LOS ANGELES – Former “Daily Show” host Trevor Noah wasn’t afraid to get political during his stand-up performance at the Hollywood Bowl Saturday night.
And we’re not talking about the upcoming presidential election, which he was also asked about during a Q&A with the audience that concluded his nearly two-hour show. No, he ventured into more controversial waters: Is he Team Kendrick Lamar or Team Drake?
After pretending to quit the show to avoid such a heated topic, Noah fearlessly planted his flag on Team Kendrick while remaining skillfully diplomatic.
“In general, I love both. You can’t force me not to love both. I don’t live in a binary world; I love Drake’s music, I love Kendrick’s music,” he told the audience.
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“In this argument in particular, I think as an amateur hip-hop fan and not an expert” – he pauses to warn someone to put their phone away, even though devices were not banned at the show – “in this case, Kendrick won, in my humble opinion, because, first of all, he was multi-faceted.”
His answer received great applause from the audience in LA.
Noah explained, “Drake had some great rhymes. They were amazing, but they were kind of direct, you know? Kendrick would do like double, triple, quadruple interpretations. And if you didn’t understand, he would just say, ‘I hate the way you walk. I hate the way you talk.’ And I was like, ‘Wow, what an effective way of communicating.’
“And then he bops them too! It’s hard to lose a rap argument when it’s that catchy,” he added. Earlier in the day, “I didn’t even know I was doing it, like, ‘They don’t like us. They don’t like us.’ Then you win. If people are singing your downfall for fun, I think you’ve lost the rap argument. So: Kendrick.”
Saturday night marked the end of the North American leg of Noah’s Off the Record tour (and the penultimate night of the nearly two-week-long Netflix Is a Joke Fest), which perhaps explains his willingness to throw caution to the wind and take sides.
As the South African comedian said, he “can’t be fired now” since he has finished performing in the US.
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Trevor Noah criticizes LA drivers for cutting him off in traffic at the Hollywood Bowl
Otherwise, Noah limited his performance to less controversial topics and started with topics that you simply can’t go wrong with when talking to an LA audience: weather and traffic.
After an opening set by his longtime friend Wil Sylvince, the visiting New Yorker chastised the audience by pointing out the passive-aggressive way LA drivers don’t make eye contact when they rip off other drivers.
“I’m trying to get to the show with you!” he said. “People cut me off in traffic.”
He spoke about his recent travels and complained about commonly accepted annoyances, like being put on standby because of airline errors. Noah admitted that there is a part of his brain that lets him see the humor in the most inappropriate situations – even when it’s too early to find something funny.
“I don’t find everything funny, but I find the funny in everything,” said Noah.
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One such case occurred when news broke of the missing submersible (the one with five men on board who were trying to explore the wreck of the Titanic but died when the Titan imploded). The comedian’s first thought: “We know there are no black people in this story.”
Whether it was a skiing accident, a camping trip gone wrong or a hot air balloon accident, “there were no black people involved,” Noah joked.
“I believe that black people by nature lead a life of danger,” he said, later adding: “If you have Africa in your blood, in your DNA, you don’t seek unnecessary danger. You can’t. That, my friends, is the domain of the white man. That is the destiny of the white man. And, white men, I don’t disgrace you. I encourage you: Go on, baby.”
Trevor Noah remembers the incident with Dave Chappelle and politely declines a gift from a fan
As he moved into the second part of his set with a sip from a water bottle, Noah was interrupted by someone in the audience who brought a birthday card to give to Noah, who turned 40 in February.
“It touches me! It’s Dave Chappelle again!” he joked as the audience member approached the stage surrounded by security guards.
In 2022, during the first “Netflix Is a Joke Fest” at the Hollywood Bowl, Chappelle was attacked onstage by a man from the audience and later sentenced to prison.
“I just wanted to see how fast they could go. I would be dead for sure,” Noah said. “Just say it’s a birthday card and one person can make it to the stage.”
He immediately threw the gift to the side of the stage.
“I’ll definitely take it, but I won’t hold on to it. I like you, but I don’t trust you,” he told the fan.
“I hope you understand, from my perspective, it’s like this: If I just accepted every gift that people gave me, they’d be like, ‘This is for you!’ I’d be like, ‘Yeah, pffff,'” he said, making an impression of an explosion. “White comedian, I’d be like, ‘Thanks, let’s see what it is!’ No black people involved. None.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trevor Noah weighs in on Kendrick vs. Drake at Hollywood Bowl
