With a career spanning over 20 years, Trevor Noah has become one of the most successful comedians in the world. He has written, produced, and starred in 12 comedy specials, including the Grammy and Emmy-nominated I Wish You Would. Now, he’s returning to Netflix with his fourth original comedy special titled Where Was I.
In this new special, the South African-born entertainer will share his hilarious experiences from his recent travels around the world, ranging from foreign national anthems to varying cultural norms. “I love how comedy can bring people together,” Noah tells ESSENCE. “This year, traveling around the world doing it, was a reminder of how wonderful a shared laugh can be.”
Alongside his comedic pursuits, Noah is also venturing into the podcast space with What Now? with Trevor Noah, where he will have introspective conversations with entertainers, CEOs, actors, athletes, and thought leaders. In an era where attention spans are much shorter than in previous decades, these intentional discussions are of the utmost importance, especially when it comes to the content that Trevor seeks to produce.
“With some of the issues we are dealing with in the world, you want to have a longer conversation,” the Born A Crime author says. “You want to have a broader conversation. You want to have a more nuanced conversation. That’s something I really yearn for. It’s something that I strive to create in my own life, so the podcast is an avenue for me to do that. It’s a space where I think I can get together with some meaningful people, and have conversations that have the breadth and width that they deserve.”
2024 is slated to be a big year for Trevor Noah. He’ll host the Grammy Awards for the fourth year in a row, he’s to release a new book, Into The Uncut Grass, and he’ll turn 40 in February. With all his accomplishments, the popular comedian still has so much more to do—and he’s making sure there’s plenty of love and laughter along the way.
ESSENCE: A lot of comedians, especially ones of your stature, it takes them years to develop that hour for their stand-up special. What’s your process when you’re developing material for a special, especially with your schedule?
Trevor Noah: Well, to be honest with you, my process is living life and then being on stage. I generate material by living, and thinking, and communicating with others, and then I get on stage and I work it out. That’s pretty much how I generate every hour that I’ve made.
Expanding on that, your upcoming special, Where Was I, is set to debut next week. Tell me, why do you feel now was the time to release it?
You know what? Every special I release, I think comes at the time when it’s ready to be released. Art is a strange thing in that it never feels finished for the artist, but at some point you have to let it go. For me, this special is the culmination of me traveling around the world, and meeting people from all over.
I love how comedy can bring people together. This year, traveling around the world doing it, was a reminder of how wonderful a shared laugh can be. So I wanted to release a fun, light special that everyone can enjoy at home, especially going into the holidays, and what’s really been a tough time for many people, for many different reasons.
In your opinion too, why do you think Netflix has become this hub for stand-up comics in recent years?
Well, for a few reasons. Number one, Netflix was the first platform where a comic could put their special on and it wasn’t interrupted or walled off. I know HBO did it a little bit, but they had such a limited space for a comedian, and you had to be on when you were on. I think we’ve moved on from that. We’ve moved to a place where you can watch something whenever you want to watch it. You should be able to watch something whenever you want to watch it.
Back in the day, and still to a certain degree on certain platforms, your stand-up might be successful or not successful just because of the time slot that they’ve put it in. If you look at how much comedy has blown up, I think a large part of it is because, on Netflix, people have been able to watch it, and recommend it, and watch it again, and find it whenever they want to, and watch half of it and pick it up later, and carry on with it. I think that flexibility is something that a lot of comedians do find attractive when releasing their comedy.
Do you think you’ll ever get back into late night television? Or, do you feel like that’s something you’ve done in your career and you want to move forward into other things?
I never say never when it comes to anything. If you had asked me before late night television, if I’d get into it, I would’ve said, “I don’t know.” I never know where life takes me, or what direction it pulls me in. For now, I’m enjoying this period of my life. I’m enjoying traveling more. I’m enjoying spending more time in South Africa. I’m enjoying doing more stand-up. But if the right timing, opportunity, and motivation come along, I’ll do anything. That’s what I love about being in the field that I’m in.
How does it feel to be hosting the Grammys for the fourth year in a row? Does that experience, I don’t want to say old, but does it get monotonous, being as though you’ve done it so many times?
Can I be honest? It almost gets more and more stressful every single time because every Grammys is every artist’s most important Grammys. So I don’t want to be the host who screws things up when it’s Beyonce’s Grammys, or when it’s Harry Styles’ Grammys. I don’t want to be the host who screws things up when it’s Taylor Swift’s Grammys, or when it’s Bad Bunny’s Grammys. I don’t want to be the host who screws it up for Janelle Monáe or SZA. Oh, man. I would say it’s probably one of the most stressful jobs I do, because the night is not about me. My job is to keep it going, and to keep a connection between the audience and what’s happening on the night. It’s a rewarding job but, man, is it terrifying.
I want to talk about your upcoming book too. I think your previous release, Born a Crime—it was a very powerful title. In this upcoming book, Into the Uncut Grass, can you tell me how you landed on that title, and what does it mean?
Well, what I wanted to do for my second book was try something different. I love exploring different means of creating, different spaces and different places. I’ve always wanted to create an illustrated book, a book that can be read by all ages for all ages, something that would hopefully be timeless. There was something about the uncut grass that I found both mysterious and inviting at the same time. It’s that area of ourselves, and of our worlds that we oftentimes don’t explore. It’s oftentimes the place that is forgotten in our yards and, metaphorically, in our hearts. So that’s pretty much why I chose the title, and what it alludes to.
A lot of entertainers, when they reach a certain level, they get away from stand-up a little bit. You, you’re staying sharp, you keep doing it. What is it that keeps pulling you back to doing these stand-up specials?
Man, stand-up is a blessing. That’s the simplest answer I can give you. I don’t take stand-up comedy for granted. I don’t take it for granted that I can put on a show, and thousands of people come out to join me, and to laugh together, and to experience this collective feeling of joy. I really, really, really don’t take that for granted. So what’s important to me is appreciating that, remembering what it means. Also, I think stand-up comedy is one of the hardest art forms in that it’s really a lonesome activity. When you make music, you work with a producer, and you work with other artists, and you write together, and you collaborate in the studio.
By the time you put the song out to the public, you’ve already got a consensus of people who have given you this idea that it’s good, and you have a collective to fall back on. When it comes to making a movie, it’s the same thing. The director, the director of photography, you’ve got all these people who come together to put this into the story that it needs to be. But, stand-up is a crazy beast that nobody can tame. You can be the funniest comedian today, and you can tell a joke tomorrow, and it does not work the way you would like it to. I think there’s nothing more exciting in the creation of art than doing something like that. It’s immediate. You’re there live with the audience, and it’s a very honest space to exist in.
One of the many things that I admire about you too is that you’re a true hip-hop fan. I think that’s dope. With this being the 50th anniversary this year, what does hip-hop mean to Trevor Noah?
Oh, man. For me, hip-hop means finding your glory in spite of adversity. I grew up admiring and looking towards hip-hop artists who took a world that was constantly telling them they were less than, constantly telling them that they could not be, and they constantly found ways to make it more than it was supposed to be. When I look at that, when I look at how the greatest hip-hop acts have moved a genre through its different eras, from it being a commentary on what’s happening in the hood, a hood that connects people all over the world by the way, all the way through to commenting on what it’s like to start making money, or what it’s like to move into a world that’s unfamiliar to you, or just family.
Everything about hip-hop—I was listening the other day to a Lil Wayne song and I was like, “Man, it’s just because hip-hop has all of this noise around it, like the bling, and the fast cars, and everything, but these guys are proper poets.” It’s true lyricism, and poetry, and the vocabulary, and the grasp of the language that each of them has to possess is so vast and so underappreciated. I think hip-hop means many things to me, but when I think of it in its entirety, it’s just about being able to find your glory despite how you may be oppressed in life.
Next year will be particularly special for you because you’ll be turning 40 in February. So I want to wish you an early happy birthday, my brother.
I appreciate that. I appreciate that.
What are your goals for 40, and for 2024 in general? Do you have anything special you want to do?
Oh, man. For me, it’s celebrating all the people who got me to this milestone. I promised myself that my whole year next year is just going to be about spending as much time with the people who are important to me in my life, all my friends, all my family, all the people who have chosen to be a part of this journey and who have chosen me to be a part of theirs. That’s all I’m going to be celebrating. So, it’s going to be a fun year decorated with moments that I share with all the people I love.