Trevor Noah

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. When Trevor 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 in the private school of Maryvale College, a Catholic school in Johannesburg. During his childhood, he attended Roman Catholic church every Sunday. His parents' relationship was illegal at the time of his birth under apartheid (interracial sexual relations and marriages were legalized under the amended Immorality Act of 1985, a year after Noah was born). His mother was jailed and fined by the South African white minority government, and his father later moved back to Switzerland. Noah himself was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother, Nomalizo Frances Noah.

Career

When he was 18 (in 2002), 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 such South African comedians 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 program, Run The Adventure (2004–2006) on SABC 2. In 2007, he hosted The Real Goboza, a gossip 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 game-show) and was a Strictly Come Dancing contestant in season 4. 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 16th annual South African Music Awards and also hosted Tonight with Trevor Noah on MNet (in season 2, 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 cellular 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 moved 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.

Twitter controversy

Within hours of his being announced as Stewart's successor, attention was drawn on the Internet to several jokes that Noah had made through his Twitter account, which were criticized 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, following his appointment to succeed Stewart as host of The Daily Show.

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 and Spanish.

In 1992, Noah's mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo, was married to Ngisaveni Abel Shingange, and while married they had two sons, Andrew and Isaac. Trevor and his mother were physically abused by Shingange. She divorced him 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 through her head avoided the brain and all major nerves and blood vessels, exiting with minor damage to her nostril. When Noah confronted him on 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 either right or left in the context of US partisanship.

Books