Twitter users have dubbed today #TrevorDay, as South African comedian Trevor Noah makes his debut as anchor (taking over from Jon Stewart) on The Daily Show in the US.
The show aired early this morning but will officially show on South African television this evening on Comedy Central (DSTV channel 122) at 9pm.
#TrevorDay was trending on Twitter yesterday and this morning as South Africans sent words of encouragement, live-tweeted the show while streaming, or expressed their excitement to watch the show in SA this evening.
According to Topsy, a social analytics Web site, in the past 16 hours, #TrevorDay had been tweeted over 2 500 times and Trevor Noah mentioned over 5 000 times.
South African Twitter user Keenan Kyle Harduth tweeted: "Best wishes to @Trevornoah ? no pressure or anything but we're kinda counting on you to make all South Africans look good. #TrevorDay."
Lindiwe Mazibuko tweeted: "We are beside ourselves with excitement and beaming with pride!"
Asif Hossain, a Twitter user from Toronto, tweeted: "I have always liked Trevor Noah. It's been just eight minutes, but I think I could love."
Even government weighed in on the conversation. The South African Gov Twtter account said: "South Africa congratulates @Trevornoah for hosting a successful first episode of The Daily Show. #TrevorDay."
Eskom tweeted that the risk of load-shedding today remains low, so South Africans would not have to worry about missing The Daily show this evening.
Spoiler alert
In Noah's opening lines of the show, he said: "Growing up in dusty streets of SA, I never dreamt I'd have an indoor toilet, and be host of The Daily Show. I am comfortable with one."
He paid homage to his predecessor, thanked him for believing in him and said: "I'll make you [Jon Stewart] not look like the crazy old dude who left his inheritance to some random kid from Africa."
Earlier this month, Noah was named the SA Social Star of 2015 by technology research organisation World Wide Worx and media analytics company Fuseware. While the study found Noah does not have the biggest following in any of the individual networks, he is the only person who features among the top performers across all these networks.
Noah was also responsible for the most retweeted posting on Twitter this year when he declared that "No one can replace Jon Stewart". The tweet that paid homage to his Daily Show predecessor was retweeted more than 16 000 times.
Share