Skip to content
Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for I Wish You Would
Cover image credit:

Source

I Wish You Would

Trevor Noah

Netflix · 2022 · 69 min

A global arena show fueled by accents, identity, and bad curry.

Watch on Netflix(opens in a new tab)

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.

The set list

5 bits

  1. Voices of American presidents and electability

    Noah performs impressions of JFK, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, and Joe Biden, observing that in America winning an election simply requires having a strange voice.

  2. Ordering Indian food in Scotland

    Self-deprecating story detailing his profound love for curry and an overzealous evening in Scotland where he took things too far at an Indian restaurant.

  3. Learning German to impress his father

    Reflecting on his Swiss-German father and discovering that his father wasn't unloving but 'just Swiss', exploring how his natural cadence combined with German vocabulary created unintended, alarming comedic situations.

  4. The concept of Schadenfreude and COVID wishes

    Examining the German word for finding joy in others' misfortunes, comparing pandemic lockdown circumstances to an 'asshole genie' granting wishes people shouldn't have made.

  5. Speaking ill of the dead and the passing of Queen Elizabeth II

    Observing the global reaction to the British monarch's death from the viewpoint of formerly colonized nations, arguing that people have a right to dance on graves because graves are flat.

How it plays

Tone
Witty, silly, whimsical, observational, and self-deprecating.
On stage
Charming, curious, and witty storyteller likened to a refined class clown or jester; commands an arena stage like a rock star while remaining mostly tame, clean, and inoffensive.
Pace
Seamless segues with continuous energetic momentum, fluid physical transitions, and solitary vocal warm-ups leading into high-energy delivery.
About
learning German, communication and language, love for curry and Indian food, impressions of American presidents, COVID-19 pandemic, the German concept of Schadenfreude

What the critics said

Praised for Noah's vocal mimicry, seamless segues, and global observational perspective, though some critics noted that his COVID-related observations were fairly conventional and his style felt tame or dry compared to more provocative contemporaries.

In the room: An adoring, receptive arena audience in Toronto deeply connected to Noah from the moment he walked onto the stage.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: bbfc.co.uk, pastemagazine.com, wherever-i-look.com, vulture.com, primetimer.com, mg.co.za, imdb.com, en.wikipedia.org, themoviedb.org.

Backstory

Taped amid the announcement of his exit from The Daily Show to return to international touring; set against the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the death of Queen Elizabeth II, and his reflections on his multicultural South African, Swiss, and German roots.

Details

Released
Taped
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto
Runtime
69 min
Where
Netflix
Director
David Paul Meyer
Topics
Before
Son of Patricia (2018)
After
Where Was I (2023)

More from Trevor Noah

If you liked this