Trevor Noah bounds on stage for “Son of Patricia” in a black T-shirt and jeans, a striking contrast for anyone used to his nightly updates on “The Daily Show.”
The South Africa-born comic clearly sees his standup as a chance to expand his repertoire, not fortify his base. He chose to record the Netflix special set for Tuesday, Nov. 20, release at the Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles, not New York. He prefers long stories that begin in the mundane, not anything based on breaking news. And there’s no way he’s going to wear a suit and tie.
“Son of Patricia” isn’t a breakthrough; if anything it works as a near-seamless companion piece to his 2017 special“Afraid of the Dark,”which focused even more heavily on race and immigration in America.
The new special helps fortify Noah in the upper tier of onstage storytellers — it would go well as a chaser toAl Madrigal’s superb“Shrimpin’ Ain’t Easy”one-hour Showtime special from last year. The only difference between a Spalding Gray-style theater performer and Noah, Madrigal and “Nanette” comedian Hannah Gadsby is the network’s decision to call it “comedy” instead of “autobiographical monologue.”
The beginning of “Son of Patricia” is the closest Noah gets to a more traditional Jim Gaffigan-style old-school setup-and-punch-line comedy set. He makes a few very good jokes about Los Angeles, trap music and his hatred of camping.
“Just generally,” he begins, “I find that what white people want to do on vacation is what black people are trying to escape.”
From there, Noah settles into longer threads. As a standup comedian, he goes into a rant about as often as Lewis Black speaks softly. He finds his social truths in the mundane. A long (maybe two minutes too long) thread about tacos and language barriers has just two locations — his friend Dave’s couch and a food truck — and very little actual drama.
Noah is at his best in the second part of that segment, when he deftly segues from his personal story to the hypocrisy of hating immigrants while loving their food.
Throughout the evening Noah shows the comfort of someone who still spends dozens of nights a year on the road in comedy clubs and bigger auditoriums, even though he has a full-time job. (Noah is a regular presence in San Francisco, including a co-headlining spot at theClusterfestcomedy festivalthis summerin front of City Hall.) He may be more successful now as a talk show host, but he seems more comfortable as a standup.
Fans of “The Daily Show,” used to a steady diet of Noah skeweringDonald Trump, will be going through withdrawals until the 46-minute mark of the 65-minute special, when the comedian finally gets into politics.
The decision to spend so little time on the president may be partly logistical. Trump news is updated several times every day, and standup comedy specials are recorded months in advance.
Or it may just be the person that Noah is. There are times in “Son of Patricia” when it’s so clear the comedian is speaking directly to you, that you’ll want to respond back to your television.
That never happens when he’s behind a desk.
M“Son of Patricia”:A standup special starring Trevor Noah. Available Tuesday, Nov. 20, on Netflix.
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