Trevor Noah: Where Was I

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)

I haven't seen a special of his in a while so I was excited when I saw this. It wasn't as densely packed with jokes, felt more like a Dave Chappelle thing where he's slowly telling the story, peeling away. And doing so in an insightful way, resulting in applause and not exactly laughs. It's intelligent, and eventually does get some laughs; But sometimes I just wanna hear dumb jokes, you know. I wish he said "that flag, deez nuts" for instance. There's his usual accent bits which he's good at. The special is okay it didn't really have any jokes that hit it out the park, felt like people applauded louder than when they did laugh.

Still get a couple laughs, but not his best work per se. One thing though is Trevor is the only stand up comedian I'm okay with watching with my parents He doesn't say anything outrageous or edgy, plus he's a comedian well known throughout Africa who made it big so I think we're all sentimental and proud about it because he's actually good at it too. Something to be proud of. But this didn't feel as memorable as his other works, just decent.

The first few minutes was funny but then the rest of it didn't feel as natural as when I first used to watch Trevor Noah. Maybe these a need to come back to the mother land and rediscover your mojo, maybe....i don't know. It just wasn't as funny as his previous stand ups. But I did get a chuckle or two out of it so his true comedic genius is in there somewhere and I will admit his education on the history of Germany was quite enlightening for me who does love to know a bit of history, whether that would be something to at appeals to everyone is up for debate.

I do think Trevor is his strongest when he compares African cultures with other cultures, because his roots are natural to him so you can tell his not trying too hard.

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.

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.