Trevor Noah impresses Jay Leno

Johannesburg - Trevor Noah made history on Friday when he became the first South African comedian to perform stand-up comedy on American late-night talk show show The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

During his performance he made jokes which mainly focused on how difficult it was for him to grow up during apartheid in South Africa.

Noah's mother is black and his father is Swiss.

"They (his parents) came together and had me. So I was born a crime," Noah joked, referring to The Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act during apartheid.

'One giant leap'

After his appearance he received some criticism for saying in a joke that black Americans, who are called African-Americans in the US, are not real Africans.

Noah tweeted on Saturday that an American called him a racist for this remark. "I'm not racist some of my best parents are black!" he said.

Shortly after the show he tweeted about how great the experience was: "Just did the Tonight Show set and it was amazing. I got a standing ovation! Words cannot describe how happy I am."

He later tweeted that the opportunity to appear on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno is "one small step for me, one giant leap for African Comedy!"

A video of Noah's performance that was loaded onto YouTube on Saturday, received more than 16 000 views by Sunday.

The episode featuring Trevor Noah will be broadcast on Tuesday on CNBC Africa, on DStv channel 410 at 21:00. Oscar-winning actress Glenn Close is also a guest on the show.

Watch Trevor Noah on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno here: