Noah's quick rise to success was documented in "You Laugh But It's True, " a film chronicling the days leading up to Noah's first one-man show in Johannesburg, in 2009.

CNN: Why mixed-race comic was 'born a crime'

Yet the show feels faintly revolutionary, just because the man is black ridiculous but true, given the whiteness of late-night TV.

NEWYORKER: Small Wonders