The unstoppable Kevin Hart

In his book, I Can't Make this Up, Kevin Hart talks about the moment he was pulled aside by one of the gatekeepers of comedy. At the time, Lucien Hold was the booker for NYC's Comedy Strip; he'd helped launch everyone from Eddie Murphy to Jerry Seinfeld. Hart was in his mid-20s, just making his mark as a comedian and not many years removed from his first job, selling sneakers at City Sport in Philadelphia. Waiting for Lucien's benediction, what Hart got was the opposite. "I don’t think stand-up comedy is for you," the legendary booker told him. "Maybe you should start looking into other things, finding different interest that suit you better."

It was the first of many times that Hart realized that the only person who was betting on his success was himself — and that natural talent wasn't going to propel him to to the top.

Kevin hasn't stopped hustling since. And things have clearly worked out. Starting in 2006, Forbes has been tracking the highest-earning comedians. The only person to have ever unseated Seinfeld in that stretch was Hart in 2016, and he's been nipping at Seinfeld's heels every year since. Hart's reported $57 million in 2018 income comes from a stream of businesses he runs. Hart oversees three companies — HartBeat Productions, HartBeat Digital and streaming site Laugh Out Loud — has sponsorship deals with everyone from Nike to Tommy John, stages record-breaking (and stadium-filling) comedy tours and stars in box-office smashes like Night School and Jumanji.

Just before the release of his new movie, The Upside (another No. 1 film), Hart stopped by our offices in NYC. He was capping a week that started with him offering an apology — aired on his XM channel — for past homophobic comments, the unearthing of which cost him the chance to host the Oscars. We talked about what he learned from the situation; when he realized that he was done waiting for Hollywood to tap him for roles; how he runs his businesses and the advice he gives to people who mirror his path. "Finish something," he said he tells people. "It's so hard for some people to follow through and actually put action behind the words. So my advice is to not be a talker because you can."

Hart built his career by being a talker. He's risen to the top by following through.

__

Below is an edited transcript of our interview, the latest in the #ConversationsWith series. Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Dan Roth: You have your, one of the most successful comedians in the world built your career on comedy. I'm curious, what made you want to do a more serious role?

Kevin Hart: I think I'm with anything in life you always want to progress. This was a baby step, you know. This is a more dramatic role, but there's still some comedy undertone to it. So the movie after this one can be another level past this one; it can be a little more serious. But my fan base would have seen this one and said, ‘OK, wow, we know that he can do it. We believe that it's going over here. Oh, I'm curious to see how he is in this one too.’

DR: Do you set 5 or 10 year goals like that?

KH: One hundred percent. I think you have to, with anything that you're doing because that's your reward. Seeing that you can say things and watch those things become your reality is what puts you in a position to just keep going once you see, ‘Oh wow, I said I was going to do this and I did it and now that I'm here, I'm not done. I'm going to set five new goals and I can't wait to achieve these and have the same conversation with myself in years to come.’ It's just always, it's playing a game with your own mental, I think. And that's why I love writing things down. That's why I love the vision board. That's why I love team meetings and conversation. There's nothing bad that can come out of. It's only an upside. No pun intended.

I've been doing comedy and acting for years, but when I stepped on the set, and I was with Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman, regardless of my level of success, or my star, I was a sponge. I was willing to soak up as much information as possible. I was listening, I was watching. I was pretty much taking away whatever I could from the moment of working with these two unbelievable people, you know?

This is an amazing actress and an amazing actor. These are both, they're are the top of their games. They're of the elite. So the fact that I'm in that company, I want to make sure that I put myself in the best position to be in the conversations that they're in in years to come.

DR: Your career is a really interesting one because you actually hit it big pretty early. You were in a Judd Apatow show, which people aspire to; it's a dream job. And then when Hollywood just kind of stop working for you, you went on the road and started doing comedy and working your way back up. When you came back, it was a different Kevin Hart.

KH: 100 percent. While working with Judd, I found that it's so amazing to create. And one of the shows that I did with Judd didn't get picked up. Another one was called Undeclared, where I was a guest appearance on the show, but I was like, it's not enough. Like I'm not going to be able to take care of myself. I'm not going to be able to feed myself.

So I made a decision to go and focus on stand-up comedy. I said I know this is here, but I can't just wait by the phone. I need to go put myself in a position where I can create where I can be active. So I went to do stand up comedy. I said, I want to focus on my stand up comedy.

DR: Did you worry at all that you were giving up, that you were leaving that phone? I mean, part of you must have said, let me just keep standing by the phone — it’s going to ring at some point. How did you decide that it was a better use of your time just to hit the road?

KH: The real way to decide was this: If I'm going to do something, I have to do it 100 percent. I can't go halfway. So I can't do half as comedy and attempt to go tour while still trying to be in LA and figure out auditions in x, Y, and z. You just can't. Because I'm basically at the mercy of Hollywood. I don't want to be at the mercy of Hollywood. I'm going to overwork. I'm going to overdeliver out here. I'm going on tour.

Over the course of like three and a half, four years, I built my fan base up. My fan base was now selling out all shows, so now I don’t have to do comedy clubs. Now I can do little theaters. Now I’ve built all this up by just being persistent and saying “Idle time is idle mind.”

DR: So, this whole time you're making these tours, did you turn down work that would have brought you back to Hollywood?

KH: Well it wasn't like I was turning down a crazy amount of work, because it wasn't coming in.

DR: So you could stay focused.

KH: I was not only focused. I was just determined to make you realize what I am. know what I am. Nobody else knows what you are but you. You're your own competition.

And when I've realized what I was, I was like, there's no shot at me losing focus. There's no shot at me not finishing the job at hand. By the time I'm done, Hollywood is going to go, "Whoa, that guy's out there moving tickets. Who is this new star?" Keep in mind I've been around for years. [But] they don't know me and they don't have any real reason to. But now I'm going to force your hand. I'm going to make you aware. That's the beauty of stand-up comedy.

DR: You've talked about that during this period you realized you didn't want to be a work-for-hire, that you were the product, and you wanted to own the product. What has that meant in terms of how you guide your career?

KH: You know, if you need me, you need me. If you don't, you don't. That's not good. How am I going to really support those around me? How do I position myself to be so much more than that? How do I learn? Where am I supposed to figure it out at? I went out and I used some examples.

Will Packer was doing a bunch of movies, and he was producing them. He approached me to produce a movie that he wanted to do, and he was like, ‘Kevin, this is something that's dear to my heart. I want to do it. I would love for you to be in it. You can star in it. I think it'll be great for you.’ Alright. Dope. I want to do it.

But then I watched him. I watched how he put stuff together. And during that I was like, I can do that. I can do what he's doing. I already got the infrastructure. I’ve already got the company set up. I’ve got the office building. I could easily get the rest of the building. I could easily get space. Because I’ve got money from stand-up. My money from standup can help me leverage and do the things that I want to do.

Once I figured out how to get HartBeat Productions running and off the ground, things started to click so much easier, because now I'm producing for me. ‘Oh my god, this is huge.’ It clicked and when it clicked, it kept clicking because now I know how to add onto it. Now I know how to get more deals. Now I know not only how to develop, produce, I also know how to engage.

DR: What are you like as a manager? Are you a hands-on guy?

KH: Hands on, hands on.

DR: Really? Like daily meetings...

KH: Hands on.

DR: ...monthly? You're looking at spreadsheets. You're seeing what's going on inside the business?

KH: Hands—

DR: Doing the hiring?

KH: —on. Hands on.

DR: Really? Do you like doing all that?

KH:I like it because right now it's my baby. I'm watching it evolve because I'm putting the pieces to the puzzle in place. I'm hiring the right people. I'm having the people that I hired feel comfortable enough to know that they're a part of something that's much, much bigger. Much, much bigger.

DR: Do you get the same joy out of that, out of getting an entire stadium to laugh?

KH: Man, there's no feeling like that. The stadium is just, that's just stupid. To this day I just can’t fathom the fact that I performed at a football stadium in my hometown. That's unreal. Fifty thousand people came out to laugh. For business, I just want my business side to catch up to my star side. That's what I want. If it can catch up, oh my god, now we're talking about a different movement, because now you get into the conversation of rubbing elbows with the real big, big, big companies. When I get there, then you're talking about the billion dollar conversations. That’s the goal. It’s not just to have the money. It’s to actually apply it to change: what can I have an impact on?

DR: You've spent a lot of this week talking about the Oscars controversy. You talk about helping out young comedians, of guiding the way for them. What lessons should they take away?

KH: What lessons? Just pay attention. Pay attention, man. One man's misfortune is another man's fortune, you know? There's lesson learned in all of this for everyone.

It's very easy for things to go away. It's hard to achieve them. It's very hard to get there. It's easy for it to go away.

And you're living in a time where, because it's so easy, you have to just be careful. Just make sure that you're always handling yourself correctly, you know? You're not going to be perfect. Nobody's perfect. Nobody's perfect. But within your imperfections come perfection.

So give yourself time to grow and understand the state of the world today. It's different. It's different.

But also be true to you. That's another thing that I will say. Be true to you. Don't let other people dictate who you are and what you should be. I think we're all smart enough to know right from wrong, and we're all smart enough to fix whatever the wrong is to make it right. In doing so, do it while staying true to you.

It's a very thin line because you can easily get off balance. But, as long as you're conscious and aware of it, you'll be okay. That's what I'll say. You know, just be aware, man. Be aware. But I will say that it only gets tougher as you get bigger.

But, there is an approach to still trying to be edgy. You're a comedian. If you're a comedian, you're supposed to be able to say the things that other people think, but they won't say. And you're doing that, you now have to just make sure you're doing that, you're doing it correctly. Make sure that there's a high level professionalism. And if you are a comic that choose to go down that insensitive road, just understand that there's going to be backlash and be prepared for that if that's what you want and that's who you want to be. By all means, do it. I'm not gonna change you. Do it. Not change at all, but just be smart in your approach to it.

And I would say that I think that's the dopest thing about my change is that I've done that and that's why I've decided just to be done with the situation because the change came in the last ten years that act as proof of somebody that got it, understood it, and adjusted and adapted to the times of today.

DR: You must get people that come to you all the time and they're like, "Hey, I'm working in a fast food job or I'm working this job, which I hate. I really want to be a comedian or I want to be an actor." What kind of advice do you give them?

KH: That's tough, man. That's tough.

DR: Do you say don't do it?

KH: No. You definitely don't say that. I'm not a dream killer. I just don't like talkers. So many people love to say what they're going to do. So many people love to voice it just so they can hear themselves say it:

'Yeah, man, you know I'm thinking about doing today? I'm probably gonna go and ... ' 'Hey, you know what, man? I'm just started this ... I'm probably tomorrow, I'll get up in the morning and go down and do some ...'

It's so hard for some people to follow through and actually put action behind the words. So my advice is to not be a talker because you can. Be the person that actually puts action behind it. And when you know that you're that person, then start picking people apart for advice and direction and what to do, what not to do. Because you know that you're gonna take it and you're gonna apply it. But when you don't know if you're even capable of taking information and going and using it, don't ask for it.

So my advice is to not be a talker. Be a doer. Be a person that wants to put punctuations on sentences, not just keep running them on. Run-on sentences are the worst. They just don't stop. It's like, ‘Where's your period. You didn't put a period on one sentence. Finish something. You gotta finish something.’

I will say, in conclusion, I'm gonna say it here, and this is another thing that I like to do, just where you put pressure on yourself, because ultimately, that's the only person that you're competing against. And, you know, to all the people that will see this and watch this, the best way to become the best version of you is to challenge you.

So my challenge to myself for '19 is to really put HartBeat Productions in a position to where we are now not only partnering with other big studios like we are now, but to where we are in production on at least 10 to 15 things between film and TV in 2019 that are self-developed from the inside. That's the pressure I put on myself for '19.