Noah’s arc must leave the fat girls behind
But, as we know, Noah has been a star in South Africa for years. His brand of humour has never been particularly highbrow: he’s the accessible, easy-to-understand comedian whose jokes are retold around the braai or at a card game. He’s the people’s comedian.
And that’s been an important role in a country that’s still struggling to form an identity. The Brits are known for their dry humour, the Americans for their fierce patriotism — but what are we as South Africans known for? Diversity? Reconciliation? We know that façade’s deep cracks are showing more than ever. Like Freshlyground, Mi Casa, Charlize Theron and the 2010 World Cup, Noah is one of those crossover creatures embraced by South Africans of all hues. Look at his mixed audiences and you’re almost convinced that the Rainbow Nation is indeed still alive.
Noah’s jokes are largely race- and class-based, and he pokes fun at everyone, but it’s hardly ever incisive or politically perceptive: he relies on his (pretty good) impersonations and accents to get laughs. It can get a little exhausting at times, because much of it is rooted in tired stereotypes: coloured people being violent, black people speaking bad English, white people as polite bigots, Indian people being tightfisted . . .
But it’s a step up from the slapstick humour of Leon Schuster, and more palatable to sensitive South Africans than the caustic work of John Vlismas. It’s also much easier for black people to laugh at Noah mocking their accents because he’s one of us, in a way. If many of Noah’s jokes had been made by a white comedian, that comedian would be making headlines for all the wrong reasons.
His mixed heritage and boyish charm have allowed Noah to get away with his jokes on home soil. But in America, Noah is black, finish and klaar. The silly race gags he can make with impunity here haven’t gone down so well in the States. Writing in The Washington Post, columnist Wendy Todd argues that the reason Noah has been getting love in the US is because the shows he’s appeared on have largely white audiences who do not have a problem with his stereotype-driven race jokes.
“Noah might look like an enlightened choice, but his routines show he isn’t — his jokes often hinge on insulting African Americans . . . It’s all too acceptable to disrespect people of colour in this country, especially African Amer-
Picture: ANTONIO MUCHAVE icans, even when you’re also a person of colour. Not only did Noah get away with these routines, now he’s being rewarded for them. I’d like a conscious person of colour at the wheel, not someone who’s already driven me off a racist cliff,” she writes.
And this is one of the kinder criticisms Noah has faced this week. He’s been called sexist and anti-
But the Trevor Noah who’s been hired by Comedy Central to host The Daily Show isn’t the Trevor Noah who tweeted that “Jewish chicks” don’t give head. Heck, he’s not even the same Trevor Noah who made jokes about child abuse at Oprah Winfrey’s school. If you watch Noah’s Daily Show appearances, you’ll find a more mature — and certainly more refined — comedian. The first joke he made on the show was brilliant.
“I just flew in and boy are my arms tired,” he said. After some polite laughter from the audience, Noah raised his hands in the “hands up, don’t shoot” manner before continuing: “No seriously, I’ve been holding my arms like this since I got here. I never thought I’d be more afraid of police in America than in South Africa . . .”
“Are you saying black people in South Africa today don’t get assaulted and killed by police?” asked Stewart.
“Oh no no no, they do, but since apartheid ended they’re now also being killed by black police. Progress.”
Noah could not have chosen a better joke to introduce himself to the Daily Show audience with. It’s clever yet tells a brutal truth about racism in two countries and continents. He’s come a long way from the days of “men-age-ment” jokes. Noah is mastering the art of satire, albeit slowly.
A production as important as The Daily Show isn’t a one-man gig, though. As Noah pointed out to AP in an interview: “I don’t think of taking over. I’m joining the team. It’s a huge ship that has won Emmys and Peabodys for a reason, because it’s a fantastic team of writers and producers working to make that show magic. I get to be a part of that now as the host and a face, sharing that space with my fellow correspondents.”
Yes, Stewart’s a super-smart satirist and a great host. But, like Noah in South Africa, his audience’s reaction to him is shaped by the fact that he’s one of them, an American. Will similar jokes and statements go down as well when coming from a foreign face, from an “other”? Getting the job was the easy part: winning over American audiences is where the real work will begin for Trevor Noah. LS