Kevin Hart really has done it all, hasn’t he? Sell-out tours, movie stardom, fame, money, business ventures, you name it, he’s done it, but one thing that not even Kevin can elude in life is getting old, and this brand-new special dives into that notion in one of his stronger stand-up shows to date.
I think this website has a little Kevin Hart bias because I even gave Kevin a good review of his Covid stay-at-home special; I just thought it was a good chuckle at a weird point of our history, but when I say this one is an improvement on many of his previous stand-up specials, I mean it.
There’s a newfound maturity within Kevin’s material in this show that seems to grace each and every joke he makes. He’s not reinventing the wheel here or changing his stand-up routine, but it feels somehow more refined, more like his old material.
Diving into stories of his family, cracking jokes at Michael Jordan (just wait until he sees this show), and discussing everyday challenges that come with aging and how he wants to avoid certain mishaps.
There are moments of over-the-top voices and exaggerations (it wouldn’t be a Kevin Hart show without them), but for the most part the jokes are reeled off in such a more nuanced manner that they hit home so much harder than in previous shows.
What always gets me within Kev’s stand-up shows are when he’s laughing at his own joke, trying to deliver the punchline, but tears fill his eyes, he loses composure, and he’s telling the crowd to bear with him whilst trying to get it out.
I love that, and it’s a testament to his own material that he can laugh at his own jokes like that. After multiple shows reeling off the same material each and every night, and for you to still crack up or struggle to get your own jokes out, that says all you need to know about how funny this material is.
I haven’t laughed this hard at a Kevin Hart stand-up for quite some time. I remember seeing him at Manchester Arena back during his Reality Check tour three years ago, and I couldn’t laugh anymore because before Kevin came on stage his friends (known as the Plastic Cup Boyz) did their own routines, and I was all laughed out by the time Kev came to stage.
Seeing the Netflix special focus on Kev and Kev only allowed me to fully invest in his routine without feeling physically exhausted from laughing so much at his support.
I highly recommend checking out each of their sets individually, as he surrounds himself with some very funny and talented dudes!
With the stand-up lasting around an hour, it’s a very condensed and refined show with absolutely no recycled jokes.
One particular highlight was the Quincy Jones section that had me howling long into the night, like an off-the-chain werewolf, when I checked this show out on Netflix last night.
Kevin Hart is maturing as a comedian and as a person, but it makes his content all the more potent, and the show is worth watching for the Gorilla story at the end alone.
Acting My Age is some of Kevin’s best work for quite some time, and it’s very clear to see that there is plenty more to come, and I absolutely can’t wait for more.
Our Rating
Summary
The world needs more laughter within it than ever before and Kevin delivers every single time!
