Trevor Noah: The 60 Minutes Interview

look across the landscape of late night. television and you'll see that most of. the hosts are white men in their 40s and. 50s but not trevor noah he's biracial. he's not american and he's only 38. but he's a certified celebrity with a. global following who has brought an. international dimension to comedy. central's the daily show he's from south.

africa where he grew up under apartheid. he called his memoir born a crime. because it was illegal for a black woman. like his mother and a white man like his. father to mix. as we first reported in december trevor. says he's always felt like an outsider. but his humor making people laugh has. been his ticket to belonging. the story will continue in a moment.

trevor noah is back on tour with his. comedy show in a different city. practically every weekend yeah like when. you're in texas they'd be like you got. any weapons on the vehicle you're like. no so they're like all right here's one. here you go. you all have a good night now. he loves owning the stage the roar of. the big crowd typically fifteen thousand. in giant arenas like this one in.

washington d.c. it's a far cry from his more confined tv. studio day job on the daily show where. he had a shaky start when he took over. six years ago from jon stewart and now. it feels like the family has a new. step-dad. and he's black. was it a good decision. terrible initially. awful don't take the daily show leslie.

when they offered to whatever you do. don't take the daily show. what happened in the beginning oh i mean. everybody hated me people didn't even. know me and they hated the idea of me. but you did have a savior. donald trump. once you realize that trump is basically. the perfect african president. he starts to notice the similarities. everywhere. once he found his foil the secret. document his ratings began to improve. and he realized he could connect. american politics.

to his background in south africa. he grew up in johannesburg and its black. township of soweto during the strict. racial separation regime of apartheid. he always felt like an outsider. not quite black like his cosa mother not. quite white like his swiss father who he. has seen infrequently in his life to be. with your father who was white that was. a crime yeah this was the law that. forbade anybody of different races from.

mixing there's something i heard i'm not. sure i believe it but. your grandfather used to call you master. yeah because of the color of your skin. that's how he referred to me master and. he'd always force me to sit in the back. of the car be like master what can the. police say if i said the master sitting. with me your parents your grandmother. particularly was always afraid the. police were going to come. and find you. what would have happened if they found. you i probably would have been taken. away to an orphanage no yeah your.

grandmother was always hiding you yes. you were in lockdown right i wasn't i. was in pandemic before pandemic even. existed but you were poor you write in. your book about. eating worms and having a toy that was a. brick here's the thing that i always say. to people. being poor. in a group or in a community that is. poor is not as bad as being poor. when you know what you're missing out on.

so when i grew up. we played with bricks as cars and you'd. smash them into each other and it was. one of the most fun games i've ever. played the same thing with eating more. pani worms what i didn't like was when. we couldn't eat anything else and my mom. said we're going to have to eat these. more panini rooms for longer because we. don't have money to buy chicken. spending time indoors he became a. voracious reader. he wrote about his mother patricia noah. in his memoir born a crime saying she. raised him almost as if he was white.

with no limitations on what he could. achieve. he wrote it was just the two of them him. and his mom against the world. but then she married a man named abel. who he said beat up his mother. then shot her in the head. the head bullets. didn't hit anything vital yeah other. than the head obviously. but it missed her spinal cord. missed the nerves didn't touch the brain. and all it did was it cut a piece of her.

nostril off just just one side and the. bullet went out clean and my mom looks. at me and she goes trevor trevor. don't cry baby i said no mom i'm gonna. cry you're a shot in the head and she. says no no no no look on the bright side. i said what brain sign she says no. at least now because of my nose. you're officially the best looking. person in the family. you did say you had the black world and. you had the white world and this is a. quote from you all i wanted to do was.

belong everybody wants to belong half of. our fights in life are because we want. to belong and so i grew up in a country. where i was told that your belonging was. defined by the shade of the color of. your skin and that never worked for me. you know i found my greatest joy was. with the people where we shared. interests and and the way we spoke and. the way we laughed etc so i always. wanted to belong. and and that that i think has been a. gift and a curse in life i have a funny.

feeling. that you did belong because you were. funny. funny is something that i developed as a. tool yeah to belong. he was funny back in johannesburg but. became a professional comedian by. accident when he was 22 and took the. stage at a comedy club on a dare from. his cousin yeah you laugh but it's true. because i'm like mixed you know i've got. like a percentage share like it's that. type of thing. he killed it. gave up his plan to go to college and. soon was touring all over the world as a.

stand-up comic. according to forbes he's one of the. highest-paid comedians today. he first started touring the united. states in 2011. and a year later from the time i was a. young child i've always wanted one thing. and that is i've always wanted to be. black. he was on the tonight show and caught. the attention of jon stewart's producer. at the daily show a viacom cbs property. when he was eventually offered the host.

chair he said it would have meant taking. a pay cut and giving up his life on the. road so stuart had to talk him into it. he said i'm not offering you. the glitz and glam of your life. i'm offering you a home for a while that. that i think you will come to enjoy that. that intrigued me i was like i've always. wanted to have home i've always wanted. to belong and so i thought well this. could be the this could be the chance. from trevor's couch in new york city and. the chance to weigh in on serious topics. when kovitt hit and he was broadcasting.

from his apartment. nearly 11 million people watched his. monologue on race and george floyd there. was a black man on the ground in. handcuffs and you you could take his. life so you did. almost knowing that there would be no. ramifications. and it wasn't funny. and now we have a new dimension to. trevor i guess. i guess you've seen a different. dimension to trevor i've always had the. different dimension well you showed it.

to the public that's true. some of the funniest people. we know on the planet have depression. you come to mind. well i think. over the years what i've come to learn. thanks to some great therapists is. my depression is created by a severe. level of adhd adhd. looks like depression what do you mean. so it can be different for different. people i'm not you know but like so for. myself it means that. if i'm not careful in how i sleep how i.

eat how i how i manage my routine i can. become overwhelmed and it can just feel. like the whole world is just too heavy. to bear. you. said something. that sticks with me you said it wasn't. until you came to the united states that. real hate started coming at you oh yeah. definitely what was the hate that you. felt. any did the cops ever stop you i've been. pulled over quite frequently by the cops. yeah one of my best friends david meyer.

you know would drive all over the west. coast to these comedy shows if i was. driving we would get pulled over and. then he would drive we wouldn't get. pulled over but you did say you. experienced hate. yes but i mean that's. that's welcome to america you know. that's harsh. yeah there's a lot of hate in america. because there's a lot of anger in. america. how is it changing you for me i'm always. trying to figure out how do i speak to. somebody who hates me this is where we. are for now because of his childhood.

growing up between two different worlds. he tends to see both sides of an. argument take his reaction to the. trouble his friend comedian dave. chappelle got in over his netflix. special the closer we blacks we look at. the gate that was criticized as. homophobic transphobic and misogynistic. in your mind did he cross the line did. dave chappelle cross the line yes no it. immediately puts me in a position where. i have to choose a side when i think.

that the matter is a lot more complex. than that i think everybody is defining. the line for themselves no society. defines a line you see what you're. saying now is you're saying society has. decided but america is clearly divided. in that half of society has gone like no. dave chappelle we love what you said. we're sick of wokeness we're sick of. people being told what to say we're sick. of not knowing how to use the right. pronoun you're right dave chappelle so. then if half of society is saying dave. chappelle is right and half of society. is saying that he's wrong then that.

means there is no line it means society. is seeing the line from two different. sides. and so that's why i say you cannot say. did he cross the line because which side. are you looking at the line from defines. whether or not he crossed it are you. still learning things all the time yes. well he's had to learn about new york. city his new home since 2015. buy an apartment here. make new friends. let me ask you about your personal life. for a minute do you want to have. children i i go back and forth sometimes. i will meet kids who make me go i want a.

kid and then sometimes i'll meet. children where i go i hope that my sperm. doesn't do anything because this person. is a terror you're 37. okay you're right. there that's the clock it's ticking okay. but you don't feel it no i don't you. have a girlfriend now. maybe. well i read. page six like everybody else in this. world the tabloids you don't like to. talk about. your uh girlfriends.

no. what is trevor like with his girlfriends. no trick you don't have to answer that. question. trevor introduced us to comedy producer. ryan hardooth and comedian david kibuka. now a supervising producer on the daily. show they're among his oldest friends. from south africa answered you don't. have to answer any questions about. personal relationships who told you that. okay what does mitch mcconnell like with. these girlfriends do you know the answer. to that question i don't know exactly. because he didn't answer it because they. don't even ask him and also because. people don't want to know this is what.

i'll say about trevor with his. girlfriends is that so you're just fully. going ahead with yeah of course he is. wow. he is very very um like a great. boyfriend. [Laughter]. so um what are the qualities that you. like most about trevor. it's a great boyfriend yeah. trevor told us he hangs out with these.

guys often and talks with his mother. every day. things he says that keep him grounded. is he a perfectionist. workaholic. yes. i would say so 100. he sure is. even though he does the daily show. during the week and has hosted the. grammy awards for the past two years. he refuses to give up his comedy shows. genuinely i just love the feeling of a.

love i think i think when we laugh as. human beings that's when we we're our. most authentic selves that's why your. real life is so ugly do you know what i. mean. it's not filtered in any way. i love that it's like pure joy. forget what people think just laugh you. know. we need it. every single day. every single day. watch trevor noah and his team write a. daily show joke at 60.

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