Who is Trevor Noah, really?
Though the 31-year-old comedian has been performing standup around the globe for years — and is famous enough to have starred in a documentary about his career called You Laugh But It's True back in 2012 — he's still hardly a household name stateside.
Which, according to Noah, may be an asset now that he's taking over The Daily Show: "I come in on a clean slate," he told a roomful of reporters last Friday. Perhaps more importantly: "These are all Emmy winners sitting next to me, so I know that they know what they’re doing. I’m the wildcard — so they’re the ones that should be afraid."
See also: 10 Trevor Noah standup clips that prove he deserves the 'Daily Show' gig
Or ... maybe not. Noah's inaugural Daily Show — largely written and produced, as he noted Friday, by the same team that was still backing Jon Stewart up until last month — didn't exactly break any molds.
The show's announcer is the same; its bracing theme song is the same; its tried-and-true format, an opening news hit followed by correspondent segments and a third-act interview, is the same. The only really notable difference, besides the guy sitting behind the desk, may be that TDS's slightly tweaked opening credits now feature a globe that spins the right way:
To be fair, we should have seen this coming. Noah indicated that he didn't exactly plan to start from scratch during that same press Q&A, comparing The Daily Show to a beautiful, old house he's carefully renovating.
"As time goes on," he explained, "I’ll be breaking down a wall here, changing a color there, moving a counter over there." Engaging in small changes, in other words, rather than earth-shattering alterations.
Even Comedy Central's very first Noah promo stressed continuity above all else: "Same chair," the 30-second clip promised. "Different ass."
That was also the theme of Noah's opening — "I can only assume that this is as strange for you as it is for me," he told his (incredibly enthusiastic) audience with a sheepish grin — and his first correspondent bit, a back-and-forth with Jordan Klepper that playfully compared Noah to whatever poor sucker Congress gets to replace John Boehner. Klepper got big laughs by speculating that the hypothetical new guy would "bring a new, like, global perspective to things." (It's worth noting here that Klepper himself isn't exactly a Daily Show vet himself; he joined the series just 18 months ago.)
When Noah wasn't dwelling on the oddity of his very presence — a routine he'll hopefully be able to jettison sooner rather than later, when the newness of his gig starts to wear off — the host did give a few hints at how his style may differ from Stewart's. The Daily Show's last steward was an indignant master of righteous fury; Noah seemed generally more genial, giving off an aura of gentle amusement as he riffed on news stories like Pope Francis's visit to the U.S. and Boehner's resignation.
Noah may also have a greater tendency to go blue. The premiere was spiked with crass, jarring gags about the Pope's penis size (in case you missed the implication: "He has a huge c*ck, that's the joke"), crack cocaine ("I took down Whitney Houston!"), and Congress as a club where "everyone has aides."
Those jokes mostly drew nervous, halting titters — unlike the hearty laughter that greeted more traditional Daily Show material, like Klepper's flustered reaction to Noah's arrival: "Everything's just so f*cking new! The desk is different, there's a new font — I mean, nobody asked me!"
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Image: Mashable Hillary Busis
The premiere's only outright clunker, though, was Noah's maiden interview segment with Kevin Hart.
Noah was clearly thrilled to kick off his reign by welcoming a huge name to his stage. Unfortunately, he let his admiration of Hart dictate the terms of their chat. Instead of asking substantive questions, Noah fed Hart lines built to help Hart promote his upcoming tour and love of running; instead of riffing and building on Hart's (admittedly canned) answers, Noah repeatedly told his guest that he's a "rock star."
Even Jimmy Fallon might've thought it was all a bit much. Let's hope Tuesday's conversation with Tinder co-founder Whitney Wolfe yields something meatier, or at least more entertaining.
But underwhelming as that segment was, the premiere also gave reasons to be hopeful about Noah's tenure. The show's writing is sharp as ever, and Noah delivers it well. Though he's new to the anchor seat, he's already projecting an easy confidence that makes him immediately appealing.
And while Stewart's Daily Show had long-running, well-publicized issues with diversity and representation, Noah's obviously got different plans. He faced some of his harshest critics dead-on during his opening monologue, saying that while it's "surely about time" for a woman to host The Daily Show, the female comedians Comedy Central had approached for the gig "turned it down, because they all had better things to do." (Which is true; both Amy Poehler and Amy Schumer reportedly said no.)
And in the episode's second act, Noah took a step back in order to play straight man to one of the show's three new correspondents, Roy Wood Jr. — whose energy is great, even if much of this particular bit felt stale. (On the idea of black people traveling to Mars: "Brother can't catch a cab — you think we could catch a spaceship?")
This is the arena where we can expect the biggest changes from the Jon Stewart era — well, that and Noah's intention to lay off Fox News in favor of other targets.
It may not exactly be a revolution ... but hey, it took Stewart at least a year to differentiate his Daily Show from Craig Kilborn's. Maybe once Noah is firmly out from under Stewart's looming shadow, he'll be able to do the same thing.
What did you think of Trevor Noah's first show? Tell us on Twitter using the hashtags #LiveLikeThis and #PoweredByZOL.
- Mashable