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Riding along with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube

"Ride Along" stars Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. Hart talks about his meteoric rise to stardom and his roots as a stand-up comic.

This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart in a scene from "Ride Along." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)
This image released by Universal Pictures shows Ice Cube, left, and Kevin Hart in a scene from "Ride Along." (AP Photo/Universal Pictures)Read moreAP

KEVIN HART IS browsing the racks at Mitchell & Ness, looking for some free hometown sports gear, perks of being a movie star.

He settles on a Flyers letterman-style jacket and a striped knit cap, also Flyers' colors. The energetic comedian then flits about the store like an orange-and-black bumblebee.

Flyers garb - it may seem like an unlikely choice for a North Philly guy, two-time MVP of the NBA celebrity all-star game and co-star with LeBron James in the forthcoming comedy "Ballers."

But Hart leaves no demographic uncultivated, no potential fan un-Twittered.

"The best way for me to explain what I'm trying to do is that I'm appealing to everybody. Some of the best advice I got was from Chris Rock. He said you don't want to appeal to just one particular audience. Everybody likes to laugh, that's the power of comedy," said Hart, doing his best to relax in the upstairs lounge of the downtown store.

Hart's strategy is clearly working. He's making the comedian-to-movie-star jump with unprecedented velocity. The speed of Hart's rise has impressed seen-it-all show-biz vet Ice Cube, his co-star in "Ride Along."

"Kevin is separating himself from his generation of comedians. The way Martin [Lawrence] did, the way Chris Rock did. Kevin is separating himself right now, and showing that he's the master of comedy, straight up."

Cube says that when he looks at Hart on screen, or on set, he sees shades of Eddie Murphy.

"Many comedians have tried to do what Eddie has done, which is basically to hold the audience hostage until he decides to release them, in any given scene, any given moment. Kevin has that ability."

Hostage?

"I mean - like you're caught up in this Kevin Hart hurricane, until he releases you. I've been in the business 30 years. Few people can command a set like Kevin."

Hurricane Kevin absorbs the compliment.

"First of all, Eddie's in a different stratosphere. I'm only able to go through the doors I'm going through because of what he's already accomplished," said Hart, who said the "Ride Along" structure - Hart as a civilian riding along with a veteran detective - draws on one of Murphy's iconic roles.

"We're trying to achieve what Eddie achieved in '48 Hours,' what Danny Glover and Mel Gibson did in 'Lethal Weapon,' what Martin and Will Smith did in 'Bad Boys.' But making it our own, with our own energy."

Hart has endless supplies of it. His most recent concert movie ("Laugh at my Pain") had a $10 million opening weekend last summer. Hart's "Grudge Match" is still in theaters, "Ride Along" opens today, "How to Think Like a Man Too" opens soon - with Hart making the move from ensemble player to headliner.

Yet to be released - movies with Rock and Nick Cannon, a remake of "About Last Night."

His Samsung ads with LeBron James are in heavy rotation, he's signed to co-star with James in the "Twins"-Ish "Ballers," and he'll play alongside Will Ferrell in "Get Hard," with Hart as a man who helps train a disgraced financier for prison.

Hart is an eager seeker of advice when it comes to his career - from Rock, from Ice Cube, who's given him tips on how to pick scripts.

"I told him don't be in a movie that you won't go see," said Cube. "It's simple, but it makes so much sense. And be true to the art. Learn it. People get caught up in the money, how much movies make, and that's cool. But there's another level - how many times would you watch it? That's the kind of movie you want to make, the kind you watch over and over. And be fans of the people you hire to be in your movies."

Here's where Hart turns the table on Ice Cube - veteran producer of movies - and launches a compliment barrage of his own.

"Judd Apatow gets praise all of the time, and I'm a great friend of Judd and he's responsible for putting me on TV, and he's helped my career, and launched many careers. But in Cube's case, people don't understand what he'd done for black comedians.

"In the realm of black comedy, there are many comedians who've gained success by coming through 'Friday,' through 'Barbershop,' through 'Friday After Next.' Chris Tucker, Mike Epps. DeRay Davis, Katt Williams, John Witherspoon, D.C. Curry, Rickey Smiley - I could give you a dozen names. These are people who are working comedians because of Ice Cube."

Most continue to split time between movies and stand-up. I ask Hart, pulled in the direction of movies, if he ever sees himself leaving stand-up.

"For me the beauty of stand-up is that I'm connected with my audience. And that's how I stay connected. The minute that you say, 'I can walk away from that,' is the minute I'm not as quick on set as I need to be. The minute my improv goes to a weird place that nobody understands. Stand-up keeps me in touch, connected, grounded, real."

He's leery of losing that link to reality.

"My biggest fear is getting caught up in this entertainment thing and losing my f---ing mind. I look at Ice Cube, 34 years in the business, producing, directing, acting, and he stays within his own circle. You don't read about him out partying, going crazy on some yacht. Doesn't mean he doesn't have a yacht. Just means you don't read about it.

"I want to maintain normalcy," Hart says as his entourage closes in, signalling the end of the interview. "By staying true to what I love."

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