Trevor Noah: Where Was I

From detroit michigan, after hosting the daily show for so long. That must have been difficult to give up. A sixty eight minute standup special on netflix. He touches briefly on the dark history of germany. The history of columbus day in the united states. The use of public bathrooms.. by anyone! Gay marriage. Star wars. Germany and its new national anthem. Funny stuff. Cheerleaders and their past dating life. Lost luggage, and being left behind by his mother. Shopping in paris. And why there are so many tornados in the midwest. Trevor's history, and how he came to be where he is now. It's pretty funny! Directed by david meyer, also a long timer at the daily show.

No pun intended - I mean the title of his show already is a pun, so what could I add? Well I reckon I found something to add. That aside let's get into Trevor himself. I had a bit of an issue with him when I "discovered" him. That's quite a stretch actually - he took over the Daily Show, he already was doing shows and stuff. But he was replacing Jon Stewart ... how could he? How could anyone? But whoever was responsible for that decision ... I salute you! I reckon it was more than one person who made this possible.

After a bit of time to warm up to him, I could see the differences ... and relish in them and enjoy them. I may still have some issues or disagree here and there, but that is more than normal ... no one human is the same as the other. And yet he is probably one of the most decent comedics out there. So you will not find too many things that will offend the same way that Ricky Gervais offends with ... Trevor is not that kind of comedian! Take it or leave it one might say.

And I reckon he may talk way too much about Germany and France for Americans ... but he tries to bring some outside perspective to the US ... you have to applaud that. And while I don't think all the points he is making are 100% right, it is interesting to see him expanding and really maturing and becoming more knowledgeable! He knows: you always can learn more! And he does just do that.

And he tries to "teach" us too. Not in a bad way - or in the sense of "I know more than you". No it never comes of as demeaning. One thing is for sure: no matter where he goes - he will never be lost! (yes I just did that - with his help)

Trevor Noah makes use of his already well known abilities to deliver great performances, his accents are fantastic, he is likeable, relatable, and a pleasure to listen to.

As usual, his comedy is clean, his speech is perfect. Noah's trademark comedy which doesn't relly on over the top outrageousness and foul language is trully refreshing.

Lastly, IMDB declined my first review, I suppose freedom of speech isn't a thing when it comes to some sensitive topics, even though comedians joke about them constantly, and it's fine. All I'm saying is that one section of this special disappointed me and that's why it my rating is low this time.

I'm a huge fan of Trevor Noah and any of his Standup programs are a must-watch for me. But as this one went on, I kept asking myself more and more if he had always been this obsessed with low-bar "us and them" jokes. Yeah, he always had the occasional funny stereotype, but in this one, he seems to be playing to the lowest common denominator.

Case in point - I don't recall Trevor using this many "guy, that's how women are, right?" and "ladies, that's how men are, right?" bits in his shows. It's lowest-common-denominator humor creeping into a show that has all the world-aware potential to be much more.

As someone who has read his autobiography "Born a Crime", I also can't help but raise an eyebrow at his anecdotes of his youth. Now, don't get me wrong - a stand-up comedian has to embellish, that's his job. But it seems that Trevor has stripped every little bit of his South African childhood from his routine, not even acknowledging it and instead trying his hardest to make everything relatable to the American reality. There's nothing to learn here, only a somewhat tired filed-down, safe bit.

Speaking of embellishment, there are also outright incorrect statements here. Trevor is a Comedian who usually helps you learn stuff. He tends to talk about other countries in a way that's funny, but also educational. In this show, he outright mistranslates the German national anthem (because the actual translation wouldn't be a good punchline) along with several other factual misses. This puzzled me - I've never been aware of seeing him do that.

Ultimately, I feel confident still giving five stars based on Trevor's personality and the wit that sometimes shines through. It's entertaining enough, but I found this special extremely disappointing. From beginning to end, it feels like Trevor is running down a safe routine for an American audience that's not aware of his work so far. As a fan, I hope that this doesn't herald a new approach to his material.

Seriously this wasn't funny. Trevor Noah has fallen off for me. If you've watched his previous stand-ups, you'll understand how he was able to crossover from South Africa to a global audience. He always had me laughing like crazy in his previous specials. Its been a while since i watched his comedy so i came into this one with a high expectation only to be disappointed, i couldn't even manage a giggle in the first twenty minutes, i kept going for 35 minutes hoping it'll get better but meh. I had to stop. It was he was like he was trying to give a funny Ted talk, and failed at it. Maybe some people found it funny but it didn't do it for me.