Trevor Noah: Where Was I

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.

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.

This guy is awesome. He is one of the comedians i always enjoy because his stand ups are always so clean and so pure and smart. No swear words or vurglar language. Also the humor is not based on sexist jokes about women but really smart points on how he views the world. This one is based on jokes about countries and people all over the world and once again i give it 10/10 because he does not try to force the jokes, but he's genuine and really careful with words, which modern stand up comedy is missing. It's been a long time since i laughed with a stand up more than 5 times throughout the show, but this one did the trick. It's hard to be genuine nowadays and i hope Trevor Noah does not change his style of being respectfully funny.

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.