Kevin Hart is literally everywhere. He's in movies, he's in commercials, he's in tv shows, he's producing TV shows. He's doing comedy specials. The man is everywhere.
His comedy concert films, which are basically just tapes of his stadium stand-up shows, release in theaters and make as much money or more as some "real" movies. And, perhaps most impressive, he was one of only two comedians to make Forbes' 2015 and 2019 Celebrity 100 lists of the highest-paid actors. The other person was comedic legend, Jerry Seinfeld.
But it wasn't always like that.
Hart's first gig was at The Laff House in Philadelphia under the name of Lil Kev, which did not go well. His career suffered a slow start, as he was booed off stage several times, once even having a piece of chicken thrown at him. After those initial unsuccessful shows, Hart began entering comedy competitions throughout Massachusetts, and his fortunes soon turned for the better.
Hart got his start in the industry doing bit parts in all kinds of comedies. He played the guy making the documentary about Philip Seymour Hoffman in Along Came Polly. He was the argumentative Smart Tech customer in The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He was the wise-cracking nurse in Little Fockers. He was one of Emily Blunt's fellow psychology grad students in The Five-Year Engagement. He was the wacky neighbor on Modern Family. And you can't forget about Soul Plane.
Back to when Kevin got bit by the comedy bug and decided that this was something he wanted to do, he told his mom. When Kevin Hart told his mother, she told him, "I'm not a dream killer. But if this is what you want to do, you have one year to prove to me that you can do this and make a living at it."
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It wasn't until Kevin faced his first real obstacle on the way up--making enough money to pay rent. The life of an up-and-coming stand-up comedian is hard and doesn't pay much in the beginning. So Kevin struggled. What did he do? He did what any man close to his family would do: he called his mom.
But the response that he got from his mom was something that he will never forget.
And you probably won't either. Check the video below:
Kevin's mom died in 2007 due to cancer. It was the biggest lesson Kevin learned. He said that his mom said she put what he needed in the bible because she knew that he needed to stay faithful and prayed up along his journey.
"Spiritually, I do believe that my mother's very much still present," the Philadelphia native said. "That's my angel. I think that there's been a lot of moments in my life after my mom has passed where I was faced with adversity or faced with a door that didn't seem like it wasn't going to slam in my face that did and I was able to make it through those moments because of a smile that I knew that I had over me."
He continued, "I've always felt protected, so my book is dedicated to her for major reasons. I'm the man that I am today because of my mom."
Hart shared some of his favorite stories behind his jokes and the lessons he's learned about life, success, parenting and...
... relationships. Here’s at one of his life lessons:
First and foremost: Learn to laugh at yourself
Growing up, Hart quickly learned that his height would be a shortcoming, or it would play to his advantage. As a high school sophomore, the self-described "mama's boy" longed to get girls and be popular. He writes that he decided to accept himself and embraced his size by being the "funny guy" -- and it paid off.
"As the little guy, you have a choice to make if you want to be popular: You can be the tough guy and overcompensate for your mini-me self, or you can be the funny guy and accept your size. An added incentive for choosing the latter is that it's hard for someone to punch you while they’re laughing," he writes. "I chose to be the funny guy. Having nothing to prove is the most freeing thing in the world. Rather than constantly defending your ego, you can have a sense of humor about your shortcomings."
He continues: "Because I didn't take myself and life so seriously, girls started to hang around me more. And that's when I realized: The fun guys always wins."
