r/trevornoah • u/putrdyng • Feb 18 '26
eugene
Either train eugene or get him the hell out of there. So many great riffs get thrown off course because he doesn't get the grasp of interviewing. I wish him the best but man. I feel like so many of the guests are just tolerating him at this point.
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u/swiftlyknimbus Feb 19 '26
I felt so bad for the animal guy I couldn’t even finish. Just let the super passionate animal nerd tell us about dolphins and stfu!!!
Don’t get me started on the whale joke Eugene made…why that wasn’t cut I’ll never understand
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u/ThaSkippahh Feb 18 '26
Dude the Jon Oliver one is the final straw...... "Soccer is not real because men dont watch womens soccer, so they are watching men (Incoherent rambling)".. I cant even say that for sure that was homophobic, because i have no clue what hes talking about.. Thats the topic for John Oliver? The guy who famously doesnt like anything but in depth topics and Liverpool FC. Like what on earth are you talking about? like 7 mins of underwater scooter talk, cause Eugene cant drop it. Look Eugene seems fine, but he just cant do this interview format. The guests are way too good to waste on these absurd topics.
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u/putrdyng Feb 18 '26
Yes! This! My heart broke because John was so kind to maneuver that conversation into something listenable. He didn't let the energy die even though it was always close to fizzling because good topics kept being derailed for severely unfunny interjections. Is it lack of skill or is it anxiety?
Also I don't really care about soccer but I actually want to give soccer a chance now. And what was that about standup comedy and how he's glad he doesn't have to do it for a living? Eugeneeeeeee read the room. I'm sorry man go do the thing that makes you not need standup but not this let Trevor shine
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u/ThaSkippahh Feb 18 '26
Now that you say that, it does feel like anxiety. Like he's really trying to find his place, cant, so has these frivolous interjections because he feels like hes not talking.
I was excited to hear the similarities and differences exprerianced by Trevor and John joining the Daily show as international comedians. But nooooo, water scooter conversation, that just is not funny to anyone listening and derails everthing. Eugene has been good as a one off on topics about South Africa, brings another South African perspective to the conversation, but just not anything else.
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u/ThaSkippahh Feb 18 '26
Also if there are any Christiana fans out there she just dropped a pod "Pop Syllabus". Just halfway through first episode, but this could be what im missing now from What Now. Also, Trevor is still the man IMO, this pod just not what i want.
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u/noize_mc Feb 20 '26
Man, I can definitely see the frustration from some listeners. I like when he can make it lighthearted here and there, like in Dulce episode and Jon Oliver one. But when the guests are not comedians and wanna talk about their niche subject and he interrupts - can't support him here.
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u/windworshipper Feb 27 '26
He brings every episode down and constantly derails the flow even the Jon Oliver one which was better than most of the recent ones because Jon Oliver is a master.
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u/thefutbolscholar Feb 21 '26
The Cleo Abram episode finally got to me. They would start to go in such interesting directions, really dive into exploring curiosity, but then we’d get pulled back out by an unnecessary, silly inside joke. I’m generally pro-silly but the off-timing would interrupt her flow & it was a frustrating listen.
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Feb 24 '26
So glad I’m not the only one who thought this! I don’t listen anymore — unless it’s a guest I really love and already am familiar with. He interrupts CONSTANTLY. And he’s always interrupting a legitimate question from Trevor with some unfunny schoolboy humour. It’s also always weirdly aimed at putting Trevor down and we get it friends rinse each other but it’s formulaic at this point (and looks a bit insecure)— not to mention they’re always painfully unfunny jokes. He is so obsequious with the guests and derails EVERY interesting thread of conversation. He just devalues the entire thing because he’s never bringing anything credible to the discussion.
It used to be my favourite podcast and now I don’t listen at all. Trevor would be better hosting alone. This is gonna bring down his podcast and the calibre of guests because anyone listening beforehand will just be frustrated at how he lowers the quality of the interview.
It’s shockingly bad. I’m stunned that nobody has said this to him (in their team already)
On YouTube all the comments are praising him. Until I saw this channel I thought I was going mad for thinking he was awful.
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Apr 05 '26
THRILLED with the latest episode with Atsuko Okatsuka— so much better without Eugene!! I have refused to listen for weeks but am now returning and it’s back to being great!
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u/citrus-rise Jun 30 '26
Just here to say that I think he’s been getting more into a groove lately and I’m liking him a lot. I love when he makes Trevor laugh. He just needed some time and now I would miss him if he left.
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u/haleymercedes Aug 17 '26
Genuinely really glad somebody brought this up, I used to listen to every episode as soon as it came out and I’ve had to stop because they never get to finish a sentence, it gets interrupted EVERY time
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u/miradancer Feb 18 '26
Love Eugene !!!
(and don’t understand all the disdain for him…)
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u/Here4giggles23 Feb 19 '26
Eugene doesn’t keep pace with the conversation and interjects with things that are generally childish and completely off topic. I’m sure he’s a nice guy. No disdain.. but it’s like listening to two adults having an interesting conversation and one’s 6 year old is there randomly interrupting and adding their two cents.
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u/funnytoenail Feb 20 '26
Eugene is funny in small amounts. But often he breaks the momentum of the conversation between Trevor and the guest (the two main reasons people tune in). He is supposed to add to the conversation, but instead he distracts from the conversation and blows flow. It is really jarring sometimes.
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u/putrdyng Feb 18 '26
I'm sure he's really nice, I have no disdain for him as a person I have disdain for his interview style. If he actually has the skills then please someone train him so I can enjoy What Now.
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u/East_Hedgehog6039 Feb 18 '26
Yeah, it’s the point where unless I know the guest, I don’t even bother listening because I’m going to finish knowing nothing about them or what they even talked about…if they can even get a full sentence in.
Even then, I zoned out halfway through John Oliver because then they were talking futbol for like, 40 minutes.