‘Daily Show’ Names New Host, Outrrrage Ensues

 

trevor-noahComedy Central has named a replacement for Daily Show host Jon Stewart and, no, you haven’t heard of him. Trevor Noah is a 31-year-old South African comedian who has appeared on American TV a handful of times and hosted a late-night show in his home country.

The most important question on the minds of The Daily Show faithful: “Is he progressive?” Upon the announcement of his new gig, Noah assured reporters that he won’t waver from liberal orthodoxy. “We are both progressives,” he said about Stewart and himself. “I’ll bring something different because I’m different, but because it’s a team, it’ll be the same as well.” The same but different; that’s a relief.

The far less important question was, “Is he funny?” Well, when Nelson Mandela is listed as a guy’s top comedic influence, you know he’s going to bring the laughs. Here’s the first Noah routine that popped up on You Tube:

Early in I felt the same dread as when I see an open-mic comedian say, “ever wonder if Jack Nicholson goes to the car wash? I think it’d go… a little something… like this…” (I assume Noah’s other routines include “You might be a Xhosa if” and “In apartheid South Africa, the race finds you” riffs, but I’m on deadline here.)

The good news for Noah is that a successful Daily Show host doesn’t need stand-up chops. He needs only to read the prompter, play a video clip, and make a funny face. After the audience is through hooting and clapping, the host smirks and moves on to the next set-up. Rinse and repeat. So after wrapping up a headlining gig at the Bustan Palace Hotel in Muscat, Oman, Noah will jet to the States to receive acclamation. Or will he?

On Monday, social media fans scoured his tweets to find evidence of humor. What they found instead was, to use progressive parlance, problematic:

Jokes about the Holocaust, greed and Israel: That’s the anti-semitic trifecta. But you’ll notice another trend in his tweets — they aren’t funny.

Even knuckle-dragging chauvinists like myself know that jokes involving body shaming and domestic violence are très problématique.

Many conservatives bashed Noah’s jokes as racist, sexist, etc., to point out liberal hypocrisy and score a few points against the partisan show. Thankfully, far more cons focused on his distinct lack of humor. Meanwhile lefty critics were uniformly concerned with Noah’s crimethink, since the true purpose of comedy is to “create oneness,” not laughs.

I sincerely hope that everyone on the right drops the outrrrage! tactics used by social justice warriors. Yes, if a Republican said any of these jokes he would be out of a job tout de suite. That’s no reason to mimic the humorless lefty scolds who shriek “that’s not funny” whenever a joke crosses some line.

Comedy Central can hire whomever it wants; I have no interest in chasing a person out of a job for stepping on a toe or three. It’s not like The Daily Show will replace Noah with a staunch Republican. If they drop this guy, he’ll be replaced with some other liberal shill who will tell the faithful exactly what they want to hear.

To date, Noah’s only response to the controversy was a tweet he posted and quickly deleted: “Twitter does not have enough characters to respond to all the characters on Twitter.”

That wasn’t funny either.

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  1. user_44643 Inactive
    user_44643
    @MikeLaRoche

    Take my wildebeest……please!

    • #1
  2. user_1065645 Member
    user_1065645
    @DaveSussman

    Wow… 2 minutes before your post I posted the same subject.

    Yes, Comedy Central would replace him with another prog. but another anti-semite?

    • #2
  3. Roberto Inactive
    Roberto
    @Roberto

    The Comedy Central PR team will craft a quick mea culpa for him where he publicly abases himself a bit and this latest firestorm of outrage will quickly pass.

    It’s fun to see the Left eat their own for a bit but unless Mr. Noah has something much worse waiting to surface none of those jokes seem enough to sink him, heck the anti-Israel stuff would likely get him laughs with the Daily Show demographic.

    I have to agree on the unfunny but I’m certain he is competent enough to read a prompter, he’ll serve as well as anyone.

    • #3
  4. Tommy De Seno Member
    Tommy De Seno
    @TommyDeSeno

    I think I recall seeing some standup from him that wasn’t terrible.   I don’t think he is perfectly in tune with the American left’s political correctness.

    That doesn’t mean he will go down in flames.   There might be something fun hiding in that progressivism if he does a presentation that backfires with the left.

    Maybe.

    • #4
  5. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Discovering that Noah is an anti-semite will complicate a lot of Sunday school lessons.

    <crickets>

    Look, these are the jokes, people.

    • #5
  6. Steve C. Member
    Steve C.
    @user_531302

    Hell is a place where the chefs are British, the cops are Italian, the mechanics are French and the comedians are South African.

    • #6
  7. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    My son is a comedy encyclopedia, so after reading this news yesterday I went up to him & just said “Trevor Noah.”

    Blank look.

    Then a slight glimmer – “Oh, oh – is he the guy replacing Stewart?  Was he ever even on the show??”

    I watched a short clip of Noah with Stewart, where the first three ‘jokes’ he told got groans from the audience.  Groans, from the Daily Show audience. I know the show has writers, but I don’t think this guy will ever get behind the desk.  You know how Rob said on a recent podcast, about Israel, that no matter how much you know about a foreign country, you don’t really know how its politics works?  Well, same with humor.

    I saw on another story that Chris Rock tweeted out about Noah’s hire, “Thanks, President Obama.” I wonder if that’s because he signed the check.

    • #7
  8. RushBabe49 Thatcher
    RushBabe49
    @RushBabe49

    The correct Conservative response should be:

    Yeah…so what?

    • #8
  9. user_44643 Inactive
    user_44643
    @MikeLaRoche

    There was one tweet where he said that when flying across America, he could feel turbulence from the rising ignorance of flyover country.

    Hey Trevor, get back to us when y’all have indoor plumbing.

    And speaking of ignorance…

    • #9
  10. Songwriter Inactive
    Songwriter
    @user_19450

    David Sussman:Wow… 2 minutes before your post I posted the same subject.

    Yes, Comedy Central would replace him with another prog. but another anti-semite?

    That’s where most anti-semites are lurking these days – in the bosom of the Progressive movement.

    • #10
  11. Marley's Ghost Coolidge
    Marley's Ghost
    @MarleysGhost

    Steve C.:Hell is a place where the chefs are British, the cops are Italian, the mechanics are French and the comedians are South African.

    I just fell out of my chair laughing.  My boss walked by and I had to make it seem like I’m just clumsy.  :-)

    • #11
  12. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @ArizonaPatriot

    Steve C.:Hell is a place where the chefs are British, the cops are Italian, the mechanics are French and the comedians are South African.

    The cops in Hell are not Italian.  They are German.  I think the old joke is:  In Heaven, the English are the policemen, the French are the cooks, and the Germans are the engineers; in Hell, the English are the cooks, the French are the engineers, and the Germans are the policemen.

    The Italians arguably deserve a place on the list, but only as a substitute in for the French, not the Germans.

    You do seem to be right about the South Africans.

    • #12
  13. Johnny Dubya Inactive
    Johnny Dubya
    @JohnnyDubya

    That “flyover country ignorance” tweet annoyed me more than all the others.  (Are there US entertainers who emigrate to other countries and insult their populations?)

    However, I’m delighted that he was chosen to replace Stewart, as I am fairly certain he will crash and burn.  It occurs to me that Jon Stewart : Bill Clinton : : Trevor Noah : Barack Obama.

    On the left-hand side of the analogy:  The left cherishes those lovable American rogues, because they are talented and engaging – so much so that many people on the right kind of like them, or at least respect them.  They may criticize the US, but they clearly love it.

    On the right-hand side of the analogy:  Evidence of the soft bigotry of low expectations.  A couple of guys who were wafted upward to attain a level of success far beyond that which they merited.  Their criticism of the US betrays their disdain for it.

    • #13
  14. MikeHs Inactive
    MikeHs
    @MikeHs

    Mike LaRoche:There was one tweet where he said that when flying across America, he could feel turbulence from the rising ignorance of flyover country.

    Ah, the “Piers Morgan Approach” to winning American fans.  Good luck with that, moron.

    • #14
  15. gts109 Inactive
    gts109
    @gts109

    The guy is an affirmative action hire. That’s what bugs me. Every industry has completely internalized the diversity mantra. So much so that you have executives making what appears to be an extremely poor personnel decision–whereby they hand over a flagship and highly profitable television show to a young, no-name with marginal talents–because racial diversity must be celebrated at all times. Joe Biden’s quote about candidate Barack Obama seems perfectly apt: “I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and cleanand a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.”

    • #15
  16. Claire Berlinski Member
    Claire Berlinski
    @Claire

    I’d never heard of him until I saw the “outrrrrage ensues” headlines. So I promptly started watching him. And I spent hours watching him–I was laughing until I was crying.

    Other videos were less suitable for Ricochet. I confess that they made me laugh, even though they contained a few vulgarities.

    I don’t care about his politics. He’s lousy at Twitter. But his previously-obscure standup stuff is indeed very funny. He will be a fine replacement for Jon Stewart.

    • #16
  17. gts109 Inactive
    gts109
    @gts109

    I watched his one bit about napkins v. diapers. I laughed. But, it wasn’t exactly great comedy. The joke was basically that tacos make you poo, wrapped up with a Speedy Gonzalez-type impression of a Mexican taco vendor.

    Also, if he really didn’t know that a napkin is the thing you wipe on your face after dinner, and not a diaper, is he really going to have the cultural and linguistic background to appeal to an American audience?

    Meh, I don’t watch the show anyway, so I don’t know why I care.

    • #17
  18. user_444739 Inactive
    user_444739
    @OmidMoghadam

    Arizona Patriot:

    Steve C.:Hell is a place where the chefs are British, the cops are Italian, the mechanics are French and the comedians are South African.

    The cops in Hell are not Italian. They are German. I think the old joke is: In Heaven, the English are the policemen, the French are the cooks, and the Germans are the engineers; in Hell, the English are the cooks, the French are the engineers, and the Germans are the policemen.

    The Italians arguably deserve a place on the list, but only as a substitute in for the French, not the Germans.

    You do seem to be right about the South Africans.

    I think the original joke also had for heaven: ‘Italians are the lovers and Germans are the mechanics’, and in hell: ‘ the Italians are the mechanics and the Germans are the lovers.’

    • #18
  19. Quinn the Eskimo Member
    Quinn the Eskimo
    @

    When I was younger — and I know I am dating myself  — comedians used to be funny.  Hard to believe, I know.  Those were good times.

    • #19
  20. Pencilvania Inactive
    Pencilvania
    @Pencilvania

    Thanks for that clip, Quinn! Yes, he’s one of the best!

    • #20
  21. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Like John Oliver, his accent proves he’s smart. Hope he takes the show off to obscurity.

    • #21
  22. Rosie Inactive
    Rosie
    @Nymeria

    I saw a special he made and it was funny. He made very funny jokes about being South African in the US i.e. he doesn’t look “African” he is too light. Yes, he was very unPC which was why it was funny. So who knows what will happen with this new gig.

    • #22
  23. Butters Inactive
    Butters
    @CommodoreBTC

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.:Look, these are the jokes, people.

    https://youtu.be/rIlpYLIiZLE?t=19s

    • #23
  24. Fake John Galt Coolidge
    Fake John Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Well great, now when I don’t watch the show I will be called a racist.

    • #24
  25. Umbra Fractus Inactive
    Umbra Fractus
    @UmbraFractus

    Jon Gabriel, Ed.: Jokes about the Holocaust, greed and Israel: That’s the anti-semitic trifecta. But you’ll notice another trend in his tweets — they aren’t funny.

    I thought the “Beats by Dreidel” pun was clever. Other than that, you’re right.

    • #25
  26. Ricochet Member
    Ricochet
    @EustaceCScrubb

    Fake John Galt

    Well great, now when I don’t watch the show I will be called a racist.

    But if you did watch it, you’d be anti-semitic. Choices, choices…

    • #26
  27. Ryan M Inactive
    Ryan M
    @RyanM

    well, judging from his raised eyebrow, I think he’s got Stewart’s schtick down pat… play a clip, look stupid at the camera, laughs ensue.

    Yes, I think John Stewart is a dope.  There, I said it.

    • #27
  28. Valiuth Member
    Valiuth
    @Valiuth

    Really why are we even talking about this? Do we really care aside from the off chance that he will be a disaster and the show will fail and then we will all laugh ourselves into a silly fit of utter glee as we lap up the sweet, sweet tears of liberals? After all nothing makes me feel better than to watch liberals morn the passing of something they loved.

    • #28
  29. user_44643 Inactive
    user_44643
    @MikeLaRoche

    Ryan M:Yes, I think John Stewart is a dope. There, I said it.

    As is Bill Maher.  They pretend to be smart, but in reality are as dumb as lampposts.

    • #29
  30. user_541971 Member
    user_541971
    @DavidDeeble

    What I want to know is, does he have the facial stamina to engage in the kind of hardcore mugging that made Jon Stewart a one-tool success story?

    • #30
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