Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He is best known for being the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central since September 2015.
Noah began his career as an actor, presenter, and comedian in his native South Africa. He held several television hosting roles with the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), and was the runner-up in their fourth season of Strictly Come Dancing in 2008. From 2010-11, Noah was the creator and host of Tonight with Trevor Noah on M-Net and DStv. His stand-up comedy career attained international success, leading to appearances on American late-night talk shows and British panel shows.
In 2014, Noah became the Senior International Correspondent for The Daily Show, an American satirical news program. The following year, he was announced as the successor of long-time host Jon Stewart. Although ratings for the show declined following Stewart's departure, Noah's tenure has been generally favourably reviewed, attracting particular attention for his interview with young conservative personality Tomi Lahren in late 2016.
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Early life
Trevor Noah was born on 20 February 1984 in Johannesburg. His mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is Black and of Xhosa ethnicity, and his father, Robert, is White and of Swiss German ethnicity. His parents' interracial relationship was illegal at the time of his birth under apartheid (interracial sexual relations and marriages were legalised under the amended Immorality Act of 1985, a year after Noah was born). His mother was jailed and fined by the South African government. and his father later moved back to Switzerland. Noah was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Nomalizo Frances Noah. When Noah was 10 or 11 years old, his mother (although not the rest of the family) chose to convert to Judaism. Noah spent his early youth at the private Maryvale College, a Catholic school in Johannesburg. During his childhood, he attended Roman Catholic church every Sunday.
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Career
In 2002, aged eighteen, Noah had a starring role on the South African soap opera Isidingo. He then began hosting his own radio show Noah's Ark on Gauteng's leading youth radio station, YFM. Noah dropped his radio show and acting to focus on comedy, and has performed with South African comedians such as: David Kau, Kagiso Lediga, Riaad Moosa, Darren Simpson, Marc Lottering, Barry Hilton and Nik Rabinowitz, international comedians such as Paul Rodriguez, Carl Barron, Dan Ilic and Paul Zerdin, and as the opening act for Gabriel Iglesias in November 2007 and Canadian comedian Russell Peters on his South African tour.
Noah went on to host an educational TV programme, Run The Adventure (2004-2006) on SABC 2. In 2007, he hosted The Real Goboza, a gossip-themed show on SABC 1, and Siyadlala, a sports show also on the SABC. In 2008, Noah co-hosted, alongside Pabi Moloi, The Amazing Date (a dating gameshow) and was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in the fourth series. In 2009, he hosted the 3rd Annual South Africa Film and Television Awards (SAFTAs) and co-hosted alongside Eugene Khoza on The Axe Sweet Life, a reality competition series. In 2010, Noah hosted the sixteenth annual South African Music Awards and also hosted Tonight with Trevor Noah on MNet (for the second series, it moved to DStv's Mzansi Magic Channel). In 2010, Noah also became a spokesperson and consumer protection agent for Cell C, South Africa's third-largest mobile phone network provider.
Noah has performed all over South Africa in The Blacks Only Comedy Show, the Heavyweight Comedy Jam, the Vodacom Campus Comedy Tour, the Cape Town International Comedy Festival, the Jozi Comedy Festival and Bafunny Bafunny (2010). His stand-up comedy specials in South Africa include The Daywalker (2009), Crazy Normal (2011), That's Racist (2012), and It's My Culture (2013).
In 2011, he relocated to the United States. On 6 January 2012, Noah became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on The Tonight Show; and, on 17 May 2013, he became the first to appear on Late Show with David Letterman. Noah was the subject of the 2012 documentary You Laugh But It's True. The same year, he starred in the one-man comedy show Trevor Noah: The Racist, which was based on his similarly titled South African special That's Racist. On 12 September, Noah was the Roastmaster in a Comedy Central Roast of South African Afrikaans singer Steve Hofmeyr. In 2013, he performed the comedy special Trevor Noah: African American. On 11 October 2013, he was a guest on BBC Two's comedy panel show QI. On 29 November 2013, he was a panelist on Channel 4 game show 8 Out of 10 Cats and appeared on Sean Lock's team in 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown on 12 September 2014.
The Daily Show
In December 2014, Noah became a recurring contributor on The Daily Show. In March 2015, Comedy Central announced that Noah would succeed Jon Stewart as host of The Daily Show; his tenure began on 28 September 2015. Noah's debut received positive reviews. James Poniewozik of The New York Times praised Noah and the shows writers saying, "Mr. Noah's debut was largely successful, it was also because of the operating system - the show's writing - running under the surface". Robert Lloyd of the Los Angeles Times described Noah as "Charming and composed - almost inevitably low-key compared with the habitually antic and astonished Stewart.". Noah's success on the show has led to two stand-up specials on Comedy Central and Netflix. On January 2016, it was announced that Noah signed a book deal with Spiegel & Grau. His book, Born a Crime was published on November 15, 2016 and was received favorably by major U.S. book reviewers. It became a #1 New York Times Bestseller and was named one of the best books of the year by The New York Times, Newsday, Esquire, NPR, and Booklist. In April 2017, it was announced that Noah was developing a talk-show for Jordan Klepper. On July 2017, the show's title was revealed to be The Opposition with Jordan Klepper and premiered on September 25, 2017.
On September 14, 2017, it was announced that Comedy Central had extended Trevor Noah's contract as host of The Daily Show for five years, through 2022. He will also produce and host annual end-of-year specials for Comedy Central.
Twitter controversy
Within hours of his being announced as Stewart's successor, attention was drawn on the Internet to several jokes that Noah had posted on his Twitter account, which were criticised by some as being offensive to women and Jews, and to be making fun of the Holocaust. Noah responded by tweeting, "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian." Comedy Central stood behind Noah, saying in a statement, "Like many comedians, Trevor Noah pushes boundaries; he is provocative and spares no one, himself included... To judge him or his comedy based on a handful of jokes is unfair. Trevor is a talented comedian with a bright future at Comedy Central." Mary Kluk, chairperson of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), said that the jokes were not signs of anti-Jewish prejudice and that they were part of Noah's style of comedy.
Influences
Noah has said of his comedic influences, "The kings are indisputable. Richard Pryor; [Bill] Cosby; for me personally I didn't know of him before I started comedy but Eddie Murphy changed my view on the thing and I definitely look up to him as a comedic influence. Chris Rock in terms of the modern black comedian and Dave Chappelle. Those are the guys that have laid the foundation and have moved the yardstick for all comedians, not just Black comedians." He also cited Jon Stewart as an influence and a mentor, following his appointment to succeed Stewart as host of The Daily Show. In an interview with The New York Times, Noah likened Stewart to "a Jewish Yoda" and recounted advice Stewart gave him, saying, "The most amazing thing that Jon did was he didn't give me a mandate. He didn't say, 'You need to make my show.' He specifically said: 'Make your show. Make your best version of it.' I apply those teachings of Jon's to everything that I'm doing."
Noah's mixed-race ancestry, his experiences growing up in Soweto, and his observations about race and ethnicity are leading themes in his comedy.
Personal life
Noah is a polyglot; he speaks several languages including English, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga, Afrikaans and some German.
In 1992, Noah's mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo, was married to Ngisaveni Abel Shingange, and they had two sons together, Andrew and Isaac. Trevor and his mother were both physically abused by Shingange, and the couple divorced in 1996. In 2009, after she became engaged to Sfiso Khoza, Shingange shot her in the leg and through the back of the head, stopping when the gun jammed; she survived as the bullet went through her head, avoided the brain and all major nerves and blood vessels, exiting with minor damage to her nostril. When Noah confronted him over the phone about the shooting, Shingange threatened his life, prompting Noah to leave Johannesburg for Los Angeles. In 2011, Shingange was convicted of attempted murder, and sentenced the following year to three years of correctional supervision. Noah stated that he hoped the attention surrounding the incident would help the domestic abuse problem in South Africa: "For years my mother reached out to police for help with domestic abuse, and nothing was ever done. This is the norm in South Africa. Dockets went missing and cases never went to court."
Noah has described himself as being progressive and having a global perspective. However, he has clarified that he considers himself a "progressive person", but not a "political progressive" and prefers not to be categorized as being either right or left in the context of US partisanship.
Noah has been in a relationship with American model and singer Jordyn Taylor since 2015.
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards
Books
- Noah, Trevor (2016). Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood. Random House. ISBN 978-0399588174.
Audiobooks
- 2016: Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood (read by the author), Audible Studios on Brilliance Audio, ISBN 978-1531865047
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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