Speaker 1: You're listening to Comedy Central.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I don't know if I mentioned it
Speaker 2: is my final show, final episode of the Daily Show
Speaker 2: with Trevanaugh. And don't be sad. I know a lot
Speaker 2: of people are sad, but please don't be sad. You
Speaker 2: should be happy that an African leader is peacefully leaving power.
Speaker 1: It's never guaranteed. It's never guaranteed.
Speaker 2: It's really hard to believe it's been seven years at
Speaker 2: the desk, you know, I was, I was thinking. Everyone
Speaker 2: asks me about they I say, it's seven years. Can
Speaker 2: you can you believe? It doesn't feel like seven years,
Speaker 2: you know, well, not all at the desk obviously I.
Speaker 1: Went home in between, you know. Yeah, but still it's
Speaker 1: been a wild ride, you know.
Speaker 2: And and some of the people I work with, some
Speaker 2: of you, have been asking me between the scenes, what
Speaker 2: have you learned at your time in America?
Speaker 1: What have you learned at your time?
Speaker 2: And you know, and I would never pretend to understand America,
Speaker 2: you know, in the relatively short time I think I've
Speaker 2: been here, I don't think I know much about anything.
Speaker 1: The more I learned, Funny enough, but.
Speaker 2: When I thought about it, I realized that there were
Speaker 2: three main lessons that I've learned in my time, you know,
Speaker 2: being privileged enough to host the show that you've been
Speaker 2: wonderful enough to watch.
Speaker 1: And the first lesson I.
Speaker 2: Learned is something that took me a long time to realize.
Speaker 2: Issues are real, but politics are just an invented way
Speaker 2: to solve those issues. Don't ever forget that, you know, I,
Speaker 2: in the very beginning also got sucked into the whole
Speaker 2: Republican Democrats. And you know, it's like, oh, this is
Speaker 2: the way it should be, the Republican Yet it's not
Speaker 2: actually the way it should be. It's not even the
Speaker 2: way it is. It's not a binary. They're not just
Speaker 2: two ways to so any problem. They are not just
Speaker 2: two ways to be. You know, I'm eternally grateful to
Speaker 2: a man who I met as a stranger, funny enough,
Speaker 2: and he said something really beautiful to me. We're walking
Speaker 2: through Harlem and he said to me, say, you know, Trevor,
Speaker 2: one of the greatest lives. They tell you in America,
Speaker 2: they tell you that, they tell you that America is
Speaker 2: two political parties, Republicans and Democrats. And he said, but
Speaker 2: I'll tell you now, it's Republicans Democrats. As black people and.
Speaker 1: Every other person of color who's trying to make a
Speaker 1: name or do something for themselves.
Speaker 2: And that stuck with me, and it made me think
Speaker 2: about American politics differently. Made me realize that we get
Speaker 2: tricked a lot of time, not just in America but
Speaker 2: everywhere in the world into liking or not liking something
Speaker 2: based more on the tribe that it comes from, the
Speaker 2: tribe that it emanates from, than what the idea actually is.
Speaker 2: You know, it's whether they put that little R or
Speaker 2: that D next to somebody's name in a newspaper article
Speaker 2: that defines how you feel about it, when in fact,
Speaker 2: somebody that you may not agree with on most things
Speaker 2: can do something that you like. They could do something
Speaker 2: that you agree with. And I think as we live
Speaker 2: in a society where we increasingly introduce ourselves with the
Speaker 2: things that separates us, we forget that real friendships come
Speaker 2: from the similarities and then the disagreements are how we
Speaker 2: polish each other as human beings.
Speaker 1: I'm not saying you'll agree with everyone, don't get me wrong.
Speaker 2: Like kumbaya and everything works, I'm not saying that, but
Speaker 2: you know, just remember that, like Trump did prison reform.
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not saying now you should like him,
Speaker 2: but it doesn't mean you have to hate the prison
Speaker 2: reform that he did.
Speaker 1: It could be like, I hate this guy, but I'm
Speaker 1: not going to be there like your honor.
Speaker 2: I should get a longer sentence because.
Speaker 1: Trump did this shit issues on Democrat or Republican.
Speaker 2: That's that's all I'm saying, and that's all I wish
Speaker 2: I could have said a lot more clearly on the show.
Speaker 1: But sometimes in the country, the.
Speaker 2: Way the news is told, the way it's delivered to you,
Speaker 2: it makes it feel that way, but it's not. Clean
Speaker 2: water isn't a Republican or a Democrat issue. Affordable housing
Speaker 2: isn't a Republican or a Democrat issue. I don't care
Speaker 2: what party you are. You're probably struggling to pay for
Speaker 2: your rent. You're probably struggling to own a house or
Speaker 2: to buy something. Crime is not a Republican or a
Speaker 2: Democrat issue. It's oftentimes something that New York Times just
Speaker 2: reports on because they listen to everything the police say.
Speaker 2: But that's another story for another day. You know, politics
Speaker 2: has transformed into a giant name of football. It feels
Speaker 2: like and just like football, it you know, turns everybody's
Speaker 2: brains to mush.
Speaker 1: But don't forget that.
Speaker 2: Every time you think of an issue, don't think of
Speaker 2: it through the lens of Republican and democrats. Forget that
Speaker 2: for a moment, think about it as a human being,
Speaker 2: and then figure out which person in power is actually
Speaker 2: trying to do what you think needs to be done
Speaker 2: about that issue. The second lesson I learned is never
Speaker 2: forget that context matters.
Speaker 1: You never forget how much context matters. I feel like
Speaker 1: we live.
Speaker 2: In an age of limitless information right now, but we
Speaker 2: never seem to acknowledge that there's a shortage of context.
Speaker 2: You know, in many ways, it's why I started doing
Speaker 2: between the scenes in the short time I have on
Speaker 2: the show.
Speaker 1: There's only so much I can convey as a message.
Speaker 2: And you know that messages, I understand, distilled and synthesized
Speaker 2: for people. But we we process everything in bites and
Speaker 2: we don't realize that we have a lot of information,
Speaker 2: but we don't have the context that is so necessary
Speaker 2: for us to protect, you know, to to process that that.
Speaker 1: Information, which is so important. Context is everything, It's truly everything.
Speaker 2: We have information though we know we know about a
Speaker 2: flood in Pakistan, in a way that we never would
Speaker 2: have known before. We know about protests in Iran, we
Speaker 2: know about what the troop movements are in Ukraine. We
Speaker 2: know about a drought in parts of you know, Sudan.
Speaker 2: We know all of these things. You know, we know
Speaker 2: who Pete Davidson is dating now. You know, sometimes I
Speaker 2: feel like we know it before he does. You know, Yeah,
Speaker 2: he's just like, what's what?
Speaker 1: I am? Sweet?
Speaker 2: But yeah, but we don't have the context oftentimes when
Speaker 2: we make a decision. Is what I started realizing. You know,
Speaker 2: we see a clip of video, it's designed to make
Speaker 2: us angry, we respond to it accordingly. If we don't
Speaker 2: know how it startsed, we don't know how it ended.
Speaker 2: We don't know what the actual story is. And context
Speaker 2: is so important for everything, for every conversation. If you
Speaker 2: think about it in life, you know, see it makes
Speaker 2: you angry. You don't wonder why it makes you angry,
Speaker 2: don't even know if it was designed to make you angry.
Speaker 2: You know, I've realized it's so important to protect yourself
Speaker 2: from that. Try and find the context wherever you can,
Speaker 2: ask as many questions and it may slow you down
Speaker 2: in being able to make a decision. It may slow
Speaker 2: you down in being able to form a take, but
Speaker 2: maybe that's a good thing. Maybe we shouldn't have an
Speaker 2: opinion immediately. Maybe we should wait and see what happened,
Speaker 2: see what the context is.
Speaker 1: You don't know what the video is. You know, all
Speaker 1: see these videos.
Speaker 2: So that video of that raccoon attacking that little girl,
Speaker 2: it was terrible, but we don't know what she did
Speaker 2: to the raccoon. You know, maybe sold the raccoon some cocaine.
Speaker 2: It wasn't cocaine, and the raccoon was like shit.
Speaker 1: This is flower God.
Speaker 2: I think context is everything, and I've experienced in many
Speaker 2: in many ways. Firsthand, I remember when I started the show.
Speaker 2: You know, there's so many people. They hated me. They
Speaker 2: genuinely hated me. They hated the idea, they hated how
Speaker 2: I look, They hated my hair, they hated my accent,
Speaker 2: they hated everything about me, my point of everything. And
Speaker 2: then I look seven years later, and now those people
Speaker 2: still hate me, but but for the right reasons now
Speaker 2: because now they know me, they understand me, and obviously
Speaker 2: there's people who love me. And I appreciate all of
Speaker 2: you who come out and enjoy the show with me.
Speaker 2: But just remember, without context, nothing makes sense, whether it's
Speaker 2: international traditions, norms, customs. We all think it's normal because
Speaker 2: we are in the place that we're in. But as
Speaker 2: the world becomes smaller, we're also going to compress everything
Speaker 2: that we think is right and is normal, and it's
Speaker 2: going to create a little bit of tension. You know,
Speaker 2: there is one way, and we don't know what the
Speaker 2: one way is. You know, context, people, please just don't
Speaker 2: forget that. It's like, how if you joke about your
Speaker 2: own mom, then it's funny, right, but if I.
Speaker 1: Joke about your mom, then it's hilarious. There's a difference,
Speaker 1: you know.
Speaker 2: And I guess the final lesson I learned at the show,
Speaker 2: and I learned it not at the show, but because
Speaker 2: of the show and the news I was covering, is
Speaker 2: please don't forget that the world is a friendlier place
Speaker 2: than the internet and the news will make you think.
Speaker 2: Just don't forget that. You know, I've been I've been
Speaker 2: really lucky to go out and you know, my comedy
Speaker 2: has taken me to places and to people. I've been
Speaker 2: lucky enough to do comedy from Florida all the way
Speaker 2: through to you know, Washington States. I've been lucky enough
Speaker 2: to travel around the world and meet people, and people
Speaker 2: are a lot friendlier than.
Speaker 1: Social media would have you believe.
Speaker 2: You know, I've been people who are Republican voters who
Speaker 2: come to my show because even their kids brought them
Speaker 2: and they.
Speaker 1: Go I didn't know.
Speaker 2: I would laugh and I had a good time. And
Speaker 2: I may not agree with you, but maybe this, but
Speaker 2: they see me as a human. Maybe I talk to them,
Speaker 2: I see them as a human in a way that
Speaker 2: we didn't before. People are a lot friendlier than they'll
Speaker 2: have you believe. The news is designed to tell you
Speaker 2: what is happening, and generally what is bad is what's
Speaker 2: going to make news.
Speaker 1: But not everything is bad.
Speaker 2: You know, old ladies aren't just being punched everywhere in
Speaker 2: New York City at every corner.
Speaker 1: You know, sometimes they're punching people. People are a.
Speaker 2: Lot better than they'll have you think. You know, we're
Speaker 2: all human beings. We're all trying to get somewhere, and
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, we're all just trying
Speaker 2: to smash and and really.
Speaker 1: The.
Speaker 2: I think the most the most important lesson my time
Speaker 2: at the show has taught me is gratitude. You know,
Speaker 2: It's taught me to be grateful, grateful for for everything
Speaker 2: that I have that I don't even realize I have,
Speaker 2: you know, grateful to the wonderful people who helped me
Speaker 2: make every single episode of the show. I always tell
Speaker 2: the people I work with, I go, you know, I
Speaker 2: wish you could be with me all the time. When
Speaker 2: I meet people who enjoy the show and they go,
Speaker 2: great show, and I'm like, yeah, but I wish they
Speaker 2: could see that as well. You know, they could experience that,
Speaker 2: and they could also get the death threats too.
Speaker 1: We should share these things, is what I'm saying.
Speaker 2: Well, yeah, but thank you to all of them. It's
Speaker 2: it's crazy when when when when people ask me like,
Speaker 2: how did this?
Speaker 1: How did this? It was a wild journey.
Speaker 2: It was the craziest journey that I didn't predict, I
Speaker 2: didn't expect.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I got a I got a call from a man
Speaker 2: by the name of John Stewart and I'll never forget
Speaker 2: this call.
Speaker 1: I was in London doing my.
Speaker 2: First tour of the UK. Was such a such a
Speaker 2: such an exciting moment for me. I I was thrilled.
Speaker 2: I'd wanted to travel do comedy for so long. And
Speaker 2: my phone rang and I didn't know what the number
Speaker 2: was and I answered the voice another and said, Hey, Trevor,
Speaker 2: how are you. My name is John Stewart. I host
Speaker 2: a comedy show in America called The Daily Show. And
Speaker 2: I was like, oh wow, yeah, I know what The
Speaker 2: Daily Show is. And he was like, as you should,
Speaker 2: young man, as you should.
Speaker 1: It was very funny.
Speaker 2: It was like, you know, go in and outs of
Speaker 2: you know, it's like being taking himself seriously and then
Speaker 2: not at all, and where there's great conversation where he
Speaker 2: invites me. He said, I've seen your comedy online, you know.
Speaker 2: And I think it was the executive producers basically brought
Speaker 2: me to John's attention. You know, Jen Flans, Adam low At,
Speaker 2: Steve Bodo helped me make the show.
Speaker 1: And they said, John, you got to see this kid.
Speaker 2: You've got to you know, you've got to do something
Speaker 2: with him. And John liked me, and he said, yeah,
Speaker 2: let's let's let's do something. You know, I see you
Speaker 2: in me. I was like, ah, that's an interesting one.
Speaker 2: He's like yeah.
Speaker 1: He was like, yeah, I've always felt like I'm Jersey.
Speaker 1: I get it. I get it, you know, but it's
Speaker 1: it's been wild.
Speaker 2: And I called my two best friends, my two best
Speaker 2: creative friends who have been working with for a long time,
Speaker 2: David Maya and David Kibuka, and I said, one of
Speaker 2: them from North Carolina, you know, Cowboy and Guru at
Speaker 2: the same time, fantastic foolmak. I called him and said, YO, know, Dave,
Speaker 2: we got to do this. And then my friend David
Speaker 2: Kibuka from South Africa. I was like, you you want
Speaker 2: to I want to go to America and he was
Speaker 2: like for how long. I was like, for as long
Speaker 2: as they'll allow us. Man, I need you and we
Speaker 2: can do this thing together. And he's like, well all right,
Speaker 2: I was out, let's see what happens and uh and yeah,
Speaker 2: and we've been seeing what happens ever since. And so
Speaker 2: I say thank you to all of those people. There's
Speaker 2: so many thank yous. Like I said, my first bosses are.
Speaker 1: Sitting right here. The people who gave me the job
Speaker 1: sitting right here. You know, Michelle gave me the stub
Speaker 1: hurt jobs.
Speaker 2: You know some who aren't Tia, Sarah and Tanta, but
Speaker 2: right we went through together.
Speaker 1: That was ridiculous. People asked them if they were crazy.
Speaker 1: They were like, you crazy, who the hell is what
Speaker 1: are you doing? Why would you give him this job?
Speaker 1: You know? And I even asked them, was like, why
Speaker 1: would you give me this job? Yeah? And they're like,
Speaker 1: we see something in you and we'll ride with you.
Speaker 1: And you did.
Speaker 2: I want to thank you Ovanov again. You rode with
Speaker 2: me when nobody else would.
Speaker 1: You could have fired me when people were frustulating you.
Speaker 1: You could have not seen it when I didn't even'll
Speaker 1: see it. But us, we've kept up ever since.
Speaker 2: You know, all the people have been truly grateful, all
Speaker 2: the way through to my new team of buses, you know,
Speaker 2: led by Chris McCarthy and the team Kaiz and Nina
Speaker 2: and everyone else.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: But they were like, you know, they were the first
Speaker 2: ones to say, Hey, the Daily Show is your world,
Speaker 2: but doesn't have to be your only world. Let's make
Speaker 2: projects together. Let's produce other content, Let's create for the correspondence.
Speaker 2: Let's you know, get Jordan doing specials, Let's get Desi
Speaker 2: doing specials. And you know now that people are Emmy nominates,
Speaker 2: I'm so proud of that and I'm so grateful to
Speaker 2: every single one. But honestly, most importantly I'm grateful to you.
Speaker 1: Every single one of you. I am. I'm so grateful.
Speaker 2: I remember when we started the show, we couldn't get
Speaker 2: enough people to fill an audience, and I always think
Speaker 2: it's good.
Speaker 1: That's how comedy is funny enough.
Speaker 2: I remember all my shows people didn't there weren't tickets
Speaker 2: that you know, everyone the empty seats. And then I
Speaker 2: look at this now. I don't take it for granted. Ever,
Speaker 2: every seat that has ever been filled to watch something
Speaker 2: that I'm doing, I always appreciate because I know the
Speaker 2: empty seat that sits behind it.
Speaker 1: So thank you.
Speaker 2: Thank you to the people who watch, the people who
Speaker 2: share the clips. You know, everyone who's had an opinion,
Speaker 2: everyone who's been kind enough and gracious enough to you know,
Speaker 2: even if it's critique. Doesn't even have to be praised.
Speaker 2: But some people who watch that I don't like it
Speaker 2: when you do this, but I but I watch. I
Speaker 2: want to say I appreciate those people. Even the people
Speaker 2: who hate watched, we still got the ratings.
Speaker 1: Thank you. I'm eternally grateful to you.
Speaker 2: And this is random for some, but special shout out
Speaker 2: to black women.
Speaker 1: I you know I've been.
Speaker 2: I've often been credited with you know, having these grand
Speaker 2: ideas of people like, oh, Trevor, you're so smart and
Speaker 2: you st and I'm like, I'm like, who do you
Speaker 2: think teaches me? You know, who do you think has
Speaker 2: shaped me, nourished me, informed me? You know, from my mom,
Speaker 2: my grand you know, my aunt ald, these black women
Speaker 2: in my life. But then in America as well. If
Speaker 2: you I always tell people, if you truly want to
Speaker 2: learn about America, talk to black women.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because.
Speaker 2: Unlike everybody else, black women cannot afford to fall and
Speaker 2: find out. Black people understand how hard it is when
Speaker 2: things go bad, especially in America, but any place where
Speaker 2: black people exist, whether it's Brazil, whether it's South Africa,
Speaker 2: wherever it is, when things go bad, black people know
Speaker 2: that it gets worse for them. But black women in particular,
Speaker 2: they know.
Speaker 1: What ship is. Genuinely.
Speaker 2: People always be shocked to be like, why do w
Speaker 2: black women turn out the way they do in America?
Speaker 1: Why do they vote the way that? Yeah?
Speaker 2: Because they know what happens if things do not go
Speaker 2: the way it should. They cannot afford to furround and
Speaker 2: find out. And to black women who have taught me,
Speaker 2: all of them, I mean, the scholars are online, the
Speaker 2: you know the authors, everybody, the Roxanne Gez, the Tressy Macmillan, Cottons,
Speaker 2: the you know, I'll remember the names, you know, the
Speaker 2: Zoey Samuzzi's, the like brilliant, brilliant women have taken the
Speaker 2: time to inform me, to educate me, to argue with me.
Speaker 2: You know, the Toronto books. Who you know laughed with
Speaker 2: me talking about everything from sexual assaults to just what
Speaker 2: life is like.
Speaker 1: Heah man, I'll tell you. Now, do yourself a favor.
Speaker 2: You truly want to know what to do or how
Speaker 2: to do it or maybe the best way or the
Speaker 2: most the most equitable way.
Speaker 1: Talk to black women.
Speaker 2: They are There are a lot of the reasons that
Speaker 2: I'm here, and so I'm grateful to them. I'm grateful
Speaker 2: to every single one of you. This has been an honor.
Speaker 1: Thank you.
Speaker 2: Explore more shows from the Daily Show podcast universe by
Speaker 2: searching The Daily Show wherever you.
Speaker 1: Get your podcasts.
Speaker 2: Watch The Daily Show week nights at eleven ten Central
Speaker 2: on Comedy Central, and stream pool episodes anytime on fair
Speaker 2: Amount Plus.
Speaker 1: This has been a Comedy Central podcast