The One Advice That Made Kevin Hart Famous
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Kevin Hart started his career as a stand-up comedian after he graduated high school.
He started at the famous Laff House Comedy Club in Philadelphia.
At that time, Little Kev Kev was performing open mic nights. It was a competition for amateur comics. With his aggression and passion, he was able to win six weeks straight. He was coming up with new material every week.
Keith Robinson, a seasoned comedian, discovered young Kevin in this comedy club. That started a friendship between the two and Keith took Kevin under his wing.
Keith became his mentor.
They were going to New York seven days a week, nonstop.
After spending some time together, Keith gave Kevin a piece of advice that would forever change his life.
“You’re funny, but you’re talking about nothing. You are doing what you think people wanna see. You don’t have any substance.”
“Who are you?! When people leave, do they know you?”
“It starts with knowing yourself — that’s your strength. You can’t be afraid of the truth. If it happened, talk about it.”
This is the birth of Kevin Hart that we now know. He started using his personal life in his comedy and was never afraid to tell the truth. This is where he began Laughing at his Pain.
We are afraid to be vulnerable in front of people. We think that this is a sign of weakness. But it is these truths that make us unique.
Use your emotional scars, insecurities and pains as fuel to achieve your goals.
They are the ingredients that make us original. They can never be taken away from us.
I have been writing for almost a month now. I have written things that no other person can copy because they are mine.
When you read these articles, they will be so specific that you will surely remember me. You will get a glimpse of who I am.
Who is Nicole, the boy with a girl’s name?
I am still learning about myself. I am getting there. Some memories would seem mundane, but when I write them down and share them with my wife, I would be shaking my head.
“I can’t make this up.”
Kevin Hart would say in his comedy specials. What would follow is an anecdote so absurd you’d shake your head in disbelief. These are the moments you’re looking for.
I like reading listicles cause they’re easy to digest. But who remembers all that fluff?
We absorb lessons better when they’re predicated on stories. It’s been years since I read The Little Prince and The Alchemist. But I can tell you the lesson in each of those book now.
But the lesson is a by-product. It’s not the point.
What’s essential is the story.
This is what we do every time we write or produce content. We reach for the low hanging fruit. We write about the lesson first. We don’t take the time to dig deep.
You have that story in you. If you plough hard enough, you’ll see that you have something to offer. Stories that other people can’t make up. Stories that you can call your own.
I’ve been interviewing people and developing origin stories for them. Here are snippets that I can’t make up:
- When I was young, while all of my friends were asking ‘Is Santa Real?’. I asked, ‘Is Love Real?’. I went to India, Nepal, Bali to find the answers.
- I always wanted to be in control. I wanted to be a millionaire by age 25. I wanted to be a Master Shaolin at age 21. In the middle of college, I went to China and got myself in a Shaolin temple.
- I’ve been asking ‘what’s the meaning of my life?’ for six years. I asked Google, and he replied with Viktor Frankl’s book Man’s search for meaning, it didn’t help me. I didn’t understand Viktor. After a few years, I got an answer from the movie Bucket List. I was crying so hard after watching it. It made me turn my life around.
There is depth in each of these stories. There are moments of vulnerability that follows.
But if these are too vague. I can tell you a couple from my icons.
- Gary Vaynerchuk was working in his dad’s liquor store and grew it. He filmed himself in the office talking about wines. This was the birth of Wine Library TV. He had a rift with his dad because of family dynamics and left the company. He resigned with no money in his savings and started an agency. He wanted to prove that he can make it on his own. He was cliticised for being the business guy when he’s apparently the wine guy.
- Tim Ferriss failed a relationship and had an online business that was killing him. He bought a one-way ticket to an adventure that will forever change his life. Won a National Chinese Kickboxing Tournament. Held a Guinness World Record for Tango.
- Casey Neistat impregnated a girl when he was 17. Dropped out of school and went to New York because he realized that he will never become a filmmaker if he was living in his hometown. In one of his earliest paid gig as a filmmaker, he was asked to create a birthday video message. This led to a chance interview with then-President Bill Clinton.
These are stories so vivid that you’d think they are works of fiction.
Life imitates art. Or maybe, art is the one resembling life.
Life is as colorful as fiction if you gaze hard enough.
Now it’s your turn — tell me a story.
