South African star Trevor Noah has become a household name in the US for many years. He is also a best-selling author and rib-cracking comedian who has evolved into probably the busiest man in comedy. Adding to his list of accomplishments, he’s also an actor and podcast host with his own label.
The now 35-year old stand up comedian initially started off dabbling in radio, acting and deejaying. At 22, he had landed his first stand-up comedy by sheer chance. “I was doing gigs that nobody was doing, in areas that no one else was doing them,” Noah says.
Trevor Noah is currently the cover star for the newly-released comedy issue for The Hollywood Reporter magazine. In his interview, he talks about landing the daily show gig, marriage intentions, social media brouhaha, juggling many labels, and his life generally.
Read excerpts from Trevor Noah’s Interview below.
On his plans to have kids
“I don’t want to have a child before I believe I want a child. I also don’t want to be in a position where I resent either the child or The Daily Show for taking time from the other. What I’ve come to realise is that life is not as urgent as you think it is. So for me, right now, it’s head down and grind, and I don’t feel guilty like I’m abandoning or deserting anybody because I’m single. My wife is The Daily Show.”
On what he told producers when negotiating to take the Daily Show gig
“I won’t lie — when I watch the show, I don’t understand most of what’s going on. It’s very highbrow, and I don’t think there are enough international stories. So if you brought me on, the risk you’re taking is I’m going to talk about international stories, and I’m not going to try to make the show smarter than it is.”
On the old tweets that nearly cost him his reputation
“In many ways, social media and comedy are time stamps of who we were…and if you’re not disgusted by what you did when you look back five, 10 years ago, then I’d argue you haven’t grown. But we live in a society where people are more concerned with the platitudes of apologies than they are with the actual change in human beings.
“I just don’t think it’s healthy for us to berate and destroy people for who they were versus who they are because ‘are’ is more important. And that’s the problem I have with the ‘cancel culture’ a lot of the time — you condemn people to only being that forever. What’s the value of atoning if it doesn’t mean you’re welcomed back into society?”
On the misconception that The Daily Show brought him fame and fortune
“People don’t understand that I came to America from a country where I was really successful. And I’m proud of South Africa because that’s where I made my fortune. I had my homes and my cars and my nice things, and my country gave that to me. So I wasn’t escaping anything. I’m here because I want to be here.”
Concluding, Trevor Noah says he’s no longer afraid to use his platform to say what he sees. He also added that he trusts himself and his perspective more than he did a few years ago.
Read his full interview on THR.com