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Get to know Trevor Noah: 5 fun facts about the new 'Daily Show' host

By now, you've probably heard: Trevor Noah is taking over for Jon Stewart at "The Daily Show" when Stewart steps down later this year.
/ Source: TODAY

By now, you've probably heard: Trevor Noah is taking over for Jon Stewart at "The Daily Show" when Stewart steps down later this year.

1. He's an international sensation with a worldview to match.With more than 2 million followers on Twitter, Noah can sell out stand-up shows around the world; when news broke of his hire, The New York Times reached him in Dubai, where he was performing on a comedy tour.

Noah was born and raised in South Africa, but because his mother was black and his father white their relationship was considered illegal under the apartheid system of racial segregation. His mother went to jail and paid a fine, while Noah faced special kinds of discrimination.

As he told Marc Maron on the "WTF" podcast in 2013, "They'd conduct experiments to make sure that you were white. And one was the pencil test, where they would put a pencil in your hair and then, if the pencil fell out, then you were white."

2. He started out as a soap opera actor.Hey, there's nothing wrong with that. "Isidingo" is a huge hit in South Africa, and in 2002 when Noah was just 18 (he's 31 now) that was his big break in TV. He went on to a series of hosting gigs, from gossip to sports to awards, and eventually began focusing on his stand-up.

He's also continued honing his hosting chops with a recurring series of Web episodes called "Fantasy Kidnap," in which he's a very low-rent talk show host who has to kidnap his guests to get them to appear on the show. (Lots of bleeped-out cursing, so be warned.)

3. He was the first South African comedian to appear on "The Tonight Show."

In 2012, Noah made his U.S. TV debut on "Tonight" and the following year he also became the first South African comedian to appear on "The Late Show With David Letterman."

4. His "Ellen DeGeneres Show" guest visits are going to be epic.That's because Noah can dance! In 2008, he and his professional dance partner Hayley Hammond came in second place on South Africa's "Dancing With the Stars" (which is called "Strictly Come Dancing" there). Video, sadly, seems hard to come by, though this image of himdancing to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" on the show is pretty awesome.

5. He's fearless in telling it like it is, and pokes fun at everyone.

(For reference, that tweet came out not long after former South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius was found guilty in the death of his girlfriend and yes, it garnered Noah a lot of criticism.)

Check out more of Noah's stand-up and sketches on his YouTube channel and Web page!

Thus far, no date has been set for Noah to take over. But while we'll sorely miss Jon Stewart as "Daily Show" host, we feel pretty confident that Noah will chart his own unique, funny course.

Follow Randee Dawn on Google+ and Twitter.