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.
PHOEBE: It would be funded so fast. [Laughs.] I enjoy your interview style—you have a level of empathy, even if you don’t agree with a person. How did you decide to go the humanity-first route?
TREVOR: The most important part of conversation in Africa is the greeting. In Zulu, there’s Sawubona: “I see you.” When you see someone as a human being, you begin to understand most people are doing what they believe is right. I ask myself, “What if you were wrong? How would you want someone to engage with you?”
PHOEBE: This reminds me of your interview after the election with Tomi Lahren [then a conservative host for The Blaze]. Some people were upset you had her as a guest. What’s your takeaway?
TREVOR: I don’t think there’s anything I would have done differently. I invited Tomi because she was part of the white millennial vote that went with Donald Trump. Some people got stuck on “Why would you legitimize her?” Just because you don’t know about it in your bubble does not mean it’s not legitimate already.
PHOEBE: You represent a point of view that hasn’t been seen on late night. How do you feel like you’ve changed the dialogue?
TREVOR: There’s an advantage in looking at the world and talking through ideas that aren’t talked about anywhere else in the same way. The misconception has been: Is it a black show, or is it The Daily Show? Why can’t The Daily Show be hosted by a black person and have black people working on it? It doesn’t have to be either-or.
PHOEBE: Was having a diverse cast a mission, or did it just happen?
TREVOR: If you have a room that has 12 of the same person, you are bound to get 12 of the same jokes. I never thought of the diverse cast members as a mission. I just want original people—a person who is really funny and who makes me say, “I’ve never heard that before.”
PHOEBE: What do you hope for America, and yourself, in the future?
TREVOR: I hope America manages to steer itself away from partisanship and back to patriotism; we are all Americans. And as long as I can make people laugh and feel better, I’m happy.
Phoebe Robinson is the New York Times best-selling author of You Can’t Touch My Hair and cohost of the podcast 2 Dope Queens, which will become a series of HBO specials in 2018.
