What Now? with Trevor Noah - Kevin Hart [VIDEO]

Episode Date: January 25, 2024

Trevor sits down with comedy superstar Kevin Hart. The two chop up life behind-the-scenes as professional comedians, their different preferences for theaters versus big arenas, and the benefits and downfalls of constantly working. Kevin also discusses rising up the ranks on the call sheet — one cameo at a time — and the single table read that changed everything. And the two friends also discuss whether Kevin really has the body of a swimmer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hey everybody, welcome to another episode of What Now with Trevor Noah. On today's episode, I sit down with comedian and international movie star, the one and only Kevin Hart. And I'll let you know now, I always have fun conversations with Kevin Hart, but this conversation may have been one of my favorites. I think we get into comedy, life, and everything that makes Kevin Hart who he is in some really interesting ways. I really had a great time chatting to him

and so I think you'll enjoy the conversation too. This is What Now? with Trevor Noah. This episode is brought to you by Peloton. Forget the pressure to be crushing your workout on day one. Just start moving with the Peloton Bike, Bike Plus, Tread, Row, Guide, or App. There are thousands of classes and over 50 Peloton instructors ready to support you from the beginning. Remember, doing something is everything.

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He comes in here with his people, he takes all my shit? Huh? Let's keep that. Give me a hug, man. How you doing, big guy? Look at him. Look at him.

He fucked up my backdrop. What happened to our stuff? Sit down, Kev. Hi, Barry. How are you? Good. Oh, my God. I'm ready, Trey.

Is this how you dress every day? This? Yeah. How far do you live from here? I don't want to talk about it. I don't want to talk about it. They make me drive so far because I do it because I sacrifice for my team. I'm in Calabasas, so it takes me an hour and 15.

Do you come in every day? I come in. When I'm here, do I come in every day? Yeah. So it's an hour and 15 to come in. Hour, because I'm leaving during traffic time. But if I wait, then it's like a 35-minute ride. No traffic, 35 minutes.

That's terrible. Are you going to get a drone? A drone? Yeah. Why am I getting a drone? A drone? Yeah Why am I getting a drone? You haven't seen the drones that are coming out? That you can fly inside? They'll be coming out in a few years

There'll be little drones that you can fly in Why do I want to fly in a drone? You don't want to be in traffic, Kev Why can't I just Oh wait, you talking Like the drones are just like And you can just go above traffic. You're going to be in a drone.

I can see you. Now, I'm not going to lie to you. I promise you right now, you're going to be in a drone. If you're telling me that it's not going to fuck up my clothes and I can get in a drone, I'll do it. If you're telling me I can get in a drone. You know, most people would worry about their health. No, no. They got to come with some type of, they got to have airbags.

That drone going to have airbags. I think they do, actually. I think they do. Before we start, how's your tour shit going? Everything great? It's going good, man. Good for you, man. You're back on now.

I'm like, I'm warming up. You're in like cooking mode. Yeah, I'm cooking. No, you're not warming up. You're in cooking mode. It's good. You can always feel, you know what's funny is you can always feel when a comedian is, so I feel like comedians have three stages we have will i ever be funny again

then we have cooking mode where you're excited you feel like everything's coming together and then you have this material is boring i need to find a new job that's at the end of yeah that's like at the end of you want to tape just before that. You got to go. But that's why I always tape my special early though. Like when I'm, when I'm in like. What do you mean early? Like how early?

When I'm in, if I'm on tour, cause you know, I do, you know, I'm probably 160 shows when I tour. So when I'm at like, when I feel the peak of the set,

when I'm laughing at the jokes. 160 shows? I do, dude, I do a lot of shows. Wow. Because my process starts comedy clubs theaters uh-huh back to comedy clubs back to theaters then i'll go arena wait why are you going back what happened what went wrong nothing went wrong

but you you do it to make sure like all right let me make sure i'm not jumping out the gun okay okay because once you start killing the theaters that mean i should destroy in the comedy club i remember talking to dave years ago there's a time when dave chappelle for those listening um dave never used to want to do arenas i did it and then he and then he i mean obviously everyone wants to see him so now he has to he has to do bigger venues no i i but you you you definitely lose something i i sparked i sparked the arena bug and well you did you you did that absolutely i sparked it with dave and chris right i said so i blame you for dave gotta be honest with you man i do but let me wait what let me tell you let me tell you why hear me out go hear me out why and i bet when i say this you go you agree go and here's how i got dave it's how i got dave bit with the bug i said listen to me dave the beauty of doing the arenas when you're a good comic okay is turning

the arenas into a intimate environment okay you can turn it into you can get close you can never turn it into oh my god kev you can never turn it oh my god kev oh my god the thing about arenas is i always feel like the laughter is not happening in my section. Have you ever sat in an arena? You always feel like that section, you're like, who are those people? Yeah, those people have a good time. What jokes are they getting? They're having a good time. They're really laughing.

And when you go there, they're not really laughing as loud as you thought because arenas have this weird, because the sound is not designed for laughter. It's designed for, you know, the basketball game or whatever game is supposed to play there whereas when you're in a theater it always feel like it always feels like every single laugh is coming from every single person no matter where you're sitting in the room can i tell okay so this is where this is where your friend kevin hart the overthinker goes ham okay think about my production yes i think about every excessive i must say very excessive i mic the audience so the same way you can hear me on a microphone you can hear the audience you can hear the audience laughing so i'll do i probably do like eight mics maybe maybe eight to ten mics so that the audience can hear the audience you can hear the audience oh i like that so i need to find what section the

mics are in so i can just shout comments in your show just shout out i can just shout things out i know you put a mic you're not smaller in real life just shout things up to the microphones i'll just be the guy heckling in a 10 000 i'm gung-ho on making that experience the best but here's what you guys did you do you do love that but here's what you guys did you love being the best of the best. But here's what you guys did. You do love that. But here's what you guys did. You love being the best of the best of the best of like, you have this weird, where did you get that from, by the way? Did you play a lot of sport when you were a kid? Like you're ultra competitive. Yeah.

But like you're ultra competitive as if you also played sports where you have to play against yourself. That's the competitive, that's the biggest person I'm competing against. Like I've never been competitive against my peers. I've been envious. No, you're competitive against your peers. Come on, Kev. I'm competing against. Like, I've never been competitive against my peers. I've been envious. No, you're competitive against your peers. Come on, Kevin. I'm envious. I've never been competitive. I'm envious of my peers. And I've said

to myself, in my competitive nature, oh my god, man. That's such a good writer. Such a great writer. Such a great joke teller. Such a great joke teller. Such a great storyteller. God, I got to get back in the lab.

Uh-huh. I got to really raise the bar for myself because I'm so blown away by what this particular talent has put on display. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or what this particular talent has put on display. I'm envious of your political humor. I'm envious of your political humor. I'm envious of how you can go in between political humor and then go into a space of travel, culture, different ethnicities. Thank you, man.

You're far too kind. I'm envious of that. You're far too kind. Because that's not my thing. Right. So the thing that others do at a high level to be envious is the biggest compliment. Huh. others do at a high level to be envious is the biggest compliment huh that's the biggest compliment because i'm like man i wish i could operate like that because if i could oh my god that would be another dimension that i could get to right yeah i don't have that dimension hence

why i stay away from it you don't see me ever doing political humor my favorite political bit of yours and i know it it wouldn't be considered political but i think it was way more political than anyone would ever think is the bit where you were talking about being sucked into a black lives matter protest black man in the middle with a bullhorn going off black lives matter and if you don't think they matter that you're part of the problem and today we find a solution the solution is death every black person that showed up here today is willing to die we will all die today we don't give a fuck about life if you black are you here today is willing to die. We will all die today. We don't give a fuck about life. If you black and you here, it's because you came to die.

If you black and you in this circle around me, it's because you ready to die first. I look down. I'm in the fucking circle. I said, wait a minute. That's not why I came. I didn't come for that. That's not why I'm here. Can I tell you something?

True story. Yeah, but what I loved about that bit was, whether it was intentional or not, it told a very true story about how so many people get sucked into the allure of appearing to be what they're not. And now you just, that speech that you gave. You're in it. I don't even remember.

I just remember trying to repeat it to my friends. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. What did you say? You already know what it is. Now I got to give a speech. You ever say something, and while you're saying something, you realize you're not saying nothing,

but you got to keep trying to say something, even though you know it's nothing? That was my fucking speech. This is my speech, word for word. Verbatim, this is my speech. All right. Y'all already know what it is. And it is is what it's gonna be it ain't gonna be what it is it ain't gonna be what it is he's winning and what what i would say that to my friends just randomly i'll be like hey man ain't gonna be what it is it's it ain't what it was yeah man it ain't it ain't going to be what it is. It ain't what it was. Yeah, man. It ain't what it is.

But you know what it is. That joke was so dope for your people watching, listening. It was dope because, to my point, I don't do political humor at all. Yeah. But it was about getting sucked into the thing that you think you're supposed to do. Yes. And I was like, man, everybody around me giving around me, you know, giving this thing energy. And I got a feeling about it.

I'm going. I'm going. You know, can I tell you one of the hardest things I think people struggle with is, so one of my favorite movie scenes of all time, and I don't know why this left such an indelible impression on me, was, did you ever watch the movie Devil's Advocate? Absolutely. It was Charlize Theron, Al Pacino, Keanu Reeves. Yes. There's a scene in the movie. So the plot of the movie, for those who haven't seen it,

and I'll spoil it because you're not going to see it, whatever, is basically Keanu Reeves plays this hot shot young lawyer. I mean, yeah, Keanu Reeves plays that lawyer. Charlize Theron is his wife, and they're this perfect couple they meet al pacino he's running this law firm turns out he's actually the devil devil yeah and keanu reeves is basically litigating a case that is terrible but because he wants to be this this lawyer he's going to do whatever it takes the conversation is basically what are you willing to trade you're willing to trade your soul for everything he doesn't do it in the end but there's a moment where now he's the hero guy yeah and then a reporter comes to him and says

can i do a profile piece on you and he goes no i don't want fame i don't want any of this and the guy goes come on a lawyer with a conscience everybody will love it and and charlize looks at him and goes come on baby come on do it and he goes okay i'll do it just like that and they leave and i'll never forget the the the journalist turns into al pacino looks at the camera and he says a line that he dropped in the beginning and he goes vanity my favorite sin i've thought about i don't know how old i just went to watch that movie because there was nudity in it there you go because at that time you couldn't you couldn't freely get nudity. I don't know if you remember these days, by the way.

It was, what I like to call it, was accidental porn. Yeah, you did not see nudity when I was growing up. Like, kids today, I feel bad for them because there's like a diminished joy in seeing nudity now. Yeah, the random tit back in the day was huge. Are you kidding me? Oh, oh!

Oh! Oh, pause it that's crazy that's oh man you had pause oh what i had nothing i'm all about i had nothing back to the porn back we just saw it and that was it that was your moment but i remember so that movie came out i wasn't old enough to go see it so i remember i would sneak into i think it i don't know what movie it was at the time. So I'd always find a movie to sneak into that I could then go out into another, you know what I mean? Like the reason I've seen parts of Titanic so much is because I used to use Titanic to go and see The Matrix. Okay. You used that.

So you needed a clean movie to go see the bad movie. You needed a clean movie to go and see the bad. So devil's advocate, I couldn't get. But anyway, I remember that line. devil's advocate i couldn't get but anyway i remember that line and for my entire life what i've thought about is how hard it is to not get sucked into doing a thing that you may start off having good intentions doing and then now stay in for the vanity side of it and i think a lot of um a lot of what people do in in like let's say people start off on social media or even in the world they go i'm gonna i'm gonna protest for a good cause i'm gonna say these things online i'm gonna

get into it it starts off from a good place, but then you get that hit. You get that little hit where someone's like, you know, like you said, short king, do your thing. Come on, come on. We need. And you go like, oh, now you start finding reasons to do a thing that maybe you don't actually believe in because it's addictive, man. Well, you're high off the feeling. Yeah, it's addictive. I'll give you another reality moment, right?

I remember where, you know, this is like when the meme, the power of the meme started, right? You know, like somebody would pass away and, you know, everybody's posting the meme. Everybody's posting the picture of said person, right? And I remember, you know, I was like, oh, man, like I met that person like twice. Man, let me throw up a picture and show some love. I put up the picture.

I remember, I don't get into the comments. I have no desire to go and read thousands of comments under my page. The first one, I go back to look at the picture, and the first thing I see is, you ain't even know him, bitch. I was like, dang didn't i did really i didn't really know him i was like what his family probably think probably never talked about me i look like a

fucking idiot i'm a follower i'm following the meme craze oh man i go find a picture off of the internet and put up with this man after he passed away and the first comment i read was you ain't even known bitch and i had to sit to myself and the best internet comments are the ones where someone unwittingly stumbles upon the truth yeah those are the greatest internet comments because most comments online are noise and trash and hating and then there's love. Don't get me wrong. But let's say all the negative ones.

It's just people who don't like you or whatever it is. But there will be someone who says something that is so true. Even though they're hating on you, you go, oh, man, you got me. You got it. You nailed it. You got me. You hit the hammer on the head. I am struggling with that

I do need to figure that out I need to figure it all out but the concept attached to throwing yourself in environments that are not just conducive for you or who you are you know that was the that was the template for that joke

and I love the honesty and transparency in it but it also like acted as like a moment for me in my life where i was like yo i'm not doing that no more in general like i'm not putting myself in any position of discomfort based off of yeah what i think people could possibly think if i were to go through with the thing that they think i need to do it's too much that's too many thoughts about the thought

that has not yet shaped itself into actually being the thing to think about. Like, I'm not four steps ahead of you. I'm no longer that machine or entertaining the idea attached to that machine. What do you think changed in your life? I could be completely wrong. I'm taking a shot here. Okay. I could be completely wrong.

I'm taking a shot here. Every artist has a moment in their lives where something happens, something shifts, and you see that shift apparent in their work. There is no denying that you came out with two of, I would say, the seminal specials when you first came out, right? It was Laugh At My Pain, Little Grown Man. I mean, they were, my pain little grown man i mean they were they were you remember we all know what they were like in comedy we all know what those specials are like there are specials where you can go like that that was it that's a time stamp that that right there you can't kevin hawk becomes a movie star you kill it in everything. I mean, I remember you being 40-year-old virgin. You were honestly, I think, one of the top cameo performers pound for pound I've ever seen.

It was a real symbol. You would step into a movie and everybody in the theater would be killing themselves. And nobody would know your name. Nobody would know who that guy was. They would just go, I love. Every time I tell people movies you've been in, they'll be he was in that and then i go that scene yeah and then they go they go oh that was oh shit i remember oh i didn't even know and i want to i want it so in a weird way i sometimes think some people feel like you were this immediate overnight success because in a strange way they didn't remember all of these characters

you were playing in all of these movies. Do you get what I'm saying? I mean, not only do I get it. Because it did seem like all of a sudden you were just the face of a franchise and the face of a movie. But I go like, Kevin Hart was grinding away in three-minute segments

in different people's movies. I was number seven and ten on a call sheet for years. For years. And I was fearless about my approach to the cameo. I was fearless about my approach to getting the role. I can tell you it was crazy. In the Scary Movie franchise, right? Let me tell you how fearless I was. reads and my manager was like hey kev they're doing these table reads they just want some personalities to come and like right do the reads so they can see if the material is working it's just a way for you to get seen by some people that do movies comedies etc i was like i'll do it right i go here i'm improvising during the table read i'm going off a script coming back to the script in my mind i said if i do a good job, whatever the role is that I'm reading,

I may have a shot at getting the role. Right. I leave the table read. Within an hour, my manager called me back. He says, Kevin, you didn't get that part, but they got a part for you that they want you to have. If you're into it, they want you to come back, and they want to talk about the part for you that they want you to have uh if you're into it they want you to come back and they want to talk about the part with you a very small part cameo part it was a friend i talk about the part once again fearless start improvving yeah doing things that i feel the character could do

could say whatever they love it oh my god they write it in the damn script. Put all my ad-libs in the script. And it was, as we talk about the hit, the fucking drug. Oh, my God. So if I present the funny material, at times, if it works and I'm still on par with story or script, that can be my engine. That can be my entry point. So from that point on, I stepped up to all cameos there was the scary movies it was along came polly was 40 year old virgin was drill bit taylor uh i mean i can go down a list jake in progress i was the guy that would come in for a scene and then after that

scene you wouldn't see me no more but i made it my business to put together what i would consider to be some funny impactful moments and whatever the thing yes yeah and i said if i do enough of them the cast and directors are all the same eventually they gotta say this guy this guy deserves a bigger part or we should do something else with the guy and i remember i got my fucking feelings hurt just didn't happen i look back man I had like 12 cameos, all these credits, but nobody knew me from the credits. Nobody fucking knew me. Like, I was the guy. He was in shit. What's your name?

God damn it. Baby, what's the fucking? We just saw him. What's the shit he was in? Clapping, stomping, trying to come up. They never could get it. The motherfucker from the... He had on a hat.

They're saying stupid shit right in front of your face. And you're like, just ask me, man, so I can tell you. Nah, fuck it then. They just leave. The worst is when they say something that diminishes you in front of you while still giving you a compliment, by the way. They'll be like, he's the dude. He's the dude.

That was a dumb motherfucker and then someone will say something and be like no no no he's not that funny the guy no no

he ain't that good he's a stupid motherfucker what's the stupid motherfucker we said what's the motherfucker we said ugly as shit oh man yeah

yeah I remember saying alright I'm going back to stand up focus on stand up after the specials after the specials there was a moment where I transitioned

from multiple shows at comedy clubs to multiple shows at theaters and when it got to the multiple shows at theaters I was like they're gonna have to come. Like the movies are going to have to come because people are showing up.

So at some point, it has to happen. Did they? The movies did not come in the manner I thought they would. Right? Yeah. The opportunity did. Oh, yeah. I like right? Yeah. The opportunity did. Oh, yeah, I like that. Yeah, I like that.

And I believed in the opportunity. So the movie offers didn't happen. That's very religious of you. It's very spiritual. My mom would say something like that. The opportunity came. Yes. This story is amazing,

but I often try and remind people that most of the time, the moral that you will take from a story of a person who was successful is the incorrect moral. If you get an opportunity to go to a table read, read what they give you. Oh, yeah. Don't do what I did. Yeah, don't do what this guy did. Don't do what I did. Don't do what Kevin Hart did.

That's actually a really good point. Don't do what this... I can imagine people walking into rooms, getting a script, and they're like, we need you to help us work on this script. And you're like, bam, boom, pow. Oh, shit. Don't do it. I'm sorry. Kevin, can we?

This is Shakespeare. I just thought maybe. And I made sure I set it up correctly by saying, I said, let me tell you how crazy I was. I made sure I set it up correctly. Like, that's how nuts I was. I went in there Not thinking about the consequences I'm thinking about How do I make my presence felt

Yeah How do I leave a lasting impact And you know That could have turned out so horribly It could have I almost hope it would have And still And I still hope you would have

Achieved your success But I would have loved that moment To turn out terribly Yes Just for someone else To have a story where they go Kevin Hart Let me tell you my Kevin Hart hart story this idiot this guy this i mean jesus this guy talk about no respect for sitting in those agency meetings and and kevin hart this

guy comes in i've never seen anything like i mean this guy he couldn't every word he he added his own yeah i mean ridiculous this is no respect you know the, he started rapping in the middle of, I mean, I remember there was one where I stood up. I stood up like one of the things like, yeah, yeah, don't check me. I was going for it. We're going to continue this conversation right after this short break. What day of the week do you look forward to most? Well, it should be Wednesday. Ahem, Wednesday.

Why, you wonder? Whopper Wednesday, of course. When you can get a great deal on a whopper. Flame grilled and made your way. And you won't want to miss it. So make every Wednesday a Whopper Wednesday. Only at Burger King, where you rule. So you have these seminal moments in your stand-up.

And then I feel like, could be completely wrong, and don't be offended when I say this, but I feel like there's a moment in between in your stand-up where it almost felt like kevin hart was preserving kevin hart more than kevin hart was just being and doing kevin hart absolutely and and i say this as a comedian who's experienced yeah that's not i say that like offensive at all that's truth so every comedian starts off in what i argue is the best place you have nothing you get on stage the only thing you have is your comedy and the only thing you receive is a laugh you don't even get money people people don't realize in the clubs we

were getting five dollars ten dollars pookie still owes me fifteen dollars you gotta get it do you know that it'll never happen i've accepted this kevin i've accepted it bro so i'm gonna get mine so you that's all you're getting is the laugh and the confirmation of a joke working or not. That's it. Something clicks. You start to become successful. Now there's a moment where on this bell curve you have nothing. You reach the peak.

And now it feels like you have everything. You don't have everything, but it feels like you have everything because it's more than what you had. And now fear sets in. And you go, can I tell that joke? Should I perform like that? Is that crazy? Do I switch up my style? Because comedians are always evolving.

And now, because you have the people at this point, you go, do I keep them at this point? What did I do that they liked? I guess I got to keep doing that. You're so spot on. Now, especially in this special, I don't know what it is, Kev. You walked out and you feel even the baseball bat itself is such a huge thing. Y'all see this fucking bat in my hand? Bring your ass up to the stage.

I'm going to knock your fucking head off i swear to god okay we're sick of your shit we're fighting back don't you come up here knock your goddamn head to the top of this arena don't you come up here it just feels like it's like you know i'm just like, what changed? Well, first of all, Trevor, it's a great question. All right. It's a great question. It's a great observation. By the way, to my point earlier, it's what you do very well.

Here's the big change. The first hint of success, the fear attached to keeping the success clicks in immediately. Right. Oh, shit. We sold all these tickets. God damn. Whoa. Tour was crazy.

Sold out all over. All right. Well, shit. Tour's over. Well, I got to get back to the comedy club and I got to figure out what I'm going to do next. Yeah. Because I got nothing.

Mm-hmm. After a tour's over, I want to make this perfectly clear to an audience watching, listening. You kill that material immediately yeah i cannot recite a joke of old from any it's killed i blink and i fucking deleted immediately because it it has no more value or meaning the specials tape the tour is over well what the fuck am i going to talk about next yep so the scramble and figuring out

what that will be is the scary scramble before you're like polished comedian legs present themselves when you're the new comic and you're the new star you're the new like you're new so although you got this light you're not polished you're not poised you also not situated you're the new like you're new so although you got this light you're not polished you're not poised you're also not situated you're not you you got a hit and that hit was great but you don't have an extensive contract no there's no guarantee to the next there's no guarantee on anything there's no guarantee that this next tour is going to sell as many tickets as this one there's no guarantee that the next movie will be a hit There's no guarantee that the next movie will be a hit. There's no guarantee that the next star in role

will be the right role. There is no guarantee. By the way, at the time when I was coming up, what we might overlook is that I was in like, I was in a fucked up period of movies. I was in a period of black actor bomb bye-bye i was in a period of uh y'all can't sell movies internationally oh yeah yeah you can't do this and if these movies don't have any domestic success bye-bye yeah bad investment i told you black directors were going

into director jail if they bomb yeah you don't get another shot so the fear and stomach the stomach bubbles this kid just said the stomach bubbles that is a perfect will packer tim's story and myself we did think like a man one two we did ride along one we did ride along two man will packer did wedding ringer and about last night i just named all six by the way we have more okay those six movies you're looking at the trajectory of kevin hart there was never a comfortable moment for release you would tell me bubbles the whole time for ride along me and cube i remember me and cube being on a press tour. And we were like, well, we hope they come out. Because they done spent some money on this.

If they don't come out. Damn. I mean, we ended up doing $140 million. Stomach release. Oh, my God. Ride Along, too. Man, if we don't do $140. Yeah.

Oh, shit. It's a failure immediately. Oh, fuck, man. If we don't crack the code and surpass. Yeah. Because they spent more money the pressure well let's go to stand up where there is no budget that's just that's you yeah you're you're you're roaming on stages for free developing the material that you hope

grabs the audience's attention enough that they'll laugh love so that you can then grow announce a special by the way when you announce it here come the bubbles oh shit i hope their bodies fucking they're selling all right we never get over that feeling by the way we never get over that feeling yeah but what i'm but what i'm saying is what changed what changed for me what changed what changed for me was i got to a place of not just success but understanding so my understanding now is yo i built a fan base i built a global fan base of people that no matter what show up because they go i like that guy and in that but how did you develop the understanding the understanding comes where the noise from the outside you realize is not noise the things the thing can i throw something at you go ahead

could be wildly wrong i noticed the shift or i noticed the shift happening most apparently after the car accidents that was a that was a that was a different shift. Shift number one came with the understanding of, I want to be a brand. I want to be a global brand. I want to own my brand so that my worry attached to the craft goes away because I control it. So once I saw that the idea of control is something that I could dictate if I owned it and I did that. And I was like, it's kind of like dope. You think that changed your level of fear? A thousand percent because I control it.

So I'm using stand up to set up the movie. The movie. I don't know. I don't know. I hear you, but I don't know. Because I feel like you had that drive before. I disagree. No, the drive.

I disagree. Drive is drive right i don't i don't i don't yeah but but what i'm saying is what i'm challenging you on is this is like and i say this as an observer and as a fan of yours i think there's something you might take for granted because don't get me wrong there's kevin hart the businessman and you you're very apt at doing that but sometimes like as kevin hart the human being, you like, you have moments where, and not to get too deep, but you have moments where, you know, because of how you grew up, because of your family unit, because of, you know, what it was like growing up with your dad as an addict, because it was like

seeing your mom in her grind and everything. I think there are moments where you forget how much you push and drive because of the fear of losing all of the things that have helped you and your family to get to where you've gotten to? The fear, the fear is what motivates the complete sentences behind the drive. In other words, like. But what I'm saying is, what I'm saying is that fear has slipped and something happened and it cannot come from. I do not believe that the drive can be the reason for the drive. I believe, and I could be wrong, but I will fight you on this. There's something that comes. You know when human beings are injured, Kev, there's something that happens.

I remember talking to an amazing woman who's a disability advocate. an amazing woman who's a disability advocate. And she was one of the people who led the revolution in America on just getting wheelchair access into venues. Things that you don't think were, like you think of today as common. This was not normal. Being like, hey, can we get a ramp into, and people were like, whoa, come on, what is this now? We're going to have ramps for you?

Come on. And people were like, we're in wheelchairs. And they're like, yeah, well, it's not my fault. We're going to have ramps for you oh come on and people were like we're in wheelchairs and they're like yeah well it's not my fault we're gonna build ramps for you oh my god this was a thing i could not believe this when i when i when i watched the documentary when i spoke to this woman amazing woman and we were having this conversation it's very funny by the way and um i said to her i was having the conversation i said you know disabled people and i said as an able-bodied person, and she said, no, no, no, she says, rather think of yourself like this, and I paraphrase, she said, think of yourself as currently abled. Because she said, the mistake a

lot of people make is they think that disability is both a permanent and predictable thing that will happen to everybody. But there is a form of disability that every human being is going to encounter at some point in their lives. it may be reduced mobility when you're older and it may be unfortunately a disease or in your case a severe traumatic accident thousand percent that both threatens your life and limits your ability to exist and be as a human like and kevin hart if i look at your trajectory as a person there are two things that were concurrently happening all the time. Growing, moving, you know, constantly pushing as a comedian and as a performer and doing the same thing physically. You've been playing sport your whole life.

You've been pushing, growing, moving. It's been part of you. There is something that you have to grapple with when there's a possibility of paralysis there is something that you have to go through when a doctor walks into a room and goes hey your spine may not be what it was before and i i think you move on so quickly sometimes that you don't allow yourself to experience those moments you move very quickly i move very you're very good at it don't get me wrong and i understand a lot of it but But the fear, you got to understand real fear, right? Like you come from a place of understanding where you can have real fear.

When you come from the bottom and you start to experience things outside of the bottom that you didn't know existed or could be true. Yeah. And you continue to push and you experience more and you obtain more the fear is going back to the bottom yeah the fear the further you get from this is the thing i always try to explain to people there are a few things that are more terrifying than starting to do well when you've come from nothing and when your family has had nothing because you know how far the bottom is yes i always tell my friends who've come from well-off families i go the one thing i envy that you have you do not think

of your fall as being as far as mine is yes so when you think of failing you think of failing so let's say level five or six because that that's what your number is your your bottom is i think of failing and i go this takes me back to zero zero complete zero zero that fear yeah that logic right yeah when you start building the comfort for me comes from i'm building so that if the fall ever happens i got multiple things to grab on oh interesting the ground oh you you're scaffolding So Oh okay

Think about when We've got a scaffolding brother over here Think about when you fall You need to go to therapy Kev If you attempt to fall You need to go to therapy No I'm not going to therapy You need to go to therapy

No and you just used the therapy word on me You need to go to therapy Here's where I see who you are You're a scaffolding brother Here's where I know you very well Here's where you have to think

Here's where you have to go and think right Everything Kevin hart's about to say i advise every listener to i mean listen to but listen don't follow it all right don't follow okay it works but it's not a permanent solution trevor is saying trevor is saying hey some people fall and they go i'm not going to use my hands to break this fall no that's not what i'm saying some people tell people tell people about the scaffolding that you're going to tell them about this some people go i'm gonna fall on my i'll even say it to you and you tell me if i'm right about what you're about to say first i'm gonna say let me say it first so you tell me if i'm right i'm gonna say it first okay because you may try to say it differently and make it sound bad so i'm gonna say it first here is what it is

man like i have watched people in our business comfortably perform, comfortably work, and walk away with nothing. Okay. Yes. The fear that I have is attached to the walk away or the opportunity to actually sit with self and go i have nothing i have all these years in a business that i've given my all to and my all has done nothing but create success for the operating machine studios factors puzzles promoters etc all around me and as the engine to that operation i'm left with the shirt on my back yes or the moment of memory because of that and because of me seeing that i said i refuse tonight of anything so what i'm going to do i'm going to

build as i go now that i've worked and i got to this point where okay i saw all the success but like if you go grown little man we go laugh at at my pain. I was like, all right, well, the tours and all this stuff and the lights or whatever is great. I'm selling tickets. I'm paying money out the ass with commissions and everything. But I don't really have anything. The opportunity came up for me to go and put the special in theaters where they were like, you're going to take the money you just made and you're going to put it the you're gonna fund that and put that into the theater right right and i was like but let's get to the scaffolding so i said i said i'll own it okay no i'm getting it here's the scam i said but i'll own it okay okay so i fell in love with owning that one thing okay all right and then

owning that thing i said you know what i want to build something else to own okay all right i want to own this too right you know what i got two two things that I own. All right, fuck that. I'm going to own something else. Let me go figure this real estate shit out. All right, I'm going to own that. Hey, man, you know what? This company shit, it's not as hard as these people think it is. And if I build it correctly, maybe I can own it. I'm getting into venture capital.

Let's go. Now, VC, where they investing at? And why I got to take, why I got to listen to you and I got to give you my, why can't I raise my own and own my own? Okay. Now now guess what? This carpet that we stand on comfortably one day will be pulled out. One day these motherfuckers will come and go. That's it. And when they do, if you got shit that takes a long time to go down or if you got buildings that just rock a little bit. Well, the security of mind,

the security of self lasts. My security of mind, my security of self only lasts because I get to go, hey, no matter what, you can't take what I built. And what I built, it ain't under my name. It's under the brand. It's under the entity. It's under the infrastructure that I created that everybody else has ignored. So when I fall down, oh yeah, Kevin Hart may fall, my name it's under the brand it's under the entity it's under the infrastructure that i created that everybody else is ignored so when i fall down oh yeah kevin hart may fall but these buildings gonna fucking stand with or without you and hey when i'm done although it may be rough rocky whatever my fucking kids gonna look at them buildings and they're gonna look at that shit and they're gonna go they're gonna go and they're going to go, they're going to go, man, dad did some dope shit.

My security comes from the understanding that the brand, the operation, the movement, the business outside of Kevin Hart is a business that works. I appreciate that. And for that thing, I will never compromise my now feeling of comfort. So me going and selling tickets or not. Now it's a bonus. It's a bonus. Okay, now it's a bonus.

Now it's a bonus. I see what you've done. You see what I'm saying? You're scaffolding, brother. It's a thank you. I'm completely with you. No pressure at all. I hear you completely.

There's no feeling attached to it. If I walk into an arena, right, today, and that arena is a quarter full. Because 50 Cent bought the front rows. Right. 50 brought the front rows. You know what? When I'm out of there, I'm like, man, I'm going to give these people a great show. But you know what?

I had a good fucking run. I had about 13 years at the top of it. Have you ever done a half-empty arena, by the way? No. I've done one. No. And can I tell you- I shouldn't have said that that fast.

That sounded really asshole. Oh, no. That's fine. Yeah, I know. But let's fine yeah i know but let's let's ask me that question again kev have you ever done an empty arena half empty arena let me think have i done an empty arena i don't know i don't know if i have i've had to think about it i mean i'm quite sure it's probably been some we're gonna go with the first team. I like that better. I've done one before. This was in Springfield, Missouri. It was really the only venue that we could go to. Deep Republican

little enclave. My team said, this is it. You've never been. We don't even know what's going to happen here. We don't even know if you have fans in this place. Let's see what happens happens i said well let's let's go we went there i think the arena this is like a cut down arena could i think it could the capacity was 6 000 people maybe six yeah i think we sold three or four thousand tickets okay everybody when i walked in everybody looked like we were at a funeral. Not the audience.

I mean, everyone backstage. You know when the promoter can't look at you? You know when, like, everybody's ashamed. And I'll never forget this moment. They also don't know what your ego capacity is in dealing with that. Yeah. How do you handle that? And so I said, oh, how did we end up doing? And they said, well, you know, we've tried to move some people down we've tried to move things around

we we we it'll it should be a good show it should be a good show i was like okay hey man and and i remember i was chatting to um my manager derrick who like works with me on the road and and i said to him he said hey man i'm sorry you know we didn't know what this market would be and i said derek it is it is so crazy how our perspective has shifted in the wrong direction i said there was a time when we would dream of selling 300 tickets yeah in a place where i actually have fans yeah now everybody here is morose when we have sold 3 000 tickets in springfield missouri i was like the fact that people have come out in springfield missouri is a big deal is wild and i said if you think about it properly if you think about it properly there are always more people not coming to your show than people who are coming to your show so if you focus on the people who have come

to your show it's a bigger show You've made it the best show. Man, can I tell you, I had more fun with that audience than I've had in a long ass time because they felt like they had chosen me. Because there's a weird thing that happens when an arena isn't full, by the way. There's two things. One, there's a feeling of doubt.

Some people in the audience are like, all right, clearly people know there's somewhere else we should be. There's a moment of doubt. And then you as the performer have to come out and show the audience that they did make the right choice and then the second feeling i find in those moments is the audience goes no we are specific in our choice we've chosen trevor noah trevor noah has chosen us this is not for everyone and so this this experience becomes more intimate there should be a feeling of of pride yeah and so what I'm saying in that is

the reason I say you're a scaffolding brother, which I don't mind. I have some scaffolding in me as well as a person. What does scaffolding mean? Don't just throw therapy words out there and assume it's your audience. No, this is not therapy words at all. This is not therapy speak at all.

Don't assume your audience has been to the therapist as well. That's a very selfish therapist. This is not therapy talk at all. Scaffolding is definitely therapy talk. It's like tummy bubbles. What? What are you talking about? Tummy bubbles like someone someone would use that in therapy as well okay all right if you like bubbles stomach bubbles what i just said that was not a therapy word and i feel like i feel like if you say it's tummy bubbles i go that's a therapy word it's just

the way it's i would say gaslighting that's a therapy word okay you see that's a therapy word that's different don't. That's different. Don't go anywhere, because we got more What Now? after this. What I mean by a scaffolding brother is there are two ways, or there are multiple ways, but I think two of the of the of the prominent ways for us to deal with the idea of having less or going backwards or diminishing in life or whatever it might be the one way is to build scaffolding in our lives and what that scaffolding is is we go okay if as kevin hart i'm not a movie star okay what do i have if as kevin hart i'm not a comedian

selling out what do i have okay so let me diversify I'm not a comedian selling out, what do I have? Okay, so let me diversify. I'm going to build up these companies. I'm going to build up these institutions. I'm going to own that. I'm going to own this. I'm going to own this. I'm going to own that.

I'm going to own that. That way, I'm in a situation where my eggs are not in one basket. And that means that if in one space, I am unceremoniously kicked out, I still have everything else that I can go back to. I have basically created the scaffolding. You know, that's why they use scaffolding in construction

so that they don't go backwards from that. It's like, all right, let's build around this thing to at least enable it to get to a certain place and then we can sort of move back.

But it holds everything where it needs to be while it is being built up. I think there's a great breakdown. Right? And I would encourage you to try it a little bit more. I know it's hard.

Don't get me wrong, because you're Kevin Hart and you have this mountain that you built. But I would encourage you as Kevin Hart to also realize beyond the brands, beyond the buildings, beyond all of those things. And I would even speak on behalf of your kids. I think you take for granted that the buildings may not have as much of an impact on your kids as the building that you've done with them. I would say you're probably correct. Not probably. Well, yeah, here's where you probably are correct. You said probably again.

Well, I'm going to tell you why. I'll tell you why. So the idea of follow through early on, it presented itself and I never took it serious. Right. Uh, school, I fucked it off.

High school, SATs, fucked it off. Didn't take it serious. Abracadabra the whole way down. I'm going to great adventure to go be with my friends, you know, applying to college,

trying to get into college for what? Like everybody, are y'all doing it? Fucked it off. to college, trying to get into college. For what? Are y'all doing it? Fucked it off. Community college, two weeks. I'm out of here. This ain't for me. Sneaker store, I guess that's what it's going to be. Everything... Did you work at Foot Locker? City Sports.

City Sports. Everything that was positioned in front of me for me to take serious, that my mother tried her best to get me to understand, I fucked off. Swimming, successful in it. Could have had scholarships.

Could have done whatever. I fucked it off. You swim? I'm a phenomenal swimmer. Like at that level? Yes. I thought you had to be told to be a good swimmer. No, you don't. No, this is not even a joke. It sounds like it. It's not a joke. It really sounds like a dig, Trevor. Okay at that level? Yes. I thought you had to be told to be a good swimmer. No, you don't.

No, this is not even a joke. It sounds like it. It's not a joke. It really sounds like a dig. Okay, let's go back. Let's go back. I gave you a chance. Let's go back on that one.

You know, swimming. You swam? Yeah, I swam. That's amazing. What do you think it is about your physical makeup that made you a good swimmer? Let's go to take three. Let's go to take three.

Let's go to take three. You know, swimming. You swam? Yeah, I swam. When I think of swimming... Yeah. What do you think of? I find myself thinking of an archetype,

a certain type of person, you know? And this is because maybe swimming has been... There's been gatekeepers in swimming. And so you think of person you know and this is because maybe swimming has been there's been gatekeepers yeah in swimming and so you think of you know how Michael Phelps

they look a certain way yeah I know I like we're you know what do they call it when you share the same love and you do the same thing

you practice yeah but I think it's less about it's less about the drive I'm talking about the physical aspects of the person I've been next to Mike in a swimming pool like yeah

you can't really tell us apart in that water you can't yeah yeah so i so i'm all about the stroke wow yeah yeah my freestyle was amazing by the flowers phenomenal is that because you is that because you're pulling less i don't know what do you mean what does that mean what is that what do you mean when you does that mean? What is that? When you say pulling less, what are you saying? It's all about strength, Trevor. And drag, right? Isn't it about minimizing drag? No, Trevor. It's about minimizing movement

or wiggle, okay? Great form in swimming provides great results. Now, granted, I fucked it off because I was a cheater. Alright? I was a guy that was cheating in practice and half-assing it i didn't want to do shit the point that i'm making is that everything i was supposed to do seriously i fucked it off huh so when i finally cracked the code and figured out

the things that i could do the fear is not fucking it off i like i fucked it off everything else i fucked off so this here i'm not gonna fuck it off I'm going to not only take it serious I'm gonna get so good at it and do it at the best of my ability oh shit something else happened well I'm not gonna fuck that opportunity off either oh shit another door have I ain't gonna fuck that off everything now as an adult because the adult that was giving me the information was right my mom was right when did you when did you first first start realizing how right your mom was when you realize how much you fucked up when you look up and all your friends moving on and going away to college

they got scholarships and you saying when did y'all apply when did y'all apply to do that kev you didn't apply and now you realize you're the ignorant child damn you're realizing you're the dumb child do you feel like you got to the place where you got to reward your mother your mother for the investment that she made in you because i because i know how hard it was you know for you losing her absolutely not you you didn't feel like in your lifetime you no no you don't think she was like because she just as you were rising fool's gold i want to say this was like my were you in australia where were you in australia i was trying to think of where this movie you know this was this was basically like you know a big role for me yeah because i was number three or

four on a call sheet it's like matthew mcconaughey k hudson and this is a big role for me. Yeah. Because I was number three or four on a call sheet. It was like Matthew McConaughey or something like that. Matthew McConaughey, Kane Hudson. Uh-huh. And this is a big role. So I went away to Australia. But this is like one of my, like, big roles. Yeah. And your mom was sick at the time.

She was sick at the time. So she didn't get to, like, the world of benefits came way after. Yeah. Meaning, like, the real fruits of the labor. Uh-huh. So, you know, my mom didn't have a house my mom you know we didn't have grass my mom didn't have comfort in her life my mom wasn't able to relax and on her later stages of life she was sick so in the perfect picture of i would love to provide my mom with the luxury item of comfort of sit down and don't worry.

But at the same time, there is a dual thought and dual feeling of I kind of navigate through this business in a way where I'm not bothered or like ruffled easily by the ups and downs of it. And I truly do feel because I got the hand of on my shoulder. Yeah. I got an amazing guiding light. Right. And an amazing like talent of processing information, processing moments. And that's from your mom. Absolutely. processing information, processing moments. And that's from your mom.

Absolutely. On your dad's side, do you think you were ever able to forgive him? Do you think, you know, I know you had an interesting and tumultuous relationship. You connected as adults. But there's moments where you even see this in your documentary, by the way, if anyone's keenly observing. You can still see that there are moments where your dad has this, he had this hold over you.

It's like, you know, it's like on the one hand, he's sort of holding you back. On the other hand, he's proud of you. And like most parents, he's limited in his ability to be perfect. Did you forgive him while he was still alive? Absolutely. I think, you know, my dad. Absolutely?

Yeah. No, I only say this because I think it's tough and it's hard for us to think about these moments. Here's what I say, absolutely. Yeah? There's no reservation towards my dad. Okay. There's an understanding, like, you can't go back and change the things you did. Yeah.

You can apologize and we can be grown and be men and move forward. But at this point, life wasn't about me. Like, I'm okay. Focus on being a grandpa. Like, don't worry about me at this point. And I'm telling them at face value, like, I'm good. I love you because you're my dad. I appreciate you for tabling the mistakes and the bad choices by the way i got some of you in me so my bad choices are in my fucking blood like

i'm not the guy to your point earlier the monk or the walking staple of perfection i get where i come from i get where i'm a mess and where i'm not but what i do very well is process reality and reality is you're my father i don't want to take that away i don't want to change that yeah and your mistakes are great mistakes because they gave me great examples of what i shouldn't fucking do try my best to avoid that shit because look at the consequences of it. You've lived through your consequences. You've survived them. Yo, man, go be a dope-ass grandpa.

Tell your grandkids some dope stories. Go get some dope toys. Go put that time in over there because you're going to get more joy out of that than you are going to get out of trying to redo or undo. What I'm telling you, I'm not looking back there. I'm looking up here. My joy is going to come out of trying to redo or undo when i'm telling you i'm not looking back there i'm looking up here my joy is going to come from my kids going hey man can we see grandpa my kids are going to go my joy is coming from my kids like saying dad we want to go back and

spend time with grandpa they don't know about your past that's you get it you get a new chance you get an opportunity absolutely rewrite a script. That's your next version of Kevin. Yeah. That's the next version. That's your son's child. My mom always said the reason they call them grandparents is because now you have a grand opportunity to be a different type of parent. 1,000%. Different levels of wisdom, understanding, compassion, all of it.

My brother and my dad's relationship was a little rougher. They figured their shit out. My brother is pound for pound. The best thing that ever happened to my kids. My brother has taken the role. If I have to go, he comes. I got to go on the road. My brother comes to the house.

I got to go do movie or promo Or whatever My brother's out there The feeling of love is never a void Or never a missed opportunity Now four kids Four kids that all stand on Oh yeah when dad's out here

Uncle come out and uncle helps us do this and that My brother is the Hey man let me show y' you how to fly a kite. You never do a boomerang? Y'all never seen these old movies, Rascals? Kevin, you ain't showing Rascals or Little Giants. You've maintained the village, man. All the shit that you overlook, if you got a partner,

you got a partner in crime that really understands you and has your best interest well i'm coming in and dad is the cool dad that loves us and wants to do all the cool stuff the dope activities we watch movies we chill but uncle or uncle got the activity game on lock i love this dad uncle you know uncle showed me how to throw a strike you can't throw no strike let me see it throw it i bet i knocked that ball out the park no you're not and my brothers throw the strike i'll beat the shit out that ball my kids like dad that's right you know why i did that because your uncle ain't shit right now we we got a great rapport but the fun the energy yeah that energy comes from understanding where we come from so what you build

is ultimately a comfort of just simply what you can fall back on right and that fall back what i want your listeners to understand that fall back should be a feeling that we all have after the pandemic after the after the the the climate that we saw overtake our world after we saw the economy shut down well we all should have a little fear of if it happens again well let me build something so i can fall if you don't ever think about the fall when you fall you're not going to get up that's a real thing you will not get up and we're in a business of folded chairs by folded chairs it means so many people choose us to no longer sit down on the chair they say you know what fuck this i going to fold this chair up and put it up.

I'm done. And that comes from a mindset. It comes from a lack of understanding that you can create or build what makes you feel strong. If you want real strength, give yourself the bandwidth and mental infrastructure to feel as strong as you possibly need to go out and do the shit you want to do because now fail or not you feel good because you feel like you are investing into you and you can look back and see the shit if i can say i own a pair of pants well those are my fucking pants they mine can't take these pants for me these are my pants this is scaffolding it's back to scaffolding i need to do it this is back well call me the scaffolding king

okay because i'm gonna build all that shit scaffolding king call it what you want i got it and i'm gonna build it do not put all your eggs in one basket my dream is to not even have eggs okay that's my dream okay i may not get there but it's my. That's my dream. Okay. I may not get there, but it's my dream. It's my dream. Before I let you go. Before you say one more thing, I got to say this, and you talked about it

because you touched on it a little bit. When you talk about the fear as a comic, right? Let's like, of course, take all this personal shit out of it. Bill Cosby, for a second.

I was in Montreal. Did you just throw Bill Cosby in the end of a sentence? You'll see why. Bill Cosby. You can't a In the end of a sentence You'll see why Bill Cosby You can't Okay I can't

But can I just say I said put it aside Okay I said that But let me explain something But I'm preference Let me explain something right now You cannot

You cannot just say At the end of a sentence Yeah Bill Cosby You cannot go like You know let's Let's throw the personal shit aside When Bill Cosby

Yeah So anyway Okay You have to I got one more Want me prepare me Are you right Alright I'm about to say

Some deep shit But it's going to start off as fucked up shit. There we go. You see? Okay. Are you ready? All right. Bill Cosby. All right.

So I was in Montreal, and I forgot how old Bill Cosby was. He was performing at some little thing. Bill Cosby was, let's just call it 70-something. Okay. Came out and he sat on a stool bill cosby started doing bill cosby and there was a comedy bill cosby and there was a sold-out crowd at 70 something years old without any consistency in touring or like real dedication to the craft over the course of time. But at the old age of, the feeling and joy that comes from the laughter of a crowd is what we'll forever get high off of, right?

And when I talked about being envious, I was like, man, I'm envious that he still gets to feel that at that age. I hope and pray that when I'm that age, I still have the desire to go in front of a crowd and do the thing that I fell in love with. I hope and pray that my love for the thing I I fell in love with. I hope and pray that my love for the thing I do continues. Because the fear to your point, you talked about the sets,

talked about the joke, am I funny, am I not? Is this working? Does that not work? All these thoughts and thoughts that we have. But if you can beat all those thoughts

and just maintain a high level of love for the craft and for the energy, it will be attached to the people that have invested in you through the years. And I looked at his crowd. Those people were old as shit in that crowd. A bunch of old fucking people came out.

And I was like, it's because they grew up on it. That's their life. Their life was like always. His fans have still rolled with him prior to until this moment they're still buying tickets and excited

imagine as Trevor Noah and as Kevin Hart don't put my name in the sentence go on imagine as Kevin Hart you know I said you first I put a gap imagine as Trevor Noah imagine. Imagine it's Kevin Hart. You know I said you first. I put a gap. Imagine it's Kevin Hart. Imagine it's Kevin Hart.

It's your show. Imagine it's Trevor Noah or Kevin Hart. We get to a place, man, and you look out and you see some old people still rocking with you. Right. What better feeling? I'll tell you what better feeling for me. I hear what you're saying. Because I understand the moral of your story.

What you're saying is, in life, be like Bill Cosby. Wait. Whoa. Wait a second. That was the moral of your story. No. Wait is in life be like bill cosby wait no wait a second that was the moral of your story you said as wait no matter how old you get no you keep doing it just this is this is what i heard you say so okay now i don't agree with it but because you're my guest i don't argue with you okay you know i think this is a forum for everyone to air their opinions um i personally would have just told that story and not said who the comedian was i would just say it was like an old guy on stage who was a great comedian.

You know what you're doing right now? You're scaffolding. Don't be afraid, Kev. Those are just tummy bubbles. You relax. So I'll tell you what's great. Look, I'm not dismissing it. I mean this honestly.

It is great to have that, but I think what would be a greater feeling for me as a human being is to have that. But I think what would be a greater feeling for me as a human being is to have that feeling regardless of whether or not I'm on stage. Do you know what I mean? Okay. That's honestly what I try and hope to pursue in life is where I go, that thing on stage is beautiful. Yeah. It is a wonderful compliment to my life.

But I genuinely want to feel like that. And I do in many moments now when i'm not on stage and so and so i try and move through the world you've been very active about voicing this like in our conversations like you know me from the time even did like the daily show but i loved even about the daily show and i remember i walked away when we were talking i was like what an answer like i was like what like why he's like it was just time he was like, what an answer. Like, I was like, what, like, wow. He was like, it was just time. He was like, I just, you know, I got to a point where I was like,

okay, and I want to pursue something else. And you were like, and I'm so fine with this. I'm trying to be the best liver of life I can possibly be now. It's very clear. Genuinely, genuinely, with all the peace I have and, you know, have great conversations with people. Before I let you go, you're a very busy man.

Let me ask you this question. I ask everybody on the podcast, what now? We meet Kevin Hart in this moment. Because it seems like you are perpetually building and perpetually expanding, I'd love to know what now, as you move into the next stage of doing everything. It's VC, it's banking. It's all of these things. And do me a favor, Kev. And I ask you this as a friend and as a human being.

Don't ever release some shitty credit product that hurts black people and poor people. I'm not doing that. I'm looking at you on camera saying this right now. I will not do that. I'm just saying this to you right now, Kev. I don't have a credit card coming out. Yo, Kev. I don't have a.

I'm letting you know face to face. I'm telling you that I do not. Your people love you. Yes, I do not. Do not screw us over. I say this to you at face value. I'm telling you that I do not. Your people love you. Yes, I do not. Do not screw us over. I say this to you at face value. I mean this, Kev. My whole relationship with my financial partner is built off of financial literacy.

You remember I had a dream. You remember I even had a dream about you once. So this is the weirdest dream I've ever had. One of the strangest dreams, right? I had a dream. And this was before you released it i had a dream that kevin hart came to me and he was like he was like trev we gotta release uh a fitness drink we gotta release a protein powder fit and then i said to you i said okay kevin i love this idea

i said but what are the ingredients is it going to be good and you said fuck good say man trev who gives a shit if it's good? It's going to sell. We're going to do this. And I started crying. This is the weirdest dream I've ever had. Because, Kevin, we don't even roll like that. We don't even, like, we've always been brothers in comedy. You've always been wonderful to me.

But we don't, it's not like we roll every day. People might have this false assumption. This was a strange dream for me to have. And I remember I woke up and I was like, Kevin Hart, why would I even dream about that? A few weeks, no, maybe like a few months later, you released- I released Vita Hustle. Vita Hustle. Yes.

And I was like, oh my God, it's real. But then I tasted your tequila. And you remember I called you about this. I don't know why. I've been very honest with you from the time I've known you. I called you about the tequila. It's called a good relationship, Trevor. No, no, no.

But I mean, what I mean is like, it's like I'm more honest with you than people I've known for longer is what I mean, with very few like very transparent very yeah very transparent and i remember i called you and i said kevin i thought this tequila was going to be shit it's actually delicious and you said well first of all i'm offended but why why would you say that and i said well because i just assume it's a celebrity you're going to put your name on a thing and i was and and then you said something, Trevor, you said, I am trying to make everything I do be the best. You're like, I want to have the best tequila. Not the best selling.

I want to have the best tequila. I want to have the best protein. I want to have the best company. So what now? What's Kevin Hart moving towards now? Well, Kevin Hart in third person. Other than therapy. Because I know you're going to try that.

Yes. What I will say I'm moving towards now is finishing the sentences uh there's incomplete sentences oh beautiful so i have to put periods on the sentences and those periods are attached to um the things that i'm building and the things that i'm building the pressure i feel i put on myself is because i'm not just building it for me i'm building it for the people that have invested into me and to the idea so heartbeat in the level of success as a studio that I obtained to have not for myself but for all yeah the big what now is like the creative platform and opportunity for the stars of tomorrow like I I got my light it's not going to get any brighter the star is not going to get any bigger but of the platform for or the studio of if i can be attached or a part of saying come this way

and the people that come through that door become man that's a fucking amazing way to pass the baton that's beautiful man so right now i just want to get as close as i possibly can to open up that next door that i don't have to go through yeah but that those of tomorrow can i love that man that's what i want that's what now i appreciate that kevin i like talking to you man i love talking i always i always enjoy speaking to you this is really good i think i think low-key i i want to say that this was like your way of giving me a therapy session that you think I need. No, no, no. And I'm going to talk to you about it later. No, Ken.

No. I think you gas bombed me. Is that term right? Did you gas bomb me? I think you gas bombed me. I actually like that. I'm going to gas bomb people. No, for real, man.

I appreciate you. I appreciate your transparency. I appreciate how you've always always supported me I always tell people the story and I never hold back I go nobody wanted to come on the daily show when I was starting everyone seemed you know like now I hold an Emmy people go oh it's obviously well deserved

nobody wanted to come on that show nobody wanted to be there because they were like if I people were like if i people were like if i say i'm with him i don't know who he is what he's gonna do how he's gonna i understand that fear i don't even hold it against people you were literally the first person who said i'll do it i will open this random african person's tv show after john stewart absolutely and i'll ride with it and i'm eternally grateful i was like kevin hart and i get it i was like if he can support

bill cosby he can support me okay well that's a weird way then uh in that and i just want to say i appreciate you okay well i feel like we can edit that last piece out yo man this was great thank you i love you thank you so much great yo can i just tell you the funniest thing we can cut it out or leave it in the funniest moment was when i was pulling in into this place a security guard he's like he's like oh that's not your guy the guy who like there's someone who works outside he's like hey yo you that dude man what's going on what's going on jeff and noah noah i'm like hey what's up man he's like oh what are you doing here i was like oh i'm coming he's like oh you're coming kevin hart i'm like yeah and he's like oh it's about the kat williams thing i was like no no no No, man. I was like, what? No.

Why would you? I was like, what are you? No, man. What do you think we do? Oh, y'all coming to meet about that? I was about to go down there. Oh, he calling in the truth? What?

I love you, man. I fucking love you, dude. What Now with Trevor Noah is produced by Spotify Studios in partnership with Day Zero Productions, Fullwell 73, and Odyssey's Pineapple Street Studios. The show is executive produced by Trevor Noah, Ben Winston, Jenna Weiss-Berman, and Barry Finkel. Produced by Emanuel Hapsis, Marina Henke, Jess Hackle, Natalie Pert, and Chelsea Williamson. Thank you so much for listening.

Join me next Thursday for another episode of What Now?