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Trevor Noah tells the truth
The Daily Show host is ready to share his story. By Sara Freund
AT HIS HEART, Trevor Noah is a storyteller. Whatever platform— stage, screen, conversation— he connects with people. In his first book, Born a Crime, released in November, Noah finds a new way to tell stories. The book is not a cathartic expression of poverty and dark circumstances in apartheid-era Johannesburg, where he grew up; it’s about the moments and family that shaped him there, and how politics fits in. “You can be extraordinary in the most ordinary circumstances,” he says. “And I’m not talking about me. [Rather,] the stories of my mom and what I learned from her, a powerful woman who fought against the odds.”
“I can hear the rhythm of jokes like a musician can hear notes.”
In the book, Noah, who
took over The Daily Show in 2015 and appears at Chicago Humanities Festival, explains how he got his name—one you don’t hear much in South Africa. In fact, it was more common to be named Hitler or Mussolini, he says, a phenomenon tied to how many black Africans were denied education. People wanted famous names for their kids, and Hitler, well, he was well known. Thankfully, Noah’s mom chose a name untethered to anything in her world. “She picked something that could shape itself; she was trying to set me apart.” In South Africa, Noah started doing stand-up when friends encouraged him to try it at a local club. He wasn’t nervous. “[Comedy] is just something I understand. I can hear the rhythm of jokes like a musician can hear notes.” Since then, he’s focused on sharp social and political commentary, making him a perfect, if initially unexpected (at least for U.S. audiences), successor to Jon
YAA GYASI
Born in Ghana and raised in Alabama, Gyasi’s debut work, Homegoing, is a riveting read about race, history, ancestry, Oct 29
Stewart. “Comedy becomes an honest space I share with an audience. What makes comedy right for heavy issues is that
people are open, they’re laughing and hearing what you’re saying.”
Comedy and truth are one and the same for Noah. “Comedians who are really great know how to bring the truth into their comedy. When you play in that realm, truth is often stranger than fiction.” Music Box Theatre, 3733 N Southport Ave (
chicagohumanities.org). Nov 12
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THOMAS FRIEDMAN New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner Friedman talks about his new book, Thank You for Being Late, taking a closer look at the chaos of the modern world. Oct 17
HARRIS-PERRY MELISSA
Former MSNBC host Harris-Perry brings her scholarly expertise and political commentary to Chicago to discuss tough topics today, including gun violence. Nov 10
JONATHAN LETHEM The MacArthur Fellowship recipient and author brings a new novel, A Gambler’s Anatomy.
September–November 2016 Time Out Chicago WHO TO SEE
Other highlights at the Chicago Humanities Festival
PHOTOGRAPHS (FROM LEFT): JAKE CHESSUM; MICHAEL LIONSTAR
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