The late-night host and comedian of the Emmy and Peabody Award-winning “The Daily Show” Trevor Noah will appear at the IU Auditorium on April 27. Tickets start at $25 for students and $35 for the general public, and can be purchased at the IU Auditorium box office or on the IU Auditorium website.
“We wanted to bring Trevor Noah initially because he’s awesome — he’s huge,” said Sam Beck, the Union Board director for performance and entertainment. “He’s a very recognizable name and his comedy incorporates a central theme, establishing a dialogue about the social injustices of today’s society with his audiences.”
Noah succeeded previous “The Daily Show” host Jon Stewart, who had hosted since 1999. Noah has also produced stand-up comedy specials for various TV platforms and debuted his ninth comedy special, “Afraid of the Dark,” last February on Netflix.
A South African native, Noah was the star of David Paul Meyer’s award-winning documentary, “You Laugh But It’s True,” which tells the story of Noah’s career in post-apartheid South Africa, where he starred in TV shows, radio programs and comedy performances. He has hosted TV shows including South Africa’s music, TV and film awards, as well as two seasons of his own late-night talk show, “Tonight with Trevor Noah.”
Trevor released his first book, “Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood” in November 2016, which became a New York Times bestseller. The book is a collection of personal stories about his childhood in South Africa, apartheid and the freedom that followed it.
Noah often criticizes President Donald Trump on “The Daily Show” and Twitter. After Trump said he would be announcing “the most dishonest & corrupt media awards of the year” on his Twitter, Noah responded, “What an honour to be fake considered along with @StephenAtHome @iamsambee for the fakest media awards. #TheFakies.”
Under Noah, “The Daily Show” has made multiple efforts to ridicule Trump’s use of Twitter. The show released a browser app called Make Trump Tweets Eight Again, which automatically changes Trump’s tweets into crayon-scribbled writing.
“The Daily Show” also presented The Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library in October 2016 in Chicago. The library featured visual installations and interactive exhibits, and a 3-D virtual tour of the exhibit exists online.
“Trevor Noah is an incredibly relevant person in both the political and comedy worlds and is extremely appealing and relatable to students,” Beck said. “Many of his beliefs mirror those of many IU students today.”
