Kevin Hart: Pain, Pleasure and Brilliance

Whenever I watch a comedian I always either like them or dislike them. Either they make me feel like I’m bouncing with gummy bears in my shoes or they rub me the wrong way and I spend the entire act feeling like I’ve had my Milky Way taken from me.

I must admit that I’m a bit clueless when it comes to the existence of comedians. I could play connect the dots from one eyebrow to the other and that will equal how many comedians I have seen.

Knowing the above I’m sure you’d understand my hesitation when people told me that I should, “Go check out Kevin Hart on Netflix. He definitely has the flare you’ll like.”

I decided to take people up on their advice, dive in and see what this tiny comedian had to offer. I must admit that before watching, his looks got a first crack at me. They spotted me from afar and then lassoed my vastly wandering, prestigious gay eye with Hart’s very captivating smile. I knew that this alone wouldn’t sell, so I had to see what else he brought to the table that would grip me into his talons.

I decided to try his latest installment in stand-up comedy, Laugh At My Pain. I was in for a pleasant surprise the entire way through. Sporting a documentary, stand-up routine and mini skits this film seemed as though it would have a lot to offer me as a brand new comedian stalker and criticizer, and I was right.

The beginning few minutes are a documentary about how this outspoken little person grows from nobody in Philadelphia to a huge movie and comedy star today. Since the story is told gradually, and not jarring like documentaries I’ve seen in school where I’m in tears at the end, I quickly grew used to its delivery. There are a few awkward moments in this beginning part that come across as snobbish but those are outweighed by the overall story told. However, Hart’s bragging is like having a dog brush my teeth, getting a treat for himself then coming back to repeat the process, posing for the camera I just happen to have.

Once you get past the documentary the comedy is exceptionally relatable, droll, and ostentatious, managing to make me cry tears of sugary sweetness as I listened to Hart weave his personal tales. The most memorable joke I can talk about without ruining the incentive to watch is his opening quip about money and athletes.

He’ll never hang out with athletes anymore because he can never come close to a fraction of the money they make. So he makes up an excuse when he tries to act as rich as they are. “The way my bank account is set up… all the money is in my savings and it needs to switch over to my checking.” Mixing real life events with a quick relatable off the cuff response is what Hart does best.

Throughout the rest of the comedy acts you’ll encounter funny quips from spelling bees, funerals, and everyone’s favorite topic of conversation, sex.

The last part of the film sports a badly constructed comedy skit about a bank robbery in which black people tell their fellow black people how black everyone is, among various other diabolical experimentally bad sketch writing.

Someone once told me that a true politician is someone who can talk for hours and not actually say anything. If that’s true then Hart’s last skit should become both a governor and President of the United States. It says enough to fill up a football stadium. The trouble is all that edgy ethnic toilet humor isn’t funny. It’s like watching a dog stand up at the toilet and you think he’s going to do something awesome, like sing the theme song to jeopardy, but instead he keels over and dies.

Despite this last awful skit the film is worth watching, repeatedly. It’s a gut wrenching hilarity that will leave you coming back for more! You can read more about comedian Kevin Hart at his website www.khartonline.com.

Robert Kingett is AmericasComedy.Com’s Chief Gay Blind Writer Correspondent and is in charge of all the other gay, blind writers at this website. Follow him on Twitter @rkingett and read his blog here!

Read More Comedy Here!