Trevor Noah on ‘juggling flaming swords’ as the 2023 Grammys host

As Jay-Z says on one of his Grammy-winning hits: “On to the next one.”

Just one week after leaving “The Daily Show,” Trevor Noah has already landed his next big hosting gig: He’ll be presiding over the Grammys for the third year in a row when the 65th annual ceremony takes place on Feb. 5.

“I don’t think it’s normal to host it once, so I don’t have a great frame of reference for this,” Noah told Billboard. “It is thrilling. For me, it’s a cheat code because I’m a fan of almost all the people who are there.”

This will be the first time that the awards return to the Crypto.com Arena. Formerly known as the Staples Center, the Los Angeles venue was the Grammy Awards’ home since 1999 until the pandemic started. In 2021, music’s biggest night was held outside the Los Angeles Convention Center, while it moved to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas for this year’s show.

“The first one was … a completely different way to make the show,” said Noah. “And then the next one was in Las Vegas because of the restrictions [in Los Angeles], and that was a different type of show. Now it’s exciting [because] it’ll be … hopefully not just normal, but different for the right reasons.”

The 38-year-old comedian brings a wealth of TV experience to the Grammy gig. “I’ve been lucky enough to work in television — when I count South Africa as well — for 18 years,” he said. “I’ve been lucky enough to host crazy productions where everyone’s running around and you have to hit your marks and do different things. And most importantly — funny enough — is that I don’t take myself too seriously. I allow myself [to be] comfortable with the idea that everything could go wrong in a moment.”

With so many moving parts at the Grammys because of all the performances, Noah has to think on his feet even more than usual. “Sometimes [producers] don’t know where the artist is, or someone went to the bathroom at the wrong time,” he said. “It’s just the craziest, unluckiest thing that will happen to you, and 99 times out of 100, it doesn’t happen. But when it does, everybody needs to breathe and keep everything aimed in the right direction. We always plan for the worst and hope for the best.”

While there is a script at the Grammys, Noah likes to improvise. “Anyone who works with me knows I’m always going to go off the cuff,” he said. “If something happens that wasn’t in the script and you want to comment or make a joke about it, we do, and it’s fun … We don’t know what anybody might do before or after their performance, so what’s great is to be able to respond to that … I’m enjoying the fact that we’re juggling flaming swords.”

Calling the Grammys “one of the greatest concerts you’ll ever get the opportunity to go to,” Noah added, “For me, the most important thing is that it’s a celebration.”