The Daily Show host Trevor Noah has been announced as the featured entertainer for the upcoming White House Correspondents’ Association (WHCA) dinner on April 30.
It marks the return of the event, usually held annually, after a two-year absence. The 2020 and 2021 dinners had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. President Joe Biden is expected to be in attendance, unlike Donald Trump, who skipped the annual dinner during his four-year presidency.
Noah, who will also host the Grammy Awards on April 3, is currently in the middle of his Back to Abnormal comedy tour. The Emmy-winning comedian currently hosts Comedy Central’s satirical news program The Daily Show and, in 2018, was named by Time magazine as one of the hundred most influential people in the world.
“Trevor is an incredible talent who keeps us laughing — and thinking — four nights a week,” said WHCA president Steven Portnoy in a statement (via Deadline). “We can’t wait for him to help bring our 100-year Washington tradition ‘Back to Abnormal.’”
A press release for the event also noted that this year’s dinner “will be the WHCA’s first since 2019 and offer the first opportunity since 2016 for the press and the president to share a few laughs for a good cause.”
The WHCA’s annual dinner started in 1921 and has gone on to become a Washington, D.C. tradition. The event is usually attended by the president and vice president and, since 1983, has featured a comedian performing a sort of comedy roast on the president and their administration. The dinner helps fund scholarships for gifted students in college journalism programs.
Other comedians who have performed at the event include Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Michelle Wolf, Hasan Minhaj, and former Daily Show host Jon Stewart.
