[lively music plays]
I was thinking like,
I think part of the problem in America is that, 911,
people think of 911 as being instant response and...
'cause like when I was growing up in South Africa
one of my favorite TV shows I used to watch with my mom
was a show called "Rescue 911."
[audience laughs]
Right?
With William Shatner.
And it was like a show where they'd go like,
"911, do you have an emergency?"
And they'd be like,
"hi, I'm in my house..."
[Trevor mumbles frantically and incoherently]
And then like 911 would get there
and I remember even when we were watching in South Africa
we'd be like, "wow, 911!
-911!" -[audience laughs]
And this is in Africa!
And we're like, "911!"
And we never thought of our numbers
'cause they started...
they "tried" a thing in South Africa called 10 triple one
'cause they tried to be like,
"yeah we've also got a thing!"
People were like, "10 triple one?"
It was like, "no."
[audience laughs]
And 'cause they'd try to go with that feeling,
but we never thought of it as instant response
because if you would call our like call centers
it wouldn't be as efficient.
And so like in America,
I think people are used to the fact
that something will get done now.
So I was thinking what you should do is
just to like dull it for a bit
you should bring the South African operators here
[audience laughs]
just so that people stop thinking 911 is like
an instant solution
'cause like South Africans,
like they'll ask you questions.
Like in America they just go, "someone's getting robbed!"
They're like, "we're on our way!"
Like I heard with 911,
even if you call them and then hang up,
they'll come to check what happened.
[audience laughs]
Which, I mean, I get it,
but I'm also like, that's crazy.
Whereas in South Africa, like if you...
like if they called...
if you had South African operators doing 911
like you'd call, and you'd be like,
"hello, there's a man at the park."
And they'd be like, "hello, can I help you?"
[audience laughs]
They'd be like, "yeah, there's a man at the park."
And it'd be like, "and?"
[audience laughs]
I'd be like,
"yeah, he looks really suspicious."
It'd be like, "okay, go talk to him.
[audience laughs]
Ask him what he's doing.
Ask him his name, what he's doing there."
[audience laughs]
It'd be like, "I'm scared of talking to him."
It'd be like, "okay, walk away, then. Go away!"
[audience laughs]
Like they would just be like you go...
like it's just...
people here are just like, "the cops are coming."
No, the cops are not coming.
For everything!
Like, here you can call 911 'cause your cat is in a tree.
That is some crazy ass shit in Africa
that you'd just be like...
yeah, you'd be like,
"hello, my cat's in a tree."
They'd be like, "oh okay!"
[audience laughs]
Yeah, you'd be like,
"my cat's stuck in a tree"
They'd be like,
"yeah, so what must we do?"
[audience laughs]
"I need your help."
And they'd be like, "then how will your cat learn?
[audience laughs]
Let the cat suffer!
It will never do it again.
[audience laughs]
Thank you for calling,
please stay on so you can rate this call.
Thank you very much."
[audience laughs]
[lively music plays]
Anything you want to chat about?
Anything on your mind?
It's the fun part of a live show.
Yes?
Oh, I love that!
I love how you asked such a deep question
in such a bubbly way.
[audience laughs]
'Cause your tone of voice was really fun.
"So what's the difference between..."
[audience laughs]
because there I thought you were gonna say like, oh,
"the difference between like summer and spring for you"
and you're like,
"what's the difference between racism in South Africa
and racism in the USA?"
[audience laughs]
That's like my favorite topic!
[audience laughs]
I will tell you what-
I think the biggest difference between racism in America
and racism in South Africa is
I find that South African racism
is and was a lot more blatant
and so there's more of an acknowledgement of it as an idea.
And I always say to people-
I know it's strange to say this-
but I often think that was the greatest gift
the apartheid government gave us
is that it was like,
it was there,
it was happening to you.
It wasn't hidden.
Do you know what I mean?
So you were just like, "we don't want this."
People would fight,
"stop this apartheid, it's racism!"
And then the government would be like,
"yes, of course it is racism.
[audience laughs]
That's what we are doing to you.
The Blacks must not do this!"
But then what happened in America is, you know,
you'd hit that period where like
they started changing things.
I don't know if it was around Nixon
and they were like,
"oh, we've gotta be silent about this."
And then it wasn't blatant anymore.
And so I always thought
that's a terrible thing to do to people
because now people have to be like
detectives of their own racism.
They have to figure it out.
You know what I mean?
So let me give you an example.
In South Africa,
the government would just say
"Blacks cannot live in these areas.
You're Black, you don't live here."
Now you know, I'm Black, I don't live here.
[audience laughs]
I don't like it, but I don't live here.
You get what I'm saying?
But then in America you'd be like,
"can I get a home loan?"
And they'd be like, "mmm no."
[audience laughs]
And you'd be like, "why?"
-And they'd be like -[Trevor giggles]
[audience laughs]
And you'd be like, "why can't I?"
And then you just start realizing, you're like,
"wow, how come the Black people seem to only be able
to get houses in these areas,
but not in these areas
and these school districts are better?
How come the money is going here?
How come the...
how come?"
And it's...
Do you get what I'm saying?
And I know it sounds strange to say,
but I think there's something liberating
about fighting an obvious enemy
as opposed to one that you have to prove exists.
That's probably the biggest difference
[audience applauds]
between America and yeah.
[applause continues]
And can I just say, I would...
what is your name?
[Audience Member] My name's Katrina.
Katrina, you should be a debate moderator in this country
[audience laughs]
because the way you snuck that question in was so chill.
[audience laughs]
You would throw politicians off the-
[Audience Member] She's a teacher!
What are you?
[Katrina] I'm a teacher.
You're a teacher! Aha!
[audience laughs]
You see?
That was...
Yeah.
Yeah, no. Politicians wouldn't see you coming.
-You know? -[audience laughs]
You'd just be like,
"so let's talk about all of the campaign finance fraud
[audience laughs]
and how you stole that money."
[lively music plays]
I really don't know why Americans are so...
I think I know why, but I'm not sure why
Americans are so stressed about their children.
[audience laughs]
Like it's...
I was in Brooklyn over the weekend.
[audience members cheering and laughing]
I know, I go places.
-[audience laughs] -[Trevor laughs]
And it was really interesting.
I was at a park with a friend
and so she was taking her kid to the park.
And so we're like, "all right, let's go to the park."
And when we got there,
my friend is from South Africa, right?
So we get there
and immediately the first thing she sees,
she's like,
"Hi Trevor."
She's like, "why are all the parents in the park?"
[audience laughs]
I'm like, "what do you mean?"
She's like, "why? The kids are playing but the..."
'cause like all the parents are right there.
And I was like,
"oh yeah, this is an American thing, they don't..."
'cause like every parent is like there
like the kid like swinging and the kid is there
and the kid comes down the slide and the parents are there
and the kids are talking to each other, parents are there.
It's really interesting to see
when you're from another country
'cause here, like everyone's just like my, "my kid!"
But it's weird.
It almost becomes like a prison yard.
Do you know what I mean?
[audience laughs]
Yeah 'cause all the parents are there on the side like,
"hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey!
Hey! Back it up, back it up, back up!"
[Trevor grumbling indistinctly]
[audience laughs]
I'm like, what happened to just like the kids, you know?
You know when you step,
just be on the outside, you know.
Basically,
I think parents should treat playgrounds
the way people should treat the luggage carousel
at airports.
[audience laughs]
Take a step back.
Only when you see something happening with your shit
then you step in.
[audience laughs]
Until then, relax.
[audience applauds]
Relax.
It'll come around.
[lively music plays]
If there was one aspect of South African culture
that I could?
[Audience Member] Transplant to America.
Transplant to America, what would it be?
Huh!
What would it be?
I think it would be maybe our general ease at talking about
race and our racial past, you know?
'Cause South Africa and America have very similar histories,
you know, in that there was like...
there were many things that were done to people of color
that were extremely heinous.
But we...
just maybe 'cause of the
Truth and Reconciliation Commission in our country
we were forced to talk about it.
And we just talk about it.
It's painful, but we laugh about it and it's out there.
Whereas in America I find there's like a lot of
tension in and around that.
A lot of people are just like,
"yeah, well, come on.
We don't have...
do we have to bring that up?"
[audience laughs]
And it's like, "dude, I'm not saying you did slavery.
Calm down."
You know what I mean?
[audience laughs]
Because that's how a lot of people treat it.
They're just like, "I wasn't there!"
"I didn't say you were there!
I'm just saying slavery happened."
"Yeah, but I swear I wasn't there!"
"Dude, you're 37, calm down!"
[audience laughs]
You know what I mean?
And I feel like there could be...
it helps to be able to have conversations about those things
because then it helps you understand
how you got to where you got to.
But if you can't have those conversations
then you just have to operate in a blind space of like,
"how did this happen?"
You know?
"Why do so many Black people live in this part of Harlem?"
"I don't know, why do you think?"
"I don't know!"
[audience laughs]
Do you get what I'm saying?
And it actually opens it up, I think.
That would be like the one part.
And it doesn't fix everything, don't get me wrong.
But I do think it makes it easier to address issues,
to have conversations,
when you can just be like,
"yeah, man, this shit happened."
You know what I mean?
And just be like, "yeah, that was crazy.
That was wild that that happened,
that this happened."
And then that's the thing,
a lot of the time people think it's about assigning blame,
but it's not.
It's about addressing what happened
so that everyone can move forward
and understand why things need to be fixed
or how they got there in the first place.
Does that make sense?
Like, imagine...
[audience applauds and cheers]
Imagine if like you want to talk to your doctor
about something that happened inside your body
and then, you know, your doctor scans
and then you're like,
"Doc, I think I think I might have like a cancer."
Your doctor's like,
"I wasn't there!
I wasn't in there with you!"
You're like, "no, I just need your help fixing it."
"Yeah. I wasn't there though.
I wasn't even-"
It's like, no man, just chill out.
You know what I mean?
That's the one thing.
I'll transplant that.
And chickens that don't like do weights and stuff.
[audience laughs]
That's the other part.
Like chickens that just like are normal
because American chickens is just like...
What?
Like, once I saw them I was like, "I'm sorry, what?
Is that the thing I'm eating?
Oh."
Like I remember when I first saw
a chicken wing in America.
This is the dumbest thing you've ever heard
[audience laughs]
and you're gonna judge me,
but I judge you back.
[audience laughs]
I remember the first time I had a chicken wing in America
is like, I ordered like buffalo wings.
Okay?
And I know this sounds crazy,
but the reason I was intrigued
'cause I saw it on someone else's plate.
And then I was like, "what are those?"
And someone said, "those are buffalo wings."
And I was like,
"oh, is this like a part of the buffalo that I don't know?"
And I was like, "I want to taste buffalo wings."
And then I remember eating it,
and then I was like, "it's sort of like chicken."
Then someone was like, "it is chicken."
And I was like, "but it's buffalo."
And then they were like, "no, it's chicken."
Then I was like, "but what chicken is this?"
[audience laughs]
I was like, "how big is the wing of this chicken?
What dinosaur chickens do you guys have here?"
'Cause that's not the size of any normal chicken
anywhere in the world.
So yeah, I would...
that's the one other thing I would bring
is just like normal animals.
[audience laughs]
That's all.
Yeah.
I'd bring normal animals and conversations about race.
[audience applauds]
[lively music plays]