand-up and a few interviews… he’s intelligent and an interesting guy, but totally not funny, IMO.
I haven’t seen his stand-up, but I remember his appearances on TDS, and when they announced he’d been hired, I was stunned. He was SO dull! Cute, but dull dull dull. I have very low expectations that I’ll be able to continue to watch, especially with so many of the correspondents leaving this year, too.
I also saw some of his stand up, and saw him on QI and 8 out of 10 cats. He came across as very smart and funny.
Nope, still a fragin icehole.
+1 I still don’t like him. Maybe it’s an unfair judgment but he just rubs me the wrong way. Sometimes we immediately like or dislike celebrities the same way we feel about certain people in our personal or professional life. I know some people dislike Amy Schumer but I immediately liked her and found her to be funny. Not so much with Trevor from what I’ve seen of him on TDS and what I’ve read about him so far. I will give him a chance to see how well he does on TDS, but I don’t have high hopes.
His jokes weren’t just bigoted, they were old and boring. It was the a-hole’s version of “why did the chicken cross the road.”
I hope he’s sincere about his growth. It happens, people change. But I’ll reserve judgment until I see him interview a woman on TDS.
I’m sure he hates them for both reasons: they perpetuated oppression AND they weren’t funny.
Let’s hope he pleasantly surprises you when his tenure begins.
“‘You know what? No one can ever tell me that line of ‘There’s nothing funny about X.’ If you can’t laugh, you have nothing.”
Well … sure. But there’s a difference between joking about the sh*t that happened to you and joking about something that’s never affected you personally but has ruined other people’s lives. I think that is what people who insist nothing should be off-limits in comedy don’t understand. Yes, joke about something horrible you’ve experienced but my god, be careful otherwise. At LEAST be smart and funny.
Yeah I agree with you 100%, but context is key here. He’s saying that laughing and crying with loved ones about something horrific was wonderful, and they found comfort in it. BUT, he didn’t go on stage and crack jokes about his mother getting shot or about domestic violence.
Basically, humour is wonderful, laughing is the best thing in the world, but that doesn’t mean that a comedian can make jokes about any topic they like, because “nothing’s off limits!!!”
As you said, littlemissnaughty, you have to be smart and funny.
I seem to be in the minority, but I really, really like this guy, and I’m always inclined to give him the benefit of the doubt.
I have no opinion re Trevor Noah’s comedy, I haven’t seen enough of it yet but I’m really curious how TDS is going to look with him as host.
I did take that quote out of context but to me it sounds like he’s making a larger point here, considering his profession. As in “This is my opinion and here’s how I formed it.” The GQ website won’t load in my work browser so I can’t read the rest of the interview.
You’re right, but I think he’d agree with you too.
“I had given some people ammunition to oppress those who had already been oppressed. I hadn’t fully understood the African-American experience. I hadn’t read the books; I hadn’t met the people; I hadn’t traveled the country.”
This tells me he’s aware of the fact that “nothing is off-limits” needs an asterisk. He’s not a tone-deaf comedian who pretends the media attacks comedians simply for broaching specific topics (like Jerry “college kids are too PC” Seinfeld); he knows that jokes DO have lasting cultural implications, and that delivery and perspective are absolutely key… not only to make the jokes funny, but to avoid being an accomplice to bigotry and oppression.
I’m glad he knows that he was ignorant in the past. It probably took some work to reach that conclusion, especially because his audience (and those who reacted to his Twitter jokes) will never understand (or even try to understand) the particular pain he’s faced. But he’s beginning to understand that pain comes in many forms, and you need to put yourself in the shoes of the subject of your jokes. If you can’t, don’t joke about them… and no matter what, don’t make them the target.
Yes, that’s what I was getting at. At least be smart about it if you have no personal experience.
Honestly, I love Seinfeld the TV show but Jerry Seinfeld himself seems like an unpleasant person. It’s so lazy to reject criticism based on “You’re just too sensitive.” Maybe. Or maybe you’re not funny anymore.
“Maybe. Or maybe you’re not funny anymore.”
EXACTLY. It reminds me of something Jamie Killstein (one of my favorite comics, also a podcaster on Citizen Radio) says about comics like Seinfeld, Daniel Tosh, etc… “if it cramps your comic style to have to avoid rape and racism and sexism, then maybe you have nothing original or funny to say in the first place.” (That’s paraphrasing… but it’s true; good comedians should be coming up with original content anyway, not recycling stale and offensive BS.)
A lot of his stuff was kind of obnoxious and bigoted, but so are a lot of comedians unfortunately…he just got singled out for it. I mean I love Amy Schumer, but she’s said some problematic things. I do think it was unfair that people started slinging the anti-semite label at him. He grew up in South Africa during Apartheid, and he was ten or eleven when it ended so he was old enough to remember the pain and the difficulty in moving past it. Some of his barbed jokes at Israel make sense in that context, considering they were a supporter of S. Africa when many countries were not during the Apartheid era. Also, I believe one of his parents are Jewish—of course one can be bigoted even then, but a lot of his former jokes are more understandable in that context.
ITA, and moreover, the SA comedy scene was so, so small when he started, that he really suffered from a lack of peers, and a lack of mentors (At least from what I have read). He had to figure out his comedy style, and all comics should have a certain amount of leeway to do that.
Look, Some of the stuff he tweeted was downright disgusting, and I can’t defend it. I guess I’m just suspicious of the massive pile-on that occurred – there was such a gleeful sense of victory and triumph in the way some people online reacted, I just wondered at the time, would it have been the same if Trevor Noah was less…different. Less black, less foreign, less young, less new to audiences, or whatever.
I believe he claims to have on Jewish grandparent or great grandparent. Probably a lot of people with Eastern European heritage could claim that. Doesn’t mean he’s not bigoted. He certainly doesn’t claim to have been raised Jewish.
Why couldn’t he have said this when everything was happening. He has done a complete 180 so it smells of PR crisis management over being sincere.
And after he went dark for so long. Likely someone told him to stop talking.
He’s bright. I’ve seen his interviews and he’s intelligent enough. I’ve seen his standup too and he wasn’t very funny. He’ll have TDS writers though and that should help.
Time will tell. If he’s truly not that guy and is sincere there will be no more gaffes. If this is PR management and he hasn’t changed we will be seeing more from him in a bad way.
Not suggesting that there isn’t any PR management involved, but if you follow his comedy and or interviews, particularly the radio/live ones in chronological order, you can see the growth and adjustment with each successive interview/comedy show.
He’s gone from being very African humour and delivery to more commercial, less controversial universal humour with western style delivery.
Ditto the subjects of his humour. And he is very nuanced and clever about some pretty sensitive subjects.
Frankly, a man who can make teaching joke about apartheid is OK in my book.
I’m still wondering why, of all people, TDS even chose Trevor as Jon’s replacement? I mean, I know he’s a hard act to follow, but there are many other people who could’ve done it well and still in their own way (see: Hannibal Burress).
Didn’t anyone there at CC google him and see these twitter posts that everyone else online found so easily? Sure, Trevor was younger, and perhaps his comments then were coming from a place of anger, especially given his horrible past.
While I’m glad he’s come to his senses, how is he going to do his comedy if that’s his brand of humor? I guess I have pretty low expectations for Trevor, and even though Jon has seemed tired of it all these past few years, his observational humor was still sharper than anything else out there.
After seeing his comedy special (and even his appearance on Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee), I can pretty safely say that your assessment is correct: he is tremendously bright, self-aware, and humble. And he KNOWS he gets all of that from his mama.
I’m pretty sure Comedy Central sat him down, but I highly doubt they told him exactly what to say… just how to navigate the media (as in: sit down and stay quiet for a little while). He probably wanted to respond right away, but realized his voice was under a microscope at the time and there was no winning. He’s so much smarter than any network executive or PR person could ever be, not just because of the innate intelligence that makes him a whip-smart comic, but also because of the things he’s witnessed and overcome in his life. He comes from a COMPLETELY different culture, and that’s no excuse for objectifying women, but his views on race and sex and even Israel are more nuanced than most would suspect. And he’s doing the work right now to understand the deeper implications of his words in THIS culture… which makes all the difference. I’m sad to see Jon go, but I’m hopeful about the show’s future.
I really like him. I look at myself in the last few years (I’m around Trevor’s age) and I feel like I’ve evolved a lot. I’ve educated myself more on social issues, and jokes that I might have found funny three years ago no longer amuse me because I understand the larger cultural context now. Ignorance is very different from WILLFUL ignorance, and I respect anyone that actually does care about the world enough to learn about it and admit that they were wrong in the past.
I love Trevor Noah. To me, he seems like a immensely talented and funny guy who also happens to be incredibly intelligent. I was pretty blown away in an interview where the interviewer mentioned that he speaks six languages and is currently teaching himself two new languages. Also, his life story is just fascinating. As a mixed race child of a black woman and white man in Africa during apartheid his existence was an actual crime. His mother actually had to deny that he was her son and pretend she was his babysitter. To come from the background he has come from and make it this far is an incredible testament to his determination. The fact that he can do it with such a sense of humor is something that keeps me rooting for him. I love The Daily Show and am glad to see it passing into his hands. I wholeheartedly believe that he is going to do great and win over any doubters.
I adore Trevor Noah. There I said it.
He is funny, smart and I can’t wait for everyone to fall in love with him.
I wish him good things and I hope he slays on TDS.
And if not, we’ll always have his ‘drunk Mandela’ skit.
Edit: the part where he taalks about his being a crime and what how his family life under apartheid always makes me cry, even as I laugh.
Same here LAK, his comedy bit on being mixed race is so insightful and funny. Fingers crossed he does really well.
” I wholeheartedly believe that he is going to do great and win over any doubters.”
I agree!
Nothing this guy has done or said has impressed me, including his attempt at face-saving with Seinfeld on “Comedians in Cars.” Wrong guy for the wrong show. Been a great run with “The Daily Show” but ending my viewership with Stewart on August 6.
We’ll see Trevor. We’ll see. You’re still in Time Out for me even though I think you’re hot. Gah, I’m such a sucker for great lips.
I’m a sucker for brains (a quick mind, wit and worldview get me everytime), but like you, I have to say, “We’ll see…”
Nope. Not buying it. I’ve never in my life accidentally made an anti Semitic or racist joke. So I don’t buy that his anti Semetism or anti woman jokes were that innocent. It really concerns me that this person is being given a huge platform with which he can spread his viewpoint. That aside, his appearances on TDS haven’t been funny.
He’s gorgeous! Have you ever heard him speak? Lawd! he’s my IT guy right now
if you want to fall in love with him, just watch this. He’s wonderfully bright, funny and so charming:
http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/trevor-noah-thats-the-whole-point-of-apartheid-jerry
I’m from SA and I love Trevor! A lot of his jokes make more sense when you know our country and the people. His skit about our president having s e x is hilarious!
I wish him all the best in the US!
He is so hot to me.. His stand-up was hilarious, it’s unfortunate if he is an a-hole because I was really rooting for him.
Give him a chance, I love diversity..he has a different background and outlook that will woo in a diversity of the audience, not everything has to be so ‘american’ and ‘white’ (am sorry)..lets hear about other stuff..other cultures..Thts my worry, will he relate to his american audience.?his standups in south africa, botswana, and namibia have been so popular in the last couple of years because we thought ‘here is a guy’ who knows africa..who knows our culture..our lifestyle,our languages, who makes jokes about our presidents and shortcomings and not one of those ‘african drums and lion jokes’.i definitely relate to someone like trevor noah over jon steward(great host) but..half black,half swiss..born in a south african ghetto?PLEASE….people looooooooooooove him in africa..he was very successful there, he stands out. from all comments we agree he is smart..so thats good.Am just surprised they hired a black south african, they can do tht?..