South African comedian, Trevor Noah, has not only flown the South African flag high in the world of comedy, but he has also made Africans proud to be African with his witty and relatable jokes on the international comedy scene.
He became the first African comedian to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in 2012, and made history in September 2015, when he took over for Jon Stewart as the host of The Daily Show.
Noah was born in February 1984 in Soweto, Johannesburg to a black, Xhosa mother and a Swiss-German father, a family unit which was illegal under the then apartheid system, which outlawed interracial relationships and families. His biracial identity and experience inspired his first book, New York Times Best Seller, “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.” The audiobook was Audible’s highest rated audiobook of 2016, and the book earned Noah three awards in 2017, namely the Zora Neale Hurston Award and two NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Literary Work – Biography/Autobiography, and for Outstanding Literary Work – Debut Author.
Noah started his career as a comedian in his 20s, after taking to the stage as a dare from his friends. He appeared on various TV shows, including having a recurring role on one of South Africa’s popular soap operas, Isidingo, and he had his own radio show called Noah’s Ark on the popular Gauteng-based radio station, YFM. After appearing on The Tonight Show in 2012, Noah became the first African comedian to appear on The Late Show with David Letterman in 2013, and became a recurring contributor on The Daily Show in 2014, before officially taking over as the host as Jon Stewart was retiring.
The latest comedy skit from Noah and The Daily Show is titled, “Covfefe: Based on a True Typo: The Daily Show.” The skit is based on the “covfefe” typo U.S. President Donald Trump made on Twitter, which went viral on the network as people attempted to figure out what the word meant while making fun at it.
Below are some of Noah’s hilarious works about being African, how the world perceives Africans, and how Africans perceive the world.
Trevor Noah on the Steven Colbert Show in 2017
Trevor Noah on Channel 4’s Comedy Gala
Trevor Noah on the David Letterman Show
Trevor Noah: Lost in Translation – The Origin of “Woo-Hoo”