Trevor Noah comes to India with Off The Record Tour: All you need to know
Comedian, actor, and the former The Daily Show host Trevor Noah brings his Off The Record Tour to India for the first time. Here’s all you need to know about the comedian.
When Trevor Noah announced his “Off The Record Tour” last year after his final appearance on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show, I didn’t want to miss the chance to watch him perform live.
Most of his shows were restricted only to the US, and the venues were nearly already sold out. At the time, he had not announced his shows for any other country but had hinted at touring different continents, including Asia, later in 2023.
Eight months later, here I am getting ready to attend his first-ever show in Bengaluru on September 27!
Noah is set to make his India debut with a total of seven shows, in Delhi (September 22-24), Bengaluru (September 27-28), and Mumbai (September 30 – October 1).
Excited about his India tour, Noah told Zoom, "After a lifetime of loving India’s culture, I’m so excited to finally have the privilege of bringing my current stand-up comedy tour to one of the most exciting countries in the world!”
His overflowing love for Indian cuisine, culture, and people shows in his great many jokes.
Before he tours India, here’s all you need to know about the comedian.
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Noah dons many hats. From stage to screen, he sends his audience rolling at his stand-ups, as the host of several big awards shows, or speaking truth to power about the political landscape of the US and around the world.
Born in 1984 in Johannesburg, South Africa, Noah has seen the African country emerge from its Apartheid era in the early 90s, which also influenced his comic work and his book, Born a Crime: Stories From A South African Childhood.
“Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it. A shared language says ‘We’re the same.’ A language barrier says ‘We’re different.’ The architects of apartheid understood this. Part of the effort to divide black people was to make sure we were separated not just physically but by language as well…,” Noah writes in his New York Times bestselling book.
“Racism teaches us that we are different because of the colour of our skin. But because racism is stupid, it’s easily tricked.”
This held true for him even when he moved to Los Angeles, US.
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Comedy came naturally to Noah. At the age of 21, he performed his first stand-up act in Johannesburg after a friend dared him to go on the stage. There was no looking back since.
Starting with a radio show in 2002 to performing several stand-up comedy specials with an array of comedians from South Africa and the US to hosting awards shows and Late Night shows—Noah has come a long way but he never forgot his roots.
Image Courtesy: The Daily Show/Comedy Central
His stint with Comedy Central’s The Daily Show started in March 2015 when the studio announced Noah would succeed the long-time host Jon Stewart. From 2015 to 2022, Noah entertained his audience with political satires, decoding daily news updates from around the world and elections, especially the US Presidential Election, and many more.
For me, and many more Noah fans globally, some of his best shows were during the pandemic when he sat at home, wearing a warm hoody, delivering jokes without audience laughter. His shows centred on racism in America and globally as well as COVID-19, the January 6 US Capitol Riots, the Trump Presidency and his followers in the country, QAnon, and Fox News channel and its anchors, among others.
Behind the scenes, Noah used to speak in a casual demeanour with the in-house audience and even answered a few personal questions thrown at him or discussed the day’s news. In fact, Noah won a Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Short Form Variety Series category for The Daily Show with Trevor Noah – Between the Scenes.
I still remember when Noah talked about meeting the Global K-pop boy band BTS at the 64th Grammy Awards which he hosted in 2022. As a BTS ARMY, I could totally relate to his feelings when he described the septet as down-to-earth and kind!
Talking about their mandatory military service on the show, Noah said, “…which is great news for South Korea. Because their ARMY is basically unstoppable. There is no ARMY in the world that will take a shot at these guys. Are you kidding me? Who’s gonna be stupid enough to take a shot? Everyone’s a fan! Enemy soldiers are gonna be like, ‘Ah, I just got stabbed by Jin. This is the last and best day of my life.’”
One of his most viral videos was about him talking about the “new rules” of the much-loved card game UNO. It shattered the uncountable made-up rules of the game.
His departure from the sets of The Daily Show was quite emotional, TBH. In the last 15 minutes of his final episode, he had a monologue prepared about his life’s journey and on the show and the many lessons he learned along the way. Each cast member of the show also wished him farewell in their own sweet, quirky way.
On his plans to come to India, Noah replied, “I have been to India before. But I wanna do shows there for the first time. That’s what everyone told me in India. I was there, and I was like, “Oh, I want to come back.’ And they were like, ‘You need time.’ They’re like, ‘Trevor, don’t come for two-three days. You need time in India.’ I was like, ‘Okay, I’ll take time. Like how much time?’ They’re like, ‘How much time do you have?’ I was like, ‘Are we negotiating right now, what’s happening?’ So yeah, I’m excited for that (sic).”
And here we are. In a week, Trevor Noah will be in India touring the country, making up his stand-up content along the way to tickle our ribs with his witty humour, and enjoying Indian food at every chance he gets.
I honestly cannot keep calm!
Trevor Noah's Off The Record Tour is produced and promoted in India by BookMyShow.
Edited by Kanishk Singh