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Friday, March 29, 2024
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Trevor Noah talks racism, tacos at Phillips Center

<p>Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” performs at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday night.</p>

Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” performs at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday night.

Trevor Noah watched as interpreters for the hearing impaired translated everything he said at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday night.

“I am Trevor,” he said, watching the translators. “You know what, I’m not even going to sign this stand-up for you. I’m just gonna sign my own jokes.”

Noah, a stand-up comedian and host of “The Daily Show,” performed a stand-up act and answered questions from Accent Speakers Bureau Chairperson Kevin Gerson in front of a crowd of more than 1,700 people. He was paid $90,000.

Noah, who was born and raised in South Africa, took jabs at the presidential candidates and joked about the lingo in America and discovering tacos.

Noah said he dreamed about attending an American university like he would see in the movies.

“And then I saw how much you pay, and I was like ‘It’s fine,’” he said.

He told a story about when he was with his friend who invited him to eat tacos from a taco truck, which was a new discovery for him. The vendor offered him a napkin, which means “baby’s diaper” in his home country. He refused the taco, thinking it would be served with a diaper.

“Now I love tacos, by the way,” he said.

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Noah also tackled racism, an issue he said is hard to talk about but needs to be discussed.

“There’s nothing wrong with saying ‘black’ because there’s nothing wrong with being black,” he said. “Don’t worry about seeming racist; worry about being racist.”

Gerson asked Noah about his start in comedy. Noah said he was invited to a comedy show, where he just got up and began telling jokes. He felt at home.

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“I don’t know what I spoke about; I just know the people laughed,” Noah said.  

Noah added that seeing people of different genders, skin colors and ethnicities sitting side by side in the audience made him happy he went into comedy, which pushes the boundaries of society.

“I am trying to get people to think further,” he said. “Let’s talk about the things that you may be afraid to talk about.”

Hannah Herrero, 24, was the first person in the line. She arrived at 3:15 p.m.

“I really, really wanted to get a front-row seat,” the UF geography graduate student said. Herrero, who knew about Noah before he took over “The Daily Show,” said she enjoyed his humor because he talks about issues in Africa.

“It’s refreshing for Americans to acknowledge positive things coming out of Africa because it’s so much more than the negative things that you hear about in the news,” she said.

@MelissaGomez004

mgomez@alligator.org

Trevor Noah, the host of Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show,” performs at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts on Wednesday night.

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