Trevor Noah ‘in no rush’ to get back to recording The Daily Show in the studio

Trevor Noah ‘in no rush’ to get back to recording The Daily Show in the studio amid ongoing COVID pandemic: ‘I do not wish to make the same mistake America made’

  • Trevor Noah has revealed he’s ‘in no rush’ to return to The Daily Show studio in his cover story for Variety’s September issue 
  • ‘I don’t want to put [the production staff] in a position where they feel like they have to say yes, or they might be injured,’ said the 36-year-old 
  • ‘I do not wish to make the same mistake America made, and that is rushing to go back to normal when nothing is normal,’ the South African comedian continued 
  • A perceived rush to reopen the United States has been widely blamed for a ‘second wave’ of the potentially fatal coronavirus 
  • Noah aired the first episode of The Daily Social Distancing Show from his home on March 23 

Trevor Noah has revealed he’s ‘in no rush’ to return to The Daily Show studio in his cover story for Variety’s September issue. 

‘I don’t want to put [the production staff] in a position where they feel like they have to say yes, or they might be injured,’ said the 36-year-old, reflecting on the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that has almost all late night and talk shows broadcasting from home.

‘I do not wish to make the same mistake America made, and that is rushing to go back to normal when nothing is normal,’ the South African comedian continued. 

Playing it safe: Trevor Noah has revealed he’s ‘in no rush’ to return to The Daily Show studio in his cover story for Variety’s September issue

A perceived rush to reopen the United States has been widely blamed for a ‘second wave’ of the potentially fatal coronavirus, which has so far affected 5.75million Americans and claimed the lives of more than 177,000. 

Noah aired the first episode of The Daily Social Distancing Show from his home on March 23.

The funnyman told Variety that he’s found some benefits to not recording the show in front of his usual live audience.

‘When you make the show with a live audience, you are at the mercy of those people. Those 200 people determine what is or isn’t funny, what is or isn’t too far.’ 

Trevor said he feels more at ease talking frankly about subjects such as the police killing of Breonna Taylor than he would were there a live audience in front of him. If and when normal returns, he added, ‘maybe I’ll find a hybrid approach.’ 

The new abnormal: Noah aired the first episode of The Daily Social Distancing Show from his home on March 23

The new abnormal: Noah aired the first episode of The Daily Social Distancing Show from his home on March 23

Freedom: The funnyman told Variety that he's found some benefits to not recording the show in front of his usual live audience

'When you make the show with a live audience, you are at the mercy of those people. Those 200 people determine what is or isn’t funny, what is or isn’t too far,' he said

Freedom: The funnyman told Variety that he’s found some benefits to not recording the show in front of his usual live audience

Noah also admitted to feeling relieved he wasn’t on air when the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis, Minnesota cops in May.

‘I was glad that we weren’t on the air. I couldn’t speak. I had to listen.’ 

The anchor also spoke about the criticism when he took over The Daily Show from long-running host Jon Stewart in 2015.

‘I fell into the trap of listening to what people were saying about what a worldview is,’ began Noah.

‘When people said, “He’s going to bring a global perspective,” I thought that meant that I had to tell people about what’s going on in Kashmir and what’s going on in Mogadishu.’ 

‘Then I realized no, a global perspective is not talking about what’s happening around the globe. It’s being shaped by the idea that we live together on the globe.’

‘And then I realized that I can talk about Donald Trump, and I can explain to you why this man is like so many African dictators we’ve seen.’

Pre-pandemic: Trevor said he feels more at ease talking frankly about subjects such as the police killing of Breonna Taylor than he would were there a live audience in front of him. Seen here in January 2020

Pre-pandemic: Trevor said he feels more at ease talking frankly about subjects such as the police killing of Breonna Taylor than he would were there a live audience in front of him. Seen here in January 2020

A new perspective: 'I realized that I can talk about Donald Trump, and I can explain to you why this man is like so many African dictators we’ve seen,' said Noah of what he brings to late night TV

A new perspective: ‘I realized that I can talk about Donald Trump, and I can explain to you why this man is like so many African dictators we’ve seen,’ said Noah of what he brings to late night TV

The Daily Show is just one of many late night and talk shows moving to an at-home model.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert are all being hosted from home.

Meanwhile Jimmy Kimmel has taken ‘a couple of months’ off his show Jimmy Kimmel Live!, with guest hosts like David Spade, Dua Lipa and Sean Hayes filling in during his hiatus. 

Everyone's doing it: The Daily Show is just one of many late night and talk shows moving to an at-home model. The Ellen DeGeneres Show host Ellen seen here interviewing Trevor from her mansion

Everyone’s doing it: The Daily Show is just one of many late night and talk shows moving to an at-home model. The Ellen DeGeneres Show host Ellen seen here interviewing Trevor from her mansion

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