Kevin Hart's superstar stamp of approval finds a group of fast-rising comedians in KEVIN HART PRESENTS: THE NEXT LEVEL, premiering June 18 at 11:00 p.m. ET/PT on Comedy Central. The series spotlights seven comedians as they hit a coveted stand-up milestone: the televised half-hour special. Each episode spotlights a single performer, opening on an interview with Hart that leads into a special from the featured comedian.
"On the path to stand-up stardom, the half-hour special is a huge milestone," said Hart. "The Next Level is all about spotlighting the next generation of stand-up headliners as they make that critical leap."
Comedians leveling up include:
Spank Horton, June 18
Spank Horton is a writer, actor and stand-up comedian known for his work on Kevin Hart Presents: Plastic Cup Boyz (2014), Kevin Hart: Let Me Explain (2013), and Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain (2011). He has also performed stand-up on BET's
COMICVIEW and
GOTHAM COMEDY LIVE and has appeared in the films Ride Along and Sucka 4 Luv.
James Davis, June 25
James is a writer and comedian based in Los Angeles whose all-new series Hood Adjacent with James Davis premieres June 28 on Comedy Central. Previously, James has written on
THE LATE LATE SHOW WITH JAMES CORDEN and appeared as a regular roundtable guest on Chelsea Lately. James' parody Baracka Flacka Flames - Head of the State was named the #2 viral video of 2010 by
AOL and has over 11 million views on the web leading to notoriety from the New York Times. James' monthly stand up show Urban Dictionary at the Nerdmelt Showroom in Los Angeles was featured at the 2015 New York Comedy Festival and later inspired the series called Swagasaurus which lived on Comedy Central's Snapchat Channel.
Taneshia "Just Nesh" Rice, July 9
Taneshia "Just Nesh" Rice is one of the most high energy acts on the comedy circuit today. Most recently, Taneshia was featured on Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City on Comedy Central. "Just Nesh" has featured for comedy favorites such as Mike Epps, Cedric the Entertainer, and Paul Mooney and is on tour with Deray Davis and the legendary Dick Gregory.
Vincent Oshana, July 9
Vincent Oshana is an LA-based comedian, actor, and Air Force veteran of Middle Eastern heritage who originally hails from Yonkers, NY. Oshana was most recently seen in the feature film Fifty Shades of Black opposite Marlon Wayans, the
MTV series Acting Out, and the comedy series
RETURN OF THE MAC for Pop. Prior credits include the
FOX sitcom 'Til Death, the Jamie Foxx-produced sketch series In The Flow with Affion Crockett, and as a cast member on Damon Wayans'
Showtime sketch series The Underground. His stand-up has also been profiled on HBO's Def Comedy Jam as well as the New Wave-produced Comedy Dynamics: Coming To The Stage for Hulu.
Mario Tory, July 16
Mario Tory is an Atlanta-based, national touring comedian originally from Chattanooga, TN. He made his first network-television debut on Bounce TV's
OFF THE CHAIN and recently appeared on Kevin Hart's Hart of the City comedy series on Comedy Central. Mario was a finalist on NBC's Stand-Up for Diversity and Shaq's All-Star Comedy competitions, toured with veteran comedian Sommore and opened dates for Kym Whitley and David Arnold's He Said She Said comedy tour. Mario was featured in Comedy Hype's 25 Atlanta Comedians You Should Know and is the standing Saturday night host at Uptown Comedy Corner in midtown Atlanta.
T. Kingsley, July 23
Currently living in Los Angeles, BT Kingsley hails from Sacramento, by way of Houston, by way of Oakland, CA. In 2016 he wowed hometown audiences on Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of The City on Comedy Central. As an Instagram sketch-comedy sensation, B.T. is also a regular on the LA
COMEDY CLUB scene; as a burgeoning headliner in his own right, he tours the top clubs across the country as the feature act for his mentor Don "DC" Curry.
Ray Grady, July 30
Ray Grady began performing stand-up comedy in 2002, with early credits including TV One's Who's Got Jokes? and Jamie Foxx's Laffapoalooza. He has toured with fellow comedians Tony Rock, Corey Holcomb and Mike Epps and appeared in CBS's Diversity Comedy Showcase, the Game Show Network's Mind of a Man, BET's ComicView, and Adult Swim's Black Jesus. He recently landed the lead role in the forthcoming film Then There Was Joe.
Leading up to the on-air premiere,
Comedy Central Stand-Up and cc.com/TheNextLevel will feature preview clips from the series, and full episodes of Kevin Hart Presents: The Next Level will be available the day after premiere on the
Comedy Central App and cc.com. Highlight clips from Kevin Hart Presents: The Next Level will also be available in the CC App and the
Comedy Central channel on Snapchat Discover. Fans can follow
Comedy Central Stand-Up on Twitter at @standup, and tweet about the series using the hashtag #TheNextLevel.
Kevin Hart is a tour de force in film, television and live entertainment. Hart's current and forthcoming projects include the animated film Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie, premiering this month; his memoir, I Can't Make This Up: Life Lessons, on sale this summer; the reboot of the classic film Jumanji, rounding out 2017; and the recently wrapped remake of Untouchables, alongside Bryan Cranston and Nicole Kidman.
Recent movie projects include the animated film
THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS (Illumination Entertainment); Central Intelligence (New Line Cinema and Universal Pictures), the year's biggest grossing live-action comedy; Ride Along 2 (Universal), which grossed over $100 million worldwide; The Wedding Ringer (Screen Gems); and Get Hard (Warner Brothers). Hart stars in and executive produces the television show
REAL HUSBANDS OF HOLLYWOOD (BET), and will soon launch season 2 of Kevin Hart Presents: Hart of the City on Comedy Central.
In addition, Hart embarked on the multi-city domestic and international WHAT NOW comedy tour. Domestically, he sold out 8 tristate area arenas, including Madison Square Garden, Barclays, Prudential Center and Jones Beach, selling over 100,000 tickets in the NY market. He was also the first comedian to sell out an NFL stadium, selling over 50,000 tickets in one show. Internationally, he sold out over a dozen arenas in the European market, selling over 150,000 tickets, and sold out arenas across Australia, selling 100,000 tickets. Hart's hit comedy tour grossed over $100 million worldwide.
Kevin Hart Presents: The Next Level is executive produced Hart, Dave Becky of 3 Arts Entertainment, Leland "Pookey" Wigington and Neal Marshall. Anne Harris is the Executives in Charge for Comedy Central.
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