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Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Let Me Explain
Cover image credit: Promotional image via Prime Video

Let Me Explain

Kevin Hart

2013 · 75 min

Kevin Hart justifies his arena status with pyrotechnics and relationship drama.

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Kevin Hart sets the stage with actual fireballs in Let Me Explain, an arena set operating entirely to cement his status as a global ticket seller. He leans heavily on his frantic stage pacing to deliver material about his divorce, his admitted infidelity, and the evolving absurdity of the guy code. Hart mocks the sheer scale of the production right out of the gate by pointing out the flames shooting up behind him, using the excessive staging to elevate his physical delivery.

Filmed over two nights at Madison Square Garden and released theatrically in 2013, the project followed the success of his 2011 feature Laugh at My Pain. It opens with a bizarre 15-minute scripted sequence where partygoers accuse Hart of being a purely local comic. This prompts him to book the famous New York City venue just to prove them wrong.

Once the defensive intro ends and the stand-up begins, the pacing tightens. Hart is highly animated while detailing the collapse of his marriage. He admits his own faults while spiraling into defensive, high-volume tangents about imaginary animals like the deerbra.

The project was released in theaters as counter-programming to major studio movies. It pulled in over $30 million at the box office, proving a massive theatrical appetite remained for a straightforward stand-up set.

The set list

4 bits

  1. Pointless stage pyrotechnics

    Self-consciously mocks his own ego and ridiculous set decoration, explaining he only insisted on fire geysers after seeing Jay-Z and Kanye West use them in concert.

  2. Pathological lying and excuses for being late to work

    Details an overly convoluted lie involving a baby afflicted with Benjamin Button disease and a mythical deer-zebra hybrid known as a 'deerbra'.

  3. Trying to save his marriage

    Recounts taking ecstasy for the first time and acts out passionately making love to a beanbag chair.

  4. Infidelity and failed alibis

    Freely admits his cheating ruined his marriage while joking about his clueless best friend who failed to provide a reliable cover story.

How it plays

Tone
Boisterous, unabashedly raunchy, self-deprecating, and heartfelt.
On stage
A mixture of a strutting bantam cock and a skittish fraidy-cat; blends swaggering bravado with deep insecurity, goofiness, and self-deprecation.
Pace
Manic, high-energy, and freewheeling delivery characterized by a rapid rat-a-tat cadence, expressive physicality, and uninhibited moments of laughing at his own jokes.
About
divorce and infidelity, relationships, fatherhood, masculinity and insecurity, pathological lying, wealth and fame

What the critics said

Received mixed-to-positive reviews; reviewers widely praised Hart's kinetic stage presence, physical comedy, and vulnerability, but several critiqued the film's 15-to-25-minute opening sketch and tour documentary preamble as self-indulgent filler.

In the room: Energetic, sold-out arena crowd of thousands at Madison Square Garden.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: en.wikipedia.org, metacritic.com, tv.apple.com, imdb.com, nytimes.com, vulture.com, variety.com, latimes.com, blackfilm.com, catalog.afi.com.

Backstory

Filmed in the wake of Hart's highly publicized 2011 divorce, tabloid scrutiny over his infidelities, and accusations from friends and acquaintances that newfound fame had changed him.

Details

Released
Taped
2012, Madison Square Garden
Runtime
75 min
Director
Leslie Small, Tim Story
Honors
Acapulco Black Film Festival Award (1 Win, 1 Nomination)BET Awards (1 Nomination)
Topics
Before
Laugh at My Pain (2011)
After
What Now? (2016)

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