2024-08-02 14:44:52
In 2022, he ended his career as host of “The Daily Show” to return to touring as a comedian. Now Trevor Noah is again in Germany with his new program “Off the Record” – and he brings back a kind of comedy that has almost disappeared.
The first thing you notice is the fashion fans. Anyone who came to the Uber Arena in Berlin to see Trevor Noah wear it. Which could be because it was the first chance for a long time to see a comedian live in Europe. Since 2015, Noah hosts the most popular comedy news program in the USA: “The Daily Show”. At that time he replaced Jon Stewart, who had taken over again. Noah justifies his departure in 2022 by saying that he misses life travel and travel, and he wants to learn new languages again. The pandemic will have made you think anew about the time we have and what we do with it. Now Noah is on a world tour with his stand-up show “Off the Record” and his comedy is picking up where he left off before “The Daily Show.”
The title of his show must refer to the end of his television recordings on “The Daily Show”, because there was nothing explosive in terms of content, even in the first half hour. The structure is so clean that even children can sit in the crowd. He doesn’t say a single “fukie”, which is unusual for an English comic. It was clear from the first few minutes that Noah was preparing well for each city he played. He talks about the frustration of Berliners in winter and the excessive speed of riders. The comedian then moved from one country to another, imitating accents perfectly – and using all the clichés. The French are very proud, the Germans are precise and bold, the English are false friends.
All hand movements are consistent
Why, you ask yourself as you laugh, is this really funny? It’s the same old clichés you’ve heard a thousand times before; Jokes about rude French waiters and German edginess during sex. You should actually roll your eyes while being mad instead of laughing, but you do. Why should humor be about unexpected and surprising twists? Proof that clichés can work in comedy as well as classics in fiction, as long as the execution is done well. And Trevor Noah is exactly this master. His fake English seems – to non-native speakers – as flawless as his French and Italian. Every facial expression and every hand movement is spot on. Trevor Noah’s art is classic comedy in a clownish sense. The viewer is happy because the imitation is accurate. Noa’s love of language shines through in every joke as he tries to find the meaning of his culture in human speech.
His tenure on “The Daily Show” shines through when he uses current affairs as a hook for his jokes. Noah makes fun of the French who are so proud of their unity but then want to swim in the Seine before the Olympics – before the Mayor takes a bath. He then went to riots in Southport, England. They broke up when an Englishman with Rwandan roots stabbed some little girls. A rumor spread online that he was a Muslim immigrant and sparked violent protests. From here the show took a turn and became more political. Noah joked about colonialism and the difficulties of getting a visa in other countries as a non-European: “The love scenes in the movie where the lovers fly over and over again to Paris? That will not happen in African movies. ”
Noah himself grew up in a town in South Africa. In his autobiography “Born a crime” (in German: “Colourblind”) he talks about growing up as the son of a Swiss father and a South African mother during apartheid. At a time when relationships between blacks and whites were forbidden.
Noah finished his set, which is usually how the audience gets really excited at stand-up shows. You interact with the audience, ask questions, tell stories – that’s what a German apparently once advised you to do at the end of a show. They asked if he had a friend named Hitler, as described in his book. To which Noah replied why would anyone think such a thing. In South Africa, the Second World War was going on and the names of the country’s leaders were popular for babies, he explained simply.
Despite the Hitler in Germany jokes – which are almost obligatory for foreign comedians – and a scene that goes astray, it’s not the black humor that Noah does. His changing accents and crazy eyes make his material light and family-friendly. So it was fitting that at the end of his show, he imitated a child tumbling around the stage like a drunk.
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