Last December, 31-year-old Trevor Noah made his debut on The Daily Show. Despite the South African comedian only making three appearances on The Daily Show, Comedy Central has seen the promise in the international comic and promoted him as Jon Stewart’s replacement as the host of the popular political satire show.
The network’s selection of Noah comes less than two months after Stewart’s February 10th announcement that he was leaving the show after his triumphant 16-year reign.
Noah was on his comedy tour in Dubai when he found out the exciting news. “You don’t believe it for the first few hours,” Noah said on the phone. “You need a stiff drink, and then unfortunately you’re in a place where you can’t really get alcohol.”
In a statement, Stewart remarked on his successor:
“I’m thrilled for the show and for Trevor. He’s a tremendous comic and talent that we’ve loved working with.”
Stewart he said he “may rejoin as a correspondent just to be a part of it!!!”
Michele Ganeless, the Comedy Central president, justified the hiring of Noah, “You don’t hope to find the next Jon Stewart – there is no next Jon Stewart. So, our goal was to find someone who brings something really exciting and new and different.”
Noah comes from a biracial family. His mother, Patricia, is a black South African and his father, Robert Noah, is white of Swiss-German descent. He is quite outspoken about his heritage. In his standup, he talks about how his birth from biracial parents was illegal at the time. His mother was jailed and fined just for giving birth to a mixed baby.
When he was 18, Noah began his entertainment career as an actor on the South Afircan soap opera Isidingo. He then started hosting his own radio show called “Noah’s Ark” on the country’s leading youth radio station.
He hosted a gossip show called “The Real Goboza” in 2007 and a dating show called “The Amazing Date” in 2008. He has also hosted live events such as the Annual South Africa Film and Television Awards (SAFTA Awards) and co-hosted the annual South African Music Awards.
He had his own talk show, Tonight with Trevor Noah.
Noah’s comedy career has had several of his own tours as well as been the opening act for huge comedians such as Gabriel Iglesias and Russell Peters. He has also produced several stand-up comedy specials including The Daywalker (2009), Crazy Normal (2011), That’s Racist (2012) and It’s My Culture (2013).
Noah became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on The Tonight Show and the first to appear on Late Show with David Letterman.
He has appeared on South Africa’s Rolling Stone and GQ.
However he is not just a funny man, he can also speak six different languages.
The official announcement that Noah is succeeding Stewart is to be made on Monday.
[NYT]