Trevor Noah

Trevor Noah began his on-screen career with a small role on the South African soap opera Isidingo (2002). He later hosted the radio program Noah’s Ark on the youth radio station YFM. On television, he hosted the educational program Run the Adventure (2004–2006) on SABC 2. In 2007, he hosted the gossip show The Real Goboza and the sports program Siyadlala on SABC. In 2008, he co-hosted the dating game show The Amazing Date with Pabi Moloi and competed on the fourth series of Strictly Come Dancing. In 2009, he hosted the 3rd Annual South African Film and Television Awards and co-hosted the reality competition series The Axe Sweet Life. In 2010, he hosted the South African Music Awards and the talk show Tonight with Trevor Noah on MNet and later on Mzansi Magic.

During this period, Noah developed his stand-up career, performing in comedy events such as The Blacks Only Comedy Show, Heavyweight Comedy Jam, Vodacom Campus Comedy Tour, Cape Town International Comedy Festival, Jozi Comedy Festival, and Bafunny Bafunny (2010). His early stand-up specials included The Daywalker (2009), Crazy Normal (2011), That’s Racist (2012), and It’s My Culture (2013). He moved to the United States in 2011 and became the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on The Tonight Show (2012) and Late Show with David Letterman (2013). His career during this time also included the documentary You Laugh But It’s True (2012), the stage show Trevor Noah: The Racist (2012), the comedy special Trevor Noah: African American (2013), and appearances on television programs including QI (2013), 8 Out of 10 Cats (2013), and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (2014).

In December 2014, Noah joined The Daily Show as a recurring contributor, and in September 2015 he succeeded Jon Stewart as host. He remained host until December 2022. During this period he also developed projects through his production company Day Zero Productions, signed a first-look deal with Viacom in 2018, and executive-produced television series including The Opposition with Jordan Klepper (2017) and Klepper (2019). He published the memoir Born a Crime (2016), which became a No. 1 New York Times bestseller, and co-authored The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library (2018). His screen appearances during this period included roles on the television series Nashville (2017) and American Vandal (2018) and a cameo in the film Black Panther (2018).

After leaving The Daily Show in 2022, Noah continued his work in television, film, and media. He hosted the Grammy Awards annually from 2021 through 2026 and hosted the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in 2022. In 2023, he launched the podcast What Now? with Trevor Noah, following an earlier podcast for Luminary (2019–2020). In 2024, he collaborated with Fortnite on the stand-up comedy island JokeNite and appeared in the Jennifer Lopez film This Is Me… Now: A Love Story (2024).