Hart's Afire

After a brush with death, the hottest comic in the world is finding happiness on new stages and new boardrooms. But will he ever return to the stadium?

- By Jesse Will. Photography by Brian Bowen Smith

A few minutes after he enters the Zoom, Kevin Hart breaks off on a tangent. The world’s top-grossing comic is workshopping a bit in an empty L.A. soundstage—imagining what it would be like to address a full arena again for the first time since 2019. The 42-year-old Hart reclines on a tan leather couch in a white T-shirt, hand wrapped around a desktop mic. He dials up that high, kinetic voice. The one that’s made tens of millions of people lose their shit since his 2008 breakout.

“How’s everyone feelin’? Vaccinations? No vaccinations? Delta? No Delta? Masks? No masks? Hey, guys! Guys!! Take your masks off!! I mean, put ’em back on!! Wait—what side am I on? Oh, do y’all want me to put this on?? I will!”

“My next special’s gonna be called Confused as Fuck,” riffs Hart. “Because that’s what I am.”

PREVAILING WITH PURPOSE

Hart may have some bewilderment at the future of doing stand-up in front of tens of thousands, but the man has no confusion as to the trajectory of his empire. It’s blowing up. (“Like Ramses the Second,” one Hollywood exec tells me.) Just this year, Hart shot three feature-length movies slated for release in 2022, alongside actors like Woody Harrelson and Cate Blanchett; starred in Fatherhood, a drama viewed in 90 million households on Netflix; signed a four-movie contract with the same streamer; produced TV shows like Dave and Celebrity Game Face; published a middle-grade novel and released a motivational audiobook; launched a reality show about muscle cars for Motor Trend; anchored a celebrity interview TV show called Hart to Heart; premiered