{"id":11917,"date":"2013-11-22T05:00:52","date_gmt":"2013-11-22T05:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/praag.org\/?p=11917"},"modified":"2013-11-22T05:00:52","modified_gmt":"2013-11-22T05:00:52","slug":"trevor-noahs-show-the-racist-touring-britain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praag.org\/?p=11917","title":{"rendered":"Trevor Noah’s show ‘The Racist’ touring Britain"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Trevor<\/a>
Trevor Noah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Edinburgh Festival is not the kind of place that tends to attract giggling groupies \u2013 but then it has never featured a comedian quite like Trevor Noah.<\/p>\n

Not only was he mobbed by gaggles of signature-hungry fans after his debut dates there last year, he has, since then, become the first South African comedian to appear on The Tonight Show.<\/p>\n

He also has a unique story to tell: the son of a black Xhosa mother and white Swiss-German father, Noah was \u2018born a crime\u2019 under the apartheid regime.<\/p>\n

\u2018But I was lucky growing up,\u2019 says the warm, softly spoken 29-year-old, \u2018I was always allowed to question. Some kids were not afforded that luxury. I\u2019m not an angry person by nature. It\u2019s easier to be an abrasive comedian, to be very in-your-face, but I find disarming is more fun. I feel you can get more across if people are laughing with you.<\/p>\n

Which is why, even though Noah\u2019s show is called The Racist, white people needn\u2019t be afraid of sitting in the front row when he takes it on tour around Britain next week.<\/p>\n

\u2018I would love everyone to come,\u2019 he says. \u2018Everyone in history has some sort of link to racism, somewhere. I guess, in recent history, white people have had the most notoriety when it comes to racism. But funnily enough, racism is almost not a colour thing, but a people thing \u2013 people will always find something to be racist about.<\/p>\n

\u2018As the world becomes more and more PC, we don\u2019t tell each other how we really feel \u2013 but people are surprised how similar we all are, in terms of what we\u2019re thinking. I live for those moments where I feel like, \u201cooh, I\u2019m pushing my luck here\u201d.\u2019<\/p>\n

The Racist sees Noah go on a journey of identity by attempting to re-invent himself as a black American (the coolest kind of black, in his eyes). It\u2019s a tight, smart, astute show, with Noah oozing charisma.<\/p>\n

Even though he seems a natural talent, Noah had to learn his craft his own way. With comedy practically banned in South Africa while he was growing up (\u2018the first time I watched any was Eddie Murphy on DVD, when I was about 20\u2019), he looked closer to home for inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u2018I definitely get my sense of humour from my mum,\u2019 he smiles. \u2018She is wild, she\u2019s crazy, she\u2019s a storyteller. And she laughs a lot.\u2019<\/p>\n

He worked as radio and TV host in his home country before focusing on comedy. In 2011, he was taken under Eddie Izzard\u2019s wing after the legendary Europhile spotted Noah (who had \u2018no clue who Izzard was\u2019) performing at London\u2019s Comedy Store. Izzard went on to produce Noah\u2019s subsequent, storming stints in Edinburgh and London last year.<\/p>\n

\u2018Stand-up in the UK is a very old art form,\u2019 notes Noah. \u2018It\u2019s a very cultured comedy society, and very calmed down.<\/p>\n

In South Africa, on the other hand, it has only been legal since the start of democracy, so there\u2019s still a huge excitement \u2013 it\u2019s very big, very boisterous.\u2019<\/p>\n

Now, Noah says, the country has a thriving, evolving comedy scene. \u2018There\u2019s a sense of belief now. The comedy is growing with the country, which is good \u2013 we are learning what free speech means. We haven\u2019t gotten to the level of PC yet, so it\u2019s still very raw and unrefined, which is great to watch and be a part of.\u2019<\/p>\n

Noah hopes that South Africa\u2019s government leaders start thinking as progressively. \u2018There\u2019s still a lot of fixing to be done,\u2019 he says, \u2018but we\u2019re waiting for a time when politics is less defined by race and history, and more about what the country needs going forward.\u2019<\/p>\n

Whatever the future has in store for South Africa, Noah\u2019s looks glittering \u2013 but he\u2019s also taking things as they come. \u2018I never make plans that are definitive,\u2019 he says. \u2018The only plan is to be the best comedian I can be and to enjoy it. I feel that everything that comes after that is a blessing, a bonus. If I can pay my bills, live a good life and make people laugh while doing that, what more could you ask for?\u2019<\/p>\n

Trevor Noah\u2019s British tour begins at Warwick Arts Centre on Nov 26.\u00a0www.trevornoah.com<\/a>\u00a0– metrro.co.uk<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Edinburgh Festival is not the kind of place that tends to attract giggling groupies \u2013 but then it has never featured a comedian quite like Trevor Noah. Not only was he mobbed by gaggles of signature-hungry fans after his debut dates there last year, he has, since then, become the first South African comedian … Continue reading “Trevor Noah’s show ‘The Racist’ touring Britain”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":11918,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[49,3,4],"tags":[186,157,7545,7544,319],"class_list":["post-11917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe","category-news","category-south-africa","tag-britain","tag-racism","tag-the-racist","tag-trevor-noah","tag-xhosa"],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/praag.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/Trevor-Noah.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11919,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11917\/revisions\/11919"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/praag.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}