Last night, comedian Trevor Noah spent his first night behind the desk as the new host of The Daily Show. He is now pleased to officially have achieved both of them, and is pretty comfortable with one.
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Who could blame him?
Comedian Trevor Noah made his debut as The Daily Show’s newest lead host Monday night, in the show’s first airing since Jon Stewart’s exit.
And so even though most South Africans were still anxiously waiting to watch the full show at 9 p.m. Tuesday, when it debuts on Comedy Central Africa, the local verdict was already in: Noah killed it. He wasn’t even their second option. Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane had traveled to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly and visited Noah at his studios. He also claimed that many Americans were asked before him, and he was now yet again an immigrant coming to take a job that Americans did not want to do.
But he harbored no resentment. Whereas Daily Show fans might be exhausted with Stewart’s old-jewish man impersonation, Noah’s young thug impression is fresh and new. Noah was so amped up he did try to speak over Hart a few times (when most hosts know to just get out of Hart’s way), but this is something Noah will improve on as well. He wasn’t so much upset about the Ohio Republican’s departure as he was over the loss of good comedic material. “I just keep hearing “global.’ I hear “viral” and ‘youth”… everything’s just so f–ing new!” “I got a fancy suit and a new set and I learned how to pronounce your name”. There’s still the 2016 presidential election. The writing staff remains largely unchanged, and once Noah settles down in the role, I think his delivery will improve.
In his tween years, Noah lost touch with his father after the latter moved away to Cape Town and then back to Switzerland (although they have recently rekindled their relationship), and he was educated largely at a Catholic private school in Johannesburg.
“I bet he’ll bring a new global perspective to things”, said Klepper. Klepper and Noah were discussing how Boehner’s successor might be received. While joking that John Boehner was the bouncer of “Club Congress”, Trevor let this bomb drop.
It’s hard to compare Noah to Stewart.
It’s true Trevor Noah is not Jon Stewart – and that’s alright because he really isn’t.
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One thing Comedy Central did to address this issue was post that opening segment on YouTube less than an hour after it aired on the east coast, something that would have been unheard of during Stewart’s tenure.
