The Dan Le Batard Show with Stugotz - South Beach Sessions - Kevin Hart

Episode Date: September 22, 2023

You think you know Kevin Hart, but you don't know him like this... It takes a lot to go from a household name to a name that sells out stadiums around the world, especially when the journey began as "a complete accident". Kevin reveals to Dan how he overcame crushing setbacks to reach unimaginable success, why the fear of failing never gets in his way, and how his unending ambition has led to ultimate learning lessons... especially when it comes to a footrace in the street with NFL running back Stevan Ridley.  Use promo code "HART" when you sign-up for DraftKings. Bet $5 and get $200 instantly in bonus bets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to South Beach sessions. I am very excited about doing this because this is a human being. I'm very curious about his insatiability, his conquering, his ability to be. I think I can say this. If not the most successful comedian in America, the most popular comedian in America, usually stadiums don't get sold out. Kevin Hart, thank you for being here. I am really interested in finding out how you're built. Your friend Neil Brennan tells me,

ask him about his past and you will understand why he can't stop working and why he will never stop working. It's very true, Neil is a really good friend of mine. Great guy too. I like Neil all around in general. He's just a good definition of a person. But yeah, man, I'm on your platform. So I'm a farm believer in allowing people to be great

and you are good at what you do. So in this interview, be you. But we can go as in depth as you want. What questions you have, you'll get great answers and great feedback. I'm here for the greater of good. OK, well, I'm happy to have you. So let's start though with your conquering.

It seems like you were hellbent on proving something with employees and worth and building and creativity. You want to be what? Like it seems like you've arrived that what would be a destination for any comic. I think that it's a, I can simplify it, right? I can simplify it. I think what some people tend to make

extremely complex and difficult, I do a good job of making those things easy, right? For me, I look at it from a perspective of we all have an option in our life to do as much as we possibly can, right? And you can take that option and max it out, or you can do the minimum, or you can, you know, do, I guess, what can be deemed to be the mid-level of whatever, right? But there's things that are put

around us that do nothing but give us the opportunity to succeed and grow. And it's how you use those tools around you to basically be a version of your best benefit. And my tools that I've been able to form and put myself around are people, right? I've been around some really great people. People that have achieved a lot of amazing things in their lives and in careers. And in doing that, it's motivating, it's inspiring. But have you met many like you? The rock seems to, you guys seem to be have like a common space where you both understand.

Yeah, we want everything. We want everything. You've met a lot of people like that. I've met a lot of people like that. I'm an entrepreneur, right? So an entrepreneur, businessman, you know, a mogul, whatever you want to define of that, there's people that have multiple layers. There's people that want to do a lot of things. There's people that do do a lot of things. There's people that do do a lot of things. There's a lot of companies that have been developed to basically now act in a space because of their now ecosystem. They're able to do so much, right?

Like the bandwidth of one thing is no longer just the one. It's, you know, look at Amazon, look at Disney, you know, look at these companies that have a multi-layered system, right? It's an amusement park, but then we do animation and the animation is winning to television and now we are now going out of this into experience and experience, it's also an activation of experiential Well, that's somebody that keeps compounding on one idea, right?

Amazon was once one thing. Well now is Amazon Prime Amazon fresh markets You are you are many things you are tequila's you are interview shows you are documentaries Everything but it comes from looking and being inspired by the people that are doing it at the highest level. So I'm trying my best to create an ecosystem. So Kevin Hart is not just a talent anymore. That's one layer, right? The talent got me in the door to be an investor. The investments got me in the door to be an investor. The investments got me in the place to build on opportunities that I thought that I would never have.

I have a fast food plant-based restaurant. I have a tequila. I'm in the space of health and wellness. I have my plant-based protein to my vitamins, to my gummies, that's in vitahousule. You have athletes here, that's in fabletics, and then these are all own entities. These aren't like ambassador roles, right? How many employees do you have in that ecosystem?

Right now my ecosystem, and I'm probably somewhere around like two 20 maybe like between if I were to go through Heart House Grand Cormino, Heart B, Heart B Ventures, probably probably pushing around two 20s. Because your life looks from the outside, anybody would look at it and say, man that seems fun and some of what I see in your life because I'm way outside it obviously is like, man, that seems like a lot of responsibility, a lot of pressure, a lot of people that he doesn't want to let down.

And I don't know if his life is always fun. I don't know how he leads. It seems like he's got a lot on him. Well, you have to have, you have to have some type of passion for the thing that you're doing, right? Like, is it stressful? Does it become a lot of times, of course, but that's a part of the journey.

It's not going to be easy. It's not supposed to be easy. If it was, then everybody would do it. So I think the separation within the opportunity and individuals come from those that can take on the task. So delegation, delegating, organizing, building structure, all of that stuff, it comes from grasping the mindset that you can't be the one doing it all. You have to invest in people and trust in others to help you build. You need great minds around you. You need ideas.

You need people that can flourish within the thing that you're building. That's the only way it gets bigger. So I'm a firm believer in giving my future world of stars the platform to be great. And by stars I'm not talking about people in front of the camera. I'm talking about the people behind I'm talking about my business minds and I'm sitting across the table from

That really do understand my goal, right? That's those are those are the important pieces to my puzzle That's who's helping me, but what are the growths that you find most personally emotionally rewarding, like whether they're for you, how you grow your career or who you're helping? Like what do you identify as the most moving forms of growth in this ecosystem as you continue to just branch out and really you're not just a comedian, you're brand and I am curious about what moves you there. It's not just laughter and it's not just a comedian, your brand, and I am curious about what moves you there. It's not just laughter and it's not just money.

The biggest piece of inspiration that I find is the concept that I'm not supposed to be here. I'm not supposed to be able to do what I'm doing or the things that I've been able to obtain. I'm not supposed to be here. I come from North Philadelphia. I'm an inner city kid from my culture, from my community. Life is pretty like, it's pretty direct. You're supposed to be content with the space that you operate in and what you're giving, and that's supposed to be life. And a lot of people step and repeat in that manner, right? There's a lot of broken households,

there's not a lot of college. There's not a lot of understanding to the space and place for finance. That's my financial literacy is what it is and as big as it is in the culture, in the communities that I come from, right? So what's expected is a world of fail. So when you are an example that you don't have to do that,

well, you become more important to the communities and more important to the culture because the younger generations to come are now identifying you with the reality attached to a dream. So I'm no longer like the hypothetical, right? I'm no longer the false space of thinking, like it's real. You can't obtain, you can't do what you put your mind to. And to be able to go back to those places and stand in the shoes that I now stand in,

but still have the direct conversations of understanding. And I mean, like, I can identify, right? I can understand why the struggle is what it is, and why we're positioned the way we are. And now I'm doing my part to improve a pilot by creating an ecosystem that basically will employ thousands over the course of time. And when you go back to your space in place

and you bring the businesses and you bring the things that you do there, well, you're now changing the economy. So that's how I think. I'm on a larger scale of idea. How would you explain to people where you came from? What you came from? I mean, the bottom, right?

You come from the bottom, like you will. I wasn't given a blueprint. I wasn't given a playbook. And I think that's the thing that we don't understand. That acts as a struggle for the black community on a large degree, right? Like we're not giving a, here's what you do and here's what you do after.

We are a product of figuring it out, right? So where I've come from, the idea is graduate high school, hopefully get a scholarship or something because we can't afford college. If you do, we go. If not, you go to college. You're in debt after going to college

and the rest of your life is trying to pay off the college debt that you've attained. That's really the playbook. And doing that, you get a bank account. You put money in the bank. You're told to save money, but you don't know how banking works. You don't know how to make your money work for you. There is no concept or playbook for investing

or money market accounts, except like you don't have any of it. How do you see through all of that? No, who helped you through all of that? I got lucky and I got to look behind a curtain because of relationships that I was able to obtain I Am 1000% a product of right places the right time and I was prepared for what Was to come in that time. I was ready for the moment. And then the moments that came after, I was also comfortable with being the dumbest guy in the room. I was comfortable with asking questions. I was comfortable with not trying to look the part when I wasn't the part. And I think that level of comfort in my

discomfort is what allowed me to grab information. God, I wish I were better at that. Grab comfort in discomfort. Yeah, you gotta, you have to. You know, some of the best things happen from the spark of a question. And without the question, you don't get an answer. So you can mean an environment with so many people

that have amazing answers and you didn't get any, because you were afraid to ask the question. I was never afraid to ask the question. So all things that started to happen, well they stunned from me asking questions. So I have to act in, I was like, well, right now I'm acting. This is cool, but I'm always waiting for somebody to call me for an audition.

How do I bring things to the table? Oh man, let me sit you down with some producers so I can explain to you how I was done. That's cool, who do I talk to? Hey man, good to meet you. I just wanna know like what that means. What does producing mean? I have ideas and I bring these ideas to the table

and I partner with the studios. Oh okay, when you say partner, what does that mean? My partner, they like basically pay me a fee but then they take the product and they develop it and if it goes right and it's something that goes to TV then I'm able to get fees off of it for years to come or for that season. What gives you like the greatest rewards of the things you make is the greatest reward laughter is the great like if you had to pick one of the things that makes you feel completion.

Just finishing. Completion. The full film and idea and finishing an idea That's the best in the world You said you were gonna do something and you did it right and I can go from the smallest scale to the largest You said you're gonna wake up at 5 a.m Every day this week and you did it and at 5 a.m. You did the thing You said you were gonna do you put your mind into something and you did it.

You said you were going to write a book and you wrote it. You said you were going to put together your talk show and you put the concept together and then you did it. You said you were going to get a team of people to help you develop idea and the idea I developed and the team of people were happy about it and you guys were all excited because you completed it. You had a clothing line and you wanted to create a clothing line and you did it. Is there any one though? Because I can imagine you, if you're selling out a football stadium that I can imagine arriving at that moment or finishing that moment, sobbing

in gratitude afterward. Are there any moments or landmarks that you look at the completion of one of those things where you're like, man, I can't tell you how much that one moved me because I wasn't supposed to be here. If you're looking at a career moment, I think probably the biggest standout career moment would be my first time selling out Madison Square Garden because of what that meant. And the stamp or staple of you made it. And there's something about New York City,

there's something about that building, and there's something about the reception of all, right? What a great sentence though, my first time selling out medicine square- I mean, it's still mind blowing until this day. And that was an emotional moment, just because I got to share that moment, I felt with the

other greats that did it. I'm now in a conversation with comedians that have done this, and that's a very good conversation to be in. You know, that's one that's just, it's for you. It's not for everybody else, it's for you. So I would say my career, my career moments, I don't really harp on them too much because I think I'm more in love with the business than I am the concept of fame.

Oh, but I wasn't thinking about a standup performance. I was just thinking something you completed that you found so fulfilling that it was moving to you because it completed a body of work for you on someone who should have never been here. The merger, then I would say the merger of companies informing heartbeat as an entity. That was, are you fucking kidding me, right? Going out and getting $100 million and someone believing and understanding the concept that you can take this company, scale it into said thing

and return our investment plus more. That's like- That you're business, you're an economy, that your talent, that you're sculpting, has developed an entire ecosystem that can feed families, that's your friends, like- There's nothing better. That moment, that moment there is a,

you're not just talking, you are doing at this point. Like, you're for real. It's also more shared, I think, than being on stage alone at Madison Square Garden. Absolutely. And right now, you know, what I love the most about it is, I think then being on stage alone at Madison Square Garden. Absolutely. And right now, what I love the most about it is my company, there's so many people that are a part of it, right?

Like from my C-suite team, I mean, my execs down to a lot of the creatives under this umbrella, like we've been there for the beginning. Like there's a lot of people that were there before the company was what it is now. And I strongly believe that these people would be there whenever the end, the dope is staying in the world is to be sharing a moment of success with those that devoted time, energy, and life to building this concept and trusting me with the duration

of time to say we're investing this because we believev, and Kev hasn't let us down yet. Like that to me, that's the dopest shit ever. And you don't find the responsibility of it overwhelming, huh? Absolutely. But that's the beauty of the job. It is. But if you crack that at pressure, then you don't belong there, right? Like you ultimately don't belong there.

Nothing, nothing worth having is easy to obtain. Happiness is the thing that's overlooked that may be the easiest because so many people think that they need so much to be happy. When ultimately you get the things you find out that the root to happiness is just self confidence and self fulfillment, right? Like self love, self love. Like that's where your happy is going to come from. So for me in this manner, this is like, it's like Legos. You get a dope ass Lego project,

and you build the project. There's a lot of people that's gonna go, why are you fucking building that stupid ass? Goddamn building in Legos, you've been building a ship like two weeks. And you don't care because you're excited about what you're building. And you can't wait to put the last piece in.

I hope that metaphor makes sense, but that's how I look at it. But you haven't cracked though, because you say it as if like, yeah, it's worth doing, but you say it as if there's no doubt there in the struggle like I would assume there have been times where you've been in the right place at the right time and failed.

And yeah, that's the, once again, that's the beauty. That's the beauty of who wants a perfect story? You want a perfect story? That's stupid. I'd like things to be easier sometimes. Who wants a perfect story? You want a perfect story? Let's do it. I'd like things to be easier sometimes. Let's do it. It's like you, if you're telling a story and a story has no,

if you're telling me a story and that story, I can't go, wait. Well, no, it gets in the way of my growth, I would say. That's a lot of it. Absolutely. When you're saying, when you give off the life philosophy of you better find comfort and the discomfort and it sounds like from what you're explaining, you've had discomfort

to your words. Absolutely. So in a shot, you've had the reps at discomfort. I've been told no, I've been told you're not going to make it. I've been told this doesn't make sense for us. This isn't a good idea. We don't see this company being what you say it is. No, no, no, no, no.

That's a part of the, it's a part of the shit. Some of the nose are right. Some of those make you adjust and get better. Some of them are wrong. Ultimately, if you just believe the first thing said to you and that folds you or crushes you, then you have to question your level of determination towards the things you said you want to do. The way that you explain it though would make me surmise without knowing anything that right now in front of me is the happiest version of Kevin Hart there has been. I am, I am happiest because of my family. My work has nothing to do with my household.

One doesn't do or affect the other. I don't bring bad days home. It is what it is. How the hell are you able to do that? It is what it is. If it ends and ends, you don't take me back to the bottom of my bin there. You can't. What am I fearful of? There's no fear. Are you present at home all the time?

Absolutely. Present, you're not thinking about the next thing. You're conquering as much as you are, and you're not at home thinking about some of this stuff that takes you away from having from the children. My job takes me away. So when I'm home, I'm home. I'm gone. I tore, I'm doing a movie.

If I'm in the office, like when I'm working, I'm working. My family understands that. So I have to understand it when I'm home. I gotta be home. Do they understand that though? Like do you get understanding and acceptance for all of the things that pull you away? My wife is amazing. Do you get understanding and acceptance for all of the things that pull you away?

My wife is amazing. My oldest kids are amazing, but they're vocal now. So when they want time, they want time. Shut it down. Dad, no, dad, you said you would be all right. My younger kids turn them to bullies. Come home. All right. Did they learn that from you?

Well, probably. It's in a blood. I would assume it. But you have to have, you have to have some type of balance. You have to. And for me, there's a, there's just a common denominator of this isn't going to change. That love there, we worked on this love. We built this love. We built that foundation. The stress that I get from out here is going to be what it is. Like sometimes you just got to understand, like it's going to be what it is. It's a stressful work environment at times. It's very tough to build things. It's very tough to gather people and have everyone

think the same and get on the same page. Egos, positions, titles, there's so much, but that's the world of corporate. That is what it is. So if I didn't understand that and going into it, then I think I would be a bad guy to lead, right? Like the reason why I think I'm able to do it in a positive way and a good way is because once again,

I look at it from a team to team concept. It's not me and then you, it's us. I lead here, but I follow at home. At home I follow because my wife is, she just sees more lights than I do. I find her to be wiser than I am. Do you lead at home? Where I'm supposed to, yes, but that's my wife's domain.

That house functions because of the way that she's able to implement her everyday self. The kids that love that energy that they receive on a day-to-day. When I'm not there, if you take for granted what your wife does and what she's able to do, like you're an idiot, like there's no, there's nothing greater. Happens all the time though. They don't mother in the mother's touch. Nothing greater. I'm able to go in and put all the bells and whistles

on the thing that she built. That's my job as a dad. That's my job. I come in, I put the bells and whistles on everything that she built. That's home. Bap, bap, bap, bap, bap. Sounds relaxing, but it sounds like a very comfortable place for you to relax into away from the stresses. everything that you built. That's home. Bapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapapap And anytime there's a bad day, and the back of my mind, I go, it could be worse.

Whatever the worst that you think is, or the worst that you think you're receiving, understand that there's always another version of worse. Worse, sir. It can always be worse. So, I mean, how bad is the bad? Like, I've seen bad, but I haven't seen the worse. I've seen like some real obstacles,

but they haven't been the worse. It could always be worse. Is your ambition ever bad for you? Like, when is your ambition something that doesn't get rewarded? I mean, is ambition in general? Can it be bad? I would argue that ambition can't be bad.

I would say that the letdown of what you worked hard for can hurt, but your effort and work ethic towards it that can't be bad. Your ambition was to beat Stephen Ridley in a race. Is it not? Yeah. Ambition can be bad. Your ambition was to beat Stephen Ridley in a race. Yeah. Is it not? Yeah. Ambition can be bad. It can't. My ambition was to say, let's go out there and let's do it. I get hurt. Didn't you, you've limped in? Yeah. I got hurt.

I know, but that means that that ambition, you also called yourself the stupidest person in the world after doing it because you're no longer 25 years old. Yeah, so what happened? A great moment of clarity after. So that is the issue. You're still in the length in here. That ambition got me to go and do something. And the result of the thing I did brought me the best piece of clarity. And I go, you know what?

I'm 44 years old. What the fuck am I doing? Running and racing. You know what? Let me sit my stupid ass down before something else happens. You came in here complaining about your abdust. Yes, you came in here limping,

up feeling much older than 44 years old. My ambition took me to clarity. I am extremely clear as to what I should be doing and what I shouldn't be. And guess what you will not see me doing ever again. A foot race in the street, you know why? Because I know the consequences of it. See, you gotta understand that there's good and bad.

And if you can't see the good and the bad, then I mean, you got one POV. I look through a lens that has so many different, like so many different levels to adjust. I can see things differently. I'ma find a positive in everything, cause I choose to. When people find I'm negative,

I'm only the negative, cause you just choose and look at the negative. You do that all the time. All the time. Where did you learn how to do that? That could not have been from childhood, was your mother like that? That's my

That is a God-given talent that I am most thankful for My mom was dope She was just a good person raised me to be a good person and Through flaws mistakes and all I Know I'm a good person. I know I got a good heart. And I'm really good at looking at things with like a glass half full, like it's never empty. But from childhood, when you didn't have anything,

when you were at the bottom. Oh, man, I've just been a happy kid. A happy kid with a good heart. And when you're at the bottom, you gotta remember, you don't know you're at the bottom. That's all you know. You don't know you're at the bottom until you go places and you see other shit.

I didn't know that everybody had grass a day house until I went to neighborhoods and I saw a bunch of grass. I thought everybody just had three steps. That's all I see in my neighborhood, right? Don't everybody take the bus? I didn't know everybody had cars. I didn't know kids could drive the high school until I went to school in the Northeast and some of those kids had cars coming to school. You only know what you see. You're a product of your environment. So it's

not until you get out of your environment, do your, do your, do your, your, your lenses change and you go over shit? Wow, but your mom imprinted you here, right? Like you don't like you didn't get into Comedy by accident without a path without Help the first person helping you here was was your mother I've heard it was. It was an accident. My mom helped me financially through it, but comedy was a complete accident.

Now I was right place, right time. City sports Philadelphia, one of the nighttime managers said, can you funny a tell, you should try stand up. Where? How would I do that? They got an amateur night right around the corner. I do it, I don't care. That's how comedy started.

Just like that. Just like that, that's how comedy started. Just like that. Just like that. That's how comedy started. Aren't most comedians pretty miserable underneath? Like, do you run into a lot of- A lot of personal alley types like yours. There are a lot of them that are struggling with some hardship. But you do have to also understand,

it's very hard to be funny all the time if you're struggling with your own personal stuff. And the road to success in comedy through comedy is not an easy one. It doesn't matter what day you're struggling with your own personal stuff and the road to success in comedy through comedy is not an easy one. It doesn't matter what day you're having, you gotta go to work and your job is to make people laugh. So regardless of what you're going through, you gotta table that, put that on the side and go out and tell these jokes. That can cause some to build up some scar tissue, some thick irritated skin. Some don't. I think for me, I've been fortunate enough to be on a good side of it.

So my road through the hardships and comedy was exciting. It was always exciting. It was always exciting. It was always fun. Because you were climbing because you were doing something that was certainly different. Working at a craft, I have a job. I have something that I really like that I'm doing.

I've chosen a career and I'm happy with the thing I chose. I've chosen a career and oh my God, I like it. So every day I'm doing the thing I like, I'm happy in that. Now granted, some days I get $5, some days is 10, 20, maybe 50. Oh my God, this shows pay me 100. Some days, it's better than others, but there are days when I'm working on my craft. I'm happy. some days, it's better than others,

but their days when I'm working on my crib, I'm happy. I like that. It sounds, the way you're describing it, your progress, your success, you're making it sound as if it were linear. Like if you're happy and grateful the entire time, you're not having necessarily setbacks if you're seeing the positive and the growth

and the learning in every setback, you're not, you're just, you just keep climbing. Yes, but I think, you know, it, I don't want to make that seem like it's a easy thing, right? Like that's a, it is a, Kevin, I think it's one of the hardest things, if not the hardest thing in entertainment, to be at a microphone alone with your talent, with the expectation of funny and front of people. I think others in the entertainment industry would say the way that you make the living is the hardest way to do it. I would not argue that.

I would say the road to success and anything you do is just a difficult road. And if you take on everything that's difficult with the mindset of like, like if it all deflates you, you're not gonna have anything left for when you get there. If it all deflates you, if you treat it all as a body blow, well, you, it's going to be hard to like make it through that fight. Like, if you're a boxer

in every single punch, you let the opponent here, you go, ah, ah, the opponent's going to start to hit you harder. I don't need to know that I'm hurting you the way that I'm hurting you, which is why when fighters take hits, they do their best to not do a reaction. They do their best to stand still and act like it didn't phase them. Because that to the other person throwing a punch

makes them feel like, fuck, I ain't even hurting this guy. I'm hitting with everything I got. I'm not even hurting him. So equate that same type of understanding to the body blows coming from life. If they all buckle you in they all deflate you. Eventually you're going to take a knee. You're not going gonna get back up. But if you got the idea, the mindset, like, it'll be all right. It will be all right. One of the best stories that float around from one of my loaves

is on my television show that I canceled the big house, and they canceled it at the upfront. So we were like, I'm flew to New York. This is like the biggest thing, it's the upfront, they're announcing your show. Oh my God, I'm so excited, I'm 23. This is big, I'm about to be a fucking star. And I'm about to go on stage, I'm next.

I flew my cast out, I'm walking on stage. I put this hand on my chest. Wait a minute Kevin. He holds his like finger to his microphone and goes wait. I'm sorry. Kevin stay here. The big house is going to go call the next show. Kevin, somebody's coming to talk to you. What do you mean? Somebody's coming to talk to you. My manager comes running to the back. He's like, Kevin, this is bullshit. They just said they're canceling the show. They're pulling it.

They're not going with the big house. What do you mean? I'm here. I'm about to walk up. They're pulling it. They just made the decision now. So they're not letting you. I'm gonna get to the bottom of this.

We'll figure this out. This is, no, not gonna fly. That moment, just like that. Have my hand debilitating. Cross your dreams right there. Am I there? There's my dream I can see it. I mean, it's fucking star.

I'm right here. That's my television show. I created the show. I'm about to walk on stage to say we're coming on. We're going to be on Fridays on TGIS. Boom. Took it away. That's no show.

No fucking TV show for you. Kevin, what do you wanna do? You wanna go back home? Nope. I'm here for the weekend. They got all those parts of something that's gonna go to the parties. The whole weekend, nobody could believe

and understand why I was still out meeting people, shaking hands, having a good time. Later on, the show gets picked up to do six episodes that cancel it right away. Fast forward to Kevin Hart now, movie star, big comedian, TV star, whatever. The same execs that were around that time that were lower level positions or high up in the

org chart of wherever they are. They all remember Kevin's unthinkable presence when he got hit with the biggest blow that we've ever seen in entertainment and the guy was so nice and polite. shook hands was there everybody talked to people kept being apologizing. I said, it's okay, things happen. My maturity in that moment and professionalism is what not only they remember what they revert back to and those rooms where I get some of the biggest deals done now.

Those decisions are made by people that were a part of that ecosystem and just remembering what happened then. If you close your eyes and you just live in a hurt, you're not going to realize the thing that could be good. There's good things that come from both of those catastrophic moments to me in that time. Me and Bill Burr had a show for Comedy Central. Shout out to TV pilot, oh my God, there's gonna be it.

Me and Bill bur all bill This is it me and you man friends. It's like a good thing. Good idea. Oh my God man, Bill was so excited. They never picked it up No, no show for you How do you not pick up a show with Kevin Harden bill bur? Man bill were like what the fuck show with Kevin Harden-Bill Burr. Man Bill, we're like, what the fuck? Fast forward, Kevin goes and does the things that he's doing and look at Bill flourishing. The doors that you think sometimes are meant for you, we're not. They were supposed to groom you. That's a cool way of looking at it. I could learn some from that. Are you someone who is envious in flattering to your friends ways of craftsmen in your industry?

People who you're like, man, that person is so good at this. I wish I were better. Who are some of the traits that you think of when you talk about the craft of stand-up comedy and how it's done. If you go stand-up comedy, I mean I can give you stand-up comedy, I can give you business and stand-up comedy, love Dave, love Chris, and just talking about the comics now of present, love sign felt, love wonder. And you're just talking about watching the way that they're executing all of it. I'm talking about four completely different styles within the names that I just named. Four completely different levels in the approach to joke-telling.

Whether political, whether self-deprecating, transparent, authentic, risk-taking, those comics that are named are just profound in the craft. They are undoubtedly, you know, hall of fame comics, right? And when you say hall of fame comics, you're talking about people that can tell a joke inside and out and you don't even realize that you're in a bit until they give you the reward of

the ending to the bit the concept of talking and making you comfortable with what I'm talking about and the manner that I want you to be comfortable in Ultimately to take you through a life cycle It's a craft. So those are like some of the best at the fucking craft. Sign felt until this day, it wrecks my... He's a master. He wrecks my mind at his outlook on simplicity,

like his ability to break down things that we overlook on a day to day basis. He sees. That's the beautiful mind shit. He sees through a different lens than anyone else. He's one of the few comics I could say ever, right? Our quote unquote more successful than you the way that popularity is measured. But I can't mention many, right?

There aren't success. Signed failed is a stud, right? And I mean, you know, when you go to success in comedy, I don't measure success by the money or by the fame. You know, how many times have you recreated yourself? How many times have you done the hour thing? That's hard. The hour specials are hard. You are giving an audience 60 minutes of fucking laughter. And you do that time and time again. I mean, you got comics that have seven specials. Eight, six, nine. I mean, what?

I think right now I'm at eight. I'll be going into my ninth if I decide to do another one. If that's a lot of fucking specials. If because it's so hard. I know I'm not questioning. I'm just saying, I'm just saying we's a lot. I'm just saying we found a place where your ambition meets a finish line, because if you do an end-of-special's will, they have to reach, they have to meet a finish line. Right now I'm battling with, is it nine or 10? What's my number?

What's my wrap-up number? And I say, okay, I'm done. But that's just putting a conclusion to a great story. That doesn't mean comedy stops. The specials, the specials of stop. Stand up comedy won't stop, because I love it. That's my therapy. Getting on stage and performing, I love it.

So I'm always gonna do that, but the idea of a special, I'm always gonna do that, but the idea of a special, you know. This last one that I did is, I mean, I would put it up there is, could be, could be, measured against seriously funny. I think, let me explain seriously funny, where are like my best. I think this one measures against.

Growing little man can be an a conversation, but I think that makes playing seriously funny, laughing my pain was good too. What are you thinking of right now? Because you're proud of the work, like people might not understand the months and months and months of work that go into. At least for me, it's a two year context. To create the hour. And so what do you think?

The exception of the one that I did during COVID, and I was like, people just need something to watch. And I put that together in like three months. But what are you thinking of when you look off into space there and think of how to measure these things? I don't know how you do the measurements in success. I measure the specials by like, I think some are more commercial than others, intentionally. As the brand of myself was growing, the commercial appeal I wanted to expand.

I meant to ask you about that because you said in talking about the envy of the craftsmanship of Dave Wanda, you said political in the middle there, and I gather you'd be very good on politics and have probably avoided it because it allows you to have a broader appeal. Yeah, it's divisive.

When you get into politics for me, not for all, not for most, something don't care, but it's very divisive when you start to play in that space. And I've never been a political comic or voice. So to make that change or make the decision to make that change, it's not what's my benefit from it. There's no upside for it for me. There my benefit from it. There's no, there's no upside for it. For me, there's only a downside.

Well speaking, speaking your piece on behalf of your people would be one of them. Well, that's a decision that you're making to address a situation or topic, doing it through standup and making my standup set about that. That's not what I do well, right? Like, that's a talent. Taking the idea of politics, finding humor in it,

and making it like a broad conversation, that's a talent. You gotta understand where you flourish and where you don't. I told you, I'm fine being comfortable where I'm uncomfortable. It doesn't hurt my feelings or make me feel the type of way to say, I can't do that.

That's not my cup of tea. Kav, come do a roast. Well, I can't do many of them, buddy. That's not, I don't do that. That's not my cup of tea. I can't give you set up joke punchline. That's not my cup of tea. I can't give you set up joke punchline that's not my cup of tea. I'm a storyteller. I'm a storyteller and my stories are taking on a journey. There's a lot of punchlines in the journey. That's what I do

well. I can talk about my life and my experiences very well. Inside and now I could pick it apart. I'm a fucking surgeon in that regard. That's where my talent and my craft has the best chance of being done well. You don't stack the deck against you. You stack the deck for you. So, you know, when it comes to addressing things, topics, et cetera, well, there's meetings where I can go to that have real conversations. I can do real work behind the scenes. I don't have to perform my work for people to know that work is being done. People have no idea the work that I do on behalf of the culture and change and wanting change and who I'm aligned with and why.

Because the real work can get done without the voice of the microphone attached to it all the time. You're calculated about how to have the broadest possible appeal. Absolutely. What goes into those calculations? How do you protect your brands, your sponsors, and ways that don't compromise who you are at your core? Well, I don't want to say how you protect the brands and sponsors because it's you're in a relationship. Like the right, the right partnerships stem from the best relationships. So in this regard, you're protecting what you're building. And if I'm in a relationship or partnership with the brand,

you can take DraftKings who's an amazing partner of mine now, right? Well, we signed on for a partnership because you're bringing me value and I'm bringing you value. There's an equal lens of opportunity here. It's not one-sided. I don't do deals for the paycheck. I don't that's of no interest to me. I do deals for the longevity of the relationship and what we're building and growing. So if you can equate that over the course of time to since dealing with Kevin, we have been able to and since we have been able to, Kevin is also taking the brand and done blah, blah, blah. Well, we're growing globally. And by the way, if you're a global brand, within your adding to my global awareness and

my global likeness, okay, I want a more massive global appeal. What other partners can I connect with that can put me out there on a global scale. Netflix not a bigger global partner out. All right. I'm in a partnership with Netflix and we're doing said thing over said course of time. I like this deal. I like the landscape that it gives me. Okay who else can I partner with in retail. I got Walmart. I got Sam's club. All right, these are great brands and finance I got chase okay. What story am I telling you? You're never gonna stop you. It's not about not stopping It's about completing. I told you I'm I'm completing or attempting to complete an ecosystem

people have to live and in have to live. In order to live, we dress, we work out, we sleep in a home, we drive, we shop, like in a day to day, all the things that we have to do that we need to do. Are you connected or you not and if you can connect how do you want to connect? I want to connect. Well I look at Bernard or not. It's fucking mind blowing. I look at

that and I don't get jealous. I look at that. I go holy shit This man's tentacles And branches that are a part of this tree are all attached or quote unquote attached to The space in place of luxury His brand is built off of luxury necessities on all scales. Whatever it is, if it's luxury, it's attached to him because his association is that he's the definition of and they do it right.

Over the course of time through years and years and years, it's built and it's built and it's built and it's built. Well, you can build with them. Look at what Hove is doing. Jay-Z has done a remarkable job of building a brand, building a business, and then attaching that brand and attaching that business to other businesses and other things.

He is now a incubator for the younger generation of athletes that he's onboarding underneath his agency underneath the management company. LeBron too, right? LeBron, I mean, you're looking at people that are thriving from building ecosystems. You do not have to do just one thing. And that mindset is something that is one of all.

You can do as much as you want. I think I got 10 TV shows right now. I think I do. People don't even know it's like under the radar. Hard to heart, cold as balls, cold minds, Olympic highlights. I mean, these are all just shows. Straight from the heart, the radar, I mean, they're shows.

But there's a world where some people think you can only have one. How do you measure success? I'll get you out of here on this one. Because you've said a couple of times, it's about fame it's not about money I don't know how much it is about just you know the very simple chasing of a laugh for a comic but how do you measure success from personal fulfillment? My success is measured by personal fulfillment. Am I happy with what I'm doing? Am I excited about the things that I want to do next? And in doing those things am I completing them or achieving

the task at hand? And if I am, that's success. Like success for your listeners that are listening. Success has to be measured by you because if you're looking for other people to define what your version of success is for you, that may never come. You may never get the trophy. You may never get the plaque or the gold star. So what is it for you? When you buy your first car, that success. You get your first home, that success. You get your first job, that success. You finish your first report, success. You pass the bar, success. Like, you gotta ground it for you. Don't measure success based off of what somebody else is doing.

Like, that's not how it works. But you don't have a lot of unconquered firsts out there waiting for you to do you. Like there aren't, there aren't a lot of, I imagine you've dreamed or dreamt big and gotten most of the things that you dreamt about. I am, how am I really speaking, I'm an overachiever.

And if in the thought or idea of overachieving, if it presents failure or brings failure, I'm fine with that because it came from something that I was trying to get to. So the ultimate goal that I have in my mind is to complete a circle and ecosystem. If failure comes within me doing or trying that, cool. Well, you go easy on yourself. It sounds like you've gotten accustomed enough, not just to the discomforts,

but to be okay with failure. It's cool. Life goes on. The world ain't gonna talk about me for years to come. The Kevin story is the highlight every day. What he didn't do, cool. Life goes on. I'm gonna wake up in the morning, I'm still going to eat breakfast with the kids and we gonna be good. Cool! Like it's not that serious. The pressure comes from making it that serious and I wish people could see the comfort and ease that these, that these, that these minds talk with

about the things that they wanna do. It's said with such comfort and confidence, the craziest ideas. The rooms you're in, you mean? The people you're meeting where you're still, the craziest shit. Where you still feel sometimes like the dumbest person in the room and are okay with.

Yes, the shit that you hear. I'm gonna, you know what we're gonna do? You know what we're gonna do? We're gonna put in, we're gonna raise, I don't know, we'll probably get, I don't know, some of you 600 million. You hear them, throw this shit around. We'll get 600 million, we'll put it in. I think that's a good number because we're starting up,

but I really believe in the concept of these people having, I think these things have a real potential, but we should connect the docs, make sure they got the right CEOs, the right people around them, make sure they got the right faces, the right voices, the right minds, right? And if they do, there's no way to the one with.

I'll back, I'll support you, yeah, no, if you and of course, I'm not gonna do anything to you, no, absolutely, if we're all in and we'll make it good. I think that the names along with Brink, that's how it gets done. They don't smack in the tables with fucking stress and it's crazy. And you're in the biggest rooms now, right?

You're in all the biggest rooms now. And I'm a sponge. It's good talking to you. I appreciate you giving some of this sponginess to the audience. Thank you for spending the time with us. We'll do it again. Thank you, man. A great conversation. And if there's anything to take away, I would say take away the concept and idea of being comfortable, being uncomfortable. And I truly do stand on that. And I also love being around people

that you can just engage with and take something away from the moments of engagement. that you can just engage with and take something away from the moments of engagement. Questions are dope because they get answered. Answers don't come from people that are silent about the questions that they think they should ask, but they don't want to because of what they think might be said. That's all based on vagueness. Sump shit. Get out your own way. Help you, help you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, man. It's a pleasure talking to you. Likewise. See you. Get out your own way. Help you help you. Thank you, sir. Thank you, man. It's a pleasure talking to you. Likewise. See you