If there’s one thing Kevin Hart can do, it’s sell shoes. If there’s one thing Kevin Hart can do better than sell shoes, it’s explode into one of the foremost comedians and entertainers in the industry today.

After an electrifying performance at amateur night in a Philadelphia comedy club, Kevin quit his shoe salesman job and began performing full time at venues such as The Boston Comedy Club, Caroline’s , Stand-Up NY, The Laugh Factory, and The Comedy Store in Los Angeles. However, it was his first appearance at the Montreal Just for Laughs Comedy Festival that led Kevin into roles in feature films.

Kevin will begin production on the remake of Untouchables in the beginning of 2017 alongside Bryan Cranston. His animated film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie will be released in June by Dreamworks / 20th Century FOX and he will also release his book I Can’t Make This U: Life Lessons this summer. To round out 2017, Kevin will appear in the Sony reboot of the classic film Jumanji alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black.

Hart’s recent movie projects include the animated film The Secret Life of Pets (Illumination Entertainment) and the biggest grossing live action comedy Central Intelligence (New Line Cinema and Universal Pictures), Universal’s Ride Along 2, which grossed over $100 million worldwide, Screen Gems’ The Wedding Ringer, and Warner Brothers’ Get Hard. The consummate worker, Hart is also a force in television, executive producing the show, Real Husbands of Hollywood which is currently in Season 5. In addition, Comedy Central will launch 2 standup comedy series’ Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City and Untitled Kevin Hart Stand-Up Series.

In addition, Hart embarked on the multi-city domestic and international WHAT NOW comedy tour. Domestically, he sold out 8 tristate area arenas, including Madison Square Garden, Barclays, Prudential Center and Jones Beach, selling over 100,000 tickets in the NY market. He was also the first comedian to sell out an NFL stadium, selling over 50,000 tickets in one show. Internationally, he sold out over a dozen arenas in the European market, selling over 150,000 tickets, and sold out arenas across Australia, selling 100,000 tickets. Hart’s hit comedy tour grossed over $100 million worldwide.

To round out 2016, Hart wrapped production on Sony Pictures’ continuation of the classic Jumanji, alongside Dwayne Johnson and Jack Black, and Universal Pictures released the feature version of his comedy tour WHAT NOW in October.

In 2012, Hart was tapped to host the 2012 MTV VMA’s, garnering much industry praise for his appearance, before his next comedy tour, Let Me Explain took him to 90 American cities along with Europe and Africa – resulting in him becoming the second American in history to sell out London’s O2 Arena. Kevin spent the fall of 2012 filming two movies back to back: Screen Gems’ remake of the film, About Last Night, and Universal’s buddy Cop movie Ride Along, opposite Ice Cube. Kevin continued his incredible run with a starring role in Screen Gems’ Think Like A Man, a comedy based on Steve Harvey’s bestselling book, which grossed $95 Million worldwide, and had a supporting role in the Universal / Nick Stoller comedy, Five Year Engagement, produced by Judd Apatow.

In September, 2011 Hart released Laugh At My Pain the feature film version of his comedy tour (under the same name). The movie grossed over $7 million, and was 2011’s most successful film of those released in less than 300 theaters. The LAMP tour was so successful, it catapulted Hart to 2011’s number one comedian on Ticketmaster, and in February, 2011, he sold out the Nokia Theater for two nights in a row, breaking the record previously set by Eddie Murphy. This lead to the LAMP DVD hitting double platinum in February 2012, after being on sale for only a month.

Other film credits include Little Fockers with Robert DeNiro and Ben Stiller, Death at a Funeral, Fool’s Gold and The 40 Year-Old Virgin.

In 2009, Hart’s one-hour Comedy Central special I’m A Grown Little Man became one of the highest rated specials for the network, and in 2010, Hart’s DVD Seriously…Funny was one of the fastest selling DVDs, going triple Platinum, aided by and the Comedy Central special of the same name, which was the highest rated comedy special of 2010.

Hart’s other television credits include, hosting BET’s classic stand-up comedy series Comic View: One Mic Stand, ABC’s The Big House, which he also executive produced and wrote, and recurring roles on Love, Inc, Barbershop, and Undeclared.

Hart currently resides in Los Angeles.

May 23, 2017 marks the 32nd annual Arts + Business Council Awards Celebration, a major moment for milestones. Together with you, our “Partners in Imagination,” we’ll be honoring the exceptional leaders, innovators, partnerships and volunteers below, who work to make our region culturally vibrant and economically strong. To purchase ticket packages and individual tickets, please click here.