South African comedian and current The Daily Show correspondent Trevor Noah will be formally appointed today as the new host of the nightly show by Comedy Central, the New York Times is reporting. Noah will take over when current host Jon Stewart retires from the series.
Noah grew up in the Soweto township of Johannesburg, South Africa, with his mother suffering legal consequences for her marriage to Noah’s father, due to the differing colours of their skin. Noah began acting when he was 18, appearing on Isidingo, a South African soap opera, before segueing to hosting a variety of programs, from radio shows to reality competitions, culminating in his hosting the comedy talk show Tonight with Trevor Noah.
Noah has appeared on numerous American comedy programs prior to his current role, including The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Late Show With David Letterman, on both of which he was the first South African comedian, as well as Chelsea Lately and Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell. Noah has also toured across the globe as a standup comedian, with five standup specials, titled Trevor Noah: The Daywalker, Trevor Noah: Crazy Normal, You Laugh But It’s True, Trevor Noah: That’s Racist, and Trevor Noah: African American. He has been part of The Daily Show since December 2014.
A date for Stewart’s retirement from the show and Noah’s ascension has yet to be set. Noah had this to say about his promotion.
No-one can replace Jon Stewart. But together with the amazing team at The Daily Show, we will continue to make this the best damn news show!
— Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah) March 30, 2015