African American

Trevor Noah spends his 2013 special actively trying to figure out how to be Black in the United States. Arriving from South Africa, where his birth to a Black mother and white Swiss father was literally illegal under apartheid, he treats American racial categories with a mix of fascination and utter confusion. He observes the way Americans hyphenate their identities, contrasts his own history with the swagger of ‘90s club comics, and points out the irony of Americans trying to reconnect with a mythical version of the continent he just left.

Filmed for Showtime two years before he would take over an American late-night desk, African American serves as Noah’s formal introduction to stateside audiences. He relies heavily on his ear for mimicry and accents to act out his culture shock, shifting between his father’s dry Swiss sensibilities and his mother’s bluntness. Much of the material here, especially the stories about his grandfather jokingly calling him “master” because of his lighter skin, would eventually form the backbone of his memoir Born a Crime. It is a polished, suave hour of comedy that frames a heavy personal history through a cheerful, detached lens.