As some of you may know, beloved comedy central TV host, Trever Noah has announced that after seven years on “The Daily Show ” he has decided to leave. For some context, The Daily Show delivers news (both about politics and pop culture) to its viewers in an informative, but humorous way.
Let’s go back to his beginnings first. Noah was born in South Africa during the apartheid rule, making his life substantially difficult as his mother was a black woman and his father a white man. He confessed to Lesley Stahl from “60 minutes Australia” that his Grandmother “feared for his life” and tried her best to “hide” him from the South African authorities to avoid being sent away to an orphanage.
Later in his life, he found his passion in comedy and was scouted by John Stewart’s manager to replace him after he left his position as the presenter. Noah took the job, but was surprisingly unpopular with viewers and had low off-com reviews. He struggled to find a common ground with his viewers as they had very different life experiences than him but something of a “blessing” came in 2016 when Donald Trump ran for president. Trevor Noah’s impressions and quick wit changed the public perception of him. He quickly became a household name and was a source of refuge for many to bring humour during Trump’s presidency. His show had a wide range of guests from Formula One driver Danial Ricciardo to Oprah Whinfrey.
However, in June 2020 after the wrongful killing of George Floyd, Noah changed from his usually light and cheery content to speaking of this very serious matter of racial injustice. From his childhood, Noah had lots of experience with racial abuse and is now an ambassador to end police brutality and racism all over the world but in particular the US.
But alas after all of his tireless work for the Daily Show he is now stepping down as presenter.
Now we are posed with the question; Who will replace Trevor Noah? Personally, I’d love to see comedian/political activist Hasan Minhaj replace Noah. Minhaj performs stand-up comedy all over the world. He is originally from India but now lives in the US. Both Minhaj and Noah have similar comedic styles and are not afraid to speak their minds on political and social issues making Minhaj the perfect replacement in my opinion. Unfortunately, I am not a producer and cannot influence who will be the next host, so all we can do is wait until the new presenter is announced.
But, there is no doubt that they will have big shoes to fill!