With 'SNL' gig, Kevin Hart continues to rise

The Associated Press, Thursday, February 28, 2013, 10:13am (PST)

NEW YORK (AP) — Like most people who get the chance to host "Saturday Night Live," Kevin Hart is excited to have the gig.

Unlike most hosts, Hart is proving to be complicated.

For starters, the 32-year-old comedian-actor doesn't like making eye contact. When he writes his jokes, he has to do it in a "think tank" — alone, in his home.

He also has to stand on top of an apple box when performing. Sometimes, he has to stand on two of them.

That's why collaborating with the "SNL" cast and crew feels like a new process for Hart, who is hosting the NBC show this weekend.

"I am what you would a call a genius," said Hart, as the "SNL" cast and crew burst into laughter.

"So this process here is a little different. ... A lot of people came in the room and were looking into my eyes and it threw me off a little bit," he says jokingly, but in a serious tone. "So I just closed my eyes and let them talk and kind of took it all in. And then I recited everything they said."

Hart was in good spirits and self-deprecating — as usual — as he shot "SNL" promos with Jason Sudeikis and Bobby Moynihan on Tuesday.

His hosting gig on "SNL" is another notch on his growing resume: He hosted last year's MTV Video Music Awards, has appeared on ABC's "Modern Family" and starred in the romantic comedy "Think Like a Man."

He's also the star of the BET parody series "Real Husbands of Hollywood" (Tuesday, 10 p.m. EST) with Robin Thicke and Nick Cannon. The Philadelphia-born Hart said he's "anxious," but not worried, about hosting "SNL."

"You can't get nervous about what you love to do. This is what I love to do, so the opportunity to do it on this stage is ridiculous," he said.

Duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, known for their hit "Thrift Shop," will perform Saturday night. Hart says he's a fan of group — sort of.

"I am a fan now 'cause I found out who they were when I realized they were going to be on the show with me. So because of the Internet and the Google search, I Googled them," he said, as others laughed. "I educated myself — almost another genius move of mine — to think to Google somebody that I didn't know."

So is Hart enjoying the group's massive, multiplatinum anthem about buying used clothes?

"I didn't hear that. Didn't hear that one. Don't know what that one is," he said. "But I heard some other stuff. Don't really know the titles. But I know (Macklemore's) white — from Google."

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