Kevin Hart: how to outwork anybody

Kevin Hart is the comedian who earns more money than Jerry Seinfeld! His is a real rags to riches story!

Kevin Hart’s father was a cocaine addict. His mom and dad would fight constantly. As a result, Hart used humour to cope. One day, he had an epiphany that if he became like his father, he would either end up in prison or dead.

Eddie Murphy gave him hope. He got to see Eddie Murphy’s comedy special and thought that comedy could get him out of his shitty environment. The only problem? A career in comedy did not earn him money right away.

Hart would sell shoes in the day, and go to comedy clubs in the nighttime.

But he would often be booed off stage. He knew he had to pursue comedy with more discipline to make a career out of it. He would have to quit his shoe salesman job.

His mother didn’t believe that Hart was funny. But yet, she saw his drive and gave him a year. She would cover his rent for a year. Hart had a year to earn a living out of comedy.

The drive to become the greatest comedian

Hart judiciously studied other comedians. And just as other comedians would spend hours writing jokes, so did Hart. But his jokes bombed. That’s because Hart is not a writer, he is a talker.

It was when his mentor Keith Robinson told him: “you’re funny but you’re talking about nothing” that something clicked for Hart. He stopped writing lame jokes. And focused on just speaking about himself and his insecurities. His low height, his pain, his family, his dysfunctions. 

He would go on stage and just talk. And he would have someone in the audience record when the theatre laughed. He would keep the bits that got the laughs and discard the rest.

There was only one problem. This was a very very slow process.

Hart had to multiply his speed

Hart realized that if he worked like other comedians, and performed just 2 to 4 sets every weekend, he would get better fast enough. And so, he did something crazy. He booked himself from morning to night during the weekends. And performed 28 sets from Friday to Sunday!

While his competition performed 150 sets per year, Hart performed 1400 sets! 

Building the endurance

During the process of going from 3 sets a weekend to 28 sets, Hart understood that he would need the endurance of an athelete. Or else he could not keep the pace going. He realized that its all about energy. The more energy he had, the funnier he would become.

Thats when he set simple rules for himself. 

• He could take no days off.

• He would wake up at 530 am every day no matter what.

• He would exercise 60 to 90 minutes. Heavy lifting and 3 miles of run.

• He eliminated heavy comfort foods. Anything that made him lethargic in the afternoon was cut out of his diet.

It was this regiment that made Hart the comedian who earns the most in the world today. 

Action Summary:

• People underestimate volume. The effort it takes to become world best, especially when you are not the most talented.

• Massive volume takes massive energy. You must treat yourself as an endurance athlete. Work on your sleep, exercise, diet. Have zero off days.