Kevin Hart Tells Jimmy Kimmel What It’s Like to Sell Out the Really Big Houses

Jimmy Kimmel is Live from Austin this week, doing shows from SXSW, but that’s nothing compared to what’s happening in Kevin Hart’s career.  Hart was a guest last night to promote his new movie Get Hard, and talked about working out with the University of Texas Football Team a few months back (he threw up), the Justin Bieber Roast (it was rough), and what it’s like to sell out giant arenas over and over again (amazing).

He said that working out with the UT Football seemed like a great idea at the time.  He was in town to do some shows, and was offered the chance to go work out at the team’s facility, but hadn’t necessarily planned on working out with the team.  It wasn’t easy, in fact,  Hart says he threw up on the wall as soon as he was away from the team, but that was just between him and the concrete.  When the workout ended some of the guys asked, “Kev you good?” He said “yes I am”,  walked away, chucked on the sidewalk and took off.

Fast forward a few months to the Justin Bieber Roast, where Hart says things went pretty rough for Justin.  But much like Hart at the UT practice, Bieber took it all in stride according to Hart and acting like it was a great time, but Hart thinks he could see the tear behind the laugh and is convinced that JB had a good cry on the car ride home.

But of all the accomplishments Hart talked about– the movie, the football practice, being roast master at the Just Bieber Comedy Central Roast– all of that seems small  compared to the accomplishment of selling out stadiums and arenas on his tours.  Very few comedians have even sold out MSG once– its an exclusive club with maybe a dozen performers it– and Hart has done it several times over.

Hart told Kimmel that selling out Madison Square Garden on his last tour– twice– was a huge achievement for him, but it wasn’t until he walked out on stage and felt the moment that he really processed it.  Hart said he got emotional but only gave himself that one moment to enjoy, because as big as that is, Hart doesn’t want to feel like it can’t get bigger or better.  This tour he’s already sold out MSG three times and he sold out two shows at the nearby Barclay Center.  In a period of a week, he’s going to perform for 150,000 in New York alone. And that’s still not the biggest achievement– he’s reserved that for his home town of Philadelphia PA, where he’s playing a football stadium that holds 50,000 people.  They’ve already sold 37,000 of those seats and are well on their way to selling out for the August show.

Hart promises to fill the stage at all his arena shows promising it’s more than just a comedy show- there’s pyrotechnics, there’s an experience.  Hart uses the term Comedic Rock Star (who does that remind you of?) and promises his fans they will be part of an event.  He promises to “step up to the plate like he’s never stepped up before.” Whatever that means, it includes wearing “tight ass pants.”