How that (spoiler!) cameo in Trevor Noah’s new Netflix special came to be
Spoiler alert: The following reveals details about an epic cameo in “Trevor Noah: Where Was I,” now on Netflix. If you don't want the bit ruined, watch the special and then come back.
Trevor Noah orchestrated quite the sweet cameo for his latest standup special.
In “Where Was I” streaming now on Netflix, the former “Daily Show” host makes cracks about the “white man confidence” of Christopher Columbus, losing his luggage on a trip to Paris and likens the "Star-Spangled Banner" to a Michael Bay movie ("Everything just blowing up in slow motion").
For his last bit, he delivers a list of the five things white people love most. Museums earn the No. 5 spot, followed by swimming, being flabbergasted and being white. Noah, 39, awards the top honor to Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline.” The catchy-as-heck tune penned by Diamond spent 14 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 following its 1969 release. Diamond has said the classic was inspired by Caroline Kennedy and his second wife, Marcia Murphey.
“I feel like the rest of the list is subject to each person's interpretation, but that has to be the number one spot,” Noah insists in a USA TODAY interview.
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For “Where Was I,” Noah begins to sing Diamond's song that he jokes is “pure, uncut Caucasian joy” to the crowd at Detroit’s Fox Theatre. Unprompted, the audience joins in, which Noah points out. “You were like, ‘This is it! This is our moment!’”
Cameras follow Noah as he exits the theater and gets into SUV with none other than Diamond himself, who retired from touring in 2018 after going public with his Parkinson’s diagnosis.
“How’d we do?” Diamond, 82, asks Noah.
“It works every time, Neil Diamond,” Noah assures him. “It works every time.”
Then the two hold hands and briefly belt out the earworm.
Noah, who says Diamond is popular in his native South Africa, felt the cameo was a must but “reaching out” proved to be a tall order.
“I had to make quite a few calls to get to somebody to get to somebody to get to somebody to get to somebody who would eventually get to him,” says Noah, who describes the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductee’s appearance as “the stuff that dreams are made of.”
“If he loves the joke, and he's in the world with me, then I think it's just so much funnier,” Noah says. “I was really lucky that he jumped on board, and it's the ultimate blessing to get from the man himself.”
In February, Noah will flex his comedic chops as he hosts the Grammys for the fourth time. Noah is also nominated for best comedy album along with Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Sarah Silverman and Wanda Sykes. The honor adds an element of pressure, Noah says.
“It means I don't get to just enjoy the night of being nominated,” he says. “If you're nominated, you just get to dress up in a nice tuxedo and then attend the event. Now I have to dress up, and then host the event, and then if I don't win, I still have to have a good mood for the rest of the event.
“That sucks for me,” he adds playfully. “I just want to go and chill at the bar with all the other comedians who lose in the category, if they lose and then just laugh about life. But it'll be fun either way.”
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