Trevor Noah stirs things up in US show
“ONE small step for me, one giant leap for African comedy!” Trevor Noah, who tweeted the opening quote last week, may not have actually walked on the moon, but he certainly did reach for it.
The step he speaks of is his appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The episode, which also features actress Glenn Close and singer-songwriter Van Hunt, was taped last week and will air in South Africa on CNBC Africa tonight.
The former “CEO” of Cell C has been living and working in the US for more than a year now, and is the first Johannesburg comedian to perform on the major US television talk show.
Differences
In an e-mail interview with The Daily News’s sister paper, the Cape Argus, Noah said there were notable differences between the South African comedy scene and the US one.
He said “the one difference is that, unlike South African audiences, the general American doesn’t know much about the world”.
Which sounds about right if the spate of criticism Noah experienced from US Twitter users is anything to go by.
Most South Africans seemed to swell with pride over one of our own comedians getting recognised internationally, and they also made that known on various social networks. A short clip on Youtube has already been viewed more than 16 000 times.
On the clip, Noah showcased his awe in how African-americans insist on using “nahmean” as a conjunction for “You know what I mean”, and his set also included his signature race-relations and political humour.
In response to some Americans deeming his stand-up comedy racist, Noah took to Twitter to defend his observations about his home away from home and its people. Noah tweeted: “An American called me racist for speaking about some black Americans. I’m not racist, some of my best parents are black.”
To express just how giddy he was to perform on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Noah tweeted: “I’m so happy today. I feel like I did the day I had enough money to buy the big green Mayo and 10 chappies.”
Catch Noah on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on CNBC Africa (Dstv channel 410) at 9pm.