If you are a real human-being, chances are at some point in your life you will laugh at yourself. This laughter could be from embarrassment, arise from confusion, or even directed at a tragedy you experience, but the point is, real people laugh at themselves. Just face it, you are funny! You laugh at yourself and will continue to laugh, even at moments of solemnity. Undeniably, some of your most unfortunate mishaps can become some of your greatest uplifting and hilarious moments. Admit it! Laughing at ourselves gives us that tiny moment where we can say “Ha, I can’t believe I did that” or “I’m glad that’s over”. No matter how hard you try, you simply cannot go through life without stomach cramping and eye tearing laughter at some of the things you have done.  Almost everyone’s done it and if you haven’t, well don’t take yourself so seriously. The good news for those of you who have though is that a valuable process is going on here. This laughter isn’t just laughter. This laughter is learning. This laughter is encouraging and inviting. Mistakes and mishaps are the reasons we can look back on our life’s and laugh. Laughter is important and being able to laugh at these personal setbacks and misfortunes is the reason why I believe Kevin Hart is one of the most immaculate comedians today.

Kevin Hart, a 5’4’’ African American man from Philadelphia is a global icon in the comedic world and it’s all because he laughs at himself. He makes a living off the same self-depreciable humor that real people love to laugh at. Self-deprecating humor is when a person knows their own weaknesses and shortcomings and isn't afraid to point them out, often in a humorous way. (“Self-Depreciation”).  Kevin Hart is one of the kings of being excessively modest. His comedy focuses on his personal insecurities and life experiences. He jokes about his size, height, fears, weaknesses, race, impatience, kids, family members, finances, etc. He himself is the comedic ploy. When Kevin introduces a joke, he is not just belittling himself or discrediting his mistakes though, he is instead acknowledging them and explaining how they make him a better person today. Self-depreciation humor is Kevin’s forte.  In stand-up comedy, Kevin Hart normalizes self-depreciable humor to discourage ideas of insecurities and motivate the audience about individual flaws.

When it comes to self-deprecation it is not always easy to look at oneself and give critique. Some people are afraid of the idea of examining who they are and seeing imperfections. Self-reflection can be challenging. Many people degrade themselves for their differences and it should not be this way. You should become confident in who you are. Accepting your flaws and mishaps are tough on one level, but Kevin’s humor goes even further because he also embraces them. So, it is not just about acknowledging your flaws. It’s about connecting with them. It is about understanding that they make you who you are. Anyone can say yes, I have had some hard times and I want to learn from them, but how many people say, I am going to take these moments and be unapologetically proud about them despite who sees? It is damaging enough for another person to comment about your faults, but when you do it, you take away their power. Kevin is one of the best at addressing his flaws before anyone else has the chance to.  Kevin is able to motivate others on insecurities because he is confident in who he is.

There is the cardinal rule that it is not ok to laugh at others, but what about laughing at yourself. No one ever fully discusses the benefits that come from internalized comedy. We all experience those difficult moments in our lives where we feel depressed, insecure, or afraid. It’s important to take a moment to laugh, but no one ever goes into explaining why that is so. It is more important than just simply feeling better about oneself. Kevin Hart’s use of self-depreciable humor puts the audience into his psyche and reframes their way of thinking about adversity. He highlights his own past insecurities and demonstrates to the audience that he now understands where these things come from and because of that better man today. He expresses that no matter how society may treat you it is all about you. By doing this he illustrates to the audience a process of healing through humor and the focus on bettering yourself. Humor has psychological and emotional effects that can lead to encouragement and motivation. He takes what someone could exploit about him and highlights it to the point where it becomes insignificant and uses it as motivation to push further. 

Kevin Hart is never afraid to speak about himself. One thing that is synonymous with the name “Kevin Hart” is his height. He is not the typical example of society’s model of masculinity. Whether wrong or right, it is fair to say that throughout history most men have been portrayed to be seen as a protector—brave and commanding. In a research project exploring the connection between masculinity and body image, Dr. Holmqvist of the University of Gothenburg explains that, “The male body ideal—a muscular, lean, fit, and mesomorphic body build—may be one of the most conspicuous symbols of the Western stereotype of traditional hegemonic masculinity, characterized by physical prowess, virility, and dominance” (338). Masculinity is about appearance. Masculinity in that sense is about being strong, never showing emotion, toughness, and bravery.  With Kevin though he never feels like he needs to be these. He may be flawed in society’s eyes for is emotional behavior and petite stature, but this does not stop him from pursuing what he wants to pursue. It is for that same reason that he continues to motivate his following.

Kevin Hart openly admits that he does not always show the traits of masculinity that are mentioned above, and this is the reason he is able to nullify the negativity that is associated with not fitting the masculinity mold. When asked about his height Kevin Hart simply explains “This is it. This is what I was given. These are my playing cards. If we were playing poker, I’ve got to make this hand work” (Winfrey). Kevin realizes that at this point in his career it is about more than his height discrepancy. Kevin Hart jokes about his height so much that it has become normalized. Everyone knows he is small, so much to the point that it is irrelevant to even mention. Once the topic is addressed so much it becomes hackneyed. He admits that he is not this overbearing figure of a man and it is ok not to be that. His comedy allows him to be self-assured in his stature and be proud of it. 

The benefits of humor are numerous. Kevin Hart not only acknowledges his imperfections, he also reflects on them to heal, using them as a source of motivation to work that much harder. By continuously instituting jokes about his misfortunes, Kevin is able to cogitate from a more appreciative point of view. Often a popular topic that appears in his stand-up act is his childhood. Kevin’s childhood is a very traumatizing time in his life. During his childhood, he is raised by a single mother, he sometimes struggles with school, and also deals with the strain of dad battling drug addiction consequently causing his sporadic appearances Kevin’s life. Dealing with the embarrassment and the hurt of the absence of a parent can be burdensome. Kevin could easily become depressed and view this as a dark moment of his life. It is easy to focus on the negative, but Kevin does the exact opposite. Kevin embraces these moments; he owns them. Research on humor and happiness explains that people who are optimistic and have strong self-esteem have developed adaptive strategies of using humor in daily life, which in turn help make them happier. They experience greater happiness because they are better at finding strategies to regulate their emotions such as Kevin (Baumeister et al., 2003).  The habitual use of self-despicable humor that Kevin uses to create positive motivation is one seen as one of those strategies. Happy people are adept at using positive humor styles as a means by which they frame or appraise life events to form positive, self-affirming views of the self (Kuiper & McHale, 2009).  This is exactly what Kevin Hart does through his comedy. He looks at a painful moment in his past and humorizes it. He can heal from that and become a better person today. Kevin is constantly exploring is life, finding the positivity in every difficult moment. This is the reason Kevin is impactful in motivation through his personal flaws.

Kevin makes fun of what people would some would consider damaging. In Kevin Hart’s stand-up is dedicates an act specifically to his dad. Kevin’s dad is on drugs at the time, so some of his actions are not opportune for the moment. While Kevin is a kid, he mentions that his dad wants him to be an athlete so bad that he treats his 5th-grade spelling bee thinking and acting like it is an actual sporting event. His father humiliatingly cheers, “My son spelling the shit out of these mother**** words” In yo face b***! In yo face!” (Laugh at My Pain). Kevin childhood is full of these traumatizing moments. Even with a topic as intense as drug addiction, Kevin is still able to humorize it and motivate others because of it. Kevin is comically displaying that effect that drug addiction had on his father and the effect that it has on a child. He is representing to the audience that these are some of the irrational things that could happen if you intake drugs and at the same time he is healing himself. Humor is employed as Kevin’s coping strategy for these kinds of situations where one has little control. Humor takes away Kevin’s pain. He is able to speak about moments like these because he understands them. With this healing, you learn to build relationships. To this day he has become closer to his dad than ever before. Kevin Hart’s humor is self-advancing. 

Humor is a complex topic of multiple divisions. Humor may seem constructive, but some may argue that humor still does more harm than good. Even after all the mentioned above, there is still the case to mention that connecting humor to a situation will have no effect at all can also be made. Just because something is found to be humorous, there is no guarantee that it will motivate some to react.  Dr.Cochrane of the Department of Philosophy at the University of Sheffield, argues that the things we find as humorous do not influence our cognitive process. He points out that humor instead forces us to view a topic as even more unconventional and turns us away from it (2-7). Adding humor to something does not make it more acceptable. Cochrane further asserts, “if I do feel encouraged to laugh at myself, I can regard myself as free from liability. Either the mistake is understood to be so obvious that there is no need to make a note about avoiding such errors in the future, or else my incompetence is so total that there is no realistic prospect for correction” (2-7). By finding something comical, a person can mistakenly view a situation as nominal, having no significance at all. The possibility that a person may laugh because they do not take themselves to have any considered commitment to the practice held up to ridicule is certainly true. They can further distance themselves from the attitude or idea being highlighted upon and in this case, humor has an adverse effect. How one person sees humor can be seen completely different by another.

Humor is indeed a sophisticated topic. Humor has its areas of triumph and moments when it is not ideal. Not everything is a laughing matter. I agree, it makes sense logically. Humor used in the wrong context can be seen as a sign of immaturity. It can be frowned upon as disruptive, rude, disrespectful, dismissive, or irreverent. I get it; life is not all about humor. Everything in life is not a joke. The important thing to understand about humor for those who do use it as reflection and motivation is when you embody humor, you let go of perfectionistic expectations. Many authors have noted humor allows a person to shift perspective on a stressful situation. As a result of this reappraisal, a situation is looked at from a less threatening point of view. The situation becomes less stressful and more manageable. The previous feelings of anxiety and hurt become paralyzed (Martin 282). You gain a feeling of mastery and growth. I am not saying we should all laugh at ourselves, everyone says that. I am arguing that we can that motivates us to be better people in the future this is what we can learn from Kevin Hart

Kevin Hart’s comedy is not just about stand-up, it is about finding the humor and confidence to navigate life.  So, I challenge you the next time you are going through a difficult moment to stop and look around. Think about where you were before and where you are now. Realize that it is not as bad as you are making it out to be. There is some source of positivity that you can garner, and you cannot it is time for you to start living life. You will eventually get through it and you will laugh about it. Then once the moment has passed, look closer and think about what exactly is making you laugh and how you are learning from this laughter. There is some ounce of positivity. I’m here to tell you not only is it ok to laugh at yourself but that also you should laugh at yourself because you might learn something. In the words of Kevin Hart, we all should just live, laugh, and learn.
