Trevor Noah bid his “Daily Show” audience farewell on Thursday with jokes about the 2016 presidential election, the pandemic, and his “favorite celebrity,” Kanye West.
“When I started this show, I had three clear goals,” Trevor said. “I was like, I’m gonna make sure Hillary gets elected. I’m gonna make sure that I prevent a global pandemic from starting, and I’m gonna become best friends with Kanye West.”
Trevor then shout out his correspondents, starting with Michael Kosta, who said he was crushed now that the comedian was leaving the show. He then kicked it over to Desi Lydic, who joked she’d e doing Trevor’s exit interview on behalf of Paramount, per reports by The Hollywood Reporter.
Lydia started by asking him about her best personality trait and what he’ll miss most about her.
“Everyone who knows you is lucky to know you,” the South African-born comedian told Lydic before jokingly adding, “one of the funniest people I’ve ever met but one of the worst weather people I’ve ever worked with.”
Dulce Sloan was the next correspondent to bid adieu to Trevor Noah. She joked that he was leaving the show to go on and make movies like the Hemsworth brothers. When Trevor insisted he didn’t have anything lined up, he was just taking some time off. She questioned him, asking, “So, you just leaving a job to do nothing? Wow, you really are half-white.”
Ronny Chieng was next in his typical fashion – sharing what’s trending on social media. “You know what’s trending right now, my feelings,” he told the Born A Crime author.
“You saved me from having to work with amateur producers from Australia and Singapore,” Chieng added. “The whole time, it felt like it was us two immigrants coming together to tell Americans what’s wrong with them, which they always appreciate.”
After (noticeably) getting emotional, Chieng joked with Trevor that he was just joking and wasn’t actually sad, Chieng asked, “Can I be the new host?”
One of the final correspondents to bid farewell to Trevor was Roy Wood Jr., who asked Trevor to finally come clean on his last episode. When the host asked Wood what he should come clean about, he said, “You ain’t actually African.”
Wood continued the bit, asking if he really hailed from Africa, “Why you be talking all British then?” adding, “ain’t no African sound like that, man.” As Noah continued to deny it, Wood gave up and said, “Whatever, it’s been a good run.”
Jordan Klepper concluded the correspondent farewells, referring to himself as the person who spends every other week in the U.S, “almost getting murdered by QAnon psychopaths,” to which Trevor replied that he was surprised Klepper was still alive.
Jordan then introduced a Trevor Noah version of Jordan Klepper: Fingers the Pulse. Jordan hit the streets of Midtown Manhattan, where he questioned passersby concerning Trevor’s exit from The Daily Show.
Noah then welcomed Neal Brennan to the stage about 13 years after the two met at the Comedy Store in L.A. When the duo met, Brennan told Trevor, “America doesn’t tolerate people with accents on T.V., so you should leave.” When John Oliver began finding success as the host of Last Week Tonight, Brennan called Trevor and told him to come back.
Trevor praised Brennan’s latest special, Block, before Brennan returned the favor with the host’s standup, I Wish You Would, calling it his favorite of Noah’s standups and his “strongest, cleanest material.”
In his final sign-off as the Daily Show host, an emotional Trevor took a moment to thank the fans and Black women who shaped his life.
“I’m grateful to you, every single one of you,” the comedian said in a clip released ahead of the airing of his final show. “I remember when we started the show, we couldn’t get enough people to fill an audience.”
He also recalled that when he started as a comedian, there were empty seats at his shows, which is why he doesn’t take it for granted now.
“Every seat that has ever been filled to watch something that I’m doing, I always appreciate ’cause I know the empty seat that sits behind it, so thank you,” Trevor continued.
“Thank you to the people who watch, the people who share the clips, everyone who’s had an opinion, everyone who’s been kind enough and gracious enough.”
Trevor even thanked everyone who critiqued his show or hate-watched it. “We still got the ratings,” he joked before switching his focus to Black women.
“I’ve often been credited with having these grand ideas,” Trevor commented. “Who do you think teaches me? Who do you think has shaped me, nourished me, informed me? My mom, my grand, my aunts, all these Black women in my life.”
He continued by saying that he always tells people if they are looking to learn about the U.S, they should ask Black women because “unlike everybody else, Black women cannot afford to fuck around and find out.”
“Black people understand how hard it is when things go bad,” Trevor added. “When things go bad, Black people know that it gets worse for them. But Black women, in particular, they know what shit is.”
Trevor Noah concluded the show by offering a bit of advice to people.
“If you truly want to know what to do or how to do it, or maybe the best way or the most equitable way, talk to Black women,” Trevor said. “They are a lot of the reasons that I’m here.”
