Trevor Noah, a 31-year-old comedian from South Africa who has contributed to The Daily Show a handful of times in recent months, will become Jon Stewart’s replacement as host, Comedy Central announced on Monday.
Noah was chosen a little more than a month after Stewart unexpectedly announced he was leaving The Daily Show following 16 years as the show’s principal voice.
New Jersey native Stewart is being replaced by the son of a black South African mother and white European father. Noah has an international presence, and hosted a late-night talk show in South Africa, Tonight With Trevor Noah.
Noah, who has appeared on Jay Leno and David Letterman, was the subject of a 2011 documentary film by David Paul Meyer, You Laugh but It’s True, which followed his career in post-apartheid South Africa.
He will join Larry Wilmore, a writer-comedian who replaced Stephen Colbert in January in the half-hour slot following The Daily Show. When Noah takes over, Comedy Central will have completely remade the one-hour comedy block that gave the network critical acclaim and, arguably, its identity.
Noah made his debut on The Daily Show last December with a segment that poked fun at cliched American images of his native Africa.
Noah’s selection means late-night TV continues to be a male-dominated domain. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were among the comics cited in public polls as favourites for the new role, but there’s no indication they were interested or considered.
“We love women,” said Michele Ganeless, Comedy Central president. “We talked to women and we talked to men, and we really think we found the best person for the job in Trevor.”
Although at the moment he is less than a household name, Ganeless called his selection not so much a risk as an opportunity.
“He was poised to explode here in this country over the next couple of years, and obviously this will accelerate that process,” she said. “But people won’t come to the show with preconceptions. They will get to discover him, and form their opinions of him, as they watch him host.”
Stewart has been a part of the cultural landscape with a bitingly comic look at the news and how it is covered in the media. He has not set a date for his exit from The Daily Show and, as a result, Comedy Central said nothing on Monday about when Noah would take over.
Stewart offered his endorsement on Monday.
“I’m thrilled for the show and for Trevor,” he said. “He’s a tremendous comic and talent that we’ve loved working with... In fact, I may rejoin as a correspondent just to be part of it.”
In South Africa, the announcement made breaking news on a national television news station. On social media, Noah’s name became a trending topic within minutes, with some Twitter users saying he not only represented South Africa, but also the African continent.
Noah used his biracial identity to challenge South Africa’s race issues, using personal anecdotes from his own life. Growing up biracial in the formerly segregated township of Soweto, Noah once said his birth was a crime.
South Africa’s idiosyncrasies, from party politics to the high crime rate, provided regular material.