Trevor Noah talks Trump, Feminism, and Being on TV
There are moments in pop culture that you remember in terms of “Where were you when...?” Where were you when you watched Oprah declare “I love bread!” or Game of Thrones’ “Red Wedding”? I’m adding one: Where were you when you discovered Trevor Noah? I was a 27-year-old aspiring stand-up comic watching The Tonight Show With Jay Leno in my PJs in 2012; the South African comedian was making his U.S. debut. I thought, Who is this café au lait king who’s also hilarious? He was, to the tune of Sisqó’s “Thong Song,” “dun-duh-duh-dun” hot. But in his short set, Noah also displayed charm, presence, and damn good writing. (Of his black South African mother and white Swiss father getting together during apartheid, he joked: “My mom was like ‘Woo, I don’t care, I want a white man! Woo!’ She was crazy. And my dad was like, ‘Well, you know how the Swiss love chocolate.’ ”)
It’s no surprise to me that today the 33-year-old is writing New York Times best-selling books (Born a Crime), headlining stand-up specials (Afraid of the Dark), and making The Daily Show his own with his smart international take on America’s political dramas. We had never met prior to my visit to his office, but we instantly shared an energy that’s common among comics offstage, quieter and contemplative. Noah makes you feel hopeful that everything will be OK. His optimism might be his X-factor.
PHOEBE ROBINSON: I’ve been following your career, and to me, you seem like a feminist. Is that fair to say?
TREVOR NOAH: Yeah. Without a doubt, that’s because of my mom. My aunt, grandmother. Most of my teachers were female in school. I grew up in a world where authority was female. [But] I never thought to call myself a feminist because of branding. I had this skewed idea of feminist: I thought it meant being a woman who hates men. When I read Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists, I was like, “Oh, this is what my mom taught me. This is simple. I don’t understand why everybody is not this.”
PHOEBE: Two years into The Daily Show, how are you feeling?
TREVOR: Post, let’s say, Donald Trump’s nomination or presidency, I found an easier way to synthesize my voice into the show.
PHOEBE: How do you view the way Americans are responding to President Trump? Do you think it’s an overreaction at all?
TREVOR: I don’t think it’s an overreaction. America is dealing with the effects of an underreaction to Donald Trump when he was running and when he was Mr. Saying-Racist-Things-on-the-News.
PHOEBE: If you could get an honest answer, what would you ask him?
TREVOR: “How much money would you want [in order] to leave the presidency?” Because I think he would have a number, strangely enough. Then we’d know how much to launch the Kickstarter for.
