Daily Show host-designate Trevor Noah talks comedy in South Africa, life after Jon Stewart

Meet Trevor Noah
(Image credit: The Daily Show)

It may seem like Trevor Noah fell out of nowhere to take over the very high-profile Daily Show anchor desk, but he's been in comedy for nine years, Noah said in a Comedy Central podcast. Nine years ago, though, there were only about 40 comedians in Noah's native South Africa, and they were widely ignored. "Comedy really only became a thing once we got democracy," he said. "The two sort of go hand-in-hand." There were jesters during the Apartheid era, he added, but "if they were caught, they would go to jail."

The rollout of Noah, whose father is white and Swiss and mother a black South African, as Jon Stewart's replacement hasn't been hiccup-free. People poring through his Twitter feed found tasteless jokes about Jews and women, and Grantland's Bill Simmons said he'd heard that Noah was Comedy Central's fourth choice, after Amy Poehler, Louis C.K., and Amy Schumer — an idea partly undermined by Grantland's Andy Greenwald.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.