Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Kevin Hart: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor’ On Netflix, When A Tribute Feels More Like A Roast

The 25th presentation of the Kennedy Center’s Mark Twain Prize for American Humor went to Kevin Hart, but for the first time, it premiered on Netflix as part of a new multi-year partnership between the Kennedy Center and the streaming giant. Is this why comedy’s lifetime achievement award feels different this year?

KEVIN HART: THE KENNEDY CENTER MARK TWAIN PRIZE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: The Kennedy Center created the Mark Twain Prize in 1998 as an offshoot of their annual Kennedy Center Honors, specifically to single out and celebrate the greatest contributors to American comedy.

The first two winners, Richard Pryor and Jonathan Winters, received their tributes on Comedy Central. For many years afterward, the event was televised on PBS, until moving last year to CNN. Netflix previously had acquired/licensed the 2019 event honoring Dave Chappelle, but is now fully onboard starting with this year’s celebration of Kevin Hart.

On hand to toast but mostly roast Hart: Chappelle, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock, Tiffany Haddish, J.B. Smoove, Jimmy Fallon, Chelsea Handler, Regina Hall, The Plastic Cup Boyz (Hart’s opening acts and entourage of John Clausell, Ron “Boss” Everline, Wayne Brown, Will “Spank” Horton, Na’im Lynn, Harry Ratchford, Joey Wells), Nick Cannon, Keith Robinson, and Dave “Lil Dicky” Burd.

What Comedy Specials Will It Remind You Of?: Although this is the first time the Mark Twain Prize ceremony has debuted on Netflix, the streaming giant did attempt something similar to this event two years ago with their first and so far only event for The Hall: Honoring The Greats of Stand-Up.

Memorable Jokes: The first comedian onstage to talk about was Seinfeld, who set the tone by implying he’s only there as a favor, and that’s all show business is, and the camera cuts to Chappelle backstage afterward remarking on the “flex” of having Seinfeld and Rock at the event, while describing his own presence there as “a Goddamn miracle.”

After joking that the leather jacket she was sporting was a hand-me-down from Hart, Tiffany Haddish delivered her theory that while Hart may have been her guardian angel in real life, she suspects he’s really a leprechaun?

Then the roasting really began in earnest.

Jimmy Fallon performed a song dressed up in black like a cowboy where all the lyrics poked fun at Hart’s diminutive size. Then Nick Cannon, serving as the public address announcer (for whatever reason, for the rest of the show we hear the voice of Samuel L. Jackson in that capacity but do not seem to see him), introduced himself as Eddie Murphy, and talked mostly about how Cannon and Hart prank each other.

Chris Rock said he met Hart on set of the movie, Death at a Funeral, and noted that only Hart and Aziz Ansari ever actually took to the advice they sought from Rock. For Hart, Rock told: “you need to get out of their circle and develop your own voice.”

But Hart received more ribbing from the likes of Smoove, Hall, and Lil Dicky, who recounted how Hart upstaged him during a show in Vegas before two had ever met, only to later give the rapper quite the boost by shepherding his TV series, Dave, to FX/Hulu as an executive producer.

Our Take: Of all of the performers to pay tribute to Hart, though, only two really broke through to Hart himself.

Keith Robinson made him laugh the hardest, while Dave Chappelle made him tear up the most.

Robinson was a vital mentor to Hart, literally plucking him out of Philadelphia in the late 1990s and driving him up to New York City, showing him how to navigate the big city’s comedy scene, and personally OK’ing Hart’s decision to pick Dave Becky as his manager. But Robinson also had Hart in hysterics recalling the time the hospital wanted to put Robinson (who has survived two strokes) into the COVID unit, and then later when he dropped his cane only to prank musical director Adam Blackstone for helping him.

Chappelle, who won this award in 2019, noted: “Kevin, this is a strange thing, to get a prize like that while you’re still active duty.” But he said Hart deserved this recognition, not only for surviving his impoverished youth to become a global superstar, but also for bringing such joy to the world through his comedy. “Nobody gives you the credit you deserve for how outstanding of a comedian you are,” Chappelle told him, adding: “People don’t understand what you’ve done for the business.” By that, he specifically meant ticket sales, claiming Hart has sold half a billion concert tickets for his stand-up tours.

Chappelle said Hart also inspired him to do arena tours. “I would never play an arena before I saw you do it” he said.

And yet, this telecast doesn’t really go to any lengths to tell casual viewers or even comedy fans what Hart has accomplished. The clip montages don’t hold our attention. Outside of Lil Dicky’s testimonial, even the words from Haddish or the Plastic Cup Boyz don’t go far enough to describe just what Hart has meant to their careers, or how he might have influenced the industry. I’m not saying Hart isn’t worthy of a tribute, but this event never really spelled out why we’d pay tribute to him now. He has done a lot even though he’s still only in his mid-40s, and yet we don’t get to hear anything about HartBeat Productions or the LOL Network or his work with Peacock or. You get it.

When Chelsea Handler mentioned she was there to present Hart with “a lifetime achievement award,” it’s that moment where you go, isn’t that something we do a few decades later? Like when the comedian gets to be Seinfeld’s age? Or Rock’s even? Neither of them have won the prize, so imagine how they must feel feting Hart instead.

Then again, this year the biggest event in comedy opened with Robin Thicke and Nelly singing “Fever” and “Hot in Here.” You know, those comedy classics.

Our Call: If you’re a big Kevin Hart fan, then you’ll STREAM IT regardless. But I’d argue that if you can hold out, look for just the clips from Robinson, Chappelle, and Hart’s acceptance speech. Because Hart does get the last word, saying how he didn’t get into stand-up comedy for the awards but rather for the love of making people laugh. “It’s not about the awards. it’s about the idea of happy with you.”

Sean L. McCarthy works the comedy beat. He also podcasts half-hour episodes with comedians revealing origin stories: The Comic’s Comic Presents Last Things First.