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cali

(114,904 posts)
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 08:34 AM Apr 2015

The Problem Isn’t That Trevor Noah Is Offensive. The Problem Is That He’s a Giant Dope.



Not since John McCain selected Sarah Palin as his running mate have the vetting capacities of a powerful political force been cast into such doubt. When Trevor Noah was announced Monday as the next host of satirical powerhouse The Daily Show, most observers had little familiarity with the 31-year-old, South African–born comic, save perhaps for his three awkward appearances on the program with current host Jon Stewart. The New York Times piece announcing the succession threw up a few vague red flags (Comedy Central never auditioned Noah, who provided reporter Dave Itzkoff with a weirdly self-aggrandizing non sequitur comparing himself to Beyoncé). But the excitement of a fresh face bringing a unique perspective to a hallowed franchise (Noah's mother is black and his father is white, which made their union illegal in South Africa's apartheid era), combined with Stewart's full-throated support, seemed like endorsement enough.

Then people—notably BuzzFeed’s Tom Gara—started combing Noah's Twitter feed.

<snip>



It's true that Twitter is a space for comics to try out material that isn't fully baked. And I have no doubt that Saint Jon Stewart has some fat skeletons in his closet—after all, he took over the Daily Show from smarmy king-of-the-bros Craig Kilborn, who strictly enforced a tiresome weekly quota of “Janet Reno looks like a man” gags. But during Stewart’s 16 years at the helm, The Daily Show has taken on a moral authority and responsibility that simply cannot condone this kind of bigoted and misogynist ... no, who am I kidding. The problem is not that Trevor Noah tells offensive jokes. It’s not even that he routinely breaks The Daily Show's covenant of speaking truth to power in favor of speaking truth to fat chicks or Thai hookers or, as the Washington Post’s Wendy Todd points out, black Americans who give their kids names that Noah disapproves of. The problem is that Noah’s jokes are so annihilatingly stupid. Are they even jokes? Are they meta-jokes, like the “My arms are so tired” airplane joke he made on his first Daily Show appearance? Or did he mean that as a joke, too?!? Trevor Noah: ontological mystery.

<snip>

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/03/31/trevor_noah_to_replace_jon_stewart_on_the_daily_show_offensive_yes_but_also.html
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The Problem Isn’t That Trevor Noah Is Offensive. The Problem Is That He’s a Giant Dope. (Original Post) cali Apr 2015 OP
kick samsingh Apr 2015 #1
I find him notedly unimpressive from what I've seen NV Whino Apr 2015 #2
Humor is in the eyes of the beholder el_bryanto Apr 2015 #3
"The problem is that Noah’s jokes are so annihilatingly stupid." deutsey Apr 2015 #4
If all you've seen are the tweets... Kire Apr 2015 #12
LOL deutsey Apr 2015 #14
As for him not being very funny, the Daily Show has a team of writers. octoberlib Apr 2015 #5
Yep, everybody's a critic. nt MrScorpio Apr 2015 #6
The problem is that so many people are talking about this. Daemonaquila Apr 2015 #7
I think that whoever wrote this article is a giant dope Bjorn Against Apr 2015 #8
Thank you. BlueStater Apr 2015 #10
I agree. HappyMe Apr 2015 #11
His background gives him an interesting perspective on race. AtomicKitten Apr 2015 #9
His arms weren't tired because he flew from South Africa. Kire Apr 2015 #13
It's telling that the article chooses to mislead its readers like that. Chathamization Apr 2015 #16
Name three comics working today that you like. Bluenorthwest Apr 2015 #15
I've been listeing to some Comedy Central roasts on... TreasonousBastard Apr 2015 #18
No he's not. He's a guy who survived being... TreasonousBastard Apr 2015 #17
He was pretty great on Totally Biased (video in post) LeftyMom Apr 2015 #19

NV Whino

(20,886 posts)
2. I find him notedly unimpressive from what I've seen
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 08:48 AM
Apr 2015

But, standup comedy is not The Daily Show.

If he continues his lame and/or offensive jokes, the ratings will drop and he will be gone. And remember, he will have writers.

el_bryanto

(11,804 posts)
3. Humor is in the eyes of the beholder
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 08:49 AM
Apr 2015

I found his stand up pretty funny; I found his first appearance on the daily show not super impressive. If he's inheriting the same staff, than I doubt things will change that much in the outlook of the Daily Show.

His main problem is that he's largely unknown - he's only done a few things and he's pretty young. People haven't formed an opinion of him, and those tweets (which are pretty awful) are the basis for many people's first opinion of him. That's a positive and a negative (again, not to hammer the point home, but if Stewart had been exposed to the same kind of vetting, he could also have been made to look pretty bad).

Bryant

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
4. "The problem is that Noah’s jokes are so annihilatingly stupid."
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 08:53 AM
Apr 2015

That's what I thought when I read the samples posted on DU yesterday.

Perhaps I'm not getting the meta-joke either, but the tweets I saw were stupid, witless, bland, and unfunny...not even offensively "edgy" in the way Stanhope can be.

They reminded me of a really lame, old-school Vegas lounge comic. I don't know him beyond these tweets, so maybe that's what he was going for?

deutsey

(20,166 posts)
14. LOL
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 08:30 AM
Apr 2015

Yeah, you got me. I confess: I am close-minded and my opinion of him will never change.



I have no clue who this guy is. Zero, zip, none. All I know is that I found his tweets to be rather lame, old-fashioned Vegas lounge humor and I made a comment on that on a discussion board thread. I simply concurred with a comment made in the OP.

I didn't say he must be fired from TDS or ostracized from human civilization, nor did I say, "I vow never to see any of his stand-up routines and will forevermore judge him solely on his tweets."

Sheesh.

octoberlib

(14,971 posts)
5. As for him not being very funny, the Daily Show has a team of writers.
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 09:01 AM
Apr 2015

I can remember Jon Stewart's first little show on MTV. I watched it a couple times then quit because I didn't think he was that funny at the time, either.

 

Daemonaquila

(1,712 posts)
7. The problem is that so many people are talking about this.
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 10:39 AM
Apr 2015

He's a comedian. He's taking over a show. So. Freaking. What?

He'll either bomb or be another great surprise like Jon Stewart. The show will either go on, get a new host, or go away.

What does it matter?

If only the media put this much effort into analyzing politicians. What a blooming waste of time.

Bjorn Against

(12,041 posts)
8. I think that whoever wrote this article is a giant dope
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 07:18 PM
Apr 2015

Did this person seriously compare a man who can speak six different languages to Sarah Palin?

Yes, Trevor Noah can speak six different languages, the guy is no idiot and he is probably one of the most intelligent comedians out there.

It is clear that the author of this article did not even do the most basic of research. I will be the first to say that the tweets that have been plastered all over the media are stupid and unfunny, but that does not mean all of Trevor Noah's work is stupid and unfunny.

Trevor Noah has made nearly 9,000 tweets and anyone who thinks that the people who dug through years of tweets to pull out the very worst ones are giving an honest portrayal of the full body of Noah's work is extremely lazy.

Any comedian is going to look bad if you only look at their worst jokes, but if you actually watch Noah's stand up act you will see that he is very funny and insightful.

BlueStater

(7,596 posts)
10. Thank you.
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 07:28 PM
Apr 2015

I know very little about this man but it's annoying as hell how the media has to dig into the past of everybody to find something offensive. I couldn't give a shit less that he made a few off-color jokes in 2010 or whatever. It's impossible to live life with a completely spotless record. If you want someone with zero controversy, hire a robot.

 

AtomicKitten

(46,585 posts)
9. His background gives him an interesting perspective on race.
Wed Apr 1, 2015, 07:24 PM
Apr 2015


He's pretty cute too. So, there's that.

Kire

(11,086 posts)
13. His arms weren't tired because he flew from South Africa.
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 06:17 AM
Apr 2015

They were tired because 'Hands up, Don't shoot" is the way he's had to hold them since he got here.


That's not annihilatingly stupid.

Chathamization

(1,638 posts)
16. It's telling that the article chooses to mislead its readers like that.
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 09:56 AM
Apr 2015

Seriously, he addresses police brutality and the article tells the readers that he simply made a stupid airplane meta-joke?

 

Bluenorthwest

(45,319 posts)
15. Name three comics working today that you like.
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 09:09 AM
Apr 2015

I can convict most of them with a few random quotes. Sarah Silverman? Her best jokes should not even be repeated on DU. Chris Rock? Uses slurs, does some pretty sexist materials. Louis CK? It's not kid stuff.
I would also offer than I have yet to hear a comedian say anything as offensive as the language that streamed out of the Indiana Statehouse this week, out of the Vatican and 700 Club every week and out of the Republican Party every goddamn day and I'm a guy who has heard late night raging drunken sets from the likes of Sam Kinison. I'll take comedians over clerics any day, also over politicians.

TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
18. I've been listeing to some Comedy Central roasts on...
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 11:43 AM
Apr 2015

XM and even though they are mild compared to the old Friar's Club ones, hardly any of the routines would survive a few minutes here.

Sweet little Amy Schumer would be banned immediately and the rest of the women would probably cause a rash of suicides. Even the mention of what they did to Joan Rivers is a high crime and misdemeanor here.

Give this guy a chance, like the real world is doing, and stop treating the Daily Show as some kind of religious quest.



TreasonousBastard

(43,049 posts)
17. No he's not. He's a guy who survived being...
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 11:32 AM
Apr 2015

a biracial kid during Apartheid.

I don't think he's hysterically funny from what I've seen, but he has one hell of a perspective to add-- more than damn near anyone here or at Slate.



LeftyMom

(49,212 posts)
19. He was pretty great on Totally Biased (video in post)
Fri Apr 3, 2015, 11:58 AM
Apr 2015
https://m.


Clever, insightful? I'd say that's a guy worthy of a chance.
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