Sure, you can call Kevin Hart short — he stands a compact 5-foot-4 — but you’d better have a clever way of stating it.
“At the end of the day, s - – t gets old,” Hart, 34, tells The Post, laughing. “But when people aren’t that creative, they go for the one thing that they can . . . there’s nothing you can say about me I haven’t said about myself.”
The stand-up comedian and actor has made a career of making fun of himself, his stature certainly included. That continues this Friday in his new buddy-cop flick, “Ride Along,” in which he stars as a wannabe LAPD officer tagging along for the day with his would-be brother-in-law (Ice Cube) in an attempt to prove he’s man enough to marry the latter’s sister (Tika Sumpter). The comedy is classic Hart — he emasculates himself in scene after scene, such as when Cube’s character surprises him and he responds by screeching and knocking himself out.
Hart was born and raised in Philadelphia by his single mother. His father, a cocaine addict, was less of a presence, though the two now have a better relationship. After community college and a stint as a shoe salesman, Hart finally found his footing in stand-up. He now has two children, whom he co-parents with his ex-wife, fellow comic Torrei Hart. He’s dating model Eniko Parrish.
All of that is fair game for his act. He regularly talks about his divorce, his father’s drug abuse and, after he was busted on a DUI charge in April, he joked about it on Twitter.
“If it happens in my life, I’m going to address it,” he says now.
That authenticity has made Hart one of comedy’s brightest rising stars. In addition to “Ride Along” and his BET TV show “Real Husbands of Hollywood,” he’ll show up in the “About Last Night” remake on Valentine’s Day and two more movies come summer. He’s also producing a sitcom pilot for ABC based on his life after divorce.
But just because Hollywood is calling his name doesn’t mean Hart’s abandoning the mike.
“Stand-up is my baby,” he says. “Not continuing to do stand-up comedy, I feel like [would be] me turning my back on who made me.”