EVEN superstar stand-ups like Eddie Izzard need help getting gigs sometimes.

Just ask South African comedian Trevor Noah, who helped Eddie put on shows in South Africa.

Eddie then returned the favour by introducing Trevor at his first Edinburgh Festival appearance.

“I met him at the Comedy Store in London quite a few years ago,” Trevor tells me, “and we hung out afterwards.

“As we were talking, I said if he ever wanted to come to South Africa to do some shows, I would be more than happy to help out.

“Then later he contacted me and my agent, saying he wanted to take me up on my offer and so we organised this tour for him, which was a great success.”

Only fair then that when Trevor wanted to make his big Edinburgh debut, Eddie would be on hand to make sure he got off to a flying start.

“Last year when I came to the E d i n b u r g h Festival, he said he would like to introduce me on stage, which was a great honour for me,”

says Trevor.

As you can imagine, Eddie’s not the sort of person who puts his seal of approval to any old stand-up – but then, Trevor is no ordinary comedian.

For a start, there is Trevor’s rags-to-riches tale of growing up in the Johannesburgh township of Soweto to becoming one of the country’s most famous entertainers.

“It was a pretty tough existence,” Trevor adds. “But there were no walls and no fences, just a strong family community, so I was a pretty happy child.

“At the time I had no inkling of comedy at all. My only purpose was to be Soweto’s hide-and-go-seek champion.”

But that was all to change after a chance night out in Johannesburg with friends.

Trevor says: “It was a really random thing. Just an ordinary night at a room where they were doing comedy, about six and a half years ago.

“A friend suggested I had a go. He thought I might be good at it and I loved it straight away. I felt so at home on the stage. That was where my life changed.”

His explosion on to the South African entertainment scene has been nothing short of meteoric, taking on TV, radio and his first love, standup comedy, which he has performed on both local and international stages.

He has hosted numerous television shows in South Africa, including the country’s music, television and film awards, the South African Comedy Festival, and two seasons of his own late- night talk show.

And that was before he took his comedy overseas.

His career highlights include a performance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno – becoming the first South African stand-up comedian to do so – and opening for Julio Iglesias on his tour of South Africa.

“It is a little crazy when you look at it like that,” he comments. “But I’m still a normal guy. I still do my laundry, make meals and wash the dishes – nothing has changed there.”

While that may be true, Trevor’s relentless campaign to conquer the comedyworld is now making in-roads on the British comedy scene and he’s already broken one record over here.

For the run of his latest show, the Racist, at London’s Soho Theatre, he sold out all 40 performances – making Trevor the best-selling comedian ever to have appeared at the venue.

“It’s been a bit overwhelming,” he replies modestly. “If I’m being honest, I didn’t expect to sell a ticket, but I always wanted to come over and make it here in the UK.

“In my world it is one of the bastions of stand-up and to do a tour here is really a dream come true.”

Trevor describes his show as a way for UK audiences to get to know him.

“It’s really my life story,” he says. “It’s an introduction to Trevor starting with growing up in Soweto and then what happened to me.

“I don’t really evaluate it too much, but I suppose if I did it would be a bit like South Africa itself. Once a backward, racist nation and now one of the world’s most forward-looking countries.

“When you live in a country like that, the possibilities for your own life are endless.”

Our interview with Trevor took place before the announcement of Nelson Mandela’s death, but following the news Trevor wrote on Twitter he was one of the funniest and most amazing human beings he had ever met.

I think Nelson possibly would have thought Trevor was a pretty special human being himself.

Trevor Noah: The Racist Palace Theatre, London Road, Westcliff.

December 19. 8pm.

Tickets £16 www.thecliffspavillion.co.uk Å 0011770022 335511113355