Joe Rogan Experience #1480 - Kevin Hart

1. 0:00 – 15:00

   You come in here…

   1. JRJoe Rogan0:00

      You come in here moving and shaking, man. You come in here making deals. You're on the phone already.

   2. KHKevin Hart0:04

      (inhales deeply) Gotta do it, y'all.

   3. JRJoe Rogan0:04

      You're always moving.

   4. KHKevin Hart0:06

      I mean, is there anything else to do?

   5. JRJoe Rogan0:09

      (laughs)

   6. KHKevin Hart0:09

      Is there anything else to do besides move?

   7. JRJoe Rogan0:11

      Not if you wanna get ahead.

   8. KHKevin Hart0:12

      No, no. Especially not now, man. Hunters hunt-

   9. JRJoe Rogan0:16

      Yes.

   10. KHKevin Hart0:17

       ... those that don't get ate.

   11. JRJoe Rogan0:18

       The last time you were here, man, that was one of the most inspirational podcasts I've ever done.

   12. KHKevin Hart0:22

       It was a great time.

   13. JRJoe Rogan0:22

       I left that... I literally had a shift in the way I was looking at things. Like, you put an extra gear in my step that day. I was like, "Oh!" I love being around people like you.

   14. KHKevin Hart0:32

       My guy.

   15. JRJoe Rogan0:33

       S- people around you, y- y- people like you, you're g- you're going for shit all the time and it's infectious. It's like a... You're, you- you give off energy. And when people are around you, they wanna g- they wanna get shit done too. They wanna hustle.

   16. KHKevin Hart0:44

       It's contagious.

   17. JRJoe Rogan0:45

       Yes! Yes!

   18. KHKevin Hart0:46

       It's contagious. It's not, it's not just me putting it out. I think that, uh, the last time I was here, our conversation was such a great conversation because there was, there was... We both had point of views, right? And when we shared the point of views, you elevated the other person's POV. Like, when we were talking and I was telling you why I live the way I live, why I am the way I am, you spring boarded and you said, "Yeah, because Kev, for me, I've been doing this." And, and we had this yin-

   19. JRJoe Rogan1:19

       Hmm.

   20. KHKevin Hart1:19

       ... and yang thing going.

   21. JRJoe Rogan1:20

       Yeah.

   22. KHKevin Hart1:20

       And it, and it drove the conversation. I told you, you know, before we jumped on, one of the, the best interviews that I've ever done and from a feedback perspective with people that just loved what the discussion was, uh, loved the tone of the interview, the things that were said, um, felt inspired, motivated after, um, it was just great all around for me. Checked all the boxes.

   23. JRJoe Rogan1:42

       It was for me too, and I got a bunch of great responses from my friends. From fr- that's when I know it's good, when I get friends and my friends are all like, pretty unanimous. They're like, "That is a motivational motherfucker."

   24. KHKevin Hart1:51

       Wow.

   25. JRJoe Rogan1:51

       Like, "That dude gets shit done." When people hear th- stuff like you, like someone who's o- excited about life, excited about doing things, you know, there's something about that, that... It's fuel. It's fuel for p- we, we need that. Everyone needs that.

   26. KHKevin Hart2:04

       You know, I don't even... This is, this is not a cheesy segue. All right? This just makes sense from what you just said. What you just said is the reason why I did the decision. You said, "People need that. (clicks tongue) It's fuel."

   27. JRJoe Rogan2:21

       Yes.

   28. KHKevin Hart2:21

       Right? I feel that in today's time, what people are most selfish with is information.

   29. JRJoe Rogan2:28

       Hmm.

   30. KHKevin Hart2:28

       Nobody wants to give information. You gotta ask for it. If you ask for it, then all right, maybe, maybe I'll tell you some stuff, but it's a search and find.
2. 15:00 – 30:00

   (laughs) …

   1. KHKevin Hart15:01

      I didn't do it. I didn't mean for it to happen. I didn't know it was gonna happen. God bless the editors. God bless the Shaq All Star Comedy Jam. After that aired, I remember doing a show at Caroline's. Yo, this is a true fucking story. Shout out to Louis from Caroline's Comedy Club. I was just doing a weekend. Weekend, you're supposed to be doing, you know, three shows. We sold out 15 shows.

   2. JRJoe Rogan15:30

      (laughs)

   3. KHKevin Hart15:30

      We sold out 15 fucking shows. (laughs)

   4. JRJoe Rogan15:33

      How the fuck could you do that?

   5. KHKevin Hart15:35

      I was- we didn't know. Listen, how-

   6. JRJoe Rogan15:36

      Over how many days?

   7. KHKevin Hart15:37

      ... what do you, we was there for like eight days.

   8. JRJoe Rogan15:41

      (laughs)

   9. KHKevin Hart15:41

      (laughs) We were there for like eight days. You can, Louis can confirm this. Caroline's Comedy Club.

   10. JRJoe Rogan15:46

       That's crazy.

   11. KHKevin Hart15:47

       Michael Berkowitz can confirm this. That's my public appearance agent. We just kept getting calls. It... "We're gone. We just put the tickets up for another show, they're gone." "What?" "Uh, what do you wanna do? We can add another. You wanna try to do a- a Wednesday night?" "Yeah, go ahead." "It's gone. Kevin, we added the Wednesday. It's gone." "What do you wanna do? You wanna see if we can add a- a late show Wednesday?" "Yeah, fuck it, I guess." "It's gone." Tuesday, it went Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. We was in that bitch 'til goddamn Wednesday.

   12. JRJoe Rogan16:25

       Holy shit.

   13. KHKevin Hart16:26

       15 shows, Caroline's Comedy Club.

   14. JRJoe Rogan16:27

       What'd that feel like when it was happening?

   15. KHKevin Hart16:29

       It was, I'm gonna say, I'm gonna say 12 to 15 shows, I remember, because some of the days we could do one, some we could do two. But you don't know. I'm like, "I can't- I can't even understand this." Caroline's Comedy Club was a big comedy club. This is New York City.

   16. JRJoe Rogan16:43

       Yeah.

   17. KHKevin Hart16:43

       This is the- this is the melting pot where you got some of everybody. After that is when me and Berk said, "Is this a New York thing? Is- Did the word get out in New York?" And we found out that Shaq's All Star Comedy Jam was playing on like Showtime around the clock. It was just being pumped all day, all night. And we put up some shows outside, and the comedy clubs started frying. We was adding shows. We said, "Let's do small theaters." And then I did small theaters, and right after that moment, I taped Seriously Funny. So Shaq's All Star Comedy Jam hit so hard that by the time I was ready to do Seriously Funny, which was in three to four months, people were so hype and ready to see me do something else, that that became a massive attraction.

   18. JRJoe Rogan17:30

       Wow.

   19. KHKevin Hart17:31

       Seriously Funny took off and blew as well.

   20. JRJoe Rogan17:33

       That's crazy that it was something that you weren't even really thinking of.

   21. KHKevin Hart17:36

       Not even thinking about it.

   22. JRJoe Rogan17:38

       Maybe that's why it was so free, you know?

   23. KHKevin Hart17:40

       You-

   24. JRJoe Rogan17:40

       Like, so loose, no pressure.

   25. KHKevin Hart17:42

       The shit that you don't... Yeah, the shit that... Now- now, by the way, Seriously Funny, I damn near shitted myself before the show.

   26. JRJoe Rogan17:46

       (laughs) Because the pressure was on.

   27. KHKevin Hart17:47

       I damn near defecated on myself before the show because I'm like, "Man, these people are here." The theater sold out so fast. I had LeBron, Shaq, the- the whole Cleveland Cavalier team was there at the time. It was unreal. I was like, "This is... This is it. This is my moment. I gotta- I gotta make this- I gotta make this a thing."

   28. JRJoe Rogan18:09

       Wow.

   29. KHKevin Hart18:10

       "I gotta make... I can't fuck this up. I cannot fuck this up." The show ended up going great, and then from there, the- the- the fucking star just continued to rise. And- and that's when the engine...... within myself, started the click of go get. Right? So there's-

   30. JRJoe Rogan18:31

       Is this something you always had, the go get?
3. 30:00 – 45:00

   Mm-hmm. …

   1. KHKevin Hart30:00

      pursue said thing that i wanna do." Or if you're in a job or, you know, a career and you're like, "I fucking hate my job," what i feel is like, you know, even if you hate your job, you- you're supposed to be using that job for something to get to something. Right?

   2. JRJoe Rogan30:17

      Mm-hmm.

   3. KHKevin Hart30:17

      And if you're- if you're not, then that should be the thing that you're figuring out. Like, "I don't like being here, but now that i'm here, i'm going to do all that i can to get said thing so that i can then..."... be comfortable enough to move here.

   4. JRJoe Rogan30:36

      Yeah.

   5. KHKevin Hart30:37

      If you just go into those things with hate, 'cause you were talking about enthusiasm has made me think about it, made me think about it, if you just got hate and you're just angry about what you're doing every day, then you're not even allowing yourself to figure out the plan of how to escape the thing that you hate to get to the thing that you love.

   6. JRJoe Rogan30:54

      Yeah. I think it's important to have those jobs that suck, man. They're, they're a, they're, they like cement your foundation.

   7. KHKevin Hart31:01

      Oh, God.

   8. JRJoe Rogan31:02

      'Cause you don't wanna go back to those fucking places. You don't wanna go back to those terrible jobs where you gotta get up and be uninspired all day long. But if you can get through that, l- like, that, that's the, this rigid structure of discipline that allows you to apply that discipline to things you love. If you can apply discipline and learn how to apply it to something that sucks and get free-

   9. KHKevin Hart31:23

      Mm-hmm.

   10. JRJoe Rogan31:23

       ... have a game plan to get free, once you get free, you have that ability to get up and do things that suck, m- guess what? You're gonna get up and do things you love easier.

   11. KHKevin Hart31:32

       Even more, even more.

   12. JRJoe Rogan31:33

       And you're gonna remember construction sites and d- delivering newspapers and all the stupid jobs that I worked. I think about those fucking things when I get up in the morning. They, they, when I'm brushing my teeth, I think about them, like-

   13. KHKevin Hart31:44

       That's the fucking game, though.

   14. JRJoe Rogan31:46

       Yes, yes.

   15. KHKevin Hart31:46

       That's the game. Like-

   16. JRJoe Rogan31:47

       That's why you gotta get through it.

   17. KHKevin Hart31:49

       You have to.

   18. JRJoe Rogan31:49

       Yeah.

   19. KHKevin Hart31:49

       Like, th- it's, it's, I, I say this, man, and it's like that, it's the story. You're just putting that story together.

   20. JRJoe Rogan31:56

       Mm-hmm.

   21. KHKevin Hart31:56

       And I don't, I don't think, you know, with- without, without the stories, what do you talk about? What do you talk about?

   22. JRJoe Rogan32:05

       Right.

   23. KHKevin Hart32:06

       You know? What, what is, what is the interesting side of confers- conversation about your growth or-

   24. JRJoe Rogan32:15

       Right.

   25. KHKevin Hart32:15

       ... your journey? If it's, if it's, if it's just the easiest, I just took the highway and got off at the exit, and right there at the exit, I found the gold, everybody else did. It's no-

   26. JRJoe Rogan32:24

       Right.

   27. KHKevin Hart32:24

       What, what is that?

   28. JRJoe Rogan32:25

       Or my dad was rich and I have a trust fund and I never have to work ever.

   29. KHKevin Hart32:28

       What, what is the, what is the-

   30. JRJoe Rogan32:29

       Yeah.
4. 45:00 – 1:00:00

   It's, it's, it's, it's…

   1. JRJoe Rogan45:00

      at it, to don't just look at it like life. Look at it like you're trying to succeed, you're trying to get ahead and win. The game-like quality of life. That's it.

   2. KHKevin Hart45:08

      It's, it's, it's, it's a, it's a dope thing. I'm, I'm gonna, I'm gonna really harp on it. It's something there.

   3. JRJoe Rogan45:13

      So, you're re- you're recovering from your, your back injury?

   4. KHKevin Hart45:15

      Mm-hmm.

   5. JRJoe Rogan45:15

      Like, how long ago was the injury? How long ago was the crash now?

   6. KHKevin Hart45:18

      September, so what is that? September, October, November, December, January, February, March, April, was this May?

   7. JRJoe Rogan45:24

      Yeah, so-

   8. KHKevin Hart45:25

      May?

   9. JRJoe Rogan45:25

      Only eight months.

   10. KHKevin Hart45:26

       Almost, it was about to be June, so about to be nine.

   11. JRJoe Rogan45:28

       Um-

   12. KHKevin Hart45:28

       About to get into nine.

   13. JRJoe Rogan45:29

       And you said you're like 98% now?

   14. KHKevin Hart45:31

       98%. I'm down to probably 10% body fat right now.

   15. JRJoe Rogan45:37

       And as far as, like, movement, you can basically do everything?

   16. KHKevin Hart45:39

       I'm doing everything.

   17. JRJoe Rogan45:40

       Wow.

   18. KHKevin Hart45:41

       I'm doing everything. I'm up to running again. I'm probably at, I'm probably at three, I can go three and a half miles straight before I'm like, "Oh."

   19. JRJoe Rogan45:50

       Your back starts to bother you?

   20. KHKevin Hart45:51

       Yeah, before I get tight.

   21. JRJoe Rogan45:52

       And what are you doing for the back? Are you doing yoga? Are you doing... What kind of exercises are you doing?

   22. KHKevin Hart45:55

       I got, uh, physical therapy, you know, that's, that's a random shout-out to Dr. Pat. Um, you know, I make sure that getting the massages, uh, getting the work done, because I'm, I'm doing so much within working out, I don't wanna not take care of that as well.

   23. JRJoe Rogan46:11

       Yeah.

   24. KHKevin Hart46:11

       So, from heating it, from, you know, treatment, uh, just, just literally doing things to, to make sure that I'm, I'm constantly working on those muscles and not forgetting them. I'm getting older. I don't wanna act like that's not the case or that's not a reality. I'm 40 now, so how do I take care of this machine so at 50 I'm not moving as if I'm 70?

   25. JRJoe Rogan46:35

       Right.

   26. KHKevin Hart46:35

       You know? Um, I, I would say that's been, that's been a great adjustment, but one that's really made me feel better. Like, stretching, you know, I didn't, I didn't understand the importance of stretching, of actually resting. You know, I was, "I gotta get it, let's go. It's go time."

   27. JRJoe Rogan46:55

       Yeah.

   28. KHKevin Hart46:55

       "Weights, hit it." Clanging and banging, baby.

   29. JRJoe Rogan46:58

       Yeah.

   30. KHKevin Hart46:58

       Clanging and banging. But now, you know, make sure you get your rest time so that you can come back and give the energy. Your cardio changes, row machines.
5. 1:00:00 – 1:15:00

   Hmm. …

   1. KHKevin Hart1:00:00

      are important? You get to looking around that hospital room, it's four walls. None of that shit that you think is important is in there.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:00:07

      Hmm.

   3. KHKevin Hart1:00:07

      It's only these people. None of the other shit was in there. None of it. None of it was fucking in there.

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:00:13

      It's also gotta make you feel great that there's that much love, you know? That they cared about you that much.

   5. KHKevin Hart1:00:17

      That's what got, that's what gets you, that's what gets you through it.

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:00:20

      Yeah.

   7. KHKevin Hart1:00:21

      So, those little steps that I was taking, you know? The, the discomfort of not being able to do, the love and energy made me go, "It's gonna be all right, I'm gonna get there." 'Cause you definitely feel defeated for a little bit.

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:00:35

      And so, how long before you were walking without a walker?

   9. KHKevin Hart1:00:39

      Um... I was stubborn, man. So, probably two and a half weeks, two?

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:00:45

       Wow.

   11. KHKevin Hart1:00:45

       Two, two and a half weeks. I shoulda had the walker, though.

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:00:48

       Wow.

   13. KHKevin Hart1:00:49

       I shoulda had the walker, but it was... I'm, I'm giving the perception-... that it's, that it's better than what it is. And I had the back brace on.

   14. JRJoe Rogan1:00:59

       You faked it till you made it. (laughs)

   15. KHKevin Hart1:01:00

       It was- I, I definitely, I definitely, I definitely-

   16. JRJoe Rogan1:01:04

       (laughs) .

   17. KHKevin Hart1:01:04

       ... was, was, hey, smiling.

   18. JRJoe Rogan1:01:07

       (laughs) .

   19. KHKevin Hart1:01:07

       What's up, y'all?

   20. JRJoe Rogan1:01:08

       Right.

   21. KHKevin Hart1:01:08

       Good morning, everybody. Giving this perception of-

   22. JRJoe Rogan1:01:11

       You know, Bill Burr told me he went to visit you.

   23. KHKevin Hart1:01:13

       Yeah. Bill came to see me.

   24. JRJoe Rogan1:01:14

       And he said, and he said, he goes, "Dude, the fucking guy's already walking around."

   25. KHKevin Hart1:01:16

       Yeah.

   26. JRJoe Rogan1:01:16

       He goes, "It's crazy."

   27. KHKevin Hart1:01:17

       Yeah. I had given the perception 'cause y- you don't, I don't want you to, to s- to worry.

   28. JRJoe Rogan1:01:24

       Yeah.

   29. KHKevin Hart1:01:25

       I, I got, it's me.

   30. JRJoe Rogan1:01:26

       Yeah.
6. 1:15:00 – 1:19:11

   That's the trickiest shit…

   1. KHKevin Hart1:15:00

      I don't wanna make it seem like that isn't in me. But there's a balance. There's now a balance.

   2. JRJoe Rogan1:15:07

      That's the trickiest shit in life.

   3. KHKevin Hart1:15:08

      It's a...

   4. JRJoe Rogan1:15:09

      Yeah, it's to find that balance.

   5. KHKevin Hart1:15:11

      Find a balance, but-

   6. JRJoe Rogan1:15:11

      Not just be a fucking savage out there grinding and attacking all day, but to have that balance and appreciate, especially appreciate family, right?

   7. KHKevin Hart1:15:19

      It's, it's, it's something that I've, that I've had to learn and that I'm still learning. It's not something that I've knocked out the park completely yet because it's a growing fucking-

   8. JRJoe Rogan1:15:30

      It's a living thing.

   9. KHKevin Hart1:15:31

      ... yeah, you just, you gotta just keep being a sponge and being willing to fucking grow.

   10. JRJoe Rogan1:15:38

       Tell me about this Audible thing.

   11. KHKevin Hart1:15:40

       Audible is an amazing partner of mine now. Um, my first book, I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons, was a New York Times number one bestseller, and I got bit, I got bit by the bug. Wow. As an author, I wanted to write a book, I did it, look at the success that it had. The opportunity came up for me to voice that book on Audible, and the Audible success was just as good if not greater than my hard cover. And people loved the fact that the stories were real, but hearing my voice and hearing me be personable while being real was a bonus from other things than they've ever had the privilege of listening to. So, I said, "I wanna do another one, man, but I'm big on this motivation, self-help inspiration thing." I'm, I'm, I'm really big on trying to do my part. So, as I was telling you earlier, I said, in my life, man, I got so, so many stories of all of my twists and turns and right moves and wrong moves and decision-making that enhanced those moves or that devalued them and made them incorrect. Ultimately, if I were to give information, it's just to open up people eyes, it's to open up your eyes to, to the reality of you competing with you. I want people to understand that we lose because we are okay with ignoring our faults, right? It's not until you can accept your faults, your bullshit, that you can grow and do better. We point the finger a lot. By we, myself included. I'm an example of it. "Yo, I didn't do that because nobody told me. I didn't get up. I didn't hear the alarm. Why didn't you call me and get me up? Yo, I didn't know we was gonna go eat. Didn't nobody tell me we was gonna go eat. I would've came to eat, but if y'all ain't tell me. I ain't know we had a test today. Who, why didn't you tell me we had a test today? I didn't study 'cause ain't nobody reach out and tell me." There's so many things that we place the blame on others for that are truly our responsibility, and it becomes a habit. It's, of course, a habit. So, it's not until you break that habit that you can do bigger and better shit. So, this Audible original of mine called The Decision is about making you look at shit differently, making you realize the tone of today, and making you understand how much you're a part of it. I got a big thing on social media in there where I'm like, social media has mind-fucked people into people now thinking that it's what the world thinks. Social media has mind-fucked people into thinking that the comments below a post are what the world must be feeling and thinking about you. The insecurity levels have raised to an all-time high, because my belief is now, "I posted something, people are saying these things underneath, I don't wanna go outside because this is how they feel."

   12. JRJoe Rogan1:19:03

       Hmm.

   13. KHKevin Hart1:19:04

       "So, I've now put this shit in my head that as soon as I walk outside, if you look at me, you talking about my post, ain't you?" "I don't... What post? Fuck is you talking about?"

Episode duration: 2:01:08