South African comedian Loyiso Madinga was on Thursday unveiled as the new "African correspondent" for Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah". Madinga was selected for his comedic and conversational skills and will helm various topical segments.
Trevor Noah announced the Joburg-based comic's big break, saying: "As wild as Donald Trump is for America, many countries around the world have Trumps of their own –– and since 'The Daily Show' is in many countries, we thought, 'Why not give each country a chance to show off their stable geniuses?'"
Madinga, who has collected plenty of fans around the country touring his one-man stand-up comedy show "Born Free-ish", will make his debut on Thursday night on Comedy Central (DSTV 122) at 21:30 local time. He will be delivering his "field report" from the 54th ANC elective conference.
"I am really excited to create a voice for local satire," he said, following the announcement. "What is really great, is that this places an authentic spotlight on local comedy and presents a reality that combats the stereotypical perception of Africa. Being part of 'The Daily Show', I get to join the best conversation in the world."
According to TimeLive, Madinga hails from a little village in Eastern Cape and he left a career in advertising to follow his passion for comedy.
In 2012, he won the Graça Comedy Showdown (just three gigs after his debut) and the 2014 SA Comics' Choice Savanna Newcomer Award, and he is currently the promo voice of Comedy Central.
According to Channel24, Madinga has also written and performed on South Africa's two-time Emmy-nominated satire show "Late Nite News" with comedy legend Loyiso Gola, and written and performed on the hit local sketch show "Bantu Hour".