Russian sounds like English backwards
Trevor Noah , compared with Russell Peters
The Russian language and accent sound like English played in reverse, or like an inherent threat.
Noah plays a Russian man whose English sounds villainous, then switches to Russian where he suddenly sounds natural and friendly. (paraphrase)
Lost in Translation, 2015find on YouTube ↗
Peters rattles off mock Russian at speed to suggest the language is English spoken backwards. (paraphrase)
Almost Famous (tour and special), 2015find on YouTube ↗
Both riff on how Russian sounds, but they go different ways, and Peters himself conceded Elon Gold did a version first.
- Premise 24/40
- Structure 10/30
- Punchline 8/30
- Premise24/40Both mock how Russian sounds, but Noah targets menacing accented English while Peters says Russian is English backwards.
- Structure10/30Noah builds a contrast between accented English and natural Russian; Peters does rapid mock Russian.
- Punchline8/30Noah lands on Russian sounding friendly; Peters lands on it sounding like reversed English.
Setup
A Russian man speaking English sounds villainous
Setup
Russian sounds like English spoken backwards
Turn
He switches into Russian
Turn
Rattles off mock Russian at speed
Punchline
In Russian he suddenly sounds natural and friendly
Punchline
The gibberish implies Russian is just English reversed
Scores and beats are our editorial reading of the public record, not a ruling.
Context
When and where
Peters did a 'Russian sounds like English backwards' routine on his Almost Famous tour and special. Noah's version is in his 2015 special Lost in Translation. Elon Gold had done a similar routine before Peters, and Lee Mack did one about South African accents on his 2007 tour.
What followed
In 2018 Peters called Noah a 'thieving' comic over the bit, while conceding Elon Gold had done a Russian-backwards routine first; Peters said he'd never seen it and phoned Gold to check it was OK. Commentators also noted Lee Mack's 2007 routine about South African accents sounding backwards. Noah did not respond.
Receipts
Photos via Wikimedia Commons: Trevor Noah by Web Summit Qatar, CC BY 2.0; Russell Peters by Robert Trick Johnston, CC BY 2.0