Talk about misogyny, racism while laughing: Trevor Noah on comedy, pop culture

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah shared that he never dreamed that he would make a living as a comedian, what home means to him and how travelling has changed his perspective. Read on...

South African comedian and host of The Daily Show, Trevor Noah recently shared some pearls of wisdom with the students of Princeton University for Class Day 2021. He shared how he never even dreamed that he would make a living as a comedian, what home means to him, his hopes and fears amid the coronavirus pandemic and several other questions that the students from the university posed at him.

Trevor Noah(Instagram)

He shared in the virtual meet, "Home for me is where my people are, and what I’ve come to learn is my people can be anywhere,” adding, “If you can find a group of people who you relate to, who make you aspire to be more, who challenge you, who help you enjoy life and help you through the tough times as well, then I think you’ll find a sense of belonging no matter where you are.”

Answering a question about the importance of comedy in popular culture, the Daily Show host shared that other than making people feel better comedy also needs to be truthful, saying, “When you come to my show, when you watch my TV show, whatever you do, I want you to leave feeling a little bit better than when you came in,” adding, “Comedy for me has always been a place where we can talk about the uncomfortable things. We can talk about racism while laughing with people. We can talk about misogyny while laughing with people.”

He also added that comedy allows people to discuss the uncomfortable realities, saying, “We can talk about some of the more uncomfortable things in society and hopefully poke holes and reveal some of the light that comes through those holes while using comedy to lessen the burden that the audience is feeling.”

When asked how travel has helped shape his perspective on life, the 37-year-old host revealed, “Travel for me is a humbling experience if you do it, because it will show you that the world is bigger than your world. It will also show you that every idea you have that you accept as dogma is, in fact, just an idea.”

Adding how experiencing different cultures makes you realise that there is no rigid right and wrong, saying, “That’s why I truly enjoy it, because I think it gives you a sense of understanding that everybody is generally coming from a perspective in the world that they think is correct because they’ve learned it, when in fact, there is no one correct way to do anything.”

The comedian then expressed his hopes and fears for 2021, saying, “My greatest hope is that we will use this time, which is arguably one of the worst periods the world has been in in recent history, to try and transform how we do things.”

Adding that he was concerned that Americans and people around the globe will forget the severity of the pandemic and it “will merely become a blip on the radar”. He said, “My fear is that instead of looking at this as a moment in time when humanity itself was tested and people were forced to think together and move together and be together, it will actually be seen as just another point of fragmentation where people can go off in their different directions and believe whatever they want to believe.”

He left the students with the final message that they should leave the world better than they got it, saying, “I really hope you guys go out and change the world. Don’t let it be the same way it was when you came into it.”