Chris Rock is the Comedy G.O.A.T., So Kevin Hart Gave Him One Named ‘Will Smith’

Gil Kaufman

Chris Rock is a comedy legend. Some even consider him the to be one of the greatest stand-ups of all-time. You might even call him the G.O.A.T. Or, if you were a fellow comedian like Kevin Hart, you would not only shower your friend and mentor with such accolades, you would actually find a way to sneak a real goat into Madison Square Garden during your co-headlining gig to show your love.

And for added comedic flair you would probably name that hoofer “Will Smith.”

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Which is exactly what Hart did on Saturday (July 23) night when he and Rock headlined a sold-out show at New York’s legendary arena on their Rock Hart Only Headliners Allowed tour, where they upped the ante by inviting another all-timer to join them on stage, Dave Chappelle.

Hart dropped by The Tonight Show on Monday night (July 25) to tell his goat tale, describing his devious plan to get Rock’s goat in the best way possible. When host Jimmy Fallon held up a picture of the three men posing on stage, joined by the barnyard baller (who was wearing a couple of fat gold chains around his neck), he asked how Hart managed to smuggle the four-legged punchline into the venue.

After the pair decided to make it a huge night by inviting Chappelle, Hart said he let their surprise opening act in on the joke. “He said, ‘what do you mean?,'” Hart recalled Chappelle asking about the livestock prank. “‘I’mma go get a goat.'” When Dave was confused about how that would even happen, Hart assured him it was no biggie.

“I said, ‘I’m Kevin Hart. What do you mean ‘how am I gonna get a goat?’ I’m can get a goat,'” he assured his friend, explaining that you simply call your “goat guy” to set it up. Once the gag was in hand, Hart hid it backstage and at the end of the show during the farewells, Hart addressed the goat in the room.

“You know, you guys don’t know, Chris is a mentor, friend, inspiration,” Hart said of his explanation to the audience. “He’s a large part of the reason that I am where I am today in my career just from his advice, his insight, et cetera and he’s my G.O.A.T. He’s my guy and I wanted him to feel that.” Hart said it was such an emotional scene that Rock “almost broke down and cried on stage… it was a real moment.”

And while Hart said the idea was to acknowledge that there can be more than one great comedian sharing the stage at a time, that doesn’t mean things didn’t get a bit messy. In fact, the goat stole the spotlight at one point. “The goat took a s–t on the stage,” Hart said as Roots drummer and Tonight Show bandleader Questlove — who was in attendance at the show — gave the moment its proper rim shot due. “It was not planned either, it’s the one thing I didn’t think about,” Hart laughed. “In my mind I thought the goat’s gonna come out and do a tight 2 minutes. Instead he s–t on Chris’s shoes. He destroyed Chris’s shoes. Chris had on some white moon boots and the goat got him.”

Rock was amused, but assured Hart, 43, that there was no room on his bus for hoofed hangers-on. “I’m not taking care of that s—!” Rock shouted, as the arena exploded in laughter. And while Hart tried to get real during the moment to talk about how he considers the elder statesman to be an icon, Chappelle was quick with a perfect yes… and. “This is the worst night of this goat’s life,” he quipped.

Rock, 57, of course, was right there with his own punchline. “He’s just happy he’s not at a Jamaican restaurant!” he said as the goat spoiled his moment in the spotlight with crappy comedic timing. Chappelle then put his mic near the animal’s mouth and asked him how his first night in showbiz was going before wondering what they should call the billie.

“Will Smith!” Hart snapped in a clever call-back to the now-infamous moment at this year’s Oscars when Smith ran on stage and slapped Rock after the comedian told a joke about the Oscar-winning actor’s wife, Jada Pinkett Smith.

Watch Hart tell the story below (starting at 4:10) and see a picture of the goat.

Click here to read the full article.

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