Trevor Noah's Charm Offensive
Trevor Noah's two-step program seemed daunting at first glance. And it had nothing to do with the mountain he'll soon be climbing as the new host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show.
Twice braving an audience of TV critics, the 31-year-old South African performed his standup act at a Santa Monica venue Tuesday night before sitting down the following morning for a formal interview with the same crowd in a Beverly Hills hotel ballroom (at the Television Critic's Association today, above).
Truth be told, though, this used to be a much tougher crowd in days of old -- the '80s and '90s. So Noah pretty much breezed through both encounters and dismissed any notion that telling jokes to a theater-full of pen-wielders could be considered a comedian's worst nightmare.
"Not if you've been to Edinburgh," he told tvworthwatching.com shortly after his 70-minute workout. "If you've performed in Scotland or England, every single audience member there is a critic. They hold comedians to the highest standards and they have some of the toughest rooms. So honestly, this was a pleasant experience. You guys were fantastic."
OK, be that way. Noah knows how to turn on the charm and gives the initial impression that he'll bring a gentler touch than Jon Stewart, who bows out on Thursday, August 6 after 16-and-a-half years as The Daily Show's's signature host. Noah's arc officially begins on Sept. 28. His debut will give Comedy Central back-to-back late night shows hosted by men of color, with Larry Wilmore's The Nightly Show already solidly in place as the successor to The Colbert Report.
"I think it's a beautiful thing for television as a whole," Noah said. "Diversity is a fantastic thing."
The self-described "citizen of the world" is the oldest son of a black South African mother and white European father.
"I will be coming from a different place. I'm more inquisitive. I'm more playful with things," Noah said. "My take on a Donald Trump interview would be very different. I'd love to know if he's being 100 percent serious. I'd like to know if he's trying to be controversial. I'd like to know about the things behind what he is saying."
Noah remains on The Daily Show staff and will retain the same writers and producers in the early going. For now he's still pledging allegiance to Stewart, who championed Noah as his surprise successor.
"He was funny every single day on TV all over the world," Noah said. "That for me is what comedy is about. That's a huge contribution. He laid the groundwork and now I carry on that journey. But it's not about me yet at all . . . I get to celebrate the man that brought me on board before I celebrate me taking over anything."
Almost immediately after the takeover was announced, Noah ran into a buzzsaw in early spring when a few tweets from 2010 and 2011 were thrown back at him as evidence he was both anti-Semitic and sexist. For example: "South Africans know how to recycle like Israel knows how to be peaceful." And furthermore: "Oh yeah, the weekend. People are gonna get drunk and think that I'm sexy! -- fat chicks everywhere."
Noah quickly responded with a tweet in his defense: "To reduce my views to a handful of jokes that didn't land is not a true reflection of my character, nor my evolution as a comedian."
Amid a small circle of critics Tuesday night, Noah lamented being in "an age of faux outrage. Sometimes people don't even know why they're angry. They jump on the bandwagon. It's like, 'Can I be a part of the mob as opposed to what are my true thoughts on this issue?' "
His standup act Tuesday was built entirely on racial issues and differences in both America and abroad. Noah riffed at length about blacks too often being on the lethal receiving end of police over-reaction -- whether they flee or put their hands up.
"There is nothing less frightening than a black man running away from you," he joked.
Noah also talked of always flying Middle Eastern Airlines from abroad to America because he figures "there's less chance they'll shoot down one of those planes."
Laughter and whoops of approval greeted another well-played one-liner: "I refuse to live in a world where we deny a white man the title of terrorist."
Down the stretch, Noah contrasted "charming American racism" with that practiced in South Africa, where "we have some of the finest racism around -- hand-crafted racism." He much prefers the latter, more honest approach than behind-the-back bigotry. "Be blatant," Noah urged.
The jokes sound rougher in print than they played on stage. Noah isn't an "angry" comic, just an increasingly self-assured one who rolls with both the punches and his punch-lines.
"I grew up in a home where there was domestic abuse," he told TV critics during the Wednesday morning session. "But I also saw my mother come out of that abusive relationship. I see her as a beautiful woman today that's come through it and still smiles and finds reasons to laugh.
"I think I've been tainted by hope and optimism. That's why I'm unflappable, because often I see things from both sides. I'm mixed, not just in my blood but in my life . . . I do get riled up. There are things that make me angry. But I like to think before I speak or act."