Kevin Hart sat down on The Big Podcast with Shaq ahead of his Netflix roast and made it clear exactly where he stands on hard-hitting, no-holds-barred roast comedy, including the kind comedians like Shane Gillis and Tony Hinchcliffe are known for delivering.
Hart framed his participation in the roast not as something new, but as a return to form. Reflecting on how his career evolved over the years, he admitted he became more cautious as his brand expanded.
“I got very PC and brand specific and corporate and, you know, smarter as the years went on for business,” Hart told Shaq. But he quickly clarified that the polished, family-friendly image was never the core of who he was as a comic. “That’s what I do,” he added, referring to his roots in raw, aggressive comedy.
When the conversation shifted to roast jokes and whether any topics should be off-limits, Hart made his stance clear. “When you’re in the mindset of like jokes are jokes, and the intent behind the jokes is to get a laugh, nothing’s personal,” he said.
Hart stressed that the motivation behind roast humor is never hatred or personal malice. “Nothing’s coming from an aggressive… ha te or space of ha te,” he explained. For him, the objective is simple: “Your attempt is to get a laugh.”
At the same time, Hart acknowledged that not every joke will connect with an audience. “Is it a good attempt? We’ll see. Maybe they receive it, maybe they don’t,” he said. Regardless of the reaction, though, he insisted the intent remains consistent. “But my want is laughter,” Hart added. “That’s my reason for saying all things that are being said.”
Hart also pointed to his role in The Roast of Tom Brady as proof that he knows how to set the tone for an evening built around unfiltered comedy.
“The Tom Brady roast was so good because we set the table,” he said. According to Hart, the key was preparing the audience early for the kind of night they were about to witness. “I was able to go out [and] prepare [the] audience for a night of like real hard-hitting jokes,” he explained.
He said that approach started with him immediately making jokes on Brady himself. “I did that by hitting Tom with some… off the top,” Hart said. At the same time, he wanted everyone else on stage to understand the rules of the night. “Making others feel comfortable with the fact that everybody up here was going to get hit,” he added.
Hart also explained why he agreed to sit in the roast chair himself. “I only said I’ll do it because of the pressure,” he said. More importantly, he loved knowing he would get the final response once everyone else finished their jokes. “Knowing that when I get it last, you better be prepared to get hit,” Hart added.
That final-word advantage was something Hart kept returning to throughout the conversation.
“I love the fact that as a comedian, I’m going to sit in that seat,” he said. Hart enjoyed the idea of letting friends and rivals alike take their best sh0ts before he got the microphone back. “I get to have friends, foes, whomever come up and give their best versions of an attack,” he explained. “And at the end I get the microphone last.”
For Hart, the roast format represents one of the few places where comedians can still operate without filters. He described the experience as a chance to revisit what he called “the raw Kev days.”
“I want to talk. I want to snap,” Hart said, embracing the freedom that comes with roast culture. He then summed up his philosophy with one final line: “It’s nothing better than everybody having a weapon. Want to see what happens when mine shoots back.”
