I Wish You Would

Trevor Noah has always been a mimic who uses vocal impressions to bridge cultural divides, but here he leans hard into linguistic friction. His strongest material comes from personal observation, like contrasting the warmth of his South African mother with the stiff, silent affection of his Swiss-German father, a man he assumed did not love him until he visited Switzerland and realized his dad was “just Swiss.” His ear for dialects drives the show’s best set pieces, including a detailed recounting of an ill-advised attempt to order spicy curry in Scotland and a breakdown of the aggressive cadence of the German language.\n\nFilmed at the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Canada, this November 2022 Netflix special caught Noah at a career transition. He had announced his departure from hosting The Daily Show only a month prior, ending a seven-year run that defined his American television career. Directed by David Paul Meyer, the special opens with an unusual behind-the-scenes sequence of Noah testing microphones and running through vocal warm-ups in an empty arena before the crowd files in.\n\nWhile Noah’s impressions of American presidents remain a crowd-pleasing staple of his act, some critics noted that his political material, including riffs on COVID-19 conspiracy theorists and Joe Biden’s speech patterns, felt safe and well-trodden. The show finds a better groove when he turns his attention to the sheer absurdity of global culture, such as the performative grief surrounding the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the survival instincts of characters in horror movies.