Kevin Hart: My SNL audition sucked!

Kevin Hart’s first SNL audition tape leaves no doubt about why he didn’t make the show.

American weekend TV sketch programme Saturday Night Live has launched the careers of many of the biggest stars around, including Jason Sudeikis, Kristen Wiig and Adam Sandler.

Although Kevin has now appeared on it, initially producer Lorne Michaels wasn’t too keen.

“First of all, you say you can’t believe it because of my success now, but if you had seen the tape you would understand why I didn’t get it,” Kevin told US talk show host Conan O’Brien.

“I did an impression of Avery Johnson. Exactly – look at everybody’s face. I did an impression of a person that nobody knew.”

Avery is a former basketball player who became a coach and is now a commentator. He isn’t one of the biggest faces in sport, but Kevin was adamant his impersonation was so good it would win anyone over. So much so, he didn’t even bother with a full skit.

“It wasn’t even a long one. This is exactly what my audition was: I said, 'OK, I'm going to do an impression of Avery Johnson.' And I remember Lorne Michaels looking at me and he's like, 'Mmhmm. Okay…' He didn't say he didn’t know who that was, but I could tell he definitely didn't know,” the 35-year-old star laughed.

Kevin didn’t take the hint however, instead deciding to press on. He then uttered seven words in the style of Avery and failed to realise it hadn’t gone down so well.

“And I just said [seven words]. That was it,” he giggled. “Listen, hand on a stack of bibles, that was my impression. And when I did it, I stepped back as if it was great. I was like, ‘That it!’ In my mind, I did it.”