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Kevin Hart
Courtesy: Scott Suchman/Kennedy Center
Comedian Kevin Hart, 44, was moved to tears by the tributes of his famous friends — and reduced to giggles by their multiple insults — as he accepted the 25th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the highest honor a comedian can earn, at the Kennedy Center in D.C. March 24.
Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Whoopi Goldberg, 68, Eddie Murphy, 62, Carol Burnett, 90, David Letterman, 76, and Adam Sandler, 57, are past winners. Here’s a sneak peek at what you’ll see when the celebrity roast-and-toast show airs May 11 at 8 p.m. on Netflix.
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Nelly, left, and Robin Thicke
Paul Morigi/Getty Images
The show started with a bang
Six flame pots erupted onstage as Robin Thicke and rapper Nelly ignited the event by performing Nelly’s 2002 hit “Hot in Herre”: “Warm, sweatin’, it’s hot up in this joint … You’re with a winner, so baby, you can’t lose!”
Hart’s inability to lose was the theme of the evening (along with jibes about his diminutive stature). Hart’s movies have grossed $4.2 billion; his stand-up comedy shows broke records; he’s launched a restaurant chain, a production company and an investment company; and the Plastic Cup Boyz, his old Philadelphia comedy buddies who’ve opened his shows for years, toasted him onstage with his own brand of tequila. One suspects his ambition of becoming a billionaire when he turns 45 in July may come true.
Jerry Seinfeld
Courtesy: Scott Suchman/Kennedy Center
Seinfeld paid tribute to Hart’s ability to get paid
“I saw Kevin speak to a huge room full of crazy zillionaire super businessmen at the J.P. Morgan conference in Miami,” said Jerry Seinfeld, 69, a billionaire himself. “They just wanted to hear him talk about his business and they’re already millionaires. And they still wanted to find out how the hell are you doing it?” He also said another mystery had just been solved. “What would Kevin Hart want to do that he has not already done?” Seinfeld asked rhetorically. “The triumph of tonight is we found something Kevin Hart doesn’t already have: the Mark Twain Prize.”
Keith Robinson
Shannon Finney/Getty Images
The most moving moment in the show was also one of the funniest
Hart’s early comedy mentor Keith Robinson, 50, who had a 2020 stroke that slurred his speech and impaired his right arm, was in fine form, joshing about both Hart and his own infirmity, which hasn’t stopped his comedy career. “My New Year’s resolution: No more strokes,” he said. “Chris Rock calls me ‘Strokey Robinson.’ He’s an a--hole, man.” To Hart, he said, “Kev … this is a good thing for you, I love you to death.” He got a huge standing ovation.
J.B. Smoove
Scott Suchman/Kennedy Center
J.B. Smoove revealed the secret of Hart’s mega-success
Curb Your Enthusiasm star Smoove, 58, also witnessed Hart’s launch at Philadelphia’s Laff House Comedy Club. Though his tone was jokey, he made a serious point: When Hart started out, he was imitating other comics. (Hart was so unsuccessful at first, one clubgoer threw a piece of chicken at him, getting buffalo sauce in his eye.)
After jestingly accusing the then-teenage Hart of chronically heisting other comics’ jokes, he said seriously, “I’ve watched him go from sitting in the back of small clubs in Philly to standing onstage in arenas around the damn world. And how do you do that? Well, simple: being himself.”
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