KEVIN HART - THE HARDEST WORKING MAN IN COMEDY
By Lincoln D. Conway

Kevin Hart is the hardest-working man in comedy. Taking his stand-up on a global scale, the 45-year-old is unrelenting in his desire to provide the world with his craft.

Following the likes of Louis CK and Chris Rock in producing a stand-up special, year in and year out, his acting career has moved forward with all the same enthusiasm and momentum.

In short, Hart is producing mass work, receiving critical acclaim at every juncture. He says, "I don't even read reviews." The people who count are the people who go out and buy the tickets. If they're happy, I'm happy.

I don't care what the critics say.

Part of Hart's success is down to his appreciation of social media. His influence on X is extensive and he does not shy away from interacting with his followers. Ground-breaking in his attitude, he even Interacts through the Nike run app, getting fans to follow him on spontaneous 5k runs.

Yet, edging back to the films, he'll often be found on a Hollywood movie set. His run of work began way back in 2002 when he played Shawn in Paper Scissors. Roles in the Scary Movie franchise followed, though his co-starring with Ice Cube in Ride Along pushed acting and international recognition to a new extreme.

Get Hard, Central Intelligence, Jumanji, Night School, The Man from Toronto, and Lift have followed, yet this year's movie-videogame crossover, Borderlands, just came out.

If there was any doubt in the level of commitment the Pennsylvania native applies to his craft, it's to be witnessed in the fantastic shape he got into to perform some of the intense fight scenes in his new movie, utilizing training advice from Navy Seals to do so. Filming was completed in Budapest, Hungary, in 2021, one of the first countries in the world to make its filming locations COVID-19 safe.

Later in 2024, Hart is also back on tour, with a comedy showcase that ends with a homecoming gig in his native Philadelphia in December.
 
STRIPLV: What can you tell us about the forthcoming Borderlands movie? This isn't your usual type of role.
HART: No, it isn't at all. It's an extreme and outrageous action movie based on the game franchise and something that I thought would be new and exciting for me to get involved in.
The film's director, Eli Roth, told me right from the beginning that there was little in the means of comedy in this movie, and if I was willing to change tack and go on the action movie journey, then I was his guy. I really enjoyed it, and the whole experience took me to a level of fitness never really thought I would be at. Imagine that, getting paid to get fit. This is the dream, right?
STRIPLV:  What was the contractual fitness regime you had to undergo?
HART: It wasn't contractual, but I knew I would need to be in the greatest shape that I physically. The training with the Navy Seals was insane, with weapons training and hand-to-hand combat. It was some scary shit, and I look forward to taking those lessons into interview situations with journalists who don't play by the book. (Laughs)
 STRIPLV: What was it like filming in Budapest?
HART: It was amazing. It was such a beautiful place, and the surroundings were absolutely perfect for the movie. Because it was one of the first countries to relax some of the COVID-19 protocols and protection, we were able to get out there and film early on. That made it so much easier to get a lot of it done and everything there was so safe and professional. The Stern Film Studio really had it right. I guess it's a shame there wasn't the same level of common sense presented with other studio around the world, though I get it was a difficult time and everyone was scared to make mistakes. I get that.
STRIPLV: What was the blueprint for the movie? Play it as close to the game, or move away from it?
HART: I guess play it close. In movie format, you're always going to be able to stray a long way from the game concept, but at its heart, we wanted to represent it in the right way because that's what people know, right? When you're repackaging something that already exists, you know you've got fans the game who just won't tolerate anything that strays too far from the norm. You have to give them exactly what they want, and I'm confident that we have.
 STRIPLV: The movie has a great cast. What was it like working with them?
HART: Being there with such an incredible cast with people like Jamie Lee Curtis, Cate Blanchett, Arianna Greenblatt, and Florian Munteanu. I mean, that's such a strong group of people and they were all absolutely great to work with. I really felt genuinely privileged to be working with such great people. It was also those behind the camera who made it happen. I'm truly blessed to have been part of such a great project, and everyone involved was amazing. The craziest thing is that we started filming this in April three years ago and it feels much longer than that. It feels like a project we did such a long time ago.
STRIPLV: Bringing it back to comedy, you've certainly carved out your own niche as a stand-up comedian, haven't you? How hard is that to do when there are so many options out there, not just in America but now with comedy specials on Netflix right across the globe?
HART: Well, there's a great new expansion for comedy because if you can get a deal with an online platform, it's bringing a whole new audience in, and that can expand to touring in other countries and finding that you've got a brand new following in places you didn't expect. So, that's something I am really grateful for because when you start out as a stand-up, you're not thinking: "This is the start of my big career, and I'm going to be playing stadiums in a few year's time." It doesn't work like that. You know, if I started out and my shit didn't land with audiences, what am I supposed to do then? Give up? Find another career? It's a hard journey, and one that's filled with dying on stage, like most comedians will probably tell you. We've all got stories of how we were booed off or that we were playing to three people in a room, and not one of them laughed. It just makes you find something that does work, and once you get past that, you can begin to build, and hopefully, enough people find you funny.
 STRIPLV: Is comedy global these days?
HART: The subject matter is global. We are so tight as a global community these days. America is Europe. Europe is the UK, the UK is Australia. We are all intertwined with the same ideas and the same social politics. So that makes it easier. And yet, a lot of my comedy is things that happen in my life because at the heart of it, what defines us most is not the people around us; it is us, ourselves. I think people relate a lot more to that than anything else, they listen and they engage. So, when I'm mocking myself and doing stuff about me being short and my wife watching videos of tall men changing lightbulbs and shit after we've had a serious conversation about what the fuck is going on there, then I think: "That's some good material to use." It's natural, it's fun. It's everyday shit because people are everyday, everyday people.
STRIPLV: Do you have writers or do you do much of your stuff?
HART: I have two writers, Harry Ratchford, and Joey Wells, and it's not like I just get everything from stuff they have written for me and then go on stage and perform it. I'll be saying a bunch of shit and they will take it down and try to turn it into something more polished. However, the way I like to work is to run with points they've made; I don't like having a script written down or having to remember everything word for word; I use a topic, and then I go from there.
STRIPLV: How much preparation goes into what you do?
HART: It takes about eight or nine months to come up with an hour-long show, and then, when you're out there, you're looking at the individual reactions on different nights. I like to take it back to basics and play small clubs and rooms to see what works and what doesn't. Not everything makes the cut, or we will rework something in a different way. It all depends on how it goes. Sometimes, it's good. Sometimes, it's really bad.
STRIPLV: Surely you're at the stage where no-one thinks you're bad?
HART: You'd be surprised! (Laughs)

HUMOUR AT HART
Seven of the comedian's best jokes.

ONE
Everybody assumes because you went through a divorce you went through a fuck up period of life, your enemies, you hate each other. It's not true; she's happy. She's moved on. I'm happy. I've moved on.

I'm happier than she is, though.

TWO
Lying ruined my fucking marriage. That's a lie. I cheated.

THREE
Here's the thing with talking dirty. I can say dirty shit; I just don't like it when you say stuff back because when you say stuff back, then I've got to say something back to what you said.

It's too much. Shut up. "Yeah, you like this shit, don't you?". "Oh, what do I like about it? I don't know!".

"I didn't expect you to say what you said when you said it. I thought you were going to let me keep going because I got some other stuff I wanted to say."

FOUR
There was a point in time when we were in Disneyland when I lost my daughter, but I knew eventually I would run into her again, so I took that time to get on rides she couldn't get on.

When I saw her, she was crying. I said, "It's not your birthday; today's not about you."

FIVE
You ever get a bill so high, you try to put it in the light, like it's gonna change?

SIX
Considering today's relationships: First week: I love you, baby. Second week: We'll be together forever. Third week: Single.

SEVEN
If I still cannot hear what you have to say after you have repeated it three times, I will just laugh and hope it was not a question.