That's why your real laugh is so ugly, do you know what I mean? I see some people look at me with pity when I tell these stories. So the way it works in South Africa is you were allowed to downgrade. . And so because of my dad, I met his friends and people like him who were great. GROSS: So what were some of the subjects that you talked about in your early comedy when you were first in front of diverse audiences? I'm a huge fan, so thank you. Your mother is Black. And my mom was genius. He was raised by his mother and grandmother. And having a toy that was a brick. Lesley Stahl: What happened in the beginning? So I always wanted to belong. Actually, they were probably until I was maybe 10 or 11 years old. And I try. And so that then leads to you being depressed. And for many viewers it was hard to accept Noah as a replacement for longtime host Jon Stewart. Watch on. But I mean, a home that is terrorized by an abusive drunk is terrorized all the same. (laughs). Accuracy and availability may vary. So everyone found a way to make ends meet. Trevor Noah on Wikipedia Trevor Noah on IMDb Trevor Noah on Twitter Trevor Noah on Instagram Trevor Noah on Facebook Trevor Noah on YouTube People dont realize how well thought out apartheid was.. The same thing with eating mopane worms. Yeah, even during that time. And she, like, throws you out of the van. We're listening back to our interviews with Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Central's "The Daily Show," who's stepping down next week. BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. Lesley Stahl: Well. I speak Xhosa. And then, the suspicious look would disappear. The 40 (ish) Names to Know in . Noah was born in 1984 to a single mother, Patricia, during the time of . She's like, you know what? And the shopkeeper right in front of us turned to his security guard, and he said in Afrikaans, (speaking Afrikaans) - follow those Blacks in case they steal something. I think it was in that that you said - the question was, what books would you have that we would be surprised that you were reading? "We hadn't gone 10 feet when suddenly a minibus swerved right in front of the car and cut us off," he wrote. (SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE DAILY SHOW WITH TREVOR NOAH"). What would've happened if they found you? Trevor Noah talks about his childhood in South Africa and why his family ate caterpillars. Lesley Stahl: Some of the funniest people we know on the planet have depression. I mean, she NOAH: It's funny you say that because I - when I wrote the book, I thought that I was the hero of my story. NOAH: Yeah. Spiegel & Grau As the child of a black mother and a white father in apartheid-era South Africa, Daily Show host. And we see that happen all over the world, regardless of race. This is FRESH AIR. How did having acne complicate your whole sense of identity? He killed it, gave up his plan to go to college, and soon was touring all over the world as a standup comic. There weren't many tarred streets. You know, I existed in a space where my mother was a Black woman, my father was a white man. Trevor Noah: I guess. His birth sign is Pisces. Almost knowing that there would be no ramifications. This is FRESH AIR. And he'd always forced me to sit in the back of the car. Trevor Noah: Did Dave Chappelle cross the line? You know, I was crying by her bedside. On Sept. 29, seven years and a day after assuming his role as host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah requested a few extra minutes during that night's program. But the classism isn't about money, it's about coolness. And so I was just like, this is a really funny show. I think it was something I inherited from my mother, who learned to do it. We're sick of wokeness. It was blatant, he said. Lesley Stahl: ADHD looks like depression? She said, now you're officially the best-looking person in the family. I think one of the biggest things I've had to learn is TV destroys your perspective. My mother turned around and said in beautiful, fluent Afrikaans, (speaking Afrikaans) - why don't you follow these Blacks so you can help them find what they're looking for? You can't hold these views because you're generalizing everybody. Here he is talking to that show's audience during a recent taping explaining that one reason he wants to quit the show is to do more traveling. It was - it didn't feel like it was suffering. And every household, for instance, had to have a registry of everyone who lived in that house. I found my greatest joy was with the people where we shared interests. I think you've proved your point. BIANCULLI: Trevor Noah speaking to Terry Gross in 2016. With a Black mother and white Swiss father, he was, as he wrote in his bestselling 2016 autobiography, born a crime. Then - and this was the funny thing - he didn't apologize for being racist. BIANCULLI: This is FRESH AIR. Donald Trump. So BIANCULLI: Watching him on "The Daily Show," it was often funny and enlightening to hear his take on American life and politics. After France's victory in the 2018 football World Cup, Trevor Noah stirred controversy with a joke he made during The Daily Show, his satirical news programme, about how "Africa won the World Cup". Yeah I wouldn't say he is a perfectionist. And by that same token, I would meet white people who would be terrified of Black people. And my grandma would tell me she'll be back. And I look at all of that, and I was trying to hide myself. I was on the chess team. He became famous in South Africa as a comic and TV personality, and spent years doing standup internationally. And he starts calling her a whore. I was always hidden. And during the period I was in high school, race almost went out of the window because high school was oftentimes almost like a classist society. And then at that point, one day, they came home from church. I was like, well, that's it. Yeah, maybe around there. GROSS: So they couldn't live together. Trevor Noah on Growing Up in South Africa Under Apartheid "Where most children are proof of their parents' love, I was the proof of their criminality." By Trevor Noah December 2, 2016 When the doctors pulled me out there was an awkward moment where they said, "Huh. As he revealed in his memoir [via Vulture], Noah took a junk car from his stepfather's mechanic workshop and hit the road, but he was soon pulled over. Trevor Noah Says He Grew Up 'In The Shadow Of A Giant' (His Mom), Trevor Noah said he is leaving The Daily Show. You must remember: apartheid was the best racism. And the chance to weigh in on serious topics. I cant promise you a good life. National Cinema Day is coming, with discounted tickets nationwide, Camp David's long history as a diplomatic hotspot, 102-year-old woman celebrates birthday while attending her first Woodward Dream Cruise. That's the clock. You know, there's a - there's just a sense of togetherness. And she was saying, you - the quickest thing you have to learn is your best show only lasts for a night and your worst show only lasts for a night. And, you know, so I was one of those kids who just stayed in a corner and watched the world pass them by. You get help from your trainer. NOAH: From 8 a.m. in the morning, we start dissecting the news, discussing it, looking for angles, looking for takes, building a show, rewriting it, getting it together, gathering materials. Trevor says he always felt like an outsider, but his humor making people laugh has been his ticket to belonging. David Kibuuka: This is what I'll say about Trevor with his girlfriends is that--. Then you get to go into the coolest places. NOAH: I was lucky to come along for the ride. Trevor Noah: So you're just fully going ahead with this? It was like everyone - every four or five houses would share one toilet outdoors. NOAH: If everyone's suffering together, it doesn't seem so bad. What is your cool factor? Your father is, I think, of Swiss and German ancestry. Under the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, instated in 1949, any sexual relations or marriages between interracial couples were illegal, hence, Noah's birth was an act of defiance and rebellion that could easily result in fines, an arrest or even jail time. You know how they love to steal. But if you can convince people of that, then you can get them to focus their hatred on their fellow man, who is trying to achieve freedom, as opposed to focusing on the oppressive government. He became famous in South Africa as a comic and TV personality, and spent years doing standup internationally. But I can promise you knowledge and food. And then after that taping, we sit down, and we dissect the show, see what could be better, work to get better every single day. Noah's stepfather was reportedly emotionally and physically abusive. And then, we were cool. Because that's really the nature of a late-night show, especially something that's on daily, is that you're on daily. I said, what do you mean, whatever race? And then he shot my mom twice. I had to go on medication repeatedly. And then there was, like, a subset of people in America, many of them immigrants, many of them people who had family overseas, and they were like, Finally!. I'm cool. Lesley Stahl: What was the hate that you felt? So my mom was doing all the heavy lifting for all of us. Trevor Noah: Oh I mean, everybody hated me. (Reading) They were ready to do to me violent harm until they felt that we were part of the same tribe. (Reading) I learned to use language like my mother did. And you said self-help books about depression. I didn't know what to do. In May 2015, one of Trevor Noah's cousins, Cebisile Happiness Khoza, was reportedly murdered. The book was a bestseller and has received overwhelmingly positive reviews. And I did not find any humor in that. Do you want to have children? So how many languages do you speak? America was like, Who? Noah said. It's because it's the thing that has kept my family going through every single type of adversity. My wife is The Daily Show. And I was never on that piece of paper. Trevor Noah voiced Griot in Black Panther and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. GROSS: Yeah, yeah. My mom was caught, you know, in the building that my father lived in. You write in your book about-- eating worms. Thats the world we lived in, [and] my mom found a way to navigate that world., Feeling like an outsider in both black and white communities, Noah credits his mother for getting him through the worst of times. "Black people created their own transit system," he wrote, noting there was no official public transport for non-whites. They did however shatter her jaw and go through her skull, nose and ear. But they remained friends, I guess, because they had been through so much that I always knew them the way they were. Born to a black Xhosa mother from South Africa and a white father from Switzerland, Trevor Noah broke the law the moment he was born. GROSS: You mentioned that the medication led to depression. Trevor Noah: Okay, what is Mitch McConnell like with his girlfriends? The first was recorded early in 2016, a few months after he'd taken over "The Daily Show." You get help at the gym. I'm offering you a home for a while that I think you'll come to enjoy." I thought that Jon Stewart was a news anchor who didn't take his job seriously because I would always see this show NOAH: No, I'm being serious. I relayed stories of my life, things that I was going through, observational comedy, anecdotal stuff. Trevor Noah: Right. And it seems like that's something you learned to do out of self-preservation when you were young. And then sometimes I'll meet children where I go, "I hope that my sperm doesn't do anything because this person is a terror.". I spoke to Trevor Noah, host of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning program The Daily Show on Comedy Central, about his new book entitled Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood.Noah . I think I would have fallen. You don't have to answer any questions about personal--. And I know this because every time I ask people if I have a good brain, they say, of course, Mr. President. Half of our fights in life are because we want to belong. Didn't touch the brain and all it did was it cut a piece of her nostril off. The paper wouldn't back down, though, and when News24 spoke with editor Phylicia Oppelt, she justified, "We had several interviews with Mr Noah's grandmother at her home in Soweto. As Noah noted, "At that point my mother could be raped. So you did some comedy in the U.S. about opening a bank account in America and having to fill out your race or ethnicity, and you don't really know what to write in. So, you know, it's not unlike the news, funny enough. But, your grandfather used to call you master? Robert attended a local high school where he attained his secondary school education. It immediately puts me in a position where I have to choose a side when I think that the matter is a lot more complex than that. You were shot in the head." Even though he does "The Daily Show" during the week and he'll be hosting the Grammys on CBS again in January, he refuses to give up his comedy shows. I'm ready. And so I looked at her, and I said, any box? So I go, OK, I look back, and I say, my self-esteem was affected because of my skin and because my family had no money and I was ashamed of how poor I was. She would act like she was babysitting me for somebody else. I was a kid, so I was just - I was living my life. You know? 1, any European male who has illicit carnal intercourse with a native female, and any native male who has illicit carnal intercourse with a European female, shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years. It is a curse, I believe the family is cursed." And then he would drive. Whenever they hear something or see something that they can't truly comprehend, they don't agree with it, but for fear of being judged, they internalize the emotions. Thanks so much for coming. I would simulcast - give you the program in your own tongue. Cleanup, damage assessment underway after Hilary dumps heavy rain on parts of California and Nevada, Biden returns from Maui after viewing Lahaina wildfire devastation, Tropical Storm Harold forms in Gulf, immediately heads for Texas, Partial blackout at L.A. hospital prompts evacuation of some patients, Trump's bond set at $200,000 in Fulton County election case, House panel subpoenas senior IRS officials over Hunter Biden tax case, What to know about new COVID variants EG.5, FL.1.5.1 and BA.2.86 now spreading, Tony Stewart Racing driver Ashlea Albertson dies in highway crash, Flood-ravaged Vermont waits for action from a gridlocked Congress, "Big Brother" contestant removed from house after using N-word, Donna Mills on "the best moment of my entire life", Zoe Saldaa on "Special Ops: Lioness" Action that's down-to-earth, "Succession" leads with 27 Emmy nominations as HBO ties record, Former "Top Chef" winner Kristen Kish to replace Padma Lakshmi as host, Read an excerpt from Trevor Noahs Born a Crime, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood. That, and so many other, smaller incidents in my life, made me realize that language, even more than color, defines who you are to people. GROSS: Yeah. And I would have to speak up to my friends and say, hey; I know white people that are really cool. She was friends with a woman who was my skin color, a woman who was a different race, but my skin color. And Ireland - I'm going to go back to Ireland. That's you. We were in a shop once. He wrote about his mother, Patricia Noah, in his memoir, "Born a Crime," saying she raised him almost as if he was White, with no limitations on what he could achieve. You're right, Dave Chappelle." Noah deftly translated his experience as a targeted person - growing up biracial in apartheid South Africa - into analyses of . "My time is up," he said. Trevor Noah: Funny is something that I developed as a tool, yeah, to belong. Mr. NOAH: Thank you for having me. And I'd have to explain to them or be like, hey; you can't think like that. But if I spoke like you, I was you. Next week, he steps away from the Comedy Central TV franchise after seven years. GROSS: So how were you protected so that you were able to see yourself and your parents that way? I remembered my dad used to love running with me, Noah said. I used to remember running with him in the park and running with him in the street. Trevor Noah, welcome to FRESH AIR. And I think I pick up a lot of - I have a lot of my mom's demeanors that - she never even - even when she told me the story, she was never angry. When you started doing comedy, which was - when? Be like "Master." My mother was caught in transition. Updated: May 12, 2021 Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty. I would have fainted.. GROSS: In South Africa, wherever you were, you were the anomaly. Help shouldn't be seen as a weak thing. Trevor Noah attempts to convey the idea that speaking someone's native language is a way to combat racism and uses a childhood anecdote about almost being mugged by a group of boys who speak Zulu. So, you know, we laughed about it. I'm white. ". If you spoke to me in Tswana, I replied to you in Tswana. NOAH: But that's the sadness. GROSS: It's the reason why your book is called "Born A Crime." He called his memoir "Born a Crime," because it was illegal for a Black woman like his mother and a White man like his father to mix. David Kibuuka: Is that he is very, very -- like a great boyfriend. That's why you have to learn to live outside the show. As Noah said on Wednesday, If youre waking up from a coma this morning, you may want to go back. So I speak Zulu. (SOUNDBITE OF RAMSEY LEWIS TRIO'S "HERE COMES SANTA CLAUS"). Lesley Stahl: You said something that sticks with me. He took over in 2015 after the departure of Jon Stewart. Ratings for The Daily Show are down, but on the plus side, online and global viewership are up. And in countries where there's no Comedy Central or the show itself is not picked up, it'll be on CNN. Because of his childhood, growing up between two different worlds, he tends to see both sides of an argument. Early life Trevor Noah was born on 20 February 1984, in Johannesburg, Transvaal (now Gauteng ), South Africa. We've talked about how race and being biracial affected you growing up in South Africa. Yeah. I've got a percentage share. So, like, you can choose whatever you want, and then you can do it. GROSS: She - like you said, she just defied all conventions when she wanted to, and she talked back to people. TREVOR NOAH: This has been another rough week for the Trump White House - scandals, bad press, bad poll numbers. So I was living with my mother in Soweto and my grandmother and the rest of our family. In his memoir, Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood, Noah dissects growing up in a devout Christian home with his mother but fell into an identity crisis when she converted to Judaism. That's commonplace. Be it enacted by the king's most excellent majesty, the senate and the house of assembly of the Union of South Africa as follows. But my mom opposed the system as a whole, so she never let that stand in her way, you know? You know, get out and about and, you know, taste the food and, you know, that experience - tasting a new thing and being like, ah, this is disgusting. And my mom looks at me and she goes, "Shh Trevor, Trevor, don't cry baby." While his hustlin' never got Trevor Noah in trouble, he was arrested as a teen and ended up spending an entire week behind bars under the suspicion of having stolen a car. Trevor Noah announced Thursday that he'd be leaving The Daily Show after seven years. And growing up with my mother, that was something I really learned to appreciate. But there must have been a reason it was first in line. Summary Trevor Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk ofThe Daily Show began with a criminal act: his birth. You know, I go - I trace depression back to things. Now an internationally renowned comedian, the narrator and protagonist of Born a Crime was born in 1984 to a black Xhosa mother ( Patricia) and a white Swiss father ( Robert ). I said, "What bright side?" We weren't trying to take anything from you. I don't have to do this. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. One of America's most recognized and experienced broadcast journalists, Lesley Stahl has been a 60 Minutes correspondent since 1991. And she really is an amazing woman. But he's a certified celebrity with a global following, who has brought an international dimension to Comedy Central's "The Daily Show.". 6 struggles The Daily Show's Trevor Noah faced growing up, from being 'born a crime' during South Africa's apartheid to suffering from acne so severe he avoided having his photo taken And I think all of us should seek help. Noah grew up during the apartheid and post-apartheid eras. I speak Tswana. What year are we talking? (SOUNDBITE OF CHRISTIAN MCBRIDE TRIO'S "HAM HOCKS AND CABBAGE"). And it was one of the most fun games I've ever played. And when he found out about this other man after he and your mother were divorced, he shot her twice. I was like, I've always wanted to have home. I said, so I can go with Black? Following a rough start in life, Trevor Noah's path took a turn in the opposite direction, and he's since become the "busiest man in comedy," according to The Hollywood Reporter. And so although, according to African culture, men were the head of the household, the truth is women were the ones who were raising everybody including men. I don't think I can do that. Here you go." Any native female who permits any European male to have illicit carnal intercourse with her, and any European female who permits any native male to have illicit carnal intercourse with her, shall be guilty of an offense and liable on conviction to imprisonment for a period not exceeding four years. BIANCULLI: Trevor Noah speaking to Terry Gross in 2016. A lot of people do want to. He merely apologized for aiming his racism at us. No. And that's how I knew it. You knew that there was a cloud hanging over our nation, but there were lots of moments of joy within that time period. And so what the apartheid system was really good at doing was convincing groups to hate one another. And she was like, yeah, you can go ahead and fill out everything you need to. You know, I feel like we were all in the same boat because we were. NOAH: Yeah, definitely. Getty Images. GROSS: So describe what your neighborhood in Soweto was like when you were growing up. Like, you can mimic other people really well. David Kibuuka: 'Cause he didn't answer it. "Cops in South Africa don't give you a reason when they pull you over," he wrote. [20] [21] Under apartheid legislation, Noah's mother was classified as Black, and his father was classified as White. [18] [19] His father, Robert, is of Swiss - German ancestry, and his mother, Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah, is Xhosa. September 29, 2022 10:11pm. When one of his friends convinced him to wear them to a local talent show and pretend to be Busta Rhymes's hype man (he had already gotten paid by the show's organizer), Noah did just that, making up a bunch of lyrics on-stage and convincing everyone that he was indeed Spliff Star. Let's get back to Terry's 2016 interview with Trevor Noah, shortly after he had begun hosting "The Daily Show." The host would say, This next comedian is from Africa. And people think a guy in leopard skin would come running on the stage. And so I thought, "Well, this could be thethis could be the chance.". "'I was shot in the face and back," Patricia told the paper. My mom was like, Whooo, I dont care, I want a white man! Yeah. Were the audiences mixed? And I've - you know, I was locked up like many of you were. GROSS: To help navigate difficult situations. It's a far cry from his more confined TV studio day job on "The Daily Show," where he had a shaky start when he took over six years ago from Jon Stewart. - 25 years ago, I was living in basically a very elevated hut with no running water or indoor sanitation. Around that time Noah began performing in small clubs around the U.S., but American audiences didnt know what to make of an African comic who looked and sounded like Noah. His mother was South African and black; his father, a Swiss national, was white. But I didn't know why anything was happening. So that - she was going through all of that. NOAH: Well, it was just how my parents treated me. So - but that NOAH: No, no, no. Robert Noah is Trevor Noah's biological father. I'd get suspicious looks from people just walking down the street. GROSS: OK. He loves owning the stage, the roar of the big crowd, typically 15,000 in giant arenas like one in Washington, D.C. So I'm trying to make that officially my seventh languages (ph), and then, hopefully, I can learn Spanish. And yet my mom - she was like, this is a functional thing I need to get my family together. How much cool do you possess? / CBS News. Broadcast associate, Wren Woodson. And they would, you know, cross-reference that with the actual inhabitants of the dwelling. What do you mean? He pulled the driver out of the car and "it looked like they were going to kill this guy. Humor helped his family heal. No one complains about that. My dad didn't have to do much because he was on the, I guess, the right side of the law, as they would say. And so I guess - there were times when my mom would sneak us in to go meet and hang out as a family when we could. Lesley Stahl: In your mind, did he cross the line? According to his grandmother, Nomalizo, after Shingange left Patricia for dead, he "went around with a gun trying to find Trevor." However, both Noah and his grandmother denied the report. It was a big week for host Trevor Noah. In 'Born a Crime', Trevor Noah, the South African comedian and television host, delivers a witty and spirited memoir. And then, I speak African languages. And in - The New York Times Sunday Book Review has a Q&A called "By The Book." He always felt like an outsider, not quite Black like his Xhosa mother, not quite White like his Swiss father, who he has seen infrequently in his life. Not only did Trevor Noah's very existence go against the law, but growing up in South Africa, murder was a daily reality. That's another stigma that I think we need to get rid of is improving our minds and our mental health. Oh, I'm so sorry, he said. That's one of the biggest things. I'm not sure I believe it. And because everyone was doing it, then it's normal. Trevor Noah is stepping down as host of The Daily Show after seven years. How old were you NOAH: I think I was maybe 12 years old or 13. So I wouldn't call it a split because essentially they were never together. If you're told to go to the bedroom and, you know, go under the bed, then you go under the bed.
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