The older you get, the more you start to realize that you can't win an argument in a relationship. You can't win a fight with your woman. Because if you lose, you lose. And if you win, you lose.
Trevor NoahRead
I want my audience to be my friends - that is when they will get the best comedy. If they see me as a performer, they won't get the best show.
Interpretation
What this quote means
To deliver the best comedy, the performer should connect with the audience as friends rather than as mere spectators.
Trevor Noah emphasizes that the essence of great comedy lies in the relationship between the performer and the audience. When the audience feels a personal connection, they are more likely to engage, laugh, and enjoy the show, resulting in a better overall experience than if they view the comedian strictly as a performer on stage.
Themes
ComedyAudienceConnectionFriendshipPerformance
In practice
Example use cases
Use this quote during a stand-up comedy workshop to highlight the importance of audience connection.
More from Trevor Noah
All quotes →I was born in South Africa during apartheid, a system of laws that made it illegal for people to mix in South Africa. And this was obviously awkward because I grew up in a mixed family. My mother's a black woman, South African Xhosa woman... and my father's Swiss, from Switzerland.
Trevor NoahRead
My ideal setting is I walk from the streets, backstage, and straight onto the stage. Two minutes, and I am on the stage. That way, in my head I have gone from my world and then into a social setting with my friends.
Trevor NoahRead
I'm literally driving in the middle of the night, and my phone rings, and my manager says, 'How would you like to be the host of the Daily Show?' I get out the car, and I didn't have legs. You know in those movies where there's an explosion? But instead of the sound of the explosion, you hear the silence. That's literally what happened.
Trevor NoahRead
I live in South Africa. I'm proud to live there. I've always said I want to be a comedian from South Africa in the world. I will stay in places for a bit here and there and pop into New York for a while, maybe stay in London for a year, but my home will always be South Africa. I enjoy it too much.
Trevor NoahRead
You have two choices, two paths to take as a comedian. You can tackle the difficult subjects and be harsh about it, be brash, be abrasive. But adding hatred to racism is not going to help everybody. So I like to have fun around it.
Trevor NoahRead
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