Trevor Noah's Fascinating Career

The South African standup comedian, Trevor Noah is a writer, media critic and has donned a variety of other roles. He has recently signed up as the host of the Daily Show after its previous host, Jon Stewart, left the program.

Trever Noah was born on February, in Soweto, South Africa. He was born to Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, who was half-Jewish and half-South African, and Robert, who was a white Swiss. Given the racially different background of his parents, their relationship was deemed illegal due to the prevalence of apartheid at the time. His mother was even imprisoned by the South African authorities for this reason. In the meantime, his father also shifted back to Switzerland. Trevor was then raised by his mother and his grandmother, Nomalizo Frances Noah. He did his schooling from a Catholic School, Maryvale College, in Johannesburg and was a regular at the Church. His life took an ugly turn when his mother divorced her second husband, Ngisaveni Shingange. This man later shot his mother ruthlessly. He kept shooting till his gun got jammed and came after Trevor as well.

Noah started off early in his career in showbiz when he was only eighteen years old, with a role in the South African drama, Isidingo in 2002. Noah's Ark, a radio program became his next gig followed by an educational show called Run The Adventure, which he hosted from 2004 through 2006. In the following years, Noah was seen on air frequently as host. He has shows like the Real Goboza (2007), Siyadlala (2007), The Amazing Date (2008), 3rd Annual South Africa Film and Television Awards (2009), The Axe Sweet Life (2009), Tonight with Trevor Noah (2010), and so on. 2010 also saw him in the role of a spokesperson for one of the biggest telecom networks in South Africa, Cell C.

Though he had been doing well in his various roles as a host, he wanted more from himself. He sidelined a few hosting offers, and began to work on his talents as a comedian. It is also said that he took to the stage as a result of a dare from some of his friends. Even if he did, it led to greater things for him. He started performing with comedians of national and international repute and these included Paul Rodriguez, Paul Zerdin, Carl Barron, David Kau, and so on. He also got a chance to do the opening act for world famous stars like Gabriel Iglesias and Russell Peters during the South African leg of their tours. By 2011, Noah had performed throughout South Africa in various shows and festivals that included Heavyweight Comedy Jam, Jozi Comedy Festival, and so on. The same year, he moved from his native country to the United States.

Noah slowly started making his presence felt and his mounting fame gave rise to a series of firsts. He was the first standup comedian from his country to make an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman and The Tonight Show. This led to even bigger things for this talented artist. He was the focus of the documentary titled, You Laugh But it's True, which came out in 2012 and the same year also got his own comedy show, Trevor Noah: The Racist. He also made many one off performances on television like a Roastmaster on Comedy Central, panelist on the game show called 8 Out of 10 Cats, and so on. 2015 brought big news for Noah, when he was announced as the host of the Comedy Central's The Daily Show, following the departure of Jon Stewart.

Noah derives a lot of his humor from his childhood experiences with racism and life, in general. He will definitely bring a lot of that South African flavor to his latest challenge, The Daily Show, with all its history and complexities. It would be a good change for the international audience, and whether they will warm up to him or not, only time will tell.