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In music, its nothing unusual for an artist to play in front of a stadium of people.
Comedy is a different story.
Read a short excerpt from the conversation below, or poke the audio player to hear the full interview.
If you want moreGood One… And what are the first steps?Were talking about it that night.
Ive given them the title of writers, but theyre more of listeners and understanders.
They understand me; they understand my humor.
So, when I had these crazy thoughts, we talk about them.
My way of writing is a spark plug.
And they was like, The playoff?
We just started going back and forth on the playoff.
You just riff and talk about it and it balloons.
Its basically like having a voice recorder without having a voice recorder.
They make bullet points.
And then before I go onstage what they give me is the bullet-point list.
You only separate people when you talk about the differences between people.
You alienate a group of people that may not understand.
I personally note what everybody relates to.
You relate to kids.
You relate to growing up.
You relate to parenting.
You relate to marriage.
You relate to divorce.
You relate to turmoil.
You relate to fear.
You relate to superstition.
You relate to psychological warfare.
Those are things that everybody pretty much goes through.
You relate to the growth of an individual.
I also learned that youre never going to be able to hey everybody.
Its literally the most impossible thing to do in the world.
You get to a point where you say, Im going to do my best.
They can only realize that youre ever a work in progress.
I know youve said youre done talking about the Oscars.Lets just go.
Talk.I have no problem with being candid and open.
Keep in mind, thats the whole reason for me stepping away from it in the beginning.
I didnt want to take away from a night where people should be celebrated for their hard work.
Im in the movie business, so I know the work that goes into the movie business.
Listen to the full conversation onApple PodcastsorSpotify.
It was an attempt to be funny.
Today, I understand why people are like, Thats not funny.
He shouldnt say shit like that.
I apologize for those that are offended.
So, it wasnt about not being comfortable.
It was about me being frustrated with the fact that the ten-year change was instantly overlooked.
I have to understand that.
I have to acknowledge that.
So now, now you just get confused.
And I said, But why do you think I do?
Kevin, because of this right here.
And you not coming out and talking about it correctly makes it look like you do.
But I never said that I do.
It doesnt matter, Kevin.
Thats what we want to hear.
We want to know.
Point taken, I understand.
Can I ask a question?
This is to my friends!
Ask your question, Kevin.
Why do you assume that Im supposed to know that?
So, I asked them, Why didnt you call me earlier and say that?
Why wasnt that the call?
Why wasnt it, Kev, it aint about that.
People dont really think that thats you.
This is an opportunity for you to speak up for so many others.
Why didnt you say that, then?
That my friends had to go, Youre absolutely right.
Maybe there was an assumption of what youre supposed to know.
There shouldnt be, because thats not where Im from.
Thats not how I was raised.
Thats not what Ive been around.
And what this showed me about comedy is,Wow, it is real easy to be insensitive onstage.
Wow, it is real easy to say some hurtful shit onstage.
It is real easy to do something for a laugh that can affect somebody elses life.
Whoa.When I read [the jokes again] I thought, Oh, ooh, fuck!
Which is why I said Ill never do it again.
And then I didnt.
Are you going to talk about it onstage?
Are you excited?Of course!
He popped my hand.
You know, cause he felt like I … he said, Just shut up and listen to me.
I said, Alright, Im not going to say nothing else, Lee.
The conversation, the realization, and the conclusion: Its just like a joke.
Ive never not talked about anything.
Ive talked about it all!
This is a pivotal moment in my life and in my career, so it will be onstage.
But, once again, there wont be anything malicious behind it.
Itll be about me.
Itll be about my take on what happened, my opinion, and my realization.
Theres going to be funny in it.
Im going to make people laugh at it no matter what.
Thats what I do.
Ive done it with everything my moms funeral.
Ive done it with my dad and his drug addiction.
Ive done it with my kids and my ex-wife and how we split up.
But I talked about it.
If I dont talk about it, I dont fix it.
Dave Chappelle, hes always going to be in that discussion.
Chris Rock, always going to be in that discussion.
Those are the names that I know no matter what gets brought up.
Katt Williams, regardless of his personal life, his name gets brought up!
Katt Williams had one of the funniest specials of all time.
Im not going to deny that.
Those conversations will always be conversations.
But they have no affect on me and what Im doing.
The Kevin Hart conversation hopefully will be a conversation where it puts me in a land of my own.
All I can say is that my resume speaks for itself and numbers dont lie.
The level of consistency doesnt lie.
But, the opinion and feelings I dont have the time to care.
I only have the time to do.
