Trevor Noah: African American

[StevePulaski]

Trevor Noah: African American (2013)
Directed by: Ryan Polito

Trevor Noah performs in his fourth comedy special African American.

Rating: ★★★

I assume I am correct in some sense by saying there was some wave of surprise in the air when South African comedian Trevor Noah was announced as Jon Stewart's successor for host of the wildly successful Comedy Central program The Daily Show. While Noah was a correspondent on the show, he was by no means prolific among several other frequent guests, and it would've been pragmatic to say it was a long shot for the young comedian to have the opportunity to fill the big chair and shoes Stewart left behind. Yet, with Trevor Noah: African American, Noah's fourth comedy special, alone, we can see the man has serious potential not only to host a huge program like The Daily Show but to become a huge name on the comedian circuit.

Noah devotes a great deal of this comedy special to analyzing and discussing cultural differences that he has experienced around the world, along with how America, to him, is an anomaly in many respects. Born in South Africa to a South African woman and a Swiss man illegally, during Apartheid, Noah has had a unique life in a sense that he's not only traveled but he's experienced the world at its most tumultuous. He discusses how Americans find themselves advanced in some respects but completely trailing other countries in many other areas, along with discussing the average American black man by examining certain conventions and even voicing his own personal ideas of race and its effect on people.

Noah stuffs his sixty-eight minute comedy special with a lot of observant comedy, which makes him deter from raunchier material or more ribald acts. His demeanor is also pleasantly relaxed, only breaking his tranquility when he's going into detail about Oprah Winfrey's school in South Africa, showing refreshing, fluent delivery on his behalf.

It's going to take a while for Noah to become a household name; his style is a bit more relaxed and less "controversial" than other more popular comedians. However, Trevor Noah: African American is a nice deviation from the kind of debauchery we're used to seeing in comedians in favor of a route that's more of a controlled blend of chaos and observational humor. Once Noah takes over The Daily Show, I feel a rise in his style of comedy might command more of the foreground in comedy.

Directed by: Ryan Polito.