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Kevin Hart’s Contribution to Theatre

Theatre and comedy are essential social institutions. They play many fundamental roles,

including offering entertainment and laughter therapy for audiences (Robson, 67). To actualize

these functionalities and realize the benefits of comedy, the performing artists often inculcate

many elements of wordplay and drama to make relative contractions between the reality of being

or the social order and integrity of individuals (74). Aided by a suspension of natural laws,

comedic artists turn the version of events or ideas, structurally mold them to ensure intriguing

thematic unity, build up characters and comedic dialogue and stylistically deliver this knowledge

to the corresponding audiences in such a way to make them laugh. Often, the artists utilize

rhetorical methods like exaggerations and hyperbole, to build up incongruity and intrigue

audiences. These methods contribute to many artists, Like Kevin Hart’s, stage success as they

develop a rapport with their audiences, making their acts relatable and humored (Kauffman).

Hart uses his background and tragic experiences in life as a motivation to make other people

laugh, conversely easing the pain of the tragic occurrences.

Kevin Hart utilizes a mix of stage performance methods to entertain his audiences,

attaining significant success in theatre and comedy over time. His unique styles and performance

quality have earned him multiple awards, such as the 2012 BET Best actor, NAACP outstanding

series and images awards, and MTV's Comedic genius awards (Kauffman; Awards, IMDb). He
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has also garnered lucrative titles such as the ‘king of comedy’ in the comedic industry, turning

him into a public figure and role model for many. Kevin Hart's self-deprecation performance

style has made him a good fit for many comedic niches, including stand-up comedy and comedic

drama movies. His exemplary comedic performances continue to expand the breadth of comedy

into action series, opening up opportunities for other actors.

Kevin Harts Biography and Career

Kevin Darnell Hart is an American Citizen, born on 6th July 1979 in Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. He is a comedian, actor, and movie producer by profession, whence he has

achieved significant success and gained professional mileage. Hart spent his early life in

Philadelphia, in a single-parent household, led by his mother – Nancy Hart (Kauffman). He

schooled within the district, in George Washington High school, then later went to the University

of Philadelphia before moving to New York. Later, he moved to Brockton, where he worked

full-time as a shoe salesman while pursuing his career as a comedian in the spare time. He lost

his mother to cancer in 2007, divorced in 2011, and had a tragic car accident. These experiences

and other failures in his life, despite their horror, drive his jokes and need to entertain.

Kevin Hart began his comedic career performing in Philadelphian night clubs under his

stage then stage name, Lil Kev the Bastard (Sidiq, Mazzandy). He faced rejection and failure in

his early stages, where he emulated his role models in the industry, such as Chris Tucker and J.B

Smoove. However, after he found his niche, humoring his tragic experiences, his career began to

take off. he received more shows and won amateur stand up comedy awards that provided the

fuel to trudge on. He would then get a sitcom show with ABC media house, but the show was

canceled after only six episodes (Sidiq, Mazzandy). However, his resilience, despite that setback,

led to other successes and roles in movies like Soul Plane, Little Fockers, Get Hard and Ride
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along. He also released stand up comedy albums like I’m a Grown Little Man that shaped his

stand up comedy career and earned him a place among other great performers. Elsie now terms

Hart's comedy as motivating and funny, and that Kevin Hart is a great performer. Kevin Hart's

contribution to theater spans the various niches of comedy, where he has attained significant

success. His comedic performances can be found across various platforms like Netflix and

YouTube, where he gets millions of watch hours. Similarly, he engages his audiences on his

social media handles, enlightening, and humoring them. According to Gencarelli, Hart's prowess

in his professional career is a classic tale of the essence of hard work and resilience in shaping

one's destiny. Hence, he deserves all the benefits and gains he is making since he toiled for and

continues to work for the good things in his life.

Kevin Hart's rise to stardom has been a major boost to the comedic industry. His

performances increase attention and build relevance in the industry. Furthermore, they augment

the coping aspect of comedy, building the overall comedic audience.

Stand-up Comedy

Kevin Hart began his career performing on stages before live audiences. This niche provided him

with the necessary recognition that spun him into stardom. Under the stage name Lil Kev, Kevin

Hart managed to develop his signature self-deprecation comedic style and garner influence in

comedic circles. Hart would then go on comedic stand-up tours to entertain audiences, such as

the 2009 tour titled I’m a Grown Little Man, 2010 tour called Seriously Funny, and a 2013 tour.

Let me explain. Kevin’s tours also led up to the release of stand up comedy albums (McNary).

These tours generated significant revenue, funding his other projects. According to McNary, the

2010 tour yielded over 15 million dollars' worth of revenue, making it one of the most successful

tours of the current age. Kevin Hart's tour performances furthered his self-deprecation style as he
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based most jokes on personal misfortune. For instance, In I am Grown Little Man, Hart jokes that

"If you are my lady and you are out with me, and some guy walks up to you and slaps you…

Then you just got slapped, and there is nothing I can do about it because if he did not care about

your face, I know he's not going to give a f**k about mine”(Kevin Hart, Youtube).

In the 2010 tour and album, he jokes about his parenting skills and insecurities. In 2011,

he made fun of his spending habits and embarrassing financial moments. In 2015, he made fun of

his family and sexual life. Despite belittling himself, Hart made headway as Writers and

producers positively critiqued his work. Mike Gencarelli- a writer for a news outlet, for instance,

rated his album Let Me Explain a 4 out of 5 stars, terming his acting skills exceptional,

performance energetic and humor apt (Gencarelli).

Movie/ Film

Kevin hart has premiered as a top actor in many movies over his career. His characters are often

energetic and humorous as Kevin inculcates and develops the self-deprecation style. His first

film role was in Undeclared, a sitcom on Fox tv, created by Judd Apatow. Undeclared told the

story of a group of high school children, making Kevin fit in well due to his height. His

performance led to his debut in Paper Soldiers, an urban crime comedy film where Kevin

performs the role of Shawn – an amateur film (Eisner). Paper soldiers was written and directed

by Daman Desh and Davis Daniel. It premiered in 2002. Kevin exceptionally performed his role,

resulting in more performances under different movie roles such as in Soul Plane- 2004,

featuring Snoop Dogg, The 40-year-old Virgin - 2005, Death at a funeral – 2010, Little Fockers

(Sidiq & Mazzandy), the Five-Year-Old Engagement -2012, this is the end- 2013, Ride along –

2014 and Get hard – 2015 among others.

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Kevin's characters continue his niche as he humors movie events, hooking audiences to the

screens. His tragic but theatric roles draw a baseline in his performance standards, building on

his personal style while meeting the expectations for all his characters. In Ride Along, he makes

fun of near-death gun fight experiences, humors Death at a Funeral, and critiques society

standards In a Virgin at 40.

Producer

Advancing comedy, Hart has acted and directed various movies. For instance, he directed the

2017 film The Upside and the 2016 film Secret life of pets in which he also performs the role of

Snowball - a fluffy warlord rabbit. The secret life of pets received numerous commendations and

Movie awards, including the MTV best comedic animation awards (McNary).

Through his tv hosting career during America’s Got Talent Show, Kevin Hart enhanced the

appreciation of comedy by global audiences.

Kevin's heart intends to continue developing the comedic industry through his comedic roles in

upcoming movies such as Fatherhood and Santaclaus. Moreover, he has received director duties

in films such as Monopoly and Extreme Job, guaranteeing a comedic angle to the actors’ roles.

Overall, Kevin hart has contributed to the development of the comedy industry. His roles

in movies and performances in live shows develop the perception and role of comedy as a

therapy. By basing his jokes on tragic personal experiences, Kevin Hart builds relatability, a key

concept in comedy that builds the audiences' appreciation of the art of comedy. Moreover, his

immense success in the niche serves as a great source of inspiration for many current and

upcoming comedians in the American Industry.

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Works Cited

“Awards.” IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.

Dave McNary (May 6, 2015). "'Kevin Hart: What Now' Release Date Set for Oct. 14,

2016". Variety. Retrieved October 27, 2020.

Eisner, Ken. “Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain Isn’t for Everyone.” Georgia Straight

Gencarelli, Mike. "Blu-ray Review "Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain." Media Mikes. N.p., n.d.

Kauffman, Susan. Kevin Hart: Comedian, Actor, Writer, and Producer. Enslow Publishing,

LLC, 2017.

Robson, James. "Humouring the masses: the theatre audience and the highs and lows of

Aristophanic comedy." (2017): 66-87.

Sidiq, Mazzandy Rahman. "Humor Mechanism in Kevin Hart Stand-up Comedy

Peformances." SKRIPSI Jurusan Sastra Inggris-Fakultas Sastra UM (2017).