Kevin Hart lends his talents to African American news site

By Jeffrey Gurian | January 30, 2012 at 1:27 pm | 3 comments | feature slider, News | Tags: comic strip, kevin hart, the grio

The Grio.com is the first African-American video news site, specifically geared towards bringing stories of interest to that community. Launched by NBC News, it’s editorial mission is to be the primary news source for the Black community on a national level. February is Black History Month and so they are interviewing 100 people who they feel are making a positive effect in the Black community.

One of those people, not surprisingly, is comedian Kevin Hart, who jokingly demanded to know what number he was out of the 100. He felt he should be around number 6! NBC made arrangements to meet Kevin at The Comic Strip, thanks to Bob Wachs a co-owner and founder of the club. Todd Johnson, the host/producer from NBC gave me permission to attend and film the event.

These were some of the insights Kevin shared with NBC:

• 1. Some of his influences in comedy were Eddie Murphy, Redd Foxx, Chris Rock, Bernie Mac and Chris Tucker.
  2. What makes his comedy successful is that it’s personal. “You talk about what you’re going through whether it’s good or bad. I have tons of problems! That’s what makes me funny!”
  3. When asked about his breaking Eddie Murphy’s record on ticket sales: “What Eddie Murphy’s done for comedy is on a completely different level than what I can do or have done. He’s on a different plateau. I’m happy I sold the tickets, but for me there’s no breaking Eddie Murphy’s record.”

Kevin is one of only a handful of comedians ever to release a live performance as a feature film. That group includes Rock, Murphy, Eddie Griffin, Martin Lawrence, Louis C.K and the Kings of Comedy.

He put up his own money to release Laugh At My Pain in 200 theatres, which is considered a limited release and it’s already brought in millions of dollars. He’s also got 3 million followers on Twitter, about a million more than he had the last time I saw him, which wasn’t that long ago! The man is a phenomenon.

For more on Kevin Hart’s interview (with video) visit the Comedy Matters blog here.