I Can't Make This Up

Starred review from June 12, 2017
Comedian Hart tells all in this emotion-filled memoir full of grit and humor. Writing with Rolling Stone contributor Strauss (The Game), Hart describes growing up in North Philadelphia in the 1980s and '90s with a cocaine-addict father and a caring, determined mother. Like Hart's standup, the book's tone is self-deprecating and honest: "My life began with one of the biggest lies men tell women," he writes. "I'll pull out, I promise." He writes that he inherited his mom's " commitment to hard work and my father's unique sense of humor," as well as the ability to accept reality and move on in life. His father ended up in prison and his older brother began dealing drugs; meanwhile, his mother encouraged him to finish community college but without success. Eventually Hart landed a job as a sneaker salesman in an athletic store. He was outgoing and a jokester, and eventually his coworkers encouraged him to audition at a local comedy club; it was then that he found his calling, noting the crowds' laughs "were almost as good as sex" and very addictive. His relentless drive and firm commitment to his art as a funnyman propelled his career from a stint on the Def Comedy Jam tour to a series of stand-up gigs in New York and eventually Hollywood. Inspiring and thoroughly entertaining, Hart's memoir brings his readers into his hilarious universe of stories and philosophy.

The popular comedian debuts with "the stories behind the jokes, and a few lessons...about life, success, parenting, and relationships."In his first book, Hart spares little detail about his personal and profession life. He chronicles his childhood with an absent father and protective mother, his toxic first marriage, and his rise to fame, punctuating each section with a lesson. Growing up in Philadelphia, the author wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life. He watched his brother get kicked out of the house for selling drugs and being violent with his mother, experiences that reverberated through his teen years. His mother worked hard to give her children a decent life, and she kept Hart busy with after-school activities to make sure he was never alone to get into trouble like his brother. He assumed his mother's work ethic and diligence, and when he found stand-up comedy, it consumed him. Unfortunately, while he was pursuing his dream, shuttling between Philadelphia and New York, his relationship with Torrei, his first love and first wife, suffered. Comedy nerds will love the details about the author's climb up the ladder, and the sections on his adopted family at the Comedy Cellar and his relationship with fellow comedian Keith Robinson give great insight into the life of a comic who is constantly working to get better. There are some nasty personal details about Hart's relationship with Torrei and how, according to him, it became mutually abusive, ever more so with the pressure of an advancing career and children. Some of the author's lessons border on platitudes--e.g., believe in yourself, shrug off the bad stuff and move forward--and the tales about how he learned these things sometimes render the breakdowns at the ends of the sections unnecessary. But Hart is an incredibly magnetic storyteller, on the page as he is onstage, and that's what shines through here. The book could have been trimmed by about 50 pages, but Hart is a genial, entertaining guide to a life in comedy. COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.