--- description: His Avery Johnson impression didn't go over so well title: Watch Kevin Hart Recreate His Failed 'SNL' Audition image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt735c4ded29687a5a/69878525f887dcc7a4e8ac74/kevin-hart1.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [celebrities](/tag/celebrities/) ## celebrities Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Kevin Hart Recreate His Failed _SNL_ Audition  by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 25, 2015 1:20 PM CUT   by [Nolan Feeney](/author/nolan-feeney/)  ## Nolan Feeney Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 25, 2015 1:20 PM CUT Aspiring comedians with _Saturday Night Live_ dreams, heed the advice of Kevin Hart: don’t impersonate somebody nobody really knows. That’s what the _Get Hard_ and _The Wedding Ringer_ star told Conan O’Brien about his failed audition, where he tried to impress head _SNL_ honcho Lorne Michaels with an impression of athlete-turned-NBA-commentator Avery Johnson. “He didn’t say he didn’t know who that was, but I could definitely tell he didn’t know,” Hart says of Michaels’ reaction. “I know you can’t believe it because of my success now, but if you had seen this tape, you would understand why I didn’t get it.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3757723/kevin-hart-failed-snl-audition/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3757723/kevin-hart-failed-snl-audition/"},"headline":"Watch Kevin Hart Recreate His Failed SNL Audition","datePublished":"2015-03-25T13:20:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:25:15.940Z","description":"His Avery Johnson impression didn't go over so well","url":"https://time.com/3757723/kevin-hart-failed-snl-audition/","keywords":["celebrities","Television","Conan O'brien","Kevin Hart"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt735c4ded29687a5a/69878525f887dcc7a4e8ac74/kevin-hart1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Nolan Feeney","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/nolan-feeney/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt735c4ded29687a5a/69878525f887dcc7a4e8ac74/kevin-hart1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"kevin hart","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3757723/kevin-hart-failed-snl-audition/","name":"Watch Kevin Hart Recreate His Failed SNL Audition"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"5 Reasons TV's Top Shows Are So Addictive","description":"Here's a look at how our favorite TV shows—from \"Game of Thrones\" to \"Scandal\" and \"Breaking Bad\"—keep us coming back for more.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/2RqNgPrk/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-01-16T20:47:22.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/2RqNgPrk.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3757723/kevin-hart-failed-snl-audition/","duration":"PT2M16S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3757723/kevin-hart-failed-snl-audition/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```