All language subtitles for Trevor Noah-2011-You Laugh But Its True

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I've lived a life where
I've never really fitted in

anywhere
in any particular way.

Even now people
still debate on what I am,

where people will say,
"Oh, you're black."

And then someone
will turn around and say,

"No, but he's not black.

He's not black.
He's colored."

And then colored people say,
"But you're not colored."

And then when you get older,

it's cool
because you've just you've‐‐

you've lived
everywhere and nowhere.

You've been
everyone and no one,

so you can say
everything and nothing.

And that's really
what affects my comedy

and everything that I say.

And if ever this comedy thing
doesn't work out,

then I've got poverty
to fall back on,

and I'm pretty sure
I'll be cool there.

[child speaks indistinctly]

[singing in foreign language]

[honking]

[Trevor] We've only
recently come out of a time

when everything
we could say and everything

that we were allowed
to hear was censored

that's the biggest challenge
in this country,

it's for us to get to the point

where people accept the fact
that we're free,

free to say what we feel,

and really free
to express ourselves.

[crowd cheering]

[singing in foreign language]

A lot of misconceptions
though I have realized,

people think when they say
"a comic from South Africa"

they expecting
somebody to jump

on stage wearing leopard skins,

dancing around going.

[vocalizing]

Let me tell you a joke
about monkey now.

I do actually have
very good jokes about monkeys

but I refrain
from telling those.

People have these‐‐
these opinions of you

and they're not right,

you know, because South Africa
is not as third world

as many people think it is.

Standing in the
airport terminal building,

there was a woman
who was standing next to me

in the passport line,
she looked over at me

and very eloquently said,
"Oh, my God, you talk funny."

"Excuse me?" She said,
"Yeah, you talk funny.

Where are you from?"
"I'm from South Africa."

"Oh, my God. Like Africa?"

"Yes." "Oh, wow.

Like Africa‐Africa?"

"No, the one next to it."

[singing in foreign language]

[Takunda]
Standup comedy as like a‐‐

as an art form
and as a profession,

has obviously only come in
to the fore in recent times.

It developed quite late
in South Africa.

So it's almost like comedy has
developed in waves

and in each wave
or each generation,

there's like a band of guys
who have kept it going

from Mel Miller and Joe Parker
and Barry Hilton, Mark Banks,

some of the older guys
who are still performing now.

...Other people who say to you,
"Oh, yes, as you get older,

things get better."

Bullshit.

[Takunda] And then obviously
now you have like,

you know,
your John Vlismases
and Riaad Moosa,

David Newton...

Our soccer is shit.

Now we're inviting
the whole fucking world
to see how shit we are.

[Takunda] Who was gonna
become the first pioneering
in black comedians.

I would definitely attribute

that to Kagiso Lediga
and David Kau.

They got on to
the circuit as the first ones

and obviously had to deal

with the challenges
of performing

to all of these
different audiences

that were not used
to one comedy,

and two black comedians
at that.

This whole idea, you know,

the American
cultural imperialism‐‐

...and I started saying like

can you imagine
like whenever like

when Nelson Mandela was black
but a young revolutionary,

if he was like into Ben 10

and he was like listening
to Snoop Doggie Dog

and shit, you know,
walking with a swagger,

big medallion
with an M on it, you know.

[vocalizing]

And knock the mic.

"Brothers and sisters
of South Africa, wassup?

This apartheid shit
is whack, yo.

We need to rock a revolution
in this motherfucker.

Fuck the police."

[Takunda]
And then that set the tone
for the new generation.

Trevor Noah has been,
uh, sort of been this young guy.

He's spiked,
you know, he's like so...

he came like
from nowhere really.

[Takunda]
For the first time,
we have a comedian

who is not stuck
by race or ethnic group.

He's from a white family,
so a part of him is white.

He's from a black family.
A part of him is black.

A part of him is colored
'cause, you know,

he's his experiences
would have included that.

He's lived
everywhere from the township

to like mainstream suburbia

and then
on top of that he speaks about,

what, four, five languages.

[speaking in foreign language]

My mom speaks Xhosa.

[speaking in foreign language]

...which loosely
translated means...

"I will backhand you so hard,
you idiot of a child."

So, so uh,
generally I speak English

because it brings back
good memories.

So he can relate
with pretty much

everyone
right across the board.

And everyone
right across the board

can relate with him.

For the South African public

I think that guy
becomes like the everyman,

You know, he is not black,
and he is not white.

he's just, just like whoa,
he's mine, he's everybody's.

As someone
who's only been doing comedy

for just over two years,
I don't even think I know fully,

I don't even know
myself yet fully.

I think I'm very far
from even calling myself

a good comedian.

I'm just okay for now.

There's something about
comedy, man,

there's something about
the fact that,

you know, you can just‐‐
you can never get it right.

But then black people
never get a break.

Ever notice that?
You'll say stuff,
and then they'll fix it.

You will be like, "Yeah, that‐‐
that is when I realized

that it was better for us
to be part of 'menagement.'"

[laughter]

"No, no, Jabu, management."
"Eh?"

"It's not 'menagement,'
its management."

"Menagement."

"No, no, management.
Go up early. Management."

"Menagement."

"No, no. Not with your body.
With your words. Management."

"Management."
"Very good. Management."

"Management."

"Well done, Jabu. Well done.

It's wonderful
you can speak so well now.

That's amazing.

Yeah it's great.
Oh, hold on two seconds.

Yes, what's that, Sara?

Mm‐hmm. Really?

Wow, so the country's
theirs now.

I see.

'Menagement,' Jabu.

Yes, now teach me,
teach me, teach me."

[cheering]

You've got a country
of 50 million people.

But we don't have
any real comedy clubs.

If we want to perform,

we have to rent out
a music club

and it's on their off nights.

So most people don't even know
there's a show going on.

We do have
some comedy festivals

but these are pretty rare

and people really come to see
the international acts,

not to see you.

You can't really say
comedy is that big here.

It's big corporate wise,
you know.

Yeah, I mean, companies
have now got into the thing

of "Yeah,
let's get comedians

'cause we've had
everybody else."

Okay,
where will I be performing?

Beside the choir.

Can we go
and check that out now?

Yeah.

The faces I pull
while shaving are the same ones

I pull while having sex.

I can't use a razor.

My skin is sensitive
like our country's history.

You're almost faced
with the challenge

because as a comedian,
you've got to choose

well,
do I want to earn a living,

still doing comedy
and almost being censored?

Because
companies in themselves,

they're very careful
with regards

to what they accept
and what they don't accept.

You're allowed to swear.

No, I don't.
I don't swear though.

Okay, but everybody‐‐

I swear in like daily life,

you know,
but I won't swear in there.

I don't swear in corporates.

I don't swear
on stage generally,

but in the streets I'm like,
"Yeah, fuck that shit."

Thank you,
thank you very much.

That was one of the worst intros
I've ever got.

[laughter]

This is horrible.

One of‐‐ not the worst,
one of the worst.

Yeah, it was one of the worst.

Am I standing
in front of the projector?

Do I have, like,
"Microsoft" on my head? I do?

Don't you want
to turn that off, please?

It's not a privilege for me
to have somebody say,

"Don't speak about
who you really are.

We saw you do what you do,
and that's why we called you.

But now we want you
to water that down,

just filter out anything
that might be controversial."

Yeah, you should have spent
a day with me tomorrow.

Then I would have shown you‐‐
not tomorrow, Wednesday‐‐

I would have shown you
corporates,

corporates that don't end,
from nine in the morning

until nine at night,
I'll be doing corporates.

Andrew's father,
who's a very nice man,

decided to help me out.

He looked over
and he said, he said,

well, you know, Andrew,
in some people's cultures...

[music playing]

[woman] Enjoy Siphokhzi.

Enjoy Siphokhzi,
ladies and gentlemen.

[cheering]

They can't do that shit to us.
What the fuck?

I can't do that
while people are playing music

in the middle of the‐‐
that never happens.

Can we just
move stuff around?

No, moving stuff is fine
but I can't have people

in the middle
of our show going...

[vocalizing]

It wasn't that bad.

My performance time

as in the contract
was 7 o'clock.

Alright. Okay.

[Trevor] The boss
of the company, he said to me‐‐
what did he say?

He said, he said,
"If you don't fucking

get on stage right now,
I'll fucking kill you."

Are we starting?
Are we starting?

You guys at the back,
are you getting sound?

Are you getting sound there?
You good over there?

Everyone good?

You getting‐‐
you're getting too much.

We are trying to have

an important conversation
over here.

Okay, I'm gonna
try cut it down for you guys.

I'll try to speak
from this side of my mouth.

Pleasure, Mike.

[Trevor] Every time I think
I can keep doing this,

and then I just I can't.
I can't.

I can't keep doing corporates
for the rest of my life.

[man on radio]
Yo, you're listening

to South Africa's
Number 1 Hip Hop Station,

and I've got
some exciting news

for y'all out there.

For the first time ever,
Trevor Noah will be performing

his one man show
at "The Daywalker"

at the Lyric Theatre
in Gold Reef City.

[Takunda]
Trevor's been in comedy
for two to three years now

and ordinarily,
I would not recommend

for a comedian
to do a one man show

at this stage of his career.

Normally
like a year or two years in,

yes,
you might be a funny guy,

whatever, but are you
strong enough a comedian

now to like let your opinions
on the world go up there,

and be assessed and analyzed?

That's the problem
with young comedians.

They haven't learned
the art of comedy yet.

It took me
20 years to get a start.

They're trying to get it in like
a year and a half, two years.

Doesn't work.

As a comedian,
you have to develop and,

you know, you find your voice
then you find your feet

and there's a certain
sort of journey

that everyone has to travel

until they get
to a certain level.

There's still so much more
of his comedy

that he could develop
and improve on.

Daywalker is gonna be
about my life,

you know, it's‐‐
and I hope it's gonna be

also about the country.

I'm trying to make the show

everything that I am,
everything that I was,

and how I was
influenced by everything
and everyone around me.

My comedy's based
on my life growing up
in South Africa,

so for the biggest show
I've ever done,

it's nice to revisit
all the people and places

from my past to help me
prepare my material.

Trevor Noah.

I've never been able
to write out my material.

I just come up with it
and then I try and perform it

as much as possible
and turn it into gags.

Thank you. Thank you, Siya B.

Thank you so much.
This is so cool.

There's more comedians than...

just like people chilling
watching the show.

We should have
just gone to each table

and then just picked one person

and just done like
a one‐on‐one session,

and just told them the jokes.

Would have been more effective.

except for you
'cause you were a shit.

But then,
you see this is the one place

where we'll say that
'cause this is like a comedy,

you know,
it's that kind of place is

where we're honest
with each other

and be like
"That was horrible"

and you know,
that type of stuff.

I could be horrible as well,
you know what I mean,

and then it would be worse
'cause I'm wearing a suit.

So if I'm horrible in a suit
then they're like,

"What was that about?"

With you they're like, "Yeah,
but he didn't look serious."

You know what I mean.

So it's better.
So I've screwed myself over.

So it could be
absolutely horrible,

could be absolutely horrible,
but we'll see.

So much stuff to talk about,
so little time.

Mmm, what should
we talk about?

My life, maybe.

I always think your life
is a good place to start.

♪ Daywalker... ♪

In South Africa,
I grew up, I grew up in a world

where, where we're very focused
on race.

I mean, we've only
had democracy for 15 years.

Everyone's go to have

a very specific racial thing,
you know.

You're black and you're white
and then don't freak out,

I'm termed colored
in South Africa

which isn't a derogatory term.

In South Africa, it means
something totally different.

I grew up in a mixed family,

well, with me being
the mixed one in the family

so, you know,
my father is a white man, Swiss.

My mother
is a black woman,

Xhosa,
that's born in South Africa.

So that's how I came up
like this.

And this was illegal
at the time.

You know, you weren't allowed
to have, obviously,

mixed relationships
when I was born.

Obviously, my mom and my dad
were rebels, you know?

They had the whole vibe.

My mom was obviously
aspirational, she was like,

"Yeah, I'm going
to get a white man, yeah."

You know.
And then my dad, well...

Well, you know
how the Swiss love chocolates,

so I mean, you know...

I don't, I don't think
my parents considered me at all.

I don't think,
I don't think they spent

one second thinking
what color will our child be?

I wanted a child,

and I thought
and I then asked him,

let me have a child,
no strings attached.

He didn't like it,
but he did it.

Marriage was not in my agenda

because those days it was
illegal for black and white

to cross color and be married.

The laws of apartheid
did now allow that.

I don't even know
a definitive date

of when my parents split up.

I just know that I stopped
seeing my father

when he moved to Cape Town.

I said, "You do want me
to help you with anything?

Please tell me."

The kid said,
"Help me to find my father."

I think that the last
birthday card was 11 or 12.

He is no longer
going to see his father,

and that was it.

I had my plans
and I'm sure he had his plans,

so I couldn't
move to Switzerland.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

If I had my choice,
we would've moved.

[Patricia laughs]

I would have moved.

Ooh, you would've missed
on the sunny South Africa,

sunny Africa
no place like home.

I live to the full.

Enjoy, go recklessly,
no reserves, no regrets.

You learn, you live but once.

That's how I am, no,
I don't cry about the past.

I'm very grateful
and I'm at peace with my past.

Let's not lose who we are.

I agree.

Ah.

[speaking in foreign language]

I agree.

Did I scratch you,
sweetheart?

Kiss, baba, sorry.

And this is my brother.

His name is Andrew.

Seven years old.

All he does
is just like nothing.

He just likes
breaking the rules.

Unbelievable.

See the criminals
in South Africa.

It never ends.
just never ends.

That's why us honest citizens

have to just try and,
you know, quell this.

We've just got to try and,

just got to try
and stop the crime.

But what do you do
when the crime starts at home?

I mean, every black family,
you got at least one brother

who's gonna go behind bars,
you know?

You know, I'm just saying,

I'm not trying to be
that cat son.

I'm just not trying
to be that guy, man.

Yo, but I'll visit you, yo.
You know what I mean?

I'll see you
when you're there, man.

Isaac!

Oh, did you pump it?

Eh?
Did he pump it?

Yes.

With what?

With a pump.

Your answers seem so simple.

Oh, okay.

His name's Isaac.

He's a 75 year old man.

Part of a failed experiment
to try

and create human beings
to be younger.

They succeeded, but then
he lost all his memories,

and now he thinks
he's my little brother.

I don't have the heart
to tell him that he's actually

a 75 year old man,
and I know you're thinking

can't he hear me now?

He forgets this
every 15 seconds.

He's got like goldfish memory.

I call him‐‐I call him Pops...

[Trevor laughs]

So I'm gonna roll.
Will I find you here?

Yeah.

Okay, I'll see you
when I come back then.

All right, sharp, Isaac.

[speaking in foreign language]

Yeah, I used to,

I used to drive one of these
on this same route.

When I was driving a taxi
I was...

22.

It's not the easiest gig
in the world and in the end,

it got, it got hijacked,
you know, got stolen.

So... I'd say a few months
later, then I got into comedy.

I think it was about
the second time

I'd actually gone
to watch comedy live

and we were at a comedy club
and it was a quiet night,

and you know,
my friends were like,

"Yo, man, why don't you
go on stage?"

And I tried out.
I did 5 minutes.

It was cool being
the only colored kid.

I remember on the white side,
they treated me special,

"Aww, look at him,
he got a natural tan".

On the black side,
they were a bit more crass.

"Ooh, he's delicious.
This one. Alaah...

It's like he's washing
with the milk. Ooh!"

You know, it's,
it's a strange feeling

but it's like
I'd always been there,

if that makes sense.

You know, I didn't, I didn't
get on and feel awkward,

I didn't get on the stage
and feel like

I didn't know what to do.
It just came naturally,

I just felt like this is
where I should be.

This is what should be doing.

[applause]

In any industry, in anything,

there's politics
everywhere as there is

politics in comedy
in South Africa, you know.

Imagine. Comedians been
performing for 10 years, right?

And so you've worked,

you know, you work
your butt off,

to get to a certain level

then you get some kid

who's been in business
for a year or two years,

gets on the same stage as you,
and buries you.

[Kagiso] I think a lot
of the older guys are
threatened by the newer guys.

It's evolution, right.

At the end of the day,

the propeller like airplane
is always going to be

looking at the jet engine going,
"Motherfucker,

you're taking
my business away."

Trevor Noah.

Very talented guy, arrogant.

The arrogance that this
man shows is ridiculous.

I mean, you know,
because

I don't mind self‐confidence,
everybody‐‐

We're all in this business.

You have
to have self‐confidence.

But there's a thin line between
self‐confidence and arrogance.

When you step over that,
that's when the shit begins.

It's hard to say
anything about Trevor,

he hasn't already
said about himself.

The timing of his life
and his ability is like

the perfect intersection.

He's got to respect that.

To me, he doesn't do that yet.

So I don't see Trevor,

this is gonna
sound fucking arrogant,

he's not a comic
as far as I'm concerned.

[man] Do you have
any thoughts on Trevor as well?

Can you just switch
the camera off quickly?

I've heard everything
these guys say.

I don't have time for that...

I live my life...

and that's it for me.

I do what I do.

Daywalker.

Actually saw the posting...

the billboard when I was
going to Soweto.

The Daywalker...
sounds quite interesting.

I don't know
what the Daywalker means.

Is it similar to...

What's its name?

The...

Vampires' old story, yeah?

I think it would be
talking about

all sorts of people
in our country

and just the random people
that you find on the street

and the things
that would happen...

so that's what I am thinking.

It sounds good.

Then they go...

I'm like‐‐
Then they say, "And..."

[Kagiso]
South African comedy,

it's still very much
a growing industry.

Those of us who are in it,
I think, besides obviously

sustaining
a profession and career

and making money from it.

We also have the dual role
of actually developing

our industry at the same time.

The major obstacle
that we face, as comedians,

is that there are
so few comedy clubs.

I have met people, and they
say it's the first time
I've ever come to a comedy show.

I've had that more than
enough times.

And I go, "Shit."

[Trevor] What scares me
about Daywalker
is not doing it right.

And that's pretty much it.
Man, it's just so huge.

And we don't know
what one‐man shows

are really in South Africa.

Not on a wide scale.

I mean, I've never been
part of something

this big in my life, you know.

It's...
we're starting something new.

[Dave] People hate on Trevor,

but they don't realize
there is a need

for Trevor to open it up
for everybody.

Then, when I do
my one‐man show,

then people will go,
"Oh, it's a one‐man show.

Remember that thing
Trevor Noah did?

Dave is doing it now."

[Trevor] If people don't like
your one‐man show,

it's not just
you that they'll blacklist.

In South Africa,
you represent the industry

every time you go out there.

Because standup comedy
is still so new here,

it's still so small,
so if you're bad,

then we're all bad.

Thank you very much.
How you guys doing?

[cheering]

Great, thank you.
My name is Trevor Noah.

[speaking in foreign language]

Oh, we love bananas in Africa.

♪ Welcome to the daylight
village and slums ♪

♪ Let's walk to this
progress of poverty ♪

♪ While I be
killin' them drums ♪

♪ Mr. Daywalker ♪

♪ Rip up a floor
with my knicker... ♪

When we lived in Hillbrow,
which is downtown Johannesburg,

I lived in an all‐white
neighborhood with my dad.

But I had to stay with my mom,

and my mom had to act
like she was the maid...

which was really strange
for all of us.

How are you?

I'm good, man.

You know,
I used to stay here.

Yeah.

That's the Hillbrow Tower.

That used to be
the tallest structure in Africa.

This used to be like
the symbol of like our success.

And now it's almost become

the symbol of
the inner city and its demise.

♪ I said, watch out
for the evil one ♪

♪ We call it home... ♪

When apartheid ended,
people panicked.

They just panicked
and they ran away,

like all the white people.

Some of them
even left their houses.

They didn't even
try to sell them.

They literally dropped
everything and they ran.

This seems ridiculous,
but this is what they did.

Because everyone ran away,
there was no regulation of this.

'Cause now you just had
all these empty buildings.

So now what you had
was a sudden

influx of black people
into the inner city.

It was a free‐for‐all.
It was chaos.

The inner city just became,

it just became decrepit.

You know, I mean,
it's a bit better now,

but it just
became like a slum now.

Every single time elections
come up in South Africa,

people always start
to panic, you know.

Every since our first
democratic elections in 1994,

Nelson Mandela was about
to become president,

people started panicking.

You remember that?

There were people,
you'd hear them,

"I'm leaving.
I'm going to Australia.

I'm going.

It's been fun, Mary,
but it's time to go,

hey, time to go.

They're gonna take over now."

And then Mr. Mandela
became president

and they all stayed.

"He's a wonderful man,
wonderful man."

"If it wasn't for him
I would have left, hey.

A wonderful man,
yeah, he's really great."

Next elections came,
Thabo Mbeki was about

to become president,
people panicked again.

"I'm leaving! I'm going
to Australia, I'm going!

I said, I'm leaving, Mary, hey.

Now that Mandela's gone
you know they're gonna eat us.

It's time to go.
I'm going. I'm going to Perth."

And then Thabo
became president

and once again
they all stayed.

He left.

[applauding and cheering]

Then it was
Kgalena Mothlanthe's turn.

Yeah. In and out.

That was so cool.

People panicked then,
didn't they?

"I didn't even vote!
I didn't even vote.

I can't believe it.

One minute I go to bed
and Thabo Mbeki's president.

And the next thing I wake up

and we've got
Kgalena Mothlanthe.

I can't believe it!
I'm going to Australia.

I'm going."

Oh, and then it was
Jacob Zuma...

Ooh...
The original Boogeyman.

Yeah, that's
when you hear people panicking.

Things were different
now in South Africa

'cause for the first time
in our history

you heard black people going,

"Eesh, how much is that ticket
to Australia again?"

Get your pockets right, son.
Get your pockets right.

This is where we must watch
for pickpockets, son.

Yeah, this is where I grew up
all over here, you know.

This is where I used to come
and play with my mom.

This was the park,
this was like the spot to be.

I used to chase pigeons here

when I was little,
a youngin' yeah.

I kicked them

but they were asking for it.

Everyone walked individually
and then we'd meet up

at like a rendezvous point.

I had a colored woman
who'd walk with me.

Someone who looked like
she could be my mom and then,

that's how we used to roll.

Well, 'cause of the
laws of the land, you know.

You couldn't walk
with a mixed family.

There's no‐‐ You shouldn't
even have a mixed family.

I wasn't
even supposed to exist.

I was like Project X.

If you're a mixed race child
from a black person

and a white person,
then you are colored.

That's actually a racial group.

I always say I'm colored by
'color' but not by culture.

'Cause in South Africa,
they are an actual culture.

Mixed race people
from the very beginning.

From the time of the
Dutch Settlers,

they stayed together
and they made their own culture.

They became their own people

'cause they weren't allowed
to mix and diversify.

South Africa was so segregated

into the different racial groups
that to have anyone

that's not the same color
in your family

is just such a ludicrous thing.

So, I mean, in the township,
a lot of people don't believe

that my grandmother's
my grandmother.

She tells people.

I'm sure they think
she's senile, you know.

My brother would tell people,

he'd be like
"That's my brother."

And they be like
"That's not your brother.

Why is he not
the same skin color as you?"

'Cause it's just very strange
in South Africa

to have any sort of mixed‐ness
in your family.

It's still very new.

So I grew up in a country

where I look like
a certain group of people,

but I'm not like them.

I didn't grow up like them,
but the people

I did grow up like,
I don't look like them.

I don't even like
the term "colored."

I like to think of myself
more like a B.E.E.
baby, you know.

Yeah, you laugh but it's true
'cause I'm like mixed,
you know.

I've got like
a percentage share‐‐like
it's that type of thing.

It's like a whole deal.

I know some people
get picky and they're like,

"Oh, well if you're B.E.E.
then who's got more shares?

Are you 51% white or 51% black?"

I'm like well, I don't know,
I don't know.

I think sometimes
I'm 51% black.

I, I generally think that.

Although I must
admit sometimes

when I go to the toilet

and stand next
to a man from Venda,

I wish I had a little more
black empowerment.

But I'll plant the tree.
You know.

See the Venda guy
at the back he's like, "Dah...

Did you hear that, baby?

And you thought I had two legs."

I went to the UK
not so long ago.

That was interesting.
I got out there.

I was doing a few shows
and while I was

backstage
at one of the comedy gigs

and I was talking to a comedian.

And he was,
he was really interested

and he was like,
"Oh that's amazing,

Trevor, that's amazing.

So tell me, where you from,
yeah, where you from?"

I said,
"Well, I'm from South Africa."

He was like, "Ooh, South Africa.

That's amazing,
yeah, that's amazing."

"That's amazing.
So what are you, Zulu?"

[laughter]

I said, "No, actually, actually,
I'm not Zulu, I'm colored."

And he said,
"Oi, don't say that.

That's racist, all right?
That's racist.

Don't call yourself
'colored,' right?

That's a racist term.

Nobody calls themselves that
and you shouldn't either right?

You're free here, brother,
you're free.

Don't call yourself that,
it's not, it's not right.

It's not right, all right?
Don't call yourself 'colored,'

you call yourself
'mixed race,' all right?

Mixed race."

That's a PC term "mixed race."

On the flip side,
you come to South Africa

and say to a colored person,

"Excuse me,
are you mixed race?"

They'll probably be like,
"Yo ma's mixed race"

So you must be careful.

For a new comedian,
who's still developing

or who's still
sort of making his mark,

a lot of theaters
are rather reluctant,

you know,
to take the risk and say,

"What, just a one‐man show,
just you on your own?"

We were lucky enough
that the Lyric Theater,

which is probably
one of the best theaters

in the country,
you know,

they were in between
productions

and they said, "Okay,
look, we got two days.

So if you guys think
you can sell two shows

in that time,
go ahead and do it."

And which bar does it
drop from?

If you look up there,
I've already put the curtain up.

[Trevor] I'm not just
performing on this show.

I'm producing the show myself,
so if things go bad,

it's all my fault.

It's on me.

People
don't really buy tickets,

well, most people
don't buy tickets

until the day of the show.

So you don't even know
if you've sold enough

until you literally
walk out onto stage.

It's just you, you know.

You can't blame it on the show
if things don't go well.

You can't do it again.

I don't think I ever...

fully comprehended how...

how scary that actually is.

♪ Stand up, stand up ♪

♪ Come on, come on ♪
♪ Prime time struggle ♪

♪ The land with
your fire trouble ♪

♪ Do jack saw in my backyard ♪

♪ Is how I define trouble ♪

Under apartheid,
people of color were forced by

the white government to live
in impoverished townships.

So there was no,
"Well, I feel like living in..."

No, no, no, no.
You live in the township.

Soweto, black people.
Lenasia, Indian people.

Your color determined
where you could live.

Soweto was built
in such a way that if,

if they needed to,
they could block off

all the exit points
'cause it's like a basin.

So they were like,

"If the black people
ever get out of hand,

we'll, um, get our airplanes
and we'll get all of that stuff

and then what we'll do is we'll,
we'll blow these people up."

[singing in foreign language]

My comedy's based on memories.

A lot of my comedy is from
when I was in the township.

You know
people say to me,

"Why do you go back
to the township?"

I don't go back to the township,
the township's part of my life.

It's,
it's a place where I lived.

And it's, and it's a place
where I lived not

because I wanted to,
but because as a people

we were forced
to by the government.

So I don't go back
to the township,

I go to visit my grandmother.

So this is it,
this is where I grew up.

As you can see
my granny's ballin'.

She's got a wall,
yeah, you know

you got to have that wall.

It's like MTV Cribs,
yeah, you know,

you got to have that wall.

You got to have
that painted gate,

you know what I mean?
Yeah, that's right,

that's right, we be rollin'
like that hard.

This is the township.

This is
how we used to do it.

This was my driveway,
but we never had a car.

It was just like
a cool thing to have.

If you had a driveway
but you didn't have a car,

you were ambitious,
that was the key.

We started running out of space
so people would move in,

and then they'd pay rent
to you to like,

fill up the area.

So this was our house,

then everyone lived
on the outside.

This is the toilet,

this is the most horrible
thing ever,

ever invented
'cause you had to come outside,

so you never wanted to need
the toilet late at night.

[woman] No.
'Cause then‐‐

Oh, there's someone in there.
Sorry.

You see
that's what would happen,

then you'd be like 'no' and then
it's exactly the same thing.

[speaking in foreign language]

We didn't know
there was anyone in there.

We didn't have "occupied."

And then this is
my number one lady,

this is my number one.

This is my gran.

[speaking in foreign language]

Yes, yes. Here as you can see,
I got my height from her.

This is my gran, Francis Noah.

How old are you now, Gogo?
Eighty‐two.

Eighty‐two years old.

She still works, she still,

she still catches
all those taxis that you see,

she doesn't want to retire.

She still scrubs... the floor.

She still cleans.
Yeah.

This is my gran, rock and roll.
Eighty‐two years old.

And I rock and roll.
Eighty‐two years old.

Eighty‐two years old.

Eighty‐two years old.

[speaking in foreign language]

You hear my gran?

She just said,
"He was naughty."

Yep, yep,
hidings, hidings I got.

This is cool.
Where's your car?

It's outside.
I'll show it to you.

Is it, is it safe?

It's...

It's gonna be fine.

Did you leave
somebody there at the car?

No, it'll be fine.
They can't steal it, Gogo.

Are you sure?
Mmm, they can't.

Is there magic there?

There's no magic.
They can't steal it.

You'll be surprised.

No, they won't.

And people are watching it,
there's so many people there.

So many people, do you know
what type of people are those?

They might be hijackers.

Ah, Trevor. You‐‐

Gogo, you worry too much.

Did I sleep in this one?
I don't even remember which one.

I just remember
getting hidings in here.

This is, this is the bedroom,
this is like it, everything.

And you had to make do.

And uh, you'd live,
maybe two of you

or three of you could
live in here,

you know
if family needed you to.

This is where...

this is where it all was.

So there were like
eight of us,

eight or nine of us
that used to live‐‐

eight, nine, sometimes
ten depending on who was...

So we would sleep here a lot.

Like, we'd sleep
on the couches and...

Kids.
Kids.

We used to sleep
on the floor, yeah.

On the couch and on the floor.

It was really normal,
it was just like...

you know, that's what we did.

And everybody was so happy.

So, yeah. So this is it.

That's as small as it is,
ten people living here.

I mean, this was it.

It brings back such memories
I think I might cry. Wow.

Don't cry.

No, I won't cry
'cause the camera's on me

and I'm just gonna
look good, you know.

Yeah.

Oh, wow, that's still up there,
"In everything give thanks."

Because you can't buy life.

Yeah.

Gogo, let me be off.

Please, you walk me out,
so that they don't think

I just walked in by myself.

Let them see you
with your grandson.

With my grandson.

Mmm. So that they say that‐‐

I've got to be on that side,
eh?

It doesn't matter
which side...

It doesn't matter
which side you're on.

[singing in foreign language]

[speaking in foreign language]

I knew, I knew,
I knew I could never

bring my imaginary friend back

to my grandmother's house
in Soweto,

Gogo, wait.

Say hello to Imagine‐Imagine
my imaginary friend.

"Eh? What's that?"

He's imaginary.

"What he's shy?"

No, like, you can't see him.
"Cause he's hiding."

No. He's invisible, Gogo.
Only I can see him.

"Oh really?
He's a witch, he's a witch!"

Next thing you know,

I'll be getting
the beatings of my lifetime.

"You're going to take Imagine,
you're going to take Imagine.

Going to take‐‐"

No, Gogo. Gogo! It's sore!

"Just imagine it's not,
just imagine."

Andrew, help me!

"Hello, Andrew, welcome."

[vocalizing]

In this country,
we're still dealing

with the scars of apartheid.

We're still dealing with
trying to reconcile

all this races

and ethnic cultures
into one society.

So... and that's why it ends up

being subject of choice
for so many comedians, you know.

And also, comedy is
about conflict,

human interaction and conflict.

Yeah, so like,
if like a black person

and a white person try to kiss,

then these guys in uniforms
would come and kick them.

[vocalizing]

But then like,
but they wouldn't kick everyone,

they just kick
the black people.

[vocalizing]

And then
they'd tell the white people,

"Don't do that again.

I know it was a mistake,
so don't do it again.

You..."
[vocalizing]

There is a need to use
your voice to tell your audience

what they feel
and then you can sugar coat it

because you tell it in a joke,

even though
you're telling the truth.

We can talk back.
We can say, "Look here, man.

This is not the way
to do shit."

I become a voice for people
who sort of voiceless.

If you're poor
you could not give a fuck

about global warming
'cause what is global warming?

"Ooh, if we don't save
the earth,

ooh, then
we might die in 200 years."

Poor people are like,

"Yeah, but if I don't eat now,
I will die next week.

Next week,
that will be my ass.

Next week, I'll be fucked."

You want to be heard,
you want to be heard.

I think everyone wants
to be heard.

I think people
who hide behind facades,

"Oh, don't say this,
don't say this,"

it's like rubbish,
I mean, come on, the truth.

The more we tell the truth,

the quicker we'll get to the
front of the line, you know,

the better,
the better chance we stand.

That's the problem
with South Africa

is that too many people
don't want to admit the things.

So they don't want to admit
that shit is wrong,

they don't want to admit

that there's still
massive levels of poverty.

They don't want
to admit that AIDS is,

you know, is something
that's destroying the Nation.

They just don't‐‐
Nobody wants to admit anything.

We just want to live in this
hoo‐ha Utopia world

and it's not like that.

As a comedian, you've got,

you got the platform
to tell the truth.

You got to be that guy
out there saying those things.

And, I mean,
I mess around a lot of the time,

you know, I'm not even the guy.

I always admire,
like Loyiso for that

because Loyiso is the
kind of guy who says that.

It was crazy.

And I was walking down
Long Street

during the campaign time.

I was walking down Long Street
and I was walking

and I'm walking
against the traffic.

And I can see
these DA posters...

and I'm thinking
"Well, it's a one way street

and I'm walking
against the traffic..."

[laughter]

That's a cocked plan.

Then I thought to myself,
who goes,

I mean,
that's how you lose a thing.

You know what I mean,
what about the people

who are driving,
they don't see the posters.

It's only the people
walking against that,

and then I thought about it,
who votes for the DA anyway?

Paranoid white people,
they drive around like this.

[laughter]

The white Cape Townians
still fear

coming to the townships.

Today you meet
someone and they're like

I've never been to a township,
I've never been to Gugeletu

and the person lives
right across the street...

It's like ten minutes away,
you know.

I don't know
what they're scared of.

I don't know
what they expect to find.

I don't know
what they expect to find.

This is an invite
to white people

who are freaked out
about the ghetto.

Check it out.

It's cool. It's cool.

You might like it.

You actually might
want to move here.

Settle down with the kids.

I'm from Cape Town, man.
I grew up in‐‐in Guguletu.

[cheering]

Yeah man,
I grew up there man.

I was actually
back there today man.

It was quite cool.

Do you white people know
where Guguletu is?

[cheering]

Well you should know,
you put us there motherfuckers.

[cheering and applauding]

Well they must not give me
this bullshit about

it's their first time
to be able to speak.

Bullshit these guys
were one or two years old

when we had the transition.

They had fifteen years.

Maybe it's a therapeutic
thing for them.

Maybe it's good to talk about
the apartheid thing.

But when do you say
enough is enough.

The black and white experience,
it's enough now.

It's gone. It's finished.
We must get past that.

A black guy will get up
and one of the first things,

"So you know what it was like
when we were in the townships?"

And I'm like
you've got to be kidding me.

Like a guy gets chosen

because he's a young black
South African,

not because
he's a professional comedian.

They have B.E.E. policies.

They have to hire black people
or colored people

for black economic empowerment.

They all went
to private schools you know.

So they must not give me
this bullshit

that they were
previously disadvantaged.

Like sometimes
you'll tell a joke

and you get a racist crowd
that will laugh at it

taking it the wrong way.

It's because of apartheid.

Because you can't blame
the whole thing on...

This shit is
only fifteen years ago.

Yeah,
but it ended fifteen years ago,

but then you must remember
it's not like it's instant.

Do you know what I mean?
It's not instant.

I don't understand.

People always say
hey you black people must get

over this apartheid shit.

No one in the world will go,

yeah you know, you know,
you Jews must forget

about this Holocaust,
yeah please.

You know what I'm saying?

Because with atrocities
there's no measurement.

There's no instrument
that measures

how much an atrocity or how,

you don't go how the
Holocaust was worse than

Bosnia or Bosnia
was worse than,

you know what I'm saying?

You just have to respect them.

In South Africa,
we've always suffered
from segregated audiences.

It's always...
is it a white show?

Is it a black show?
Is it a colored show?
Who's gonna come to the show?

There's so much
we share in common
that we don't even realize.

And when you laugh
at the same things,

you start realize
how much you actually share.

Every show is like‐‐
who is the audience going to be?

I just want it to be you‐‐
you South Africans‐‐
not even South Africans,

internationals‐‐
just human beings.

You know what I mean.

Just‐just if you're human
just come to the show.

I'm not saying
dogs mustn't come,

but I'm just saying like
if you're human, you know?

Just come to the show,
that's all I want.

I don't want it to be about age
or race or religion or anything.

It's not about that.
It's about people.

Jacob Zuma was supposed to be

the craziest president
South Africa ever had.

It was the only reason
that I voted for him.

This is madness.
I look at him.

He's comes in
and he wears a tie and a suit.

He's stopped singing.

He's got a cabinet
that looks like

they know what they are doing.

He's going
to fight corruption

and he even fired
Manto Tshabalala Msimang.

I was expecting a mad man,
a crazy guy someone who was

just going to throw
the country away.

And look who I got,

someone
who's actually doing their job.

I can't believe it.

Once again the ANC
has failed to deliver.

[laughter]

I wanted Jacob to be wild.

I pictured this guy
walking into Parliament

four hours late
not even wearing a shirt,

you know,
his tummy hanging out,

walking in there,
wearing a little plastic crown,

busy singing to himself.

Helen Zille and the other guys
in Parliament losing it:

"Jacob, you're late,
you can't just come here!

You can't come
four hours late,"

Hey, shut up, shut up.

Hey, shut up, hey...

Late for who, late for who?

Late for who?
It's my time now.

Hey, hey, shut up.

Yeah.

I thought he was
gonna be crazy,

you know,
Helen then fighting with him,

"No, Jacob,
you can't just run this place

the way you want."

Jacob getting
angry whipping his penis out

hitting on the forehead.

[vocalizing]

No, 'cause I mean it's not sore,
it's not sore.

It just makes
that sound you know like...

You know, like that.

And I mean like what are
you going to do if someone

does that to you, like, what,
are you gonna go to the police?

Like, what do you,
what do you do?

What do you tell them?

I mean, is it assault
or is it sexual harassment?

How does it work?
You know, I just, I just...

You never know.

I mean, what do you even say
at the Police Station?

Can you imagine walking in there

and them asking you
that question?

You'd be there, "And then?

He... who hit you? Who?

With what?

On your head?

Just, just tell this guy.
Tell him what happened.

Tell him.

I'm not laughing,
I'm not laughing.

Hey.

Yeah.

Either you are very short,
or he's very gifted, eh?"

[Rabin on computer]
So do you know that look a girl

gives you
before she wants sex?

Yeah, me neither.

It doesn't happen.

And you can't,
you can't start with a sex gag.

You must,
you must start with gags

that tell us who you are,
like first.

Why don't you
introduce yourself?

It takes like a second.

What? To say, "Good evening?"

Yeah.

I always wanted to get,
get a laugh

in the first 30 seconds.
Either that or‐‐

Yes, but not a sex‐laugh though.
It's just very, like...

Alienating lots of people,

like it just doesn't work
for all the crowd.

Like if my mom was watching
then she'd already be thrown.

She'd be like "Ah, this guy."

'Cause you're the king of,
like, short gags.

So you've got the luxury
of bringing your gags,

just giving, yeah, like have
the, the right intro, yeah.

So sex must be
like in the middle...

Yeah,
in the middle of the set...

...and it must be in the
middle after a gag that kills.

Dude, it's like a horrible gag
is like a horrible girlfriend.

You keep doing her until
somebody tells you to stop.

No.
But these guys have the blazing.

They're fucking‐‐

Stop it.
Stop, stop protecting her.

She's no good for you.

Just leave it. Just leave it.
She's no good for you.

So I read recently
that Joburg is getting
it's first sperm bank,

and I got a bit sad.

See, like,
this was just unnecessary.

I think you must say
it like it's a sad thing.

That's where you‐‐ that's where
the sad emotion comes in.

So you go,
this is you, you go, you go...

You say:
"They opened the sperm bank

and I got really depressed."
You got to say that.

But then I'm smiling when
I'm saying it and that's weird.

Or do you think that's funny
because I'm saying that I got‐‐

But you're a comedian,
you can smile

while people are dying,
as a comedian.

You can be like
"My gran died,"

You could. As a comedian
you can do all of that.

They never believe you anyway.

So... like, like
when my mom got shot when,

two weeks ago,
my mom got shot in the head.

Really?
Yeah.

Then when I said it on stage,
everyone was just like‐‐

Then they, they don't‐‐

What happened to your mom?

She got shot in the head.
She got shot twice.

Like when you‐‐
Up the road, here.
Seventh avenue.

Wow.

Yeah. Just...

[man] Whose mom?
My mom.

My younger brother phones me.

He's like,
"Trevor, where are you?"

He says, "Come to the,
the hospital now."

So I'm, like, "Okay.
Something's obviously wrong."

But I think
something's wrong with him.

Then he says, "Mom got shot."

When he's telling me
the story,

the guy,
he came out he was‐‐

she was on the street
and then

[gunshot]

...the guy shot her.

[gunshot]

The guy shot her in the head.

I was just freaking out.
So I drive to the clinic.

I get there, and there's
blood all over her face,

there's just like,
you know, like it's just open,

there's blood everywhere.

You know, like she sees me
and then she's like, "Uh, uh..."

She's like trying
to talk in the end,

you know, I'm just like,
"Whoa."

I'm just, "I'm gone."

I love, I love South Africa,
I really do.

I love this place
with all my heart.

And then this was
the first time

when I was like,
"I'll leave."

Well, obviously
I was, I was surprised

that that happened to his mom.

I don't think
he intended to talk about it.

I think that the conversation

just lent itself
to him outing it.

Yeah, I mean that is something
you want to tell someone.

You'd be choking yourself
by not telling someone else.

My dad's killing
was 11 years ago.

My, my dad was shot and killed
like for a cell phone.

Which again,
it was, you know how...

to show the‐‐ I don't want
to say how common it is,

but how these things
happen in South Africa,

but it's not,
it's not uncommon.

We're desensitized to crime.

People get like a loved one

killed or shot
to get whatever.

Sure,
the personal tragedy's big,

but it just
seems as if we all...

we all just
get back on with it.

[Trevor]
After my mom was shot,

she's the one
who basically went,

"No man,
things need to keep running,
things need to keep going."

'Cause she was
in the hospital and I was like,

"I can't, I can't go
make people laugh after this,

you know, I have to, I have
to chill with you and stuff."

She was like,

"No, you need to go out there
and make money."

I was like, "Forget money."

And she was like, "No, no, no.

Maybe now
is a good time to tell you,

I don't have
medical aid."

And I was like, "Oh wow.

Okay," I was like, "Okay.

Maybe I should go out
and make some money."

You never put something
like that behind you.

I can't wait
and I shouldn't wait.

Why should I wait?

If anything,
an experience like my mom

getting shot shows you
why you shouldn't wait.

I've got to go on
and do the show.

The Daywalker.

No, I don't know
what that means.

I don't know
what that means.

The Daywalker?

No idea. No idea.

Yeah, I don't know
what the Daywalker means, no.

The one president
that was always the furthest

from being crazy was
Nelson Mandela, you know?

And I mean,
Mandela recently turned 91.

I, I just can't help
wondering to myself,

when you turn 91,

wouldn't you throw a huge party?

You know,
I mean, you're 91 years old.

I would‐‐ I don't know.

If I turned 91,
I'd get wasted.

I'd just be that guy, you know.

You have all these
famous people visiting you,

throw this huge party,
knocking down the tequilas,

having a good time.

But I know people never
want to think of it.

No, Mandela
doesn't get drunk, no.

People don't want anything‐‐

they're like, no,
Mandela doesn't fart.

His bum just suggests things.

He's got that vibe, you know.

But I mean he's still a man
at the end of the day, you know.

I would have loved for him
to let just loose

and get totally wasted
on his birthday.

It would be so crazy
seeing Madiba pop out

like into the garden,

you know,
out of nowhere, his shirt open.

There he is,
one of those colorful ones.

Him walking around...

"I'm fine. I'm fine.

Do you know who I am?

Do you know...

Don't touch me.

Who are these people?
Who's that?

Ah, Bill Clinton. Bill.

Come, come here,
Bill, come here.

[speaking foreign language]

Thank you for coming, eh.

Let,
let me tell you a joke, Bill.

Let me tell you a joke.

I did not have sexual relations
with that woman.

[laughing]

That, that was a good one.

I'm just saying.

Oh, oh, here comes Julius.

And he's going to talk...

[vocalizing]

I was also president
of the Youth League.

[vocalizing]

Julius is killing me.

Two seconds.
Julius. Six times five.

Okay, he's fine.
It will be‐‐ it's fine.

He'll be there for hours.
Yeah, let's carry on.

Let's carry on.

Okay we're going
to drink, all of us.

We're going to drink.

But before we drink,
I want to propose a toast.

All those people who thought
I wouldn't make it to 2010.

Yeah, he'll never make it,
he'll never make it.

I'm still here at 91...

91, yeah, 91.

Even Michael Jackson died
before me.

Even Michael died before me.

Yeah, Michael Jackson.

[vocalizing]

Who's bad now?"

[thunder rumbling]

Coming there from Sunday,

I got busted.

Went in this side
and went out there.

I'm not bitter about it all.

I became better.

Number one, I celebrate life.

It's a miraculous healing
that today

I'm here talking to you.

I have a stiff, stiff jaw
but that's minor.

All my senses are here.

I can still jump
and dance in church

and break my heels.

So what more? What more?

What more? What more?

We look at religion
in two different ways.

Someone will shoot at my mom.

She will believe

that God will protect her
from the bullets.

Yes.

I believe God gave me
the reflexes to duck.

[Patricia laughs]
I was just gonna say you must,

you must make sure about
your court dates though.

I'm not worried‐‐

No, you see
you always say that to me.

Just listen to me, you know,
I'm just saying. Please.

Listen, sweetheart.
You are in control.

You do
what you are in control of.

Yes, but that‐‐

but are you not
in control of that?

You're not in control of...

No, but you're in control
of your dates.

That's what I'm asking you.
You're not.

You are, because if you‐‐

if you have given it all,
knowing‐‐

it's your‐‐
y‐you should know.
Did you get [indistinct]

I did, sweetheart.
I've done that.
That's what it must be.

I've done that part.
And I do think you see it is
in your control...

just to show
a level of interest

after you've
been shot in the head.

Just a little bit of‐‐
little bit of interest.
[laughs]

Just a little bit.

Okay.

A little bit.
Okay.

You know there's not many
countries in the world

where a person can shoot
someone in the head

and then get bail.

That's just, does‐‐ it's the
most ludicrous thing ever.

Those are times when you just‐‐
you do want to escape.

Yes, you want to escape.

I have tension
with my love of South Africa

as much as every man
has tension

with the land that he lives in.

I don't know what would have
happened if my mom died.

I might have left or it might
have been the catalyst

that made me stay here
and fight even more.

I, I don't know.

I do need to leave though.

Just for a little bit.

I just can't
keep going on like this

without taking a break.

You know it does,
it's got that feeling.

It's just got that feeling like
anything can happen, you know.

Like your wildest
dreams can come true.

I dream of becoming a waiter.

I just feel like
this town can cater to me.

Oh, Inglewood.

I'm loving it already
because there's,

there's references
from rap songs out here.

Wow, are those Mexicans
doing the garden?

You don't know how strange
this is for me,

driving in a neighborhood
where there's like no walls.

Yeah, I mean, people
will say things like,

"Hey, I thought you
wanted to get away.

You know,
don't you need a break

from comedy
and everything else?"

But I just can't help it.

I start off on a holiday
and the next thing you know,

I'm up on stage again.

I just, I have to be up there.

I just hope people like it.

Yes.

You know there's
two things that make it,

make you more nervous.

It's hearing how loud
a crowd can be

and then how quiet
they can be on the flip side.

Because if they
can be really loud,

then the silence
becomes so much louder.

[woman]
Coming to the stage next,

we have a gentlemen,
he's from South Africa.

Mm‐hmm, yep.

So I want a big, loving,
supportive LA

welcome to this next dude.

Let's hear it
for South African native

Mr. Trevor Noah.

But I've, I've realized
Americans,

Americans have a very strange
perception of Africa.

I don't blame you guys
though, you know.

It's 'cause of the images
that you're fed on TV.

You know, the stuff
that you see of us.

You just get all these
UNICEF ads, you know.

Those infomercials,
those are horrible.

That's all I've seen
of home, you know.

You've got these people
and they're really gaunt

and they're skinny
and they're just like, you know.

And they've got the Kwashiorkor
and everything

and they just look
as horrible as possible.

They just get there and you
know, they are shooting this,

and then Penelope Cruz
will start talking

as the woman's holding her
starving baby in her arms

and will come in and be like,

"Every year, more than
5 million children

are starving in Africa.

You can make a difference if you
donate $10 dollars a month.

You can donate a family's life
and you can change everything.

Look at this child."

And they show you
the kid and you know,

and they go in there,
and I understand,

I understand this is
a painful thing. I understand.

But I just don't understand
the small elements.

Why do they include that,
you know.

Why is it that in every single
one of these infomercials,

why do they always have to have
these people with the fly?

What is up with that fly?

I don't understand this.

What is, what is going
on with the fly?

It's always the flies.

And it's not just
the flies in the shot.

It's not just the shot.

It's not just the flies
there but they've got the flies

and they sit
in a very specific place.

They always sit on their mouth,
like always on the top lip.

It's always on the top.
How do they get the fly?

I've tried, it's very difficult

to get a fly to sit
on your top lip.

How do they achieve this goal?

I'm sitting there
watching this, you know.

And they always get it.

It's almost like they don't
shoot without the fly, now.

It's like the fly
has become the watermark

of a starving African.

Is it like a trained fly?
Is it one of your Disney flies?

Is it one of those?
Is it one of those?

"Come on boy, come on boy,
get in there and...

stay.

Okay, we're ready,
and 'Action'"

"Every year, more than
5 million children are starving.

You can make a difference
if you donate $100."

It's just madness.
What is it?

And it angers me.
It really does.

I understand.
There's people starving.

Yes, there are people
starving in Africa.

I do understand this.
There are people starving.

But I don't, I don't understand

why they need to
make us look that bad.

And yes, I will say it.
They do make us look bad.

They make the whole
of Africa look bad.

They make me look bad.
And they make me angry.

'Cause I grew up
in a black family in Africa.

And no matter
how poor we were,

no matter how hungry
we were, no matter what,

we could still do this...

The show was amazing.

He's really in tune with
the differences of the culture,

and he totally nailed it,
the way that he brought that

and applied it to an American
audience, like,

he had the whole
place hysterical.

I didn't know if the comedy
would translate,

but the comedy
did translate.

I liked his American accent.

"Oh, my God.
Oh, my God, you're from Africa.

How did you get here?"

Never thought of South Africa
is place

that a comedian
was gonna come from.

[woman 1] So exciting.
Thank you.

[woman 2] You were awesome.
Thank very much.

Thank you.
I'm‐I'm having a great time.

Pleasure to meet you.

Pleasure meeting you.
Yes. Sorry.

You're totally
LA'd out right now.

I am?

You are totally LA.

That's good to know.

Good to know that I'm fitting
in a little bit.

But I am a stand‐up comedian

from South Africa,
Johannesburg.

Do you know where that is?
Yes, no?

I only ask that
because I realize Americans

don't know a lot about
South Africa.

In fact, I've realized Americans
don't know much about Africa.

In fact, I've realized Americans
don't know much about anything.

[laughter]

'Cause you guys have
those very strange names

like Da'Shawn
and‐‐and Requanda,
and all of those things.

And you always ask people
where they got the name,
and they say, "It's African."

We don't‐‐we don't have
those kinds of names.

[audience laughs]

My family threw
this huge party for me.

They were like, "Yeah.
You're going to America.

This is the best day
of your life."

I was like, "No, it's not."
They're like "It is, it is."

Like, why?

They're like, "Because
for the first time in your life,

you're going to be black."

I was like,
"What are you talking about?"

They were like,
"Well, in America,

they can't call you colored.
That's racist.

They're going to have
to call you black."

I was like, "Really?" and they
were like, "Yes, really."

I did research,
and found it's true.

So when I sat
on a plane for 18 hours,

I watched black
American movies,

started practicing
being black.

'Cause I've always
wanted to be black.

That is so cool.
You got that thing, you know.

Just sat there watching
like all my gangster movies,

you know,
Boyz n the Hood and stuff.

And as we landed
I was so happy

and I was fluent
in my black American,

"Fo‐shizzle my nizzle."

Yeah.

And as I walked
into the terminal building,

the first guy that spoke
to me was actually a cleaner.

He looked up at me and he said
to me, he was like...

[speaking
foreign language]

Eighteen hours of flying,
and I still wasn't black.

I was a Mexican.

[Trevor] When I went to
the States for the first time,

it was, it was strange
to see the fact

that they don't understand

what the concept
of South Africa is.

And I don't blame them.

Instead of going,
"Those people are ignorant,

they don't know
anything about us,"

I'd rather say my goal
is to go there,

and try and give them a better
picture of who we are.

[school bell ringing]

I would like to welcome
Trevor Noah to class.

Can you guys say
good morning, please?

[students]
Good morning, Trevor.

Hey.

You guys are
pretty good at that.

He's real excited
to be here today

and I know you guys
have a ton of questions.

Do you like the Los Angeles
vibes so far or do‐‐

would you rather be back
at home right now?

I like LA.
You know it's interesting.

I mean there's things
I've seen out here

that I've never seen before.

What?
Like what?

Uh, like Latino people.

You don't have, you don't
have New Year's?

No, we've got New Year's.

Everybody's got.
We got a calendar.

Everybody with a calendar
has New Year's.

Do you have
any favorite movies?

The Matrix.
The Lion King.

I love the Lion King.

[girl] I love the Lion King.

I love the Lion King.
I love it.

Yeah, I love the Lion King
'cause the Lion King

is so close to my heart.

You know it's like,
what, it's like us at home.

Like we walk 'round
the streets like just sing

'A‐weema‐weh.
A‐weema‐weh.'

So I love the Lion King.

So the same way you guys think
that we like ride elephants

and run off
the lions and stuff.

Like the same,
and that's, that's the same way

when we think of like Mexicans
we just think of...

[vocalizing]

It's like the same.

[teacher] When you see
commercials for Africa

or when you see
advertisements or movies...

[girl] You see like animals.

You see animals.

You see poverty.

You see, um, disease.

You see all of these things.

You don't think when I told you
that he was a comedian,

you guys all stared at me like,
"They have comedy there?

They laugh?"

How do you go from
your experience to comedy?

Yeah, there's
nothing funny about it.

In life, you always choose
to see things

in a good or bad way.

You know,
it's, it's your outlook.

It's how you choose
to perceive it.

So you can choose to perceive
things in a positive way

even if they're negative.

And for me that's what
comedy really is about.

Good or bad.

I will, I will speak about it
and you can make it funny.

It just depends
on how you look at it.

The one thing
I really appreciated

about going to LA
was seeing

how much potential
we have in this country

for comedy.

My, my dream for Daywalker
is that it will be remembered

as one of the shows,
one of the many shows,

that helped comedians
to own their destiny.

♪ I'mma get what's needed ♪

♪ Because I want it ♪

♪ I gotta have it ♪

♪ Because I want it ♪

♪ You see ♪
♪ I'll be there for the... ♪

Everybody has a voice.

Everybody has
something to say.

That in essence is what
guys like Mandela and Sisulu

fought against for so many
years for freedom of speech.

And that's what
your one‐man show is.

It's you coming out
and saying,

"This is what I think."

I've tried
to tie everything up

and try and make it
one seamless story,

trying to make
a chunk of my life

fit into an hour.

It's not an easy challenge,
but that's what Daywalker is.

That's what comedy is really.

♪ Don't even try to race me
it's hard to outrace me ♪

♪ I'm take the
trip to ♪

♪ and meeting up
with new fans ♪

♪ a really new day ♪

♪ History in the making ♪

♪ They used to hate
now they love it ♪

♪ Because they
feel I made it ♪

♪ Damn it,
I'm almost famous ♪

♪ It's so close
I can smell it ♪

♪ and I can even taste it ♪

♪ Sometimes the world
can be hellish ♪

♪ But now never wasted ♪

♪ I'm on the edge
but I'm blessed ♪

♪ With enough connects ♪
♪ that I can get some rest ♪

♪ And let go of stress ♪

♪ Imma get what's needed ♪

♪ Because I want it ♪

♪ I gotta have it ♪

♪ Because I want it ♪

♪ You see I'll be there
for the ♪

As I perform comedy,

I hope I can bring
people together.

I want to be here
building things.

This is the place
where I want to,

I want to put‐‐
I want to leave my mark.

[man] He is described
as a phenomenon,

destroying audiences
all over the country.

And this world class act
has already performed

in the US and the UK.

Here to perform in his
very first, much anticipated,

one‐man show,
ladies and gentlemen,

give it up for the Daywalker,
Trevor Noah!

What's up, Johannesburg?

"I'm leaving,
I'm going to Australia."

"Just imagine it's not so,
imagine," I was like, Gogo!

Oh, Andrew, help me!

'Cause when it hits you,
it makes that sound,

it's just like...

"Even Michael Jackson,
the king of pop,

died before me.

Who's bad now?"

And then my dad,
well, well you know

how the Swiss love chocolate.

So...

And I see some white people
getting a bit uncomfortable,

is he going to preach?

No I'm not,
I'm not preaching.

This is just a back story,
so you guys are getting

a bit like "Woo, is this",
no, it's not one of those.

It's over in my mind.
It's, yeah.

It's, I couldn't be around,
if it wasn't for you guys,

so I, you know...

I'm not even, yeah.

As, as Nelson Mandela
would say, "We forgive you."

So that, so that's,
so that was the back‐story.

So my mom, my mom couldn't
state who my father was

on my birth certificate,
you know.

So they just had to, like,
leave that whole thing blank

and, and, and
what happened was,

she went back to the townships
where we had to stay

and then my dad
had to stay in town.

And my mom
couldn't tell anyone

that the father
of her child was white.

So she just left everyone
to their own assumptions,

which is not generally
the best choice.

Basically people assumed
that I was, in fact, an albino.

You laugh, but it was true.

They still loved me though,
they still loved me.

Apparently when I got home,
you know,

my family was gathered
around, as I walked in,

my gran looked and she, like,
opened the blanket

and she was like "Yoo...

Oh, shame...

ooh, little alby.

No, put the umbrella,
he's going to burn,

ooh‐ooh."

And so I grew up,
I grew up for a,

for a large part of my life as
an albino, which wasn't bad,

I mean, the township
they accept everyone

the way they are, you know.

I got old enough
to roam around on my own,

and the other albinos
heard about me,

they'd see me
walking in the streets.

And they'd see this kid,
and then the rumors spread,

you know.

They apparently
went to each other

and they started talking,

they were like,
"Do you know about him?

They say that he's one,
he's one of us.

But his hair, it's black.

No freckles, nothing.

And he can walk
anytime of the day.

No sunscreen.
No umbrella.

He's the one.

The Daywalker."

They were shocked.

And they came up
and they recruited me,

they were like, "Yo, man, do
you want to hang out with us?"

I was like,
"Yeah, why not," you know.

I hung out with them.
We were like in a whole crew.

We called ourselves
the 'Glow in the Darks.'

We were just like, you know.

It was wonderful,
you know, it was wonderful

until about 1990
when apartheid ended

and the truth
about my identity

could come out.

And then my mom told everyone
in the house, she was like,

"You know actually,
his father's white,"

and they were like,
"What do you mean?"

"His father's white,
so he's not actually an albino,

he's colored."
And they were like, "What?"

Everyone lost their minds
and it was a big party

and everyone was
so happy and overjoyed.

So they were like...

Oh, oh, ah...

oh, ah...

Oh, oh.
He's not albino, oh, oh.

And it was beautiful.

It was music to their ears.

But then I had to go back
to my friends, to the crew,

you know,
to the 'Glow in the Darks',

tell them the news.

As I was walking
up to them, you know,

they were standing
in the crew,

like under the willow tree,
in the shade,

where we normally
used to hang out.

And as I came up,
they were like,

"Yo, D. W.,
what's up, dawg?"

Cause they couldn't
call me 'Daywalker'‐‐
it was just too long.

They were like,
"Yo, D. W., what's up, man?"

Then I was like, "Hey, Pacino,
what's up, dawg?"

And he was like,
"Yo, man, what's happening,

you look sad."

Then I was like,
"Yeah, guys I've got bad news."

Pacino was like, "Ah,
what is it, D. W.? What is it?

Is it really bad?"
I was like, "It's really bad."

He's like, "Ah,
Nivea is out of stock again."

I was like, "No, guys,
no, it's worse than that,

it's worse than that."

And the other guy was like,
"Yo, global warming".

I was like,
"No, no, no, it's, um,

there's something I need
to tell you guys, um...

I'm not an albino."

I just looked around
and there was a silence.

I said, "Guys, did you hear me?
I'm not an albino."

"Yeah, D. W., we know,
we all knew!"

I was like, "What, you knew?"
He's like, "Yeah, we knew.

Of course
you're not an albino."

"Wow!"
He's like "Ya.

We are all not albinos,
we are people.

Viva, D. W., Viva!

D.W.!"

[vocalizing]

You guys have been so great,
thank you very much

for coming out.

My name's Trevor Noah.
Thank you.

♪ You go to rise above ♪

♪ And face the
music ♪

♪ But you'll get
strong with love ♪

♪ Love, love ♪

♪ We keep it moving
like father time ♪

♪ Every time I fall I know
that soon I have to climb ♪

♪ Even through the dirt,
I have to shine ♪

We have a talented young
comedian, from South Africa...

♪ Yeah, keep going
keep pushing ♪

♪That's what I do ♪

♪ That's what it is ♪

♪ Love life and
I love to live too ♪

♪ And I wanna give ♪

♪ All that I can give
give to them ♪

♪ Give to you too ♪

♪ Till everybody's eating
many pieces of the pie♪

♪ Africa, the love
of my eye... ♪

Yo. I stopped 'cause
you were tired.

[speaking foreign language]

♪ But you'll get
strong with love ♪

♪ Laid in the midnight hour ♪

♪ You feel
you lost your power ♪

♪ But I'm dependin' on you ♪

♪ To be as bright
as a flower ♪

♪ Who doesn't complain ♪

♪ Who don't know
how cold the game ♪

♪ But simple and plain ♪

♪ You got your own
got your own ♪

♪ You got your own thing ♪

♪ Don't let life beat you up ♪

♪ Just get
strong with love ♪

♪ Just get strong with love ♪

♪ Then till
everything's sweet ♪

♪ Everything's nearer ♪

♪ Closer when ♪

♪ You don't give up ♪

♪ Don't give up,
don't give up ♪

♪ Don't give up ♪

♪ Got to rise above ♪

♪ Got to get up ♪

♪ At first it ain't easy ♪
♪ Don't stay there ♪

♪ But you'll
get strong with love ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Get up ♪

♪ When life beats you up ♪

♪ Get up ♪

♪ And rise with love ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ Rise with love ♪

♪ Rise with love ♪

♪ Oh, late
in the midnight hour ♪

♪ You feel
you lost your power ♪

♪ But I'm dependin' on you ♪

♪ And the whole world's too ♪

♪ For you to be as
resilient as a flower ♪