-Welcome back, buddy. It's always good to see you.
We have a lot to talk about.
-We have a lot to talk about. -We really do.
-First of all, the beard.
You're looking handsome, can I just say?
-Aw, no, stop. -No, I mean it. It's nice.
It's like, I can't grow a beard,
so whenever I see somebody do it, I'm just --
I, like, cheer from the rafters.
"You go, Jimmy!"
-Yes, this took me six months to do it.
-I can't even do it. -Oh, come on, you're a stud.
-How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while, man.
-I haven't seen you, buddy. Yeah, I'm happy you're here.
-Yes, yes. -Thanks for being here.
You kind of shocked the world.
You shocked me, at least, a couple weeks ago.
You announced that you're leaving "The Daily Show."
-Right, yes.
-And that your last show is December 8th.
-That is indeed correct.
-Why?
-Um. Why not?
[ Laughter ]
No, you know what -- you know what I think?
It's funny how people ask it.
Like, people ask you this question as if
you're telling them bad news.
-Yeah.
-You know, and I can understand that, but I think --
I think everybody has gone through a period
of looking at their lives.
You know, every single person.
We were -- we're in our apartments for two years.
You know, the world changed.
We experienced collective grief.
I think if you don't look at your life
and think about what you'd like to do differently,
then you haven't experienced
what we've all experienced, you know?
And so I think of this as a joyous thing, you know?
I lived through a crazy time.
I shared it with people who were kind enough to share it with me.
We went through something, and what's on the other side?
I don't take anything for granted anymore.
I don't believe that life is a given.
I don't assume that things will come to me.
And so, you know, I just go, like,
"This is it. This is time."
And leave -- when people say "Why are you leaving?"
'Cause imagine if it was the other way around.
I go, like, "I'm leaving,"
and then people are like, "Yeah, yeah."
[ Laughter ]
-"It's about time."
-Yeah, like, leave -- leave when --
-Leave when people go, "Why?"
-Yeah. Yeah. -I like that.
Leave when it's still good. Leave when you're still loved.
Leave when you still have the energy to enjoy it.
I still have three months to have a ton of fun
with everybody at the show.
-Yeah. -And I'm gonna do that.
-Do you have plans on what you're going to do next, or...?
-Everything. Everything.
-Everything? -Everything.
[ Cheers and applause ]
I'm gonna get drumming lessons from Quest.
-Yeah, Quest. -You know this.
We're getting our drumming lessons going.
-Yeah, of course. Yeah, he'll join you.
-No, you know what? I'm so excited to do everything.
I didn't get to travel as much, doing stand-up around the world.
I'm excited to do that -Yeah.
-I used to go to a country and I would be there for weeks on end.
I would learn parts of the language.
I would learn about the culture.
I would do a show based around that.
I'm gonna get back to doing that.
Producing, you know?
Just working behind the camera. -Yeah.
-Working on different ideas, you know?
Going back home,
spending more time with family in South Africa.
Everything is what I'm gonna be doing.
-Stand-up is -- -The show is hard, Jimmy.
We're here every day, Jimmy.
-You don't need to tell me.
-Do I need to tell you this, Jimmy?
-No, you don't have to tell me. -Why aren't you leaving, Jimmy?
[ Laughter ]
It's hard.
-I have an announcement tonight. -No, don't do it!
[ Drumroll ] No, they'll blame me.
Don't -- You stop playing those drums, now!
[ Laughter ]
-I do want to see you do stand-up,
because man, oh, man,
you're selling out these shows, and I follow you on the socials
and I see what you're doing and I go --
You just sold out in Toronto.
-It was amazing.
It was truly, truly amazing. -Two nights in a row, right?
-Yeah, two nights at the Scotiabank Arena,
and I don't take it for granted.
-You're doing arenas!
-I remember when I was in Toronto,
doing a 200-seat venue. -Yeah.
-People would come, I don't even know how they knew me.
Literally, you go to someplace in the world
and people go, "I'm your biggest fan!"
This was before social media was really a thing.
I was like, "How do you know me?
I'm a little creeped out, but I appreciate this."
-Yeah, of course. -Because how do you know me?
And to go from that to now playing these giant rooms,
I don't take it for granted.
I'm going back to the small rooms again,
because that's where you start the set.
But it's been a wonderful progression,
to see where you start, where you get to,
and going back to that and appreciating it.
It was fun.
-I remember being nervous not being able to
sell out a 200-seat comedy club. -I'm still nervous.
-They make you do radio in the morning, too.
-I am still nervous. -Oh, please.
-Radio's fun, though. -Oh, yeah.
-But not when it's like, 5:30 in the morning
and you've got to be funny. I'm like, Oh, my God.
-And they've got so much energy,
and they've all got the radio voices.
They're like, "Wake up to the morning!"
[ Overlapping shouting ]
[ Imitating sound effects ]
[ Applause ]
-Call in!
Call in!
-I didn't even have my coffee!
[ Laughter ]
-You know, the "Black Panther" sequel is coming out soon.
-Yes.
-And I don't know if a lot of people know this,
but you were in the original "Black Panther."
-I don't know if I believe this. -Yes.
[ Laughter ]
These are rumors that I've been told.
-No, no, this is a real thing.
-i don't know, I think people just assume,
because it's like, Wakanda, it's from Africa,
I'm from Africa. -No, no.
-And people are just like, "You were there."
I'm like, "No, I was in Africa."
It's similar, but it's not the same.
-It's not Wakanda, yeah.
But you are the voice of the A.I.
-I'm the voice of Griot, yeah. -Yeah, the --
-I'm basically, it's like African Siri, that's what I am.
[ Laughter ]
That's essentially what I'm doing.
-You've made it.
[ Cheers and applause ]
Did you just tell every single human that you knew
on this planet that you were in "Black Panther"?
And you're like, "Dude, I'm in the biggest movie ever."
-No. No, you know why? Because I hate spoilers.
-Yeah.
-And so I wouldn't spoil it even for my friends,
to let them know that I'm doing a --
I genuinely don't --
I don't watch trailers, for instance.
-You don't? -No, I hate trailers.
-Because you don't want to know?
-No, like, I like getting into the movie
and not knowing what's coming, what's gonna happen,
not anticipating a scene, not thinking about --
Sometimes they'll put a thing --
Have you noticed they'll put a thing in the trailer
that's not in the movie?
And sometimes you wait for the whole movie --
You're like, "Where's the thing?"
[ Laughter and applause ]
-"No, on the trailer, you did the thing."
-"Yeah, but the trailer -- the trailer had --"
-"Where he's holding up the baby's."
-"There's a moment."
-"He's wearing the baby's coat and he's --"
-Then there's no -- there's no baby's coat.
So, uh, no, I -- -That'd be a good scene.
-I enjoy the experience of going to the movies,
sitting there with my popcorn, and not knowing
what's gonna happen, and then just enjoying it.
Go, you know -- -I'm gonna do that.
I wanna do that with you. -Go along for the ride.
What's the worst that can happen?
-Let's just go see a random movie that we --
neither one of us knows exactly what's gonna happen.
-I do that all the time. You should come with me.
-Really? I will come with you.
I cannot wait. -It's a lot of fun.
-I know you probably won't tell me now,
but are you in the new "Black Panther?"
[ Laughter ]
Of course you're not gonna tell me.
[ Cheers and applause ] Why would you tell me?
You just explained to me that you don't like spoilers.
-I'm just saying you should watch it.
-I am gonna watch it. I'm gonna, yeah.
I'll watch it?
Do you want me to watch it or listen to it?
-You should -- Both.
-Okay.
-It'd be weird if you only watch.
If you just come into movies with your headphones.
-If I'm going for your voice, I dunno.
I wanted to ask you, because this made me really laugh.
Halloween is coming up.
I don't know if you get into it or don't get into it.
-I love Halloween.
It took me a while to get into it, because --
for those who are from Africa, you know what I'm talking about,
Halloween is not something we really celebrate there.
Because my parents, my mom, my grandma, everyone,
they just go, "that's witchcraft."
-Ah. Well, yeah.
-So if I was like, "Ah, I'm gonna dress up as the devil,"
my mom was like, "Then I will send you to hell."
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, there was no -- -It's not Trick-or-Treat.
-So it's something that I got into in America.
-It's a little different. -And I'm in now.
I'm in. I'm enjoying it. -Yeah.
This is my favorite thing,
one of my favorite things you've ever done.
Last year you dressed as -- you went as The Weeknd.
-I did, indeed. -Yeah.
And it was so convincing. -I did, indeed. That's me.
[ Laughter and applause ]
That's me.
-I know it's you. -Yeah.
-But it was so convincing you told me that people thought
that you actually were The Weeknd.
-Can I tell you?
This is one of the strangest experiences I've ever had.
'Cause I know The Weeknd and I look similar
from certain angles.
The joke I have with him, is I go, "I'm The Weekday," right?
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah. -And so --
I decided for Halloween, I was like, "Ah, what's easy?"
I was like, "This is great. I'm just gonna go as him," right?
-Of course.
-And I'm walking downtown in New York. It's Halloween.
Everyone is dressed up as other things.
Someone screams, "The Weeknd!"
[ Laughter ]
So I go, "Yeah, that's the outfit. I get it."
Then she's like, "Can I get a selfie, The Weeknd?"
And I was like, "Wait, you think I am The Weeknd?"
She's like, "You're The Weeknd." What are you doing here?"
Then I say, "I'm not The Weeknd."
She's like, "You're lying. I recognize you."
[ Laughter ]
I was like, "Wait. Why --
So why would The Weeknd be The Weeknd for Halloween?"
[ Laughter ] How does this work?
-He wouldn't dress... -"What is happening right now?"
And then she got angry. She got angry.
I was like, "I'm not."
She's like, "Don't lie. Stop lying. Just take a photo.
I love your, 'I can't feel my face when I'm with you.'"
-Yeah. -I'm like, "I'm not The Weeknd."
She was like, "Why are you being like this?"
I said, "'Cause I'm not The Weeknd."
-Yes, of course.
-She's like, "I thought you were nice."
Then I'm like, "Well, guess The Weeknd's not nice.
I don't know what's happening right now."
-Now you're giving him a bad name?
-Yeah. So now I'm gonna go as him every year.
[ Laughter ]
-He should go as himself and have one night off.
Let's talk about your new project here,
"The Turning Point." -Yes. I'm very excited.
-This is very, very interesting. It's a bunch of documentaries.
It's on MSNBC. -Yes. Yes.
-And these films look at issues
like climate change, voting rights.
-Right.
-And how do you choose what stories to cover with these?
-Well, I'm really lucky that we had a fantastic team
that came together to create this idea
for looking at the news beyond just the moment that it happens.
You know, I know America loves the take of the day.
I get that. You know, I do a daily show.
But I sometimes think that we lose perspective
if we don't think about the whys and the hows,
the story behind the story.
How does it affect people in a way that you didn't consider?
How do you even separate yourself
from the surface issue to speak about
what's actually happening?
So, for instance, you know, talking about polarization.
Everyone says, "Oh, America's polarized.
Everybody thinks this. Everybody thinks that."
But, you know, for one of the documentaries,
we look at, do you ever consider what it's like
to live in a country where people are consuming
two completely different versions of what's on the news?
You know, everyone goes, "This is my reality,"
and another person says, "Well, this is my reality."
What does that do to a country?
And that's what we look at in one of those.
You know, I've been lucky enough that the documentaries
are produced and directed by some of the most amazing people.
For instance, Leonardo DiCaprio
produces one of the documentaries
that looks at climate change
and how it ties people's lives together.
For instance, the wildfires in Portugal,
how people's lives were destroyed,
how they found each other.
But then also how it ties into a larger narrative
of how people move around the Earth
and why they move around the Earth.
-And how did we get there, and also what are we learning,
and how and what are we changing?
-Yeah. But just, without -- a lot of the time it's,
everything is associated with blame.
And I think sometimes if we have a conversation about what is,
without looking at who you want to or not want to blame,
you can just have a discussion around the why,
and then you can go from there.
I feel like we live in a world where
people argue about everything, and I don't think
you have to agree with everyone on everything.
You can go, "That's my parking spot."
I go, "That is my parking spot."
But now we're getting to a world where I go,
"That's my parking spot," and somebody goes,
"What parking spot?"
[ Laughter ]
I'm like, that's scary. -That's scary, yeah.
-Let's disagree... -There is a parking spot.
-...on the parking spot. -That's what we can agree on.
-Yeah, but let's agree that there is one in the first place.
And that's all I'm trying to do here,
is trying to tie people worlds together
to help them understand that they may not agree on issues,
but just give them a different lens to see it through.
And so that's been really joyous
in just working through new stories
with a longer lead, with a bit more patience,
with a bit more time to build a little more context.
-The first one is called "Shouting Down Midnight."
-Yes. -What is that?
-It's a really, really wonderful look
at how one lawmaker -- one person, in fact,
can go on to create, you know, ripples in a pond.
You have Wendy Davis, who stood up and filibustered a law
that has affected so many millions of women
around this country.
And she did it in her state, in her world.
And then what we try to show you is how these ripples go on
to create change all over the country.
And it becomes less about that incident,
and more about how people can create more change
than they think they can in the moment
that they dip themselves into a pond.
-Yeah. I love that. I want to show everyone a clip.
[ Cheers and applause ]
This is a look at the first film of the series,
"Shouting Down Midnight."
-We are coming back. We are coming back.
[ Cheering ]
-There were these moments in the day
when the building would literally come alive.
I could feel it under my feet.
-Let her speak. Let her speak. Let her speak. Let her speak.
-Upset by the the crowd's behavior,
Lieutenant Governor Dewhurst referred to the folks
who were there as an unruly mob.
They've since taken that mantra and worn it with pride.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-The documentary series "The Turning Point" premieres
October 23rd at 10:00 P.M. on MSNBC.
Trevor, thank you so much for being here,
and we'll support anything you ever do.
-Always. Thank you.
-You know, you're a good man. -Thank you very much.
-Congratulations. The Weeknd, everybody!
[ Cheers and applause ]
We'll be right back with more "Tonight Show," everybody.
Come on, now.
[ Cheers and applause ]