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  • Sorry, I know this is weird.

  • It's my tea. I know it looks like a magic lamp but it's not, it's my tea.

  • I have to drink this as much as possible.

  • So it's true, this is sort of like my medicine.

  • I have to drink it. Why?

  • Because I lost my voice.

  • But it wasn't like weekend lose your voice, it wasn't like, "Oh, what a great party, I lost the voice"

  • No, no. Voice totally gone.

  • What happened was I was doing shows in New York.

  • A whole lot of performances and then one day, in the middle of a show my voice disappeared.

  • Out of nowhere, I was talking, talking, talking, talking and then, it's gone.

  • Now at first I thought it was just a small thing, it will go away,

  • but it didn't, it got worse every day, every day my voice got worse and worse.

  • Finally I ended in New York and was coming back to South Africa through London.

  • So while I was in London I met a doctor there, a horrible doctor because his advice was, "Maybe you should just keep quite Trevor, yeah?

  • maybe you should keep quite, keep quite for a few days and there after, what you should do is speak in a confidential voice, yes? Speak in a confidential voice."

  • That's what he told me to do, speak in a confidential voice.

  • A confidential voice is basically you speaking very softly, very hum.

  • So basically everywhere you go you talk like this, you know what I mean?

  • This is, this is what you got to do.

  • Basically like white people in the office *whispering*

  • "What's that?"

  • "No nothing, we're good here. See you guys at the braai, ha, ha."

  • *whispering*

  • That's a confidential voice."

  • Now, the problem with a confidential voice is that you have to lean in when you speak to people, right?

  • And then two things happen.

  • One, I don't know why but if you speak softly or you whisper, people will whisper back to you.

  • I don't know why this happens.

  • I went into a shop, I was trying to buy a computer.

  • This guy comes at me and he says "Hey sir, how you doing, you good man? Are you good?"

  • I was like, "Hey yes, I just need to buy some computers, please."

  • "Oh, you looking at some of those laptops over there?"

  • I said, "Yeah, just some of the laptops."

  • "Yeah, well over here we have a great range of computers."

  • "What are you doing, why are you whispering?"

  • "No I am not whispering, I don't know what you mean."

  • You are whispering, why?

  • It's like I am injured and now you are limping. What the hell is going on here?

  • The second weird thing that happened was because I was speaking like this, some people thought I was trying to have sex with them.

  • Yeah, it was weird for me at first and then I realise this actually was happening.

  • The worst incident was when I was visiting friends of mine in Adderley, right?

  • and I went to the Chicken Licken with my boys, we are hanging out.

  • It's a normal day, we're just getting food, you know?

  • We walk up to the counter, the woman there said, "Welcome to Chicken Licken sir, can I take your order, please?"

  • I said, "I would like four pieces of chicken, please."

  • "You want some chicken?"

  • "I'm gonna give you the breasts and the thighs."

  • She was chasing me down the street, you know how scared I was running away holding my chicken screaming for help in a confidential voice?

  • "Help me, help me, help me."

  • So this clearly didn't help.

  • I come back to South Africa and I meet a doctor here, a voice doctor who happens to be one of the best in the world.

  • And he does an exam of my voice, finds exactly what I have, hemorrhagic polyp.

  • and he says we have to go in for surgery, which stresses me out, I go "What? We have got to go in for the surgery?"

  • "Yeah Trevor, that is not helping. Just stop doing that."

  • "What do you mean?"

  • The doctor said, " I don't want to have sex with you so just stop doing that."

  • "You are going in for surgery."

  • Surgery. Surgery, you know how scared I was now? Surgery, it was stressful.

  • The worst thing about the surgery was the process around the surgery.

  • I wasn't allowed to speak for the week before the surgery and then after surgery, completely silent for one month.

  • Yeah, one month.

  • No speaking, no whispering, no humming, no coughing or even sneezing. Nothing.

  • You make no sound otherwise you will damage the voice after surgery, yeah.

  • Which seems easy for the first few days because you think it's fun, you're like, "Oh I will just keep quite, I will just be a mime."

  • And then it gets boring and then it gets difficult.

  • 'Cause then you start meeting people what know you and want to have conversations.

  • Fans in the streets, friendly people, you know.

  • White people were the best to me, I won't lie.

  • 'Cause white people are impatient, I like that.

  • Yeah, white people have no time for anything. I have seen this.

  • White people don't like to wait, they are always in a hurry, always something to do.

  • They come up to me, "Hey Trevor Noah right, he Comedian?"

  • "Oh what, you not talking?"

  • "Oh, no voice? All right. Cheers hey, bye."

  • Gone. Out of my life, no stress.

  • I loved it, I loved it. It's great for me.

  • Not so great for white people though, that's why they pay so much in traffic fines, yes.

  • Yes. It's true, if you guys where just more patient you wouldn't pay half as much.

  • Yeah, because black people hardly pay anything, hardly anything at all.

  • Black people get to the traffic thing, you just relax the situation.

  • That's what you do. You just relax everything, you just get there.

  • You know, the guy will come to your window,

  • "Baba, you are not wearing a seat belt."

  • And you are like, "Ah, seat belt?"

  • "Yeah, no seat belt."

  • "Eish, seatbelt?"

  • "Yeah, give me your license."

  • "Hey, give me your license man!"

  • "Ah, license."

  • "Seat belt, license?"

  • "Ah, license, seat belt?"

  • "Hey man!"

  • "Ah, license?"

  • "Hey man, go, go, go, go."

  • Just relax it.

  • I have seen white people at roadblocks, they have no patience.

  • They get angry at the metro cop.

  • They get so angry it's like he did something wrong, you see them.

  • They get stopped there.

  • "Sorry sir, you were speeding."

  • "Oh bloody hell man, you guys are everywhere, nobody can drive anymore in this place, man!"

  • "Yes. You guys are like behind every bush, I don't know if it's a bush or a metro cop."

  • "What the hell is going on here, man!"

  • "Jis like you guys, bloody hell."

  • "They should start calling you the fauna and flora police. What the hell!"

  • You guys in the bloody bush, what are you gonna do? You gonna give me a ticket or something?"

  • "No, I was just saying..."

  • "Yeah, bloody hell. Just give me the bloody ticket!"

  • "OK, you want a ticket, I will give a ticket. I will give you the damn ticket!"

  • "Yeah, just give me the bloody ticket!"

  • "Yeah I am going to give you the ticket and your indicator is not working. Boom, one thousand!"

  • Just bring it down, just relax.

  • Just be a bit patient.

  • White people have no patients, none.

  • The complete opposite end of the spectrum,

  • and the people I dreaded meeting when I had no voice was Indians.

  • No, Indians are the worst human beings you will ever meet if you are trying to have short conversations.

  • 'Cause I don't know what it is about Indian people but they are the most inquisitive people you will ever come across in your life.

  • Question after question, after question, after question, it's just like a thing in their culture.

  • They have just got to ask questions. Questions, questions, questions, questions.

  • That's why there's no Indian GPS, you wouldn't get anywhere.

  • You would not get anywhere.

  • You would be fighting with your car.

  • "Take me to Woolworths, please"

  • "Why do you want to go to Woolworths here boss?"

  • "Just take me to Woolworths, dammit!"

  • Questions and questions.

  • I met a group of Indian guys one day, it was a Saturday morning, these guys see me, they're very cool, you know, the guy is like,

  • "Hey Trevor Noah, Trevor Noah?

  • "What's happening, bro? How you doing man? Check this off, Hazier."

  • Hey Hazier, you know this ou bro?"

  • Yeah, the comedian. We got all your DVD's here, Trevor. Yeah, we bought them at Vorgeburg, man."

  • "Hey man, hey bro you are tops man, you are tops bro!"

  • "Hey, you are killing us with the jokes man, killing us. When are you doing another show, man?"

  • "What? You are not talking now?"

  • You lost your voice.

  • What happened?

  • Hey guys, thanks for watching.

  • Make sure to subscribe to my channel so you can win cool prizes and by prizes.

  • I mean surprise.

  • There's no prizes.

  • It's a free YouTube video, you greedy.

  • Just click the video, man.

  • Why you want free things on free things?

Sorry, I know this is weird.

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