Trevor Noah back to South Africa to start recording the first episodes of his M-Net stand-up series now retitled as Trevor Noah's Nation Wild.

The South African stand-up comedian and host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122), Trevor Noah, is heading back to South Africa to record the first episodes of his new stand-up comedy series for M-Net (DStv 101) that has now been retitled from Trevor Noah Presents to Trevor Noah's Nation Wild.

Trevor Noah's Nation Wild is kicking off with its first recordings on 4 and 5 April at the Lyric Theatre at Gold Reef City in Johannesburg.

"I am surprising my hometown Joburg with a special TV taping with some of the funniest young comedians in all of SA," said Trevor Noah on his Facebook page.

"Nation Wild will bring all these young comedians to M-Net later this year. Get to see these all these talented comedians; So proud to announce this lineup!"

Trevor Noah said that up-and-coming comedians who will appear include Bongani Dube, Eric Jansen, Gavin Kelly, Gilli Apter, Keenan Cerff, Lindy Johnson, Mbu Msongelwa, Mo Mothebe, Noko Moswete, Phil De Lange, Tsitsi Chiumya and Prins.

There's a Gupta On My Stoep: Comedian Trevor Noah reveals the inspiration behind his stand-up show's title - 'Leon Schuster changed my life with his comedy'.

With his brand-new stand-up show, There's a Gupta On My Stoep, comedian Trevor Noah says he is trying to capture the mood of anxiety in South Africa right now and says the title was inspired by comedian Leon Schuster "who changed my life with his comedy".

The host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) is back in South Africa during his weekday TV show's end-of-season break, but while actually back on home soil for a holiday he also decided to do a new stand-up show in Johannesburg and Durban. Cape Town was left out because he simply didn't have the days.

Next year Trevor Noah will also reteam with M-Net (@DStv 101) where he had his first TV show, Tonight with Trevor Noah in 2010 for three seasons, and in 13-episodes of Trevor Noah Presents... as host he will showcase upcoming new South African comedians in 2018.

"There's a Gupta On My Stoep is an idea of what I'm feeling and what South Africa feels right now, is it not? That there's a Gupta on our stoep," said Trevor Noah who spoke about his new stand-up show at M-Net's press conference on Thursday.

"There's people who are old enough to remember the reference - the title of one of my favourite movies - There's a Zulu On My Stoep. Leon Schuster changed my life with his comedy when I was a young child."

"Essentially I felt that's what we're experiencing right now: We're a country where we are confused and trying to put together the pieces of how intense, and how much effect these people had on the running of our nation."

"People are still trying to piece together the Gupta emails, people are still trying to piece together the extent of their influence on our government, but it definitely feels like there's an encroachment on what we thought was 'us' defining ourselves."

"And the best way I could think of that was really There's a Gupta On My Stoep. It's South African," said Trevor Noah.

"It's a hint and a nod to the past. And it's not There's a Gupta In My House, it's just on my stoep. There's also some other things that are happening that I talk about and so that's why I went with that title."

"It also reminded me of home. It reminded me of a piece of my childhood. And it's a nod to the time that we are living in now."

Trevor Noah's big warning to all of South Africa and the country's entertainment industry: 'In South Africa we underpay and we over-enjoy'.

The successful comedian Trevor Noah has come out guns blazing with a big warning for not just South Africa's entertainment industry but for everyone, saying South Africans "underpay and over-enjoy" and that it needs to stop.

Trevor Noah said South Africans - from businesses in the entertainment industry to elsewhere, as well as ordinary citizens and consumers - need to start paying each other what they deserve "from a domestic worker to a petrol attendant to all the people where we take for granted how cheap we're paying for these people."

The South African comedian is back in South Africa during his holiday from The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122), to do a new stand-up show in South Africa, There's a Gupta On My Stoep, in Johannesburg and Durban.

Trevor Noah is also back in business with M-Net and will be hosting a new 13-part comedy TV series for M-Net (DStv 101), Trevor Noah Presents... that will be broadcast in 2018.

He was responding to criticism from a journalist at M-Net's press conference on Thursday about how seemingly expensive some of his concert tickets are.

"One thing I've never taken for granted is the cost of doing business and one thing that was tough is that I wanted to do a show, and I wanted to come back to South Africa and perform for as many of my fans as possible."

"In the time that I have allocated, with the venues that I could find, The Dome was probably the only place that I could do that. In South Africa we have a shortage of large venues and it's something that anyone in entertainment knows."

"So if you want to get more than a certain number of people into a room, you only have these few places."

"I don't want you to come to a venue and not see me, I don't want you to come to a venue and not hear me. And I don't want you to come to a venue and not have an extravaganza because that's what I believe it should be."

"I put together the show and I remember, funny enough, when Cassper Nyovest did #FillUpTheDome, I remember Cassper said 'You can sell out The Dome and lose money,' and I didn't understand what he fully meant at the time. It's an extremely expensive thing, and that's the cost of doing business."

"What I've done in the pricing of my tickets I've always made sure that according to what you can afford, you can come to a show. So I have tickets that range from a very affordable ticket to some people who want to pay a premium price and they want to sit right up front at that show."

"And that's the best way I can amortise the cost and make sure that I can put on the show that people want me to put on. Is it expensive? Definitely."

"The cost unfortunately is going to be borne by some who are willing to pay it. Some people have the money. For those who don't, they can still make it to the show."

"I have surprise acts. I have more than just comedy at a show. I will say as a South African and a performer we have to value our own. When I was touring with Julio Iglesias seven years ago in my career - and the price of tickets then - and people went: But it's Julio Iglesias."

"And I thought: When do we pay for our own?"

"If we pay for our own, our own are more likely to stay here because they feel appreciated."

'I was exploited when I was new in the industry'
Trevor Noah said working with M-Net has been a "wonderful experience for me" when it comes to the payment of artists.

"I think a lot of the time in South Africa we take for granted how easy it's been to underpay people."

He said people read all the time how artists die poor - people who were legends.

"You read stories about the Brenda Fassies and you wonder how did these people die without a penny in their pockets when we saw them selling out stadiums? And then we've come to realise over time that in South Africa we've become used to paying people way below what they should be getting paid".

"One thing I'm proud of, any comedian who works for me - I don't care whether you're unknown, or a new comic or a new face - I will make sure that you are earning an income that will help sustain you as a person."

"I don't want to exploit you. I remember that I was exploited when I was very new in the industry. I made almost no money for doing what I love."

"But I'm proud that today I'm in a place where I can say that if you work for me, you're going to feel a difference in your life as a South African comedian. I'm not going to, because you're unknown, not pay you what you deserve," said Trevor Noah.

"In South Africa we must get better at paying each other what we deserve and I'm talking all levels - not just entertainment. Everyone from a domestic worker to a petrol attendant to all the people where we take for granted how cheap we're paying for these people."

"I realised it when I went overseas. I was 'Wow, in South Africa we underpay and we over-enjoy."


M-Net CEO: 'Focus on making African entertainment a big thing'
"We have to value who we are, we have to value what we do," said M-Net CEO Yolisa Phahle.

"We can't be prepared to spend money and run after things which are outside of our country but when it comes to our own investment in our own country, in our own languages, in our own communities, in our own musicians, have double standards," said Yolisa Phahle.

"It doesn't cost a different amount of money to hire The Dome if your name is Kendrick Lamar, than what it cost if your name is a local artist. The costs are the same."

"I think sometimes we are very hard on ourselves. What we actually need to do is to support ourselves and focus on making African entertainment the big thing it should be."

"Hollywood was built on its own hype. People in Hollywood said: 'We're coming here, we're building an industry, we're supporting this industry, we're reporting on this industry, we're funding this industry - and those are the lessons that we can learn," said Yolisa Phahle.

"There's no shortage of talent, there are no limits for our industry. It's down to us to do every single thing we can to make sure it happens."

'Not just local, but quality local'
Speaking about Trevor Noah's upcoming Trevor Noah Presents... that will be broadcast in 2018, Yolisa Phahle said South Africa needs to make television that is not just local, but television that is of the quality that will be appreciated all over the world.

"We want to make television that will showcase South African talent, television that will bring to the fore the incredible diversity of comedy in the country."

"At M-Net historically, we've been very good at dramas - if you think about kykNET (DStv 144), if you think about Mzansi Magic (DStv 161). We've made a lot of drama, we've made a lot of telenovela."

"The one genre where we have under-invested is comedy. And maybe it's because comedy is very difficult. It is actually, possibly, one of the most difficult genres to write and one of the most difficult genres to deliver."

"But we do have that comedy, we do have the amazing dynamics in our country which ultimately you can cry over but also you can laugh a lot because we're together and we've come a long way."

"Trevor Noah Presents... is a 13-part series. It is something which we are taking extremely seriously," said Yolisa Phahle.

"We really want to make sure that we do bring through new comedians and that Trevor Noah is able to give them the profile that they deserve so that they too can go out, and they too can earn a good living that they deserve, and to put the spotlight on South Africa globally."

Trevor Noah reteams with M-Net for new 13-part comedy show in 2018, Trevor Noah Presents ..., to showcase young new South African comedians.

Comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah is reteaming with M-Net (DStv 101) and will be doing a 13-part TV series set for broadcast in 2018, currently with the working title Trevor Noah Presents ... in which he will showcase upcoming young comedians in South Africa.

Back in South Africa to do a new stand-up show in Johannesburg and Durban during his holiday, Trevor Noah slammed criticism that tickets are too expensive, saying that it's time that South African talent and performers start valuing their work in the way that overseas artists are doing.

Trevor Noah, currently the host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central (DStv 122) made the announcement about his new comedy show partnership at a M-Net press conference on Thursday morning.

Trevor Noah who in the past credited M-Net as the first South African broadcaster that was willing to give him a TV show, Tonight with Trevor Noah that ran from 2010 on M-Net and Mzansi Magic, reiterated on Thursday that M-Net was a "big stepping stone" to getting his The Daily Show gig.

"I've had a great partnership with M-Net for many years now, M-Net was first to give me a shot to have my own TV show where I was involved in the creation of the show," said Trevor Noah.

"I've always wanted to give young comedians the opportunity to connect with their audience - young comedians doing comedy in different languages," he said about his plans for Trevor Noah Presents... 

"In the series I will be working with M-Net, me being in South Africa, gathering the finest comedians from across the country, and showcasing them to viewers in South Africa and saying 'hey, these are the comedians who will make you laugh' for every walk of life, every single race, every single language".

"I will be hosting the episodes, showcasing some of the comedians who I think deserve to be out there".

'M-Net provides a platform to launch incredible careers'

"We've always been passionate about showcasing local talent," said Yolisa Phahle, M-Net CEO, "not just because audiences love it, but also because at M-Net we firmly believe in giving ambitious, talented and creative people a platform on which they can hone their skills."

"Over the years M-Net's channels have provided a platform for many great South Africans who – through their own sheer hard work – have gone on to launch incredible careers."

"If we are going to grow this industry we have to compete with the biggest and the best. And that is actually what Trevor did."

"He left at a time when his star was rising very, very fast. He was a big name. But he realised there was a whole world out there and actually the best of South African talent can compete with the best of the world," said Yolisa Phahle.

'Take the no's as an opportunity to find the yes'es'

TVwithThinus asked Trevor Noah what his advice is for up-and-coming young South Africans, looking to him, dreaming of emulating him and of having a career in talk or stand-up and working in television.

"It's about determination," said Trevor Noah. "It's going where the work leads you. And taking the no's as an opportunity to find the yes'es."

"When I worked in South Africa, my dream was never to leave South Africa. That was never my dream. I just went where the work led me. I love doing shows in South Africa as much as I love doing shows out there in the world."

"I encourage people in South Africa to create excellence here. We have opportunities here that you don't have in the rest of the world. We have a shortage of local productions. We have a shortage of local talent because so many people think we have to turn elsewhere."

"The truth is we can create it here. Many movies are coming to South Africa. So we know we have the technical ability. South African actors are appearing in movies and TV shows overseas, so we know we have the talent over here."

"What we have to build on is the personal and physical infrastructure and working on our excellence. Just because it's South African doesn't mean it has to be inferior. For anyone I would say be excellent here."

"Don't wait for overseas. Just work on making the best thing possible in your country and you will find overseas will come knocking."

The blessing that South Africans take for granted

"One thing in America like South Africa, is we have free speech over there," said Trevor Noah, when asked if he isn't scared of American president Donald Trump. 

"So what's great is working in an environment where you can speak your mind. And I think that's a blessing that South Africans take for granted."

"I know from just my parents' generations – 20 years ago you couldn't say certain things. We live in a country where we take for granted the leeway we have with our arts and our press."

"I know people fight about that and go 'we don't have the free-est press but our press freedom is pretty high up there in the world."

High ticket prices because ...

After a journalist criticised Trevor Noah over how seemingly expensive the ticket prices for his latest stand-up shows are, he said he's actually using his holiday to do them which is why he couldn't fit Cape Town in, and "wanted to do a great show that looks good, sounds good, is good".

"I want to put on the show that people want me to put on. It is expensive? Definitely? Would I do it again? Probably not."

"In South Africa for a long time we've had that attitude that 'oh these tickets are expensive for a South African audience’. And yet when an international artist comes here I don't see anyone complaining when its R4000, R5000 a ticket."

"I've worked very hard to keep my costs as low as possible. But at the same time I don't want to fall into the same trap as many South Africans where you go: I will keep the price cheap, and you attend, and go: 'Yes I can see the price was cheap here' and that this wasn't on the standard of an international show."

"If I bring you a show, I have to bring it to you on a standard that I bring to all of my shows around the world," said Trevor.

"As a South African and as a performer I must say that we have to value our own. If we pay for our own, our own are more likely to stay here because they feel appreciated. We've got to build our industries here."

"I'm not just doing Trevor Noah. When I do Trevor Noah I hire people here, I'm hiring South African production companies, I'm hiring South African crews specifically, I'm hiring South African people managing the venue, I'm hiring South African comedians."

"So this isn't a show of me, this is a show of us. And I'm proud that people are willing to come and to be a part of that."