A Daily dose of Trevor Noah

TREVOR NOAH

TREVOR NOAH

Published Mar 30, 2015

Share

“The Daily Show with Trevor Noah”?

You better believe it. The local comedian has been chosen to replace veteran talk show host Jon Stewart, who steps down from the role he has occupied for 16 years later this year.

Speaking from Dubai, where he is touring with his uniquely South African brand of comedy, Noah said: “You don’t believe it for the first few hours. You need a stiff drink, and then unfortunately you’re in a place where you can’t really get alcohol.”

American audiences got their first taste of Noah on the Daily Show, where he offered his own take of an outsider’s view on America.

“I never thought I’d be more afraid of police in America than in South Africa,” he said then. “It kind of makes me a little nostalgic for the old days, back home.”

Noah’s promotion from contributor, to the host, comes with Jon Stewart’s seal of approval.

“I’m thrilled for the show and for Trevor,” said Stewart in a statement. “He’s a tremendous comic and talent that we’ve loved working with.”

According to Michele Ganeless, the president of Comedy Central, the idea was not to replace Jon Stewart, but to inject a new energy into the show.

“We talked to women. We talked to men. We found in Trevor the best person for the job,” she said.

“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, meanwhile, has no illusions as to the scale of the task at hand, especially since he is still a bit of an unknown when it comes to American audiences.

“We live in a world where some people still say Beyoncé can’t sing,” he said. “Clearly I’m not immune to that.”

He has, however, received a lot of encouragement from Stewart, who himself was an unknown when he took over as host of the Daily Show.

“He told me, ‘I was where you were when I took over the show,’ ” said Noah. “ ‘Nobody knew me. I was just starting out, finding my voice, and that’s when I was handed this seat.’ ”

“Now, it’s my turn to steer the ship.”

In response to the news, Comedian Chris Rock quipped: “Thank you president Obama,” on Twitter.

Related Topics: