Be a Dumb Genius with Kevin Hart

Comedian and actor Kevin Hart talks about why he put down the basketball shoes and picked up the mic to pursue a long running career in comedy and entertainment. He opens up about his fatherhood journey and the crucial lessons he learned from his mother and a fateful run in with his own father. Have a question you want answered? Write to us at imopod.com http://imopod.com. Use code imo at https://incogni.com/imo to get an exclusive 60% off. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Up and moved to Los Angeles.

• 0:01Craig Robinson?

  And at no point during that process, did you get any kind of professional development?

• 0:07Speaker 00

  Dumb genius. I moved to Los Angeles without a plan.

• 0:11Michelle Obama?

  No acting classes, no nothing.

• 0:13Speaker 00

  I moved to Los Angeles with 25,000, I had about $25,000 left.

• 0:19Michelle Obama?

  Left of the development deal.

• 0:21Speaker 00

  I owed about 60 grand to the IRS because I didn't pay taxes.

• 0:25Michelle Obama?

  Well, there's that.

• 0:25Speaker 00

  So I'm technically in debt. I moved to Hollywood. And I remember, I remember moving and walking down, walking down like Sunset Boulevard. And I was like, OK.

• 0:38Michelle Obama?

  Here we go.

• 0:38Speaker 00

  This is it. What now?

• 0:47Michelle Obama?

  This episode is brought to you by Chase Home Lending.

• 0:53Craig Robinson?

  Hey, little girl.

• 0:54Michelle Obama?

  Hi, Craig Robinson.

• 0:56Craig Robinson?

  How are you?

• 0:57Michelle Obama?

  You know what? I'm doing, I'm doing pretty good, you know? Everything is in one piece, I believe. I feel healthy.

• 1:05Craig Robinson?

  Good.

• 1:05Michelle Obama?

  How you feeling?

• 1:06Craig Robinson?

  I feel great.

• 1:07Michelle Obama?

  Well, our, our, our next guest, you know, his, his latest stand-up, which cracked me, I mean, tears are rolling down my face. He's talking about us getting old, you know?

• 1:20Craig Robinson?

  And the funny thing is, he's still so young.

• 1:22Michelle Obama?

  I know.

• 1:23Craig Robinson?

  And he's talking about getting old.

• 1:24Michelle Obama?

  It's like, you know, we got to say hello. We're talking about Kevin Hart, who is here with us today. Got to say hello. And it's like, yeah, he's all in shape. He looks like he's about.

• 1:35Craig Robinson?

  Looks like he's 15 still.

• 1:36Michelle Obama?

  I know, right? Talking about not being able to run and pulling stuff and whatnot. I was like, what you pulling? You know?

• 1:43Craig Robinson?

  Well, I.

• 1:43Michelle Obama?

  Maybe he's stretching more now.

• 1:44Craig Robinson?

  You know, you know, we, we love all of our guests. But I, you know, I haven't met Kevin Hart.

• 1:51Michelle Obama?

  And I haven't had a chance to sit down and talk to Kevin. I mean, we've met on some photo line or something. We're just like, hey, how you doing?

• 1:59Craig Robinson?

  But. Yeah.

• 2:00Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, so I'm, I'm, I'm excited.

• 2:02Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, well, let me, let me, let me get his introduction going. Kevin Hart has made a name for himself as the hardest working comedian, entrepreneur, producer, and actor.

• 2:15Craig Robinson?

  He is a global box office powerhouse and has earned both Emmy and Grammy nominations. His authentic approach to sharing life's everyday moments, like we talked about, with humor and heart has earned him a devoted global audience and social media fan base.

• 2:33Michelle Obama?

  Yes, indeed.

• 2:34Craig Robinson?

  Without further ado, let's bring out the former varsity basketball player, Kevin Hart.

• 2:43Craig Robinson?

  You knew I did my research.

• 2:48Speaker 00

  Beautiful introduction. This is great.

• 2:51Craig Robinson?

  Ballers gotta stay together. You know how that is.

• 2:53Speaker 00

  This is so great.

• 2:55Michelle Obama?

  So, how are you talking about feeling old?

• 2:58Speaker 00

  What do you mean? I'm getting older. What do you mean? It happens.

• 3:02Michelle Obama?

  You don't look it.

• 3:03Speaker 00

  What you look and feel are two different things.

• 3:05Michelle Obama?

  I guess you're right.

• 3:06Speaker 00

  Look. Okay, the perception is amazing.

• 3:09Michelle Obama?

  I expected you to come in here and look it.

• 3:11Speaker 00

  And like do a cartwheel or something like that, or twisted ankle or something. No, it's a lot going on under the hood. I'm in pain. I am in pain. The maintenance to keep this up is extremely high.

• 3:23Michelle Obama?

  I find that men, though, just don't stretch.

• 3:27Speaker 00

  It's true. I can't touch my toes.

• 3:29Michelle Obama?

  See, now that's the thing. I've been talking to Barack about this.

• 3:34Speaker 00

  I have no ego about it. You see how fast I said it? I can't touch my toes.

• 3:36Michelle Obama?

  But you can. You could be able to do it. I mean, you could if you were doing yin yoga once a week, you could touch your toes. I challenge you.

• 3:45Speaker 00

  Well, I don't want the challenge, okay? I didn't ask for this challenge. Like, you just gave me a challenge.

• 3:50Michelle Obama?

  Challenge accepted.

• 3:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, Kevin, I challenge you to do the yin and touch your toes. No, I don't want to touch my toes at this point.

• 3:57Craig Robinson?

  So, you know how some people become famous?

• 4:02Michelle Obama?

  And what?

• 4:03Craig Robinson?

  And become bullies.

• 4:05Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 4:05Craig Robinson?

  They just bully you into doing stuff like yoga.

• 4:08Speaker 00

  Yes, yes.

• 4:09Michelle Obama?

  A bully?

• 4:10Craig Robinson?

  She just comes busting in.

• 4:12Michelle Obama?

  No, he did. It didn't work.

• 4:13Speaker 00

  No, what you just did is the clear definition of bullying. Like, if we're just gonna be honest about it, that is exactly what bullying is.

• 4:23Craig Robinson?

  And then act like she's not.

• 4:24Speaker 00

  No, she said it and slammed her hand.

• 4:26Craig Robinson?

  Challenge accepted.

• 4:27Speaker 00

  Now, wait a minute. I never asked for the challenge. This is unwarranted. I will try it, though. My flexibility is in dire need of help.

• 4:37Michelle Obama?

  But that's why you ripped up your... What did you tear?

• 4:40Speaker 00

  I tore my abductor.

• 4:41Michelle Obama?

  That's... See, in yoga, that abductor is stretched out.

• 4:45Speaker 00

  It would be prepared for that type of...

• 4:47Michelle Obama?

  For any kind of run. You decided, now I'm gonna race you.

• 4:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 4:50Michelle Obama?

  You'll see when I get up. The problem here is like I jump up.

• 4:53Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 4:54Michelle Obama?

  See, I needed a minute to just like let this leg get out.

• 4:57Speaker 00

  Get a little dizzy, you jump up too fast.

• 4:59Michelle Obama?

  You know, that's starting to happen.

• 5:01Speaker 00

  Equilibrium is unbalanced.

• 5:02Michelle Obama?

  Right, you know?

• 5:03Craig Robinson?

  The dizziness is a problem.

• 5:05Speaker 00

  Has that ever happened?

• 5:06Craig Robinson?

  That... Oh.

• 5:06Michelle Obama?

  All the time.

• 5:07Speaker 00

  Where you get a quiet dizzy spell and you don't wanna alert anybody? But you're like, oh, this is it. This is a stroke.

• 5:12Craig Robinson?

  This is it.

• 5:13Speaker 00

  This is for sure a stroke. Oh, this is...

• 5:15Michelle Obama?

  And the higher up you go, you know? It's just like you just keep going. And your blood is like, we can't go that fast.

• 5:21Speaker 00

  I think that I have to do a better job of alerting people when these things happen. Like, I've had things that I deem to be scares. Like, you know, if you're eating and you swallow too fast and something gets stuck in your chest. This is a heart attack. 1,000% it's happening right now. And I'm just quiet about it.

• 5:38Michelle Obama?

  I gave one of my girlfriends the Heimlich at dinner.

• 5:42Craig Robinson?

  What?

• 5:42Michelle Obama?

  The other...

• 5:43Craig Robinson?

  Why are we just hearing about this?

• 5:44Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, well, a friend of mine was visiting me. And it was funny because Malia was...

• 5:51Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's right. We're back to bullying. We're back to bullying. No, this is full circle.

• 5:56Michelle Obama?

  But we're the same age. And you know, you start having, you know, swallowing problems. Things just stop, you know? Yeah, so...

• 6:03Craig Robinson?

  How about chewing your food more?

• 6:05Michelle Obama?

  She had chewed her food, but she had told me that she had this esophageal issue where things will get stuck, right? So I knew that about her. Now, we're there with Malia and two of her friends. They're in their twenties, right? But they're still babies, right? She stands up, finished eating. She stands up and coughs. And I think she coughed up something and it got stuck in her throat. And she was like... And I said, are you okay? And she said, now the three children, they just pushed away from the table.

• 6:36Speaker 00

  And laughed, and started laughing.

• 6:37Michelle Obama?

  No, they didn't laugh, they were like huh.

• 6:39Speaker 00

  Oh, that's what I would do.

• 6:41Craig Robinson?

  It was, it was girls.

• 6:43Michelle Obama?

  They started moving.

• 6:44Craig Robinson?

  We'd have been cracking up.

• 6:45Michelle Obama?

  They were moving away. And I got up and I said, I went behind her and I just pulled up like they, I'd never done the hind look before, and it dislodged it.

• 6:56Craig Robinson?

  Did it pop out of her mouth?

• 6:57Michelle Obama?

  It just popped up right away, one.

• 6:59Speaker 00

  One, one good.

• 7:00Michelle Obama?

  Got it.

• 7:01Speaker 00

  That's pretty, that's pretty big.

• 7:03Michelle Obama?

  The kids, and I was like, what were you all doing? You know, I mean, my question, and they were like, you're right. You're like, we were useless. They, they realized that that was a mother moment.

• 7:12Speaker 00

  That's actually a story.

• 7:13Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 7:13Speaker 00

  That's one that you gotta pull out at some dinners. Like, that's not, that's not a casual story.

• 7:18Craig Robinson?

  We're just caring about this, by the way, Kevin.

• 7:20Speaker 00

  That's a big, that's a big one.

• 7:20Michelle Obama?

  We talked about it when it happened. No, we didn't, but in, in, in our family orbit, we talked about it.

• 7:26Speaker 00

  How good is your life to throw out a casual hero story of, yeah, I saved a life?

• 7:32Craig Robinson?

  She's trying to make up for the bullying.

• 7:33Speaker 00

  It only gave one, I only needed.

• 7:35Michelle Obama?

  But I only say that because that's kind of the stuff that happens when we get older. And I, the reason why I would like, I knew she wasn't faking, because she told me that it happened to her before, where she, something got caught in her throat and she was home alone.

• 7:47Craig Robinson?

  And it didn't pop out of her mouth?

• 7:49Michelle Obama?

  It pop, it didn't pop out, but it dislodged and then she could swallow it again.

• 7:54Craig Robinson?

  And then went back down.

• 7:54Speaker 00

  Oh, no.

• 7:55Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 7:55Speaker 00

  Oh.

• 7:56Craig Robinson?

  She, she, that could have.

• 7:57Speaker 00

  She re-eat it?

• 7:58Craig Robinson?

  It could have happened again.

• 7:59Speaker 00

  She gave a re-eat?

• 8:01Craig Robinson?

  A re, a re.

• 8:02Speaker 00

  You can't, you can't re-eat, you can't do a re-eat. You can't do a re-eat over the problem piece. You gotta get that out.

• 8:08Michelle Obama?

  Well, she's alive, but it's a hazard of aging, you know?

• 8:12Speaker 00

  It's the things that break down.

• 8:14Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 8:14Speaker 00

  And the definitions form, the, the, the words, you know, I, I think that's the, the funniest thing that I found about getting old is that you have a word and reason for everything.

• 8:25Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 8:25Speaker 00

  Because right now I'm losing mobility in my elbow. So what I, what they said to me is that, like, you just, you look for so much information. Yeah, so apparently I, I don't have the same recoil that I did.

• 10:49Speaker 00

  They're like, what are they, seagulls?

• 10:53Speaker 00

  The birds that could just hold on for so long? Like, I've never seen anything like it.

• 10:57Michelle Obama?

  And fly a continent, fly over oceans.

• 10:59Speaker 00

  I'm envious, very envious.

• 11:01Michelle Obama?

  Oh, well, we're supposed to be talking about you.

• 11:04Speaker 00

  Yes, I'm ready. By the way, that was a great conversation of relatability just now. Yeah, you got that, right? No, I, when you stand up, right? Dizzy? Yeah. No, I can't see, yeah.

• 11:17Michelle Obama?

  All of that.

• 11:18Speaker 00

  Oh, you don't eat either? Yeah, I haven't eaten a day either.

• 11:21Craig Robinson?

  Oh, my goodness.

• 11:23Speaker 00

  That's good to know that we're all in the same part.

• 11:25Michelle Obama?

  We're all in the same boat.

• 11:26Speaker 00

  But please, before we talk about me, I just wanna say congrats, guys. This is amazing. Thank you for having me. Amazing team that you have, amazing energy here. And excited, so excited to get in all things, of course, Kevin, and be an open book of dialogue, information, conversation.

• 11:44Michelle Obama?

  And to help out with that, we have a special guest in studio.

• 11:48Speaker 00

  Yes. My little nugget.

• 11:50Michelle Obama?

  Your eldest daughter?

• 11:51Speaker 00

  My oldest.

• 11:52Michelle Obama?

  Are you the oldest, Kevin? Are you the oldest or the...

• 11:55Speaker 03

  I am, yeah, the oldest.

• 11:57Michelle Obama?

  Grown child.

• 11:57Speaker 03

  Yeah, it's crazy.

• 11:58Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, that's great. And she, look, I spent two...

• 12:01Speaker 00

  My first mistake.

• 12:02Michelle Obama?

  Two minutes with her. She is your, she is your greatest treasure. I could tell that in two minutes.

• 12:08Speaker 00

  That's my best friend. That is my, I am unbelievably proud of the woman that she has become and is becoming. But I can say, as a father, your rewards come in a proof of concept, right? Like, I mean, in parenting, all you do is give your best and you hope that your efforts didn't fall on deaf ears.

• 12:31Michelle Obama?

  Really, and half the time, aren't you thinking, oh, God, I don't know what I'm doing?

• 12:34Speaker 00

  I mean, you don't, but you don't, right? You're figuring it out as you go on.

• 12:37Michelle Obama?

  We just act like we know what we're doing.

• 12:38Speaker 00

  You're figuring it out. But I think for me, the biggest reward has been seeing her actively put the things that I've, like, beaten her head over the years to use. And she's just a responsible, driven person. Like, she truly is a little mold of the world of what her parents have put in front of her. And I think that's just, it's a plus. She's the best example in the world for her brothers and sisters, right?

• 13:08Craig Robinson?

  Oh, that's great.

• 13:15Craig Robinson?

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• 17:00Speaker 04

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• 17:08Michelle Obama?

  Can you talk more about your mom?

• 17:10Speaker 00

  Oh, my goodness.

• 17:11Michelle Obama?

  Because, look, she was badass, you know? Single mother. I want to know where she got it from. You know?

• 17:21Speaker 00

  That's a, that's a good question. I mean, no disrespect to this amazing woman that I'm sitting across from at the table, but I'll argue anybody down and say pound for pound, the best woman to walk the earth.

• 17:32Michelle Obama?

  Yep.

• 17:33Speaker 00

  Right?

• 17:33Craig Robinson?

  Who?

• 17:34Speaker 00

  My mom. I thought you were talking about her. Well, I know what you were.

• 17:38Michelle Obama?

  And then he's gonna argue that too. That's what a brother does. My big brother. It's like, who?

• 17:44Speaker 00

  No, not even, not even.

• 17:48Speaker 00

  My mom.

• 17:48Michelle Obama?

  Oh, your mom. Okay.

• 17:50Speaker 00

  You know what's crazy is like, I got a. As I got older, I got a different version of my mom.

• 17:56Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 17:56Speaker 00

  So the, the bad version of my mom, I never got to see because my mom flipped, flipped her life and went in the direction of spiritual, uh, you know, God fearing and energy towards self and self improvement. And from the age like four on, there was no relationship with my dad. There was no, I never saw another man with my mom. Like all I saw was my mom go to work, come home, tend to me, my brother, and whatever my needs or our needs were. I never saw anything else.

• 18:37Speaker 00

  So the commitment to, to doing whatever had to be done was bar none. We didn't have money, but we also never saw that we didn't have money. We didn't have a life or lifestyle that allowed us to do the most or have the most. But we had the things that we needed. It wasn't until my mom passed away that me and my brother got to see how much my mom did and what she prepared for. Like, you know, I remember she, she passed away and there was insurance and, and, and, you know, uh, money that was given to me and my brother and

• 19:19Michelle Obama?

  You're like, where did all this come from?

• 19:21Speaker 00

  And, uh, she had college funds just in case and like literally with, without having

• 19:28Michelle Obama?

  Any.

• 19:29Speaker 00

  this crazy salary or, or

• 19:31Michelle Obama?

  Or advisor, she didn't have a financial advisor, yeah.

• 19:35Speaker 00

  My mom was a, she was hungry for information. She felt that it was free and she said that you can obtain as much of it as you can keep. So she was in college, I mean, for, for the duration of her adulthood, chasing masters after masters after masters. Um, always just further extending the opportunity to educate and to do. So in my younger years, it was like she does too much and it's annoying and like it's always something. You always want me to read. You always want me to like look up something. You always want me to study these things and like, I'm not a good student. I don't want to do this. I don't want to finish or complete these things. I don't want to prepare or study.

• 20:19Speaker 00

  But when the adulthood kicked in,

• 20:23Michelle Obama?

  You were like, I'm kidding.

• 20:24Speaker 00

  Something happened and those lessons, all of a sudden, it was second nature. If I could tell my mom anything, if I could have a conversation with Nancy, it would just be, "You were right." And I think like, parents...

• 20:42Michelle Obama?

  How old were you when she passed?

• 20:43Speaker 00

  Crazy, I get a little...

• 20:44Michelle Obama?

  I, uh, look...

• 20:45Speaker 00

  It gets me, so just give me a little.

• 20:46Michelle Obama?

  We cannot talk about our parents without...

• 20:49Speaker 00

  No, it gets me, sorry.

• 20:50Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, no. No need to apologize.

• 20:54Speaker 00

  With Nancy...

• 20:55Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 20:57Speaker 00

  That's my one regret.

• 21:02Speaker 00

  I never got to say, "You were right."

• 21:05Speaker 00

  And that's what...

• 21:06Michelle Obama?

  How old were you when she passed?

• 21:09Speaker 00

  Man.

• 21:11Speaker 00

  Twenty-six?

• 21:14Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:15Speaker 00

  Twenty-six, twenty-seven.

• 21:16Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:16Speaker 00

  And it's not like my...

• 21:19Speaker 00

  My tear isn't like a...

• 21:22Michelle Obama?

  No, I know.

• 21:22Speaker 00

  It's not an angry tear, it's like...

• 21:24Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, it's...

• 21:25Speaker 00

  The appreciation for the energy...

• 21:27Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 21:28Speaker 00

  And love in real time that a parent is giving.

• 21:32Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:33Speaker 00

  As a child, you overlook it. You don't value it at the level that you should. So it's not until kids get older... It's not until kids get older

• 21:42Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:43Speaker 00

  That you go, "Damn," right? Like,

• 21:45Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:46Speaker 00

  I actually had the...

• 21:47Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:48Speaker 00

  I had the makeup around me. I had it. I had the machine around me.

• 21:54Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 21:55Speaker 00

  And because it wasn't glamorous, because it wasn't the bells, the whistles, the cars, the big houses, the front yards, it was like, "Oh, man, well, look at us. We're struggling, we're poor, we're this or that."

• 22:07Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 22:08Speaker 00

  I also had the flip side of this

• 22:10Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 22:11Speaker 00

  as well, right? So like, my dad was the opposite.

• 22:14Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 22:15Speaker 00

  And... It's not glamorous, it's actually really bad. Like, my dad's... My dad was... Like, there was some... A lot of shit with my dad.

• 22:27Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 22:28Speaker 00

  But if I didn't see it firsthand, and I didn't see my dad battle with addiction, with, you know, the law. I mean...

• 22:40Michelle Obama?

  So he checked all the boxes.

• 22:41Speaker 00

  Name it, name it, name it. My dad, man... I mean, arguably, the humor, the ability to have dark humor, light humor, like, it's my dad. Like, an example of my dad, like... I remember my mom's sister had passed away. And we're going to the funeral, and, you know, this is my mom's side, right? But, you know, a couple of people had passed. Like, this is like another sister of my mom's, like, her mom, her dad, like, you know. The funerals are... They're happening.

• 23:16Michelle Obama?

  They're coming, they're coming fast.

• 23:18Speaker 00

  My dad is there. We get there, we're like standing with the family, and my dad goes, "They dropping like flies, ain't they?"

• 23:27Michelle Obama?

  It's like, "Too soon, too soon."

• 23:31Speaker 00

  He looked around, I mean, "Come on, Mel."

• 23:34Craig Robinson?

  Okay, is that what it stood to you?

• 23:36Speaker 00

  By the way, by the way, the worst health. My dad had the worst cancer.

• 23:41Michelle Obama?

  Right.

• 23:42Speaker 00

  Lung cancer, took his lung out. He battled with every level of COPD. I mean, you name it. Like, my dad was supposed to be gone years ago, years ago. But he would show up.

• 23:54Michelle Obama?

  He's there counting flies.

• 23:55Speaker 00

  Yeah, but I don't know how y'all not kicking this stuff. I mean, you can't say this. I beat it, that's it. I beat that. He's wearing it like badges.

• 24:08Michelle Obama?

  Like, beat that, that one didn't get me.

• 24:10Speaker 00

  Cancer, had a cancer, they tried it. Had me in there with the chemo. I told him, "Kiss my ass." I got out of there. I beat it. Y'all didn't knock that? I mean, it was bad.

• 24:20Craig Robinson?

  So, you've got your mom as this shining example on the one side, and your dad as a different kind of example on the other side.

• 24:29Speaker 00

  The worst of it, yes.

• 24:31Craig Robinson?

  So, what people talk about a lot today is raising young men.

• 24:37Craig Robinson?

  To be good men.

• 24:39Speaker 00

  Yeah. My dad was very adamant about the stance of man. So bullying and, and things like that when I was a kid, like, yo, they messing with me, or they getting messed, or I don't like that, they're picking on me down, down the street. My dad was the, come on. Where we going? We going down the street. You're gonna go down there and whoever it was, you're gonna handle your situation, I'ma stand there. And win or lose, it doesn't matter. What matters to me is that you understand that you're not supposed to allow these things to happen. Whether I'm there or not, you have to respect yourself enough to wanna see the best for yourself. So, you know, I can go to several street fights when I was younger.

• 25:24Speaker 00

  By the way, this is a different time of parenting. Like, we're a much different time where some of these things are frowned upon. But I can say the character that was built because of the things that my dad made necessary. And it was so out of the, so far out of the loop of what should be done. Everything my dad did, I was standing and arguing. I think it was wrong. I can say I think it was wrong.

• 25:46Craig Robinson?

  Looking back.

• 25:47Speaker 00

  No, looking back at it, my dad. My dad threw me off a cliff in the lake. I was scared to jump. He grabbed me, threw me off.

• 25:56Michelle Obama?

  It's like, no, no, that wasn't a good move.

• 25:58Speaker 00

  I'm in the, I'm in the lake treading. He yelled down, see you fine. No, I'm, no, I'm not, man. She just scared to shit. I'm, I'm not comfortable in here. But his, his approach, the shock factor that it came with, it gave me a level of comfort with like, things that will be, will be. Like, it, it is what it is. I, I don't care, like, my dad, we in a car, the car break down. All right, leave the park, we gonna walk. Walk where? Home.

• 26:29Michelle Obama?

  We're in another state, dad.

• 26:31Speaker 00

  We gonna walk. We in a boat, boat break down. All right, it's okay. We wait for somebody to come by, flag him down, get on they boat, take us in. Who do we know out here? We just wait. There they go, hey. Let that one go by, they ain't stopping, get the next one. Whatever, things that were bad were never that bad to him. So, my.

• 26:52Speaker 00

  My, my, I have such a simplistic like stance to problems. Like, I don't talk about the problem, like, there's gotta be a solution.

• 27:00Michelle Obama?

  When did you come to appreciate the wisdom that you were getting from your, your father? I mean, what you got from your mother was evident.

• 27:09Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 27:10Michelle Obama?

  Right? But, you know, and I'm sure there's some tension to his approach, who he was, what he wasn't.

• 27:16Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 27:17Michelle Obama?

  Who he wasn't to your mother. There were a lot of reasons to not, not, not see his wisdom. When did it start to, when did this clarity?

• 27:27Speaker 00

  When my, when I realized that my dad wasn't afraid to be honest about any of his flaws. He was a very, my dad was very accountable. Yeah, I did it. Yeah, I, I wasn't there.

• 27:40Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 27:41Speaker 00

  Nah, your mother should have done what she done. I, I, I was a piece of shit. I did this, I did that. I was on drugs, Kev. I wasn't in the right frame of mind. Give you the, the, this story defines, have, I don't know if I told you this story. Cause.

• 27:56Michelle Obama?

  We gonna hear it now.

• 27:57Speaker 00

  You gonna hear, this is a.

• 27:58Speaker 03

  I also didn't know about the cliff.

• 27:59Michelle Obama?

  Oh, I know he threw it off the cliff. Heaven's sitting there going, oh, Jesus.

• 28:04Speaker 00

  This is gonna mess you up though, Hav, about, about grandpa.

• 28:07Michelle Obama?

  Here we go.

• 28:08Speaker 00

  It's not gonna mess you up, but this is like a real, a real moment.

• 28:10Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, this is the thing.

• 28:11Speaker 00

  So, so my dad, through like his craziest bout with drugs, my dad disappeared for a minute.

• 28:17Craig Robinson?

  And how old were you when this took place?

• 28:19Speaker 00

  I was 14, 15.

• 28:22Craig Robinson?

  Okay, so.

• 28:22Speaker 00

  So he's, dad's gone.

• 28:24Craig Robinson?

  Important time.

• 28:25Speaker 00

  Yes, like I, this is the time when my brother was military, coming home, cause my brother was having problems. And it's just me and my mom. Right, like me and my mom, my mom's figuring it out. My mom's got me in every extracurricular activity. She's doing anything to keep me off the streets. My brother was an example of what can happen if you're on the streets. I'm not gonna let that happen with you. I got the iron fist. It's about two years since I've seen my dad.

• 28:50Michelle Obama?

  Oh.

• 28:50Speaker 00

  Right, like.

• 28:51Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 28:53Speaker 00

  We.

• 28:54Craig Robinson?

  So you don't know.

• 28:55Speaker 00

  We don't know.

• 28:56Craig Robinson?

  You don't know if he's alive, dead, or what?

• 28:58Speaker 00

  Well, you hear, because he, at the time he was battling with drugs. You hear stories about your dad's been up on.

• 29:05Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 29:05Speaker 00

  X, Y, and Z. That's where the addicts are. Like, my brother was hearing things.

• 29:11Speaker 00

  I'm on a train, subway, public transportation in Philadelphia. And I'm sitting on a train.

• 29:18Speaker 00

  And.

• 29:21Craig Robinson?

  No way.

• 29:22Speaker 00

  Is that my dad?

• 29:23Craig Robinson?

  No way.

• 29:24Speaker 00

  On the train?

• 29:24Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 29:26Speaker 00

  Dad? Fifteen years old, I'm coming home from school. Doors open on the train, my dad looks at me dead in the eye, he looks bad, horrible. My dad ran off the train. About seven months after, me and my brother

• 29:45Speaker 00

  finding, checks him into rehab, my brother found out where he was. His reason for getting into rehab and doing everything, because he was so hurt at what he looked like when I saw him. At his worst. And he said he would rather go through life without seeing me again, than me seeing him at his worst. So, his road to getting back was such a crazy road to experience because it was just, it was unapologetic and authentic and real. So, rather than frowning upon the years that I missed, or the moments that my dad wasn't there, I kinda like,

• 30:30Speaker 00

  I relish in the fact that like, oh, he's changing. He's aware and he wants to be better and do the right thing, and when he got on the other side of it, he said, "Look, I can't change anything of what I've done with you, or your brother, I can say sorry, but now y'all got grandkids, like, I got grandkids. I can be the best version of myself to them because they don't know everything. Give me the opportunity to create that with them." And seeing him, seeing him repair his years of bad father by great-grandparent energy,

• 31:08Speaker 00

  oh shit, this is, this is full circle.

• 31:09Michelle Obama?

  I'll take that.

• 31:10Speaker 00

  I'll, I'll, I'll take it every day of the week. And that's bigger than an apology to me.

• 31:14Michelle Obama?

  Yes.

• 31:15Speaker 00

  It's much bigger, you don't need to say anything to me.

• 31:17Michelle Obama?

  Right, right.

• 31:17Speaker 00

  I've dealt with it, I'm, I'm okay. We're okay, I still love you, you're my dad, but, oh, your road to repair and how you're going about it?

• 31:28Speaker 00

  I can't find a level of more respect. So, so seeing him do that, it was when I started to really like, really peel back the layers and go, I mean, this is a man's man. This is, this is a, you're talking about falling to the bottom.

• 31:46Michelle Obama?

  And climbing your way back up.

• 31:48Speaker 00

  And finding a reason to smile every day after? Finding solace and then the blessings of your son becoming and you being able to see it.

• 31:58Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 31:59Speaker 00

  Whether, whether the, like, who's to say who deserved to or who didn't? Like, my mom didn't get to see any of it.

• 32:05Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:06Speaker 00

  My dad was able to be on my.

• 32:08Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:09Speaker 00

  My dad was on jets with me and, and here's a house, dad. Here's a car. Get what you need. What do you want? My dad was able to reap the benefits of his son becoming because somehow he managed to make it through. I don't, I don't know why it plays out the way that it does, but I think everything happens for a reason.

• 32:29Michelle Obama?

  For sure.

• 32:29Speaker 00

  But I love the fact that my dad got a world of blessings after his world of turmoil.

• 32:35Craig Robinson?

  And in, in some ways, you got extra blessings from that.

• 32:40Speaker 00

  Well, I won't touch drugs because my dad.

• 32:41Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, and, and I've, I've only met heaven. I haven't met your other kids, but I suspect that it's affected you in the, you in the way you parent.

• 32:52Speaker 00

  One thousand percent.

• 32:53Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 32:53Speaker 00

  One thousand percent. You might, they've never spent, they've never spent the, the night like over their grandpop's house.

• 33:02Michelle Obama?

  Well, yeah.

• 33:02Speaker 00

  And I was like, hey, look.

• 33:04Michelle Obama?

  It's like, well.

• 33:05Speaker 00

  You're not going over grandpop's. Dad, can we? Even when they were kids, like, dad, can we go over and say grandpop? Absolutely not.

• 33:13Speaker 00

  Absolutely not. Not going over there.

• 33:14Michelle Obama?

  You love him right here.

• 33:15Speaker 00

  Yeah, you going grandpop?

• 33:15Michelle Obama?

  He can sleep over here.

• 33:16Speaker 00

  He's gonna come over here.

• 33:17Craig Robinson?

  And sleep over here.

• 33:18Speaker 00

  We're gonna have grandpop come in. My dad would ask all the time, send the kids down here and let me touch. Absolutely not.

• 33:23Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 33:23Speaker 00

  Absolutely not, dad.

• 33:25Michelle Obama?

  You know what? And we all have the, if, if you're black and, you know, didn't grow up rich, we all have. That, that wasn't my father, but there were cousins and uncles and, you know.

• 33:38Speaker 00

  Not going over there.

• 33:38Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, but and it's, it's a.

• 33:42Michelle Obama?

  The other thing you got from all that was the power of forgiveness.

• 33:47Speaker 00

  A thousand percent.

• 33:48Michelle Obama?

  Right, because there's so many young men, so many grown men, who are walking around with the pain from that loss, without any clarity, without any context, without any reconciliation. And they are living with those holes.

• 34:06Speaker 00

  A thousand percent.

• 34:07Michelle Obama?

  And you, your father helped you close those.

• 34:12Speaker 00

  It's weird because my brother, my brother struggles with that.

• 34:17Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 34:18Speaker 00

  My brother can't let go of the times of old. He's very stubborn in the idea of repair. You do something wrong to my brother, my brother is, well, then for life, you and I got a problem for life. Every time I see you, I'm gonna tell you that me and you are no good.

• 34:44Michelle Obama?

  That takes a lot of energy.

• 34:47Speaker 00

  Do you know the amount of energy that it takes to keep a grudge?

• 34:50Michelle Obama?

  Really?

• 34:51Speaker 00

  Do you know, like, every day?

• 34:54Michelle Obama?

  You wake up happy and be like, nah, nah, nah, that nigga did me wrong.

• 34:57Speaker 00

  The fact that they think I'm that guy? Like, that, it takes so much. And he can't. I've never been the, I'm not a grudge person.

• 35:19Craig Robinson?

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• 36:03Craig Robinson?

  You know, in my early days, as I was transitioning from my corporate job to coaching, I had a few people in my corner that made all the difference in helping me succeed. I remember working in the corporate world and trying to navigate how to climb the ranks to vice president. I had a mentor that I relied on to help me learn the rules of the game. I specifically recall asking him what it took to be a vice president. His advice still stands out in my mind today. If you want to be a vice president, act like a vice president. Those words stayed with me my whole career.

• 36:44Craig Robinson?

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• 37:16Craig Robinson?

  This is a great way to segue into Kids Make Me Angry.

• 37:21Speaker 00

  Yes, yes.

• 37:21Craig Robinson?

  Can you talk a little bit about your project?

• 37:24Speaker 00

  It's a, it's a, it's a project with Audible. And, you know, it's more of what we're doing now, right? Like the, the lessons and intel, information and, and stories of like my roadmap to better parenting, uh, from start to like where I am now. It's a, it's a, it's a very, very authentic, transparent, um, dive into like kid one through four and the lessons that I was able to like learn from.

• 38:04Speaker 00

  Take on, uh, understand, improve upon, um, and grow with after each child, right? Like, you know, from starting out and, you know, not really like being as useful as you would want to be. Right? Like, you know, when a newborn baby's there, there's not much as a father that you can do. You're there for-

• 38:24Michelle Obama?

  You could change a diaper.

• 38:25Speaker 00

  I mean, it's vocal, maybe, but when I start changing the diaper, you snatched the baby because I did it wrong.

• 38:30Craig Robinson?

  You did it wrong.

• 38:31Speaker 00

  That's not it. You got it too tight. That's why I do it. Give me the baby.

• 38:35Michelle Obama?

  It's like everything shooting up the back.

• 38:38Speaker 00

  Let me swallow. I can swallow. No, you don't do it right. The arm ain't locked in. You're there for moral support.

• 38:44Craig Robinson?

  Looking over the shoulder only.

• 38:46Speaker 00

  And I think it's very valuable.

• 38:47Michelle Obama?

  Especially men.

• 38:49Speaker 00

  1,000%.

• 38:50Michelle Obama?

  I think it's really beautiful that you are sharing your, your, uh, skills, tools, lessons, wisdom as a father. Because fathers don't talk as much.

• 39:02Speaker 00

  Well, I think, I think there's, there's, you know, there's a cloud over the concept of, you know, the black father, right? And the stereotypes attached to that, um, you know, bad, good, whatever they may be. Uh, the only way to redefine these stereotypes is to put better examples of fatherhood out there in the world. Um, that can be received, that can, that can act as energy to energize this new generation of fathers.

• 39:35Michelle Obama?

  For sure.

• 39:36Speaker 00

  Right? What better gift to give to fathers than the gift of more information, right? Uh, and, and affirmation, right? I think sometimes we're looked over, um, and quickly looked, looked past.

• 39:48Michelle Obama?

  There are a lot of good fathers.

• 39:50Speaker 00

  1,000%.

• 39:51Michelle Obama?

  There, we had one, I'm married to one, my brother is one, you know, I'm surrounded by, by good fathers. And you're right, they get a bad rap, especially black fathers.

• 40:02Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 40:03Michelle Obama?

  And, uh-

• 40:03Craig Robinson?

  But part of it is because there's not enough guys doing what you're doing.

• 40:06Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 40:07Craig Robinson?

  And who have the platform to go out and say, and, and champion fathers.

• 40:14Craig Robinson?

  So, thanks for doing that.

• 40:16Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 40:16Craig Robinson?

  First and foremost.

• 40:17Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 40:17Michelle Obama?

  Well, heartbeat, y'all are killing it.

• 40:19Craig Robinson?

  Please.

• 40:20Michelle Obama?

  Talk, talk about.

• 40:20Craig Robinson?

  Talk about that joint.

• 40:21Michelle Obama?

  I mean, all that you were doing.

• 40:23Speaker 00

  Heartbeat is my entertainment ecosystem.

• 40:27Michelle Obama?

  Oh, I like that.

• 40:27Speaker 00

  Ecosystem. Ecosystem.

• 40:29Michelle Obama?

  Okay.

• 40:29Speaker 00

  One of many.

• 40:30Michelle Obama?

  Are there plants and trees?

• 40:31Speaker 00

  Well, there's, there's a lot. There's a lot of trees with tons of branches that are, that are now presenting the opportunity for so much for this next generation. I think what I'm very adamant about at this point in my career is creating opportunities for the new. For example, Funny AF is a comedy, a comedy series that I did with Netflix where we're finding the next voice in comedy, right? And the winner of the competition gets an hour special.

• 41:01Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 41:01Speaker 00

  On Netflix. So I was able to go to Netflix and say, look, I want to do something cool, but the hour special has to come with it. Well, Kevin, we don't know, that's a lot to give. Well, as my partner, I need you guys to align with me because this has never been done.

• 41:14Michelle Obama?

  Are you guys, you, you're working with everybody? Are you working primarily with Netflix?

• 41:19Speaker 00

  I personally was doing, am, not was, was doing a film deal with Netflix. Unbelievable partners, unbelievable relationship that we've had over the course of like the last five years. The company still does business with All, right? It's Free Game and Opportunity Four.

• 41:38Michelle Obama?

  That's a.

• 41:39Craig Robinson?

  With, with All, you said?

• 41:40Speaker 00

  With All.

• 41:40Michelle Obama?

  With All.

• 41:41Craig Robinson?

  That's neat. So, Meech, how does that compare to Higher Ground and what you guys are? It's, it's, it's. It sounds really similar.

• 41:49Michelle Obama?

  A similar philosophy, you know, except you, you're Kevin Hart. You've been doing this for a while, you know?

• 41:57Speaker 00

  Michelle Obama.

• 41:58Michelle Obama?

  Which is a wonderful brand. But yeah, we are, it's, it's the same sort of thing. I mean, we've had a wonderful relationship with Netflix.

• 42:05Speaker 00

  Yeah, you've been actively producing a lot. You guys are doing amazing.

• 42:08Michelle Obama?

  But, you know, we moved from an exclusive deal to a first look with a goal always to be independent.

• 42:15Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 42:15Michelle Obama?

  Right? Because our reason for getting into storytelling was to tell a broad base of stories.

• 42:23Michelle Obama?

  You know, and, and, and get it out there. So our goal is to work with everyone. So we're now at the phase, after that great foundational support from Netflix, to be able to go independent. You know, it's, it's all about mentoring, too. Opening doors.

• 42:38Speaker 00

  Ecosystem.

• 42:39Michelle Obama?

  Yeah.

• 42:39Speaker 00

  You, you, you have the, the same thing in, in the operation.

• 42:43Michelle Obama?

  But in order to do that, we've got to be working with everyone, right? Because not every story belongs on every platform. And Netflix was example of that. I mean, they, they do certain things, but they don't do everything. You know, so having the freedom now to go and work with everyone. You know, we've got projects with HBO. There's a project that Barack is doing with Larry David on HBO that's coming out like right around the, the, the, the 4th of July. That is, you know, a sort of spoof on America, you know, so with a comedy.

• 43:14Speaker 00

  They, they, there is no problem with working with everyone.

• 43:18Michelle Obama?

  Well, it was great to support you in fatherhood, you know? I mean, that was, that was really one of my favorite movies of the, the year, that year. I mean, the, you know, the depiction of real fatherhood. I mean, you've been on, that's been a part of your brand, and I think that is beautiful. That story was so absolutely touching.

• 43:37Craig Robinson?

  Kevin, when you started out in comedy, and we've, we've been talking about a lot of stuff here. We haven't even touched on your genesis in comedy. Because I'm trying to figure out, were you better in comedy or basketball when you were growing up?

• 43:53Speaker 00

  If you really want to be honest, man, I, I feel like, I chose comedy, but basketball chose me. Right?

• 44:01Craig Robinson?

  You could hoop.

• 44:02Speaker 00

  Like, like, like, it was one of those things.

• 44:04Craig Robinson?

  I think people, I, people don't understand.

• 44:08Speaker 00

  No, nobody does.

• 44:09Craig Robinson?

  How good, how good you have to be to play varsity basketball in high school.

• 44:14Speaker 00

  Nobody understands.

• 44:15Craig Robinson?

  That, usually people's career are over before they get to varsity.

• 44:20Speaker 00

  Yeah, it, it's, it's, it's a tough thing that I struggle with more than anything because.

• 44:27Speaker 00

  That's where I should be.

• 44:28Craig Robinson?

  I knew it.

• 44:29Speaker 00

  I should be.

• 44:30Craig Robinson?

  You carry yourself like a hoopla.

• 44:31Speaker 00

  I should be on the court, right? Uh, but instead I chose the stage.

• 44:36Craig Robinson?

  Yeah.

• 44:37Speaker 00

  Um, because I had to, right? Like, the demand for laughter was, was, it was so high. Um, and I just had to put the basketball sneaks up. I had to put them up.

• 44:47Craig Robinson?

  But when you, when you finally got in the comedy.

• 44:49Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 44:50Craig Robinson?

  Did you envision what you're doing with Heartbeat? Or did you think, alright?

• 44:55Speaker 00

  No. No, let me, let me just, let me give you an honest, an honest answer. It's like, no, no hell no. You're looking at a dumb genius. An, an, an accident on accident on accident. Like, stand-up comedy was an accident. I was working at City Sports. A friend of mine at City Sports said, Kev, you funny? You should do one of those amateur nights. The comedy club was right up the street. They said, would you do it? I said, I don't care, I'll do it. They said, if you do it, we'll go, we'll all go. And it was like a joke. I did amateur night, I fell in love with it. Oh my God, this is, this is amazing. I won a couple of competitions. Being a dumb genius that I am, I quit my job because I got seventy-five dollars from winning the competition. I was like, I'm gonna do this. See you later.

• 45:40Speaker 00

  I was gonna come here every week, win this. They stopped the competition soon after. I had no job, no, no more access to this seventy-five dollars. That was, that was my plan of attack.

• 45:54Craig Robinson?

  So you weren't like writing jokes and preparing? You just?

• 45:58Speaker 00

  No.

• 45:59Craig Robinson?

  I wanna hear that story. When did you start like treating it as a profession?

• 46:05Speaker 00

  When my mom laid down a hammer. My mom was like, you got a year. You got one year to figure it out your way. And if you do not figure it out, I'm still living with my mom.

• 46:17Craig Robinson?

  And you're how old at this point?

• 46:19Speaker 00

  I'm eighteen.

• 46:19Craig Robinson?

  Okay.

• 46:20Speaker 00

  If you do not figure it out your way, you have to do my way, which is?

• 46:25Craig Robinson?

  College.

• 46:26Speaker 00

  College, back to community college, back to? Whatever. School, trade, job, everything. Keep in mind, I'm, I'm out here with a dream. I'm like, Mom, you don't know what you're talking about. I'm gonna be a comedian. What? I'm gonna be a comedian. I got it. And to her credit, she did not, she did not like, she did not.

• 46:51Speaker 00

  She didn't lessen my dream. She never was not aligned. She just, she put a time on it. And, and what that did, credit to her or not, it made me go, oh my God, I got a year.

• 47:04Craig Robinson?

  I gotta get serious about this.

• 47:05Speaker 00

  I got one year. So I put the most pressure on myself and I figured it out. So in figuring out where the amateur night rooms were, where the comedians were that were getting work, doing work, how, who can I get access to? Who can I travel with? Who can show me more than what I know now? And I started to figure it out. So my mom, there's a, the Bible story of like where she put checks in the Bible. She's asked me like, am I reading my Bible? I told this story several times and I was lying. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm reading the Bible. She was like, uh, let me know when you read the Bible. I was like, I'm not gonna read the Bible. But at the time, you know, the rent was getting crazy. I was getting notices, like they're about to kick me out, mom. Like right now, I'm having a hard time covering the rent. And she was like, well, read the Bible, you know?

• 47:50Speaker 00

  Talk to God about it. Mom, this ain't, okay, I don't know, this is not a game. All right, like I get it.

• 47:55Craig Robinson?

  It's not a game.

• 47:56Speaker 00

  I get the spiritual side of it. Look, I, I believe, okay? But right now, they, they put a notice on the door. I, I need to, you gotta help me out, mom, this month. Until I, until I, until I do these open mics, the next month, read your Bible. Damn it, mom! Like, I'm getting frustrated. So one night I opened up the Bible. She had all the checks for the year. Like she had rent checks to cover me for the year. And the Bible, they all fell out. And it's like the dopest thing ever, but okay. Yeah. Let me, let me, let me actually read it.

• 48:28Craig Robinson?

  Could you just have given me the check, mom?

• 48:29Speaker 00

  Yeah, I mean, like, by the way, No, she couldn't have. Extremely childish, right? Extremely childish. I'm 18. Just give me the, give me the damn checks, lady. I'm gonna get kicked out, okay? But she knew you weren't gonna read the Bible. She knew, and she knew I was lying the whole time. A month and a half of lies. I didn't read the Bible, mom. I'm on page 76.

• 48:51Speaker 00

  That Matthews talking to Peter about the stuff he did to David. I'm clearly reading it. I'm just Cliff Notes. I'm looking up.

• 49:02Speaker 00

  Cliff Notes from the Bible. So, so when I, when I gave that year and figuring it out, I saw like the energy that you should have to like really being prepared. Right. For the craft. So I started treating it like a real business.

• 49:24Craig Robinson?

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• 50:08Craig Robinson?

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• 50:58Speaker 00

  I did a Def Comedy Jam competition and I won. I won a Def Comedy Jam competition.

• 51:03Michelle Obama?

  When was this, how?

• 51:04Speaker 00

  This was, I mean, I want to say 1998. I was probably doing comedy for like,

• 51:10Speaker 00

  maybe two years, maybe a little over at the time. And this was so big. To me, I was like, I just won a Def Comedy Jam competition. By the way, you were supposed to get so much. None of it happened. Everything was promised with the competition.

• 51:21Michelle Obama?

  Well, that, that tracks.

• 51:22Speaker 00

  I never even got the jacket. I never even got my leather jacket. You were supposed to get a Def Comedy Jam jacket, which was the biggest thing to me. I'm a weirdest jacket so people know. Look, I gotta be funny. Do you see this on my back? They never gave me my jacket. And they, and, and after winning, like, you were supposed to be on a Def Comedy Jam tour. Like, I did one date and then the tour disappeared. Like, it was just, it was a very lackluster letdown, okay? Russell, listen, Russell's, he's my guy. I've told Russell this story to his face.

• 51:52Michelle Obama?

  It did happen.

• 51:52Speaker 00

  You owe me a jacket. I've said it several times. If nothing else, give me my damn jacket, Russell. But, but, things were starting to happen. I did BET Comic View. Like, there were, I started to find my way to TV. And I ended up doing Montreal Comedy Festival. When I did the Montreal Comedy Festival was when everything changed. I did the Festival of New Faces. And the Hollywood side of the business was like, you gotta see this guy. This Kevin Hart guy, you gotta see him. And I started to then move to a place of like, auditions and things here and, and, and, oh my God. Now, now I'm like, ooh.

• 52:32Michelle Obama?

  This is a thing.

• 52:33Speaker 00

  Comedy gets you to the, oh.

• 52:35Michelle Obama?

  Never thought about that, never saw that.

• 52:38Speaker 00

  I can probably do movies and stuff. And I remember getting a deal. I got a deal for like $250,000. It was a development deal with, I want to say ABC? ABC or NBC? I got a development deal. And when I got that, you know, I'm, I'm, I got it. I'm rich. Momma, get you a house? I'ma hold you down.

• 53:00Michelle Obama?

  Everybody gets a house.

• 53:00Speaker 00

  By the way, gotta get a car, right? I'ma hold, Dad, I know you want some, don't worry, I got that. That money was gone in two weeks, okay? Two weeks, that money was gone. But I up and moved to Los Angeles. And at no point during that process Did you get any kind of professional development? Dumb genius. I moved to Los Angeles without a plan.

• 53:21Michelle Obama?

  No acting classes, no nothing.

• 53:22Speaker 00

  I moved to Los Angeles with 25,000, I had about 25,000 dollars left.

• 53:29Michelle Obama?

  Left of the development deal.

• 53:31Speaker 00

  I owed about 60 grand to the IRS because I didn't pay taxes. So I'm technically in debt. I moved to Hollywood and I remember, I remember moving and walking down, walking down like Sunset Boulevard. And I was like, okay.

• 53:47Michelle Obama?

  Here we go.

• 53:48Speaker 00

  This is it. What now? So the, so the opportunities within TV and movie, they started to come. That was when The Big House and Soul Plane, all this stuff happened early on. And I was supposed to be made from it and those things failed. None of it worked. So I kept, I kept, I kept getting hit with failure. But while failure was hitting me, because I was such a road warrior, the next wave of opportunity came from Will Packer, who saw me at a comedy show. And he wanted to develop Think Like a Man, which was Steve Harvey's book. And he wanted to be the star. Think Like a Man was a 12 million dollar budget.

• 54:30Speaker 00

  We did 90 something million dollars in the box office and.

• 54:35Michelle Obama?

  And that was that.

• 54:36Speaker 00

  That was it, like literally, Think Like a Man hit. I was the comedy relief. I can't thank this cast enough. The cast of Think Like a Man, Romney Malco, Megan Good, Gabrielle, Regina, Lala.

• 54:53Michelle Obama?

  It's a beautiful movie.

• 54:54Speaker 00

  Gary Owens, Jerry, I mean, Terrence, Tim, Tim Story directed, like the, this movie.

• 55:05Speaker 00

  Was set up in such a way to where I was the funny. But without the cast giving me the ammunition or the moments, none of it would work and everybody was okay with it. And I was able to improv and I was able to do this thing that created like some movie magic. So this thing comes out and then to Hollywood, it was, this is the new guy. I mean, at this time, I've been doing comedy for 12 years.

• 55:35Michelle Obama?

  You were long overnight sensation.

• 55:37Speaker 00

  I'm like, oh my God, this is, this is it. Like it's, it's gonna happen. I have not taken my foot off the gas. I've done the same thing over the course of a 30 year career. And to most, it's, oh man, it's overnight.

• 55:54Michelle Obama?

  Yeah, no, no, not, not, not too much.

• 55:58Speaker 00

  The real grind and the real hard work that it took to get here. And you know, when I sit down for too long, I'm like, okay, I gotta, like I'm working and working, but I'm, Kevin, you gotta figure out the next wave of comedy. Like what are we, what are we talking about? Where's the, where's the next comedic energy wave coming from? And what I do that I embrace, I go to a comedy club. I go to New York and I go to the, you know, the smallest places. And in these places where, where I, hold on, tell my wife I'm still here.

• 56:34Michelle Obama?

  Tell her, hey.

• 56:35Speaker 00

  I'm still here, say hi.

• 56:36Michelle Obama?

  Hey, we're, we're on, we're on the podcast. You're on, hi.

• 56:43Speaker 00

  Completely different smile when she saw you. Did you see that? I did see that. Did you see that? Completely different. What are you doing? I got eyebrows. What are you doing? I'm still here, babe. She saw, hey, I mean, what just happened?

• 56:59Speaker 00

  I'll, I'll call you when I'm done. Heaven's here too.

• 57:01Michelle Obama?

  Hey Nico.

• 57:03Speaker 00

  Alright, I'll call you when I'm done.

• 57:04Michelle Obama?

  We're all here.

• 57:05Speaker 00

  Alright, love it, bye. So, so like.

• 57:08Michelle Obama?

  See, and let me just say.

• 57:10Speaker 00

  I mean.

• 57:10Michelle Obama?

  Took his wife's call.

• 57:12Speaker 00

  Oh no, that's that. I don't want in that one.

• 57:15Michelle Obama?

  You do not.

• 57:16Speaker 00

  I do not in that one.

• 57:17Michelle Obama?

  Do not, well done.

• 57:18Speaker 00

  Hey, hey, see I fumbled.

• 57:21Speaker 00

  Hey, hey, you see Michelle? Hey, everybody's here. Is this, uh, you see everybody? We still filming. You said you would be there. I know, I know what you see. Yeah, that's a, that's a beating man right there. With stand-up comedy, so I go to these small places and I don't have a thought.

• 57:41Speaker 00

  I go onstage and I talk. I'm not afraid of silence. I'm not afraid of the joke not working. I embrace the idea of in order.

• 57:55Michelle Obama?

  To get to the good thing.

• 57:56Speaker 00

  To get to the hour, I gotta step onstage with nothing and I gotta, I gotta go, okay.

• 58:03Michelle Obama?

  Here we are.

• 58:04Speaker 00

  Here we go, and I gotta figure it out. In real time, I gotta figure it out. And as you start to figure it out, my energy starts to pick up. Oh, I got a joke. Oh, that joke connects to this. Oh, I gotta go back out. I gotta get onstage again. Oh, I'm so excited to do these things to see if they work. And then after eight to nine months, or 10 months of preparation and doing that over and over again, five to seven days out the week, I have a skeleton of what I want to talk about. It's a brutal process, but I embrace it. Because without that, well, you can't celebrate the good.

• 58:41Craig Robinson?

  Heaven, we, we are gonna take you off the hook because we have a, a listener question so he can lecture them.

• 58:49Speaker 00

  Oh, it's coming. It's coming. Yeah, here it comes.

• 58:52Craig Robinson?

  So we do this listening question where we give back to our-

• 58:55Michelle Obama?

  This is our wisdom sharing.

• 58:56Craig Robinson?

  This is, we share some thoughts. So this one is from Carrie.

• 59:00Speaker 05

  I'm a parent to two amazing kids. For years, I was close to both of them, but with the teenage years and probably all the hormones, my oldest has become challenging for me to be around. I feel like she has a mean streak that's developed towards me and we're really not getting along these days. I love both my children, but I am closer to my youngest right now. I feel horrible because my brother has always, was always the favorite growing up and I'm extremely sensitive to how hurtful that can be. How do you think I could connect with my oldest? Do I just ignore what's going on or try to talk to her about it? And how do I make sure that my kids know I love them both equally? This is from Carrie in Madison, Wisconsin.

• 59:42Speaker 00

  I think that, you know, when you're in that period of battle, as a parent, you create settings that are just better for your mood. I would recommend your oldest, take your oldest to breakfast. Take your oldest for a hike, a walk, you know, go to dinner, a bike ride, an activity that forces you guys to talk, that forces you to enjoy one another in a different manner than what you've been doing. Good always comes out of quality time, right? And not your version of quality time, but something that acts as a new version for the both of you, I would, I would recommend. And I think, you know, in doing that, you

• 1:00:25Speaker 00

  get to see and remember why your parent is fun, or why your parent is cool or good energy. Did you like that?

• 1:00:35Michelle Obama?

  You should do a book.

• 1:00:36Speaker 00

  Well, yeah.

• 1:00:37Craig Robinson?

  An audible book.

• 1:00:41Michelle Obama?

  I think that would be a great idea.

• 1:00:43Speaker 00

  You know what? This is, this is what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna focus on, on the audio version of-

• 1:00:47Michelle Obama?

  I think you should.

• 1:00:48Speaker 00

  Of parenting and information.

• 1:00:49Michelle Obama?

  We've discovered that here today.

• 1:00:50Speaker 00

  Yeah, that's what I'm good at.

• 1:00:51Michelle Obama?

  Glad I could be of help.

• 1:00:52Speaker 00

  Thank you, thank you for that, for that idea.

• 1:00:54Michelle Obama?

  But I do, I like that advice. I think we talked about this as well. I would encourage her to make sure she is taking each child as they come. So I would just say, make sure you see the child in front of you and try to, you know, just like you did with Heaven, you know?

• 1:01:12Speaker 00

  I, I love that. I mean, I think that's a phenomenal breakdown. So hopefully that information is taken and not frowned upon.

• 1:01:19Michelle Obama?

  If not, then get Kevin's audible book.

• 1:01:23Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:01:24Michelle Obama?

  Cause there'll be more.

• 1:01:25Speaker 00

  Which I just made the decision to do.

• 1:01:26Michelle Obama?

  Yes, thanks, thanks to Michelle Obama.

• 1:01:29Speaker 00

  Yeah, yeah. An amazing gym.

• 1:01:31Michelle Obama?

  And should I start negotiating a percentage now?

• 1:01:34Speaker 00

  Well, you said it without that. Right, we already, yeah, you, you gave the idea, yeah, you, yeah, you didn't.

• 1:01:41Craig Robinson?

  You said it without that.

• 1:01:42Speaker 00

  You know, the first idea wasn't, it didn't come with a business economics. It's weird now, so I think that we kind of just have to, it's one of those things, yeah, we just have to leave it, cause it's weird. You don't want to make it weird, right? That's, that's how I would state that.

• 1:01:57Craig Robinson?

  Master negotiator right there.

• 1:01:58Michelle Obama?

  Fair point. Crap, do you have anything to add?

• 1:02:01Craig Robinson?

  I, I can't, I don't want to add too much, since those are both great answers. The, the, to Kevin's point, you know, sometimes you have to ask your kids what they are interested in and what, what they're doing to be better able to go find that new thing. Man, I can't tell you how wonderful this has been.

• 1:02:22Speaker 00

  Thank you.

• 1:02:23Michelle Obama?

  Really wonderful.

• 1:02:24Speaker 00

  It was, it was, it was amazingly uplifting, right? Like, I, I just love the vulnerability, transparency. So I can only thank you guys for the time today. Like, this was very, very much.

• 1:02:35Michelle Obama?

  And thank you most of all for bringing Heaven.

• 1:02:37Speaker 00

  Yeah, she just.

• 1:02:38Michelle Obama?

  She is Heaven.

• 1:02:38Speaker 00

  Bully, bullied my, bullied my, my energy.

• 1:02:42Michelle Obama?

  I want to pack her up.

• 1:02:43Speaker 00

  Please.

• 1:02:44Michelle Obama?

  Because like, it's like here.

• 1:02:46Speaker 00

  Yeah, I, I have her bag, hold on, I'll be right back. I have her bag in the car.

• 1:02:51Michelle Obama?

  You'd love Malia and Sasha, they've got to meet.

• 1:02:53Craig Robinson?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 1:02:55Michelle Obama?

  That would be cool.

• 1:02:56Craig Robinson?

  And be sure to tell Nico we said hi too.

• 1:02:58Speaker 00

  Yeah, well, yeah, I'm gonna do it right now, cause I, I'm probably, I'm a little late.

• 1:03:02Craig Robinson?

  She's waiting for you to go.

• 1:03:03Speaker 00

  A little, a little, a little behind. My, my day is a little behind, sorry.

• 1:03:27Speaker 06

  Hi, I'm Molly Graham, host of Work Life, a podcast from TED. The most important lessons about work usually aren't the ones anyone teaches you. They come from experience, from uncertainty, from figuring things out as you go. On this show, my expert guests and I explore how careers really unfold through change, through doubt, through the decisions that shape who we become over time. Because those moments aren't the exception, they are the work. Listen to Work Life wherever you get your podcasts.