It’s the end of 2023 and, as tradition requires, many comedy specials with which the stars of the scene have been on tour for a year are now landing on Netflix: including “Where was I” by Trevor Noah. The host of the “Daily Show” also covers Germany and the national anthem in his appearance in Detroit, which lasts just over an hour.
Trevor Noah feels and smiles. While typical US comedians like Jim Gaffigan prefer to laugh at themselves and with Ricky Gervais the laughter gets stuck in your throat, with Trevor Noah there is always a message that advocates for a better world.
In his latest comedy special he finds this better world, which he explains to the US audience, in Germany of all places: He reports on a trip to Berlin and how honestly the Germans deal with their dark past: The Germans would explain this to children at school about all the cruel things their ancestors did during the Nazi era, telling the children that it wasn’t their fault, but that we all have to make sure that something like that doesn’t happen again.
Don’t hide the past, even if it is unpleasant, deal with it.
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Germany, says Noah, did everything differently after the war: even changed the national anthem, but kept “the beat” and only changed the lyrics, which he compares to the Jedis in Star Wars having the “Imperial March” after their victory “ retained by Darth Vader.
Germany actually didn’t change the national anthem, but decided in 1952 that only the third verse (unity and justice and freedom) should be sung.
In the USA there is a completely different approach to history, as he makes clear using the example of “Columbus Day”: Only a white man has the self-confidence to sail around the world in the wrong direction, to rigidly and firmly claim that he has it but discovered India and the people who lived there were Indians, only to be given a holiday in a country he had never set foot in. Only white men could fail that way.
Other topics Noah covers:
Whites loved swimming so much that they manipulated the Olympics to give swimmers absurd amounts of medals:
The comedy special on Netflix “Where was I” on Netflix lasts 68 minutes, it is only available in English, but with German subtitles (via Netflix).
It’s more of a special to make you smile and think than one to scream and whinny. Noah makes hopeful comedy that somehow wants to make the world a little better. If you like something different, you can always watch Jim Gaffigan or Ricky Gervais, they also currently have their new specials on Netflix.
If you’re looking for a series at the end of the year, we can recommend Bodies: New series on Netflix turns out to be an SF thriller that makes you feel like you’re damn clever