Wild Card- Trevor Noah, Comedian/Political Analyst

     Trevor Noah is a South African Comedian who has strangely enough become a voice of reason and political news for a younger generation of Americans. His takes are often comical in nature and he finds a way to present news, especially news involving politics in a way my brain can absorb it. That would be in the form of jokes that are as irreverent a they are informative. As someone who is generally disinterested in political affairs he certainly adds a spoon full of sugar to the bitter news. With style, humor, and poise he always gets a few chuckles out of me with his sheer candidness. How is it that he came to his current level of success as a comedian and political commentator? Let's take a dive into his history and find out where he started and how it's all worked out in the end.

    

    Noah has always had strong opinions about politics and government in general due to his unusual upbringing. Technically due to apartheid system in his home country his birth was considered illegal. His mother was thrown in prison multiple times and Noah had to be hidden from authorities. Originally he started out on a soap opera but tried his hand on a standup stage as a dare. None the less he started a standup comedy career tackling hard subjects like systemic racism and social injustice. His earlier shows focused a lot on the racial dynamic of Africa. He became very popular in the late 2000's and early 2010's. He started touring internationally and was even given his own TV show. Most of America got their first real taste of Noah on his primetime talk-show debut with Jay Leno back in 2012. From here on out America was hooked on Noah's keen whit and ability to satirize even the darkest of subjects in a way that makes them approachable. 

    One example he addressed is the relationship between African-Americans and the police. He has touched on systemic racism in the United States many times, this has been an all too relevant topic as of late. He talks about being pulled over in L.A. and he was discussing how the media quickly loses sight of black men being killed in the street by trying to change the narrative to be about them and their potential past wrong doings and not their murder in cold blood. He said something very polarizing about his first traffic stop, "I don't know how not to die". At this moment I went from chuckling along with the jokes to having a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach as I'm reminded that he's right. Breonna Taylor was literally gunned down while sleeping in her own home so how can anyone of color feel safe in the U.S. with the current systems in place that are built to work against them? Noah has mentioned that not having to fear for your life shouldn't be a political statement but has somehow become one. After much hardship and even more hard work Noah got his chance to follow in the footsteps of the great Jon Stewart, a politically savvy comedian and analyst rivaled only by possibly Stephen Colbert in their field. In 2015 after being a continual contributor to The Daily Show it was announced that Noah would be taking over the reigns from Stewart.

     Noah has been a hit as a host. He's gotten a proper platform to showcase his opinion and inform the public. Noah is a great representation of the future. He is an inspiration to young African-Americans and Africans to get politically active and stay educated. I've always loved his style of presentation and it's much more pleasant to watch than traditional news broadcasts for me. Recently he's had fun covering Joe Biden's victory and Trumps subsequent loss. He's poked fun at people who just can't seem to accept that a change is on the rise, these people that are blatantly denying the facts being presented to them. He's also been covering the Covid pandemic which has become a heated political topic despite it just being a matter of public health. Overall it seems to be a reoccurring theme, Noah having to make "politically charged" statements on things that that are not inherently political. Racism shouldn't be considered "political", when it's come to the point that those two statements have become tangentially related we've gone wrong somewhere. When the health of our friends and loved one's has becomes too "political", there's a clear division between the foolish and the wise. These are not topics that should have sides and Trevor Noah is always up to remind people of that.