South African comedian and The Daily Show host Trevor Noah was born a crime -- and he lived to tell the tale in his same-titled memoir.
On Tuesday, February 12, Noah will celebrate the launch of his New York Times bestseller Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood with an intimate conversation at the Kings Theatre.
Born a Crime follows Noah's unlikely path from apartheid South Africa to the desk of The Daily Show which began with a criminal act: his birth -- he was born to a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time when such a union was punishable by five years in prison.
Noah's memoir is the story of a mischievous young boy growing into a restless young man who struggles to find himself in a world where he was never supposed to exist. But his story is more than that: It is also the portrayal of that young man's relationship with his fearless, rebellious and fervently religious mother, a woman determined to save her son from the cycle of poverty, violence and abuse that would ultimately threaten her own life.
"Learn from your past and be better because of your past," Noah quotes his mother in Born a Crime. "But don't cry about your past. Life is full of pain. Let the pain sharpen you, but don't hold on to it. Don't be bitter."
Noah first gained international attention with The Racist, his one-man show at the 2012 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. That same year, he made his U.S. television debut on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and also appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman, becoming the first South African stand-up comedian to appear on either late-night program.
In 2014, Noah joined The Daily Show with Jon Stewart as a contributor. A year later, he succeeded the retiring Stewart as the official Daily Show host.
Noah's publisher Chris Jackson will lead through the conversation at the historic Kings Theatre. The author and editor-in-chief of One World, a newly relaunched imprint of Penguin Random House, has worked with award-winning and bestselling authors including Bryan Stevenson, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Jill Leovy, Trevor Noah, Matt Taibbi and Eddie Huang. Jackson's own writing has appeared in The Paris Review, Callalloo and The Atlantic.
Pre-sale tickets go on sale Thursday, January 17; general tickets will be available on Friday, January 18. All tickets are $40 and include a copy of the new paperback edition of Born a Crime, which will be distributed at the venue.
Trevor Noah Presents "Born a Crime" at the Kings Theatre
When: Tuesday, February 12, 8:00pm
Where: Kings Theatre, 1027 Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11226
How much: $40, tickets available here.
