Temperance Noah was the only somewhat consistent male figure in Trevor Noah's life.
According to Noah, "The only semi-regular male figure in my life was my grandfather, my mother's father." He didn't live with them because his grandmother and grandfather were divorced; however, he still spent time with them. In the past, his grandfather had been a boxer. At 80, he tried to box 12-year-old Noah.
Noah says that his grandfather's name did not define him. He was a man of excesses: loud, adored by women, and charming. His nickname was actually "Tat Shisha" which is loosely translated as "the smokin' hot grandpa," according to Noah. Some of his mannerisms may have been due to his later diagnosis as bipolar, but they didn't find out that he had the condition for years.
Temperance liked to put on suits and walk through Soweto charming the people he'd meet. He wore false teeth that were big and white. When he took them out, his face would collapse in on itself as if "he was eating his own face." His moods swung up and down. He could go from animated and angry to quiet and subdued, to the point where he wouldn't speak a word all day.
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