Trevor Noah
1 book analyzed
Biography
Trevor Noah was born on February 20, 1984, in Johannesburg, South Africa, to Patricia Nombuyiselo Noah (Xhosa) and Robert Noah (Swiss-German). Under the Immorality Act and the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act, their relationship was criminal and his birth was illegal. He grew up in Soweto and the Johannesburg suburbs during the final years of apartheid and the turbulent post-apartheid transition. He began performing stand-up comedy in South Africa in his early twenties, became a television personality there, and was announced as Jon Stewart's successor on The Daily Show in 2015 — a month before Born a Crime was published. He is now one of the most recognizable comedians in the world. Patricia Noah — the book's true subject — was shot in the head by her second husband Abel Shingange in 2009. She survived.