As Noah explains in his memoir, as a boy growing up in post-apartheid South Africa, he faced dangers stemming from political unrest, conflicts between tribes, and his status as a biracial child. He recalls riding to church with his family in a private minibus shuttle and witnessing the driver making violent threats to his mother (via CBS). She waited until the bus slowed down, then opened the door and threw Trevor out before making the leap herself with his baby brother. Safe at home, mother and son argued over whether this incident was God's will, with Noah insisting that they should have stayed at home. "Finally I said, 'Look, Mom. I know you love Jesus, but maybe next week you could ask him to meet us at our house.'"

Mining his childhood and homeland for laughs, Noah began doing local stand-up in his twenties and appeared briefly in a South African soap before eventually trying his hand at comedy in the U.S. In 2012, he made his talk show debut on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," and the following year was a guest on "The Late Show with David Letterman" (per Biography and Culture Trip). Now he uses his own show as a vehicle to denounce racism in America and encourage voter turnout.