Jerry Seinfeld Grills Trevor Noah About His Future

Two men at the forefront of the exhausting political correctness debate recently met to get coffee in a Jaguar. Jerry Seinfeld's Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee had Trevor Noah as its most recent guest. For those unfamiliar, the show's premise is pretty self explanatory; the Seinfeld star interviews various comedians, both veterans and newcomers, while they drive in fancy cars on their way to various coffee shops throughout New York City. I'm sure Seinfeld's recent comments criticizing political correctness were part of his reason for posting his interview with the incoming Daily Show host; past tweets from Noah that were seemingly sexist and antisemitic recently came under scrutiny. However, as Noah pointed out, Seinfeld had been interested in interviewing Noah pre-controversy, and the words political correctness didn't even come up, though they were alluded to.

Seinfeld seemed on the defensive from the beginning of the show, introducing the South African Noah as having an interesting cultural heritage, but to him, "he's just a funny guy." Despite this assertion, Seinfeld and Noah spend a lot of time talking about his Jewish and South African background.

All in all, it's a very entertaining episode; Noah manages to get in a few great digs at the famous comedian. When the millionaire Seinfeld asks Noah where he got his excellent work ethic, Noah responds "from being poor." And when Seinfeld asks Noah if they could hang out together in South Africa, Noah accuses him of having "the humility of the colonizer." In other words, it's a powerful man taking on the conceit of asking an underling for a favor knowing he has little choice to refuse.

Later, Seinfeld assures Noah that he's going to do just fine and that he's a "purebred [comedian] despite [his] mixed ethnic heritage." It's a tongue in cheek joke, but it's one that only a man like Seinfeld could make, the assumption being that he's a good guy. When he goes on to say that he likes the World Cup because it's easy to tell what nationality everyone is, Noah suggests that the quote would come across as questionable from almost anyone else.

They have a long discussion of racism and Noah's experience with Apartheid, during which Seinfeld wisely listens and defers to Noah's experience. While they do relive the moment when Noah found out about The Daily Show, they don't discuss the ensuing scrutiny. It's probably a wise choice, especially since Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, like most of Seinfeld's comedy, is rarely controversial. It was Noah who seemed more interesting in confronting racism and current events, which is definitely a good sign for a host of The Daily Show.

Images: Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee/YouTube (2)