HART GOES BACK TO THE START
‘Just for Laughs was huge for me’
Seventeen years ago, an unassuming shoe salesman and wannabe standup from Philadelphia put it all on the line at a Just for Laughs New Faces of Comedy show and blew away the audience.
Kevin Hart hasn’t looked back since, and has barely had time to come up for air.
“Just for Laughs was huge for me, and I will always hold the festival so special,” Hart, 39, says in a phone interview. “That’s the place where I was given the opportunity of a lifetime, and after getting that opportunity, I hit the ground running.” Hart is still running.
The frenetic comic launched a series on CBS this week, TKO: Total Knock Out, an obstaclecourse show that has been described as a cross between American Ninja Warrior and dodge ball.
Hart also has about a half-dozen movies ready to be released or shot, including Night School, which will hit theatres in September. The buzz is that this Hart vehicle could do even better than last year’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle — his highest-grossing film yet, with worldwide revenues of more than US$900 million.
In addition, Hart is at the helm of the LOL Network, a new digital platform that is developing comedy programming and has been working closely with JFL.
Plus, Hart is at work on a followup to his memoir I Can’t Make This Up: Life Lessons, which spent almost three months on the New York Times bestseller list in 2017 after debuting at No. 1.
Oh yeah, and he is in the midst of one of the most massive standup tours ever undertaken. The Kevin Hart Irresponsible Tour includes 169 shows (and counting) that will bring him to arenas throughout North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.
The tour hits the Bell Centre for a show on July 27 — one of the highlights of the 36th edition of Just for Laughs.
This will mark Hart’s eighth visit to JFL, which named him Comedy Person of the Year at the 2015 fest. That was the year Hart drew the largest paying crowd at a JFL event up to that point when he brought his What Now? Tour to the Bell Centre.
Hart is now, without doubt, the most successful and hottest comedy star on the planet. There are more critically acclaimed wits out there, but few are able to touch a broader audience base, and none can sell out the world’s biggest rooms like he can.
And yet Hart refuses to rest on his laurels.
“I’ve been very lucky and blessed to be in the position that I’m in and that has allowed me to get better, and I don’t take anything for granted,” Hart says.
“I still have room for improvement and can’t be content just yet. … I’m always striving for new levels of success. The world is at your hands if you can reach it.”
Hart neglects to mention that he’s funny. “OK, funny and handsome, too,” he wryly shoots back.
He puts little stock in getting much sleep at this juncture in his life.
“I just want to be ready for any opportunity that pops up. I’ve also been lucky enough to surround myself with smart people who have helped me put myself in a position to undertake everything,” he says.
“So the sleep can come tomorrow. The work needs to be done today.”
Hart concedes that in his wildest fantasies he never thought he could attain such heights.
“Of course not. You never see things at the level that they are until you get there. Then the reality hits and you go: ‘Wow! I can’t believe I’m having this kind of success at this point in my career.’
“Yet I feel that I still have so much more to offer, that there’s so much more that I can do. It’s about continuing to push to the limit, and not putting a definition behind what that limit can do. It’s about putting myself in a position to do the most that I can achieve.”
But what other peaks are there for him to scale?
“Oh, there is so much more. The world of comedy is so big. I want to continue travelling the world, delivering humour to all audiences. I want to produce, write and direct. I want to develop properties. I want to get into new digital technologies with my LOL Network. There is just so much to keep adding to
the resumé, both as a talent and as a business. I have this mindset that makes me want more all the time, and I won’t stop.”
Hart believes the key to his success is that audiences have little trouble relating to him.
“Basically, I’m doing material that is authentically real. I believe there is an honesty in what I do. When you resonate with your fan base at that level, I think that they grow with you and they continue to relate to you. And that will keep you around for a very, very long time.
“I don’t like to alienate anybody with my comedy. I don’t want to disengage audiences. I want to appeal to everyone and take their minds away from their issues with a lot of laughter. It’s about providing some escape.”
Which goes a long way toward explaining why you won’t hear Hart ruminating on controversial political issues. The Bell Centre will be a Trump-free zone on July 27.
As the tour’s title suggests, Hart’s show will focus on him “owning up to some of my irresponsible behaviour.”
“Not only owning up to it, but not finding a way to justify it,” he explains. “It’s dealing with situations that all individuals go through, experiencing any lapse of judgment at any moment in time. It’s also a process about embracing your flaws and not running from them, because these flaws help shape us into the people we’re meant to be.
“For me, it’s understanding that this is a unique time for me in my life and my career. But it’s also a time with some of the biggest challenges that I have to face.
“I’m a pretty well-rounded person, but I’ve had my share of ups and downs. And I don’t run away from them.”
He won’t reveal any specific flaws, wishing to unload them instead at his Bell Centre show.
“Let’s just say there are tons of them,” cracks Hart.
If his ego were ever to get out of whack, he knows his imposing buddy Dwayne (the Rock) Johnson would keep him in check. The two have become quite the screen team, having collaborated on Central Intelligence and Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, and are set to hook up again in another Jumanji offering, slated to be shot soon.
Somehow, Hart will also find the time to appear in the films The Secret Life of Pets 2, My Own Worst Enemy, Ride Along 3, The Great Outdoors and Uptown Saturday Night, all set for production within the next few years.
And then there’s TKO: Total Knock Out. The plan is for the show to continue well past the summer.
In which case Hart might contemplate cloning himself to handle all his gigs.
“It’s really about finding the right motivation to achieve everything you aspire to.”
True, but having talent is certainly a prerequisite.