Carlos Davis was born in Detroit in 1992. He grew up, marched through high school and college, on track to be regular Carlos Davis from Detroit. But in 2013 he adopted the name HaHa Davis on Vine to create a unique blend of digital content and comedy, eventually expanding to Instagram and YouTube. However, it was his relationship with Snoop Dogg that made the internet experiment of HaHa Davis become the very online, viral comedy sensation HaHa Davis. Thanks to Tha Doggfather’s mentoring that started in 2015, Davis connected with an even larger audience, found his way to several features on Chance the Rapper’s album, “Coloring Book,” and became the undisputed internet king of comedy. Nearly 10 million followers later, HaHa Davis has traveled far from his modest beginnings.
In the swirl of social media, celebrity, and content creation, Davis recognizes that HaHa Davis is a persona. He often talks about the character in the third person, imagining, interpreting, and critiquing his performance from the perspective of his fans. His awareness of how mediated his own performance truly is offers the key to his success. His comedy is calibrated for maximum impact on social media and consumption on mobile devices, providing a quick set up and a broad punchline. And he always delivers.
Although Davis’s career is the product of leveraging contemporary technology, celebrity, and social media platforms, his comedic influences are firmly rooted in the history of comedy. He cites comedy legends Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Richard Prior, and Eddie Murphy as influences. But it’s Kevin Hart’s career and outsized hustle that informs Davis’ career moves and career goals. In many ways, he is the next-generation version of Kevin Hart, looking to make continents laugh, not just arenas.
We recently connected with Davis for a wide-ranging interview about his background, his influences, and his desire to manifest a multifaceted career. For someone still in the early stages of his first act, it’s almost impossible to imagine what he’ll accomplish next.
The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
StockX: First things first, tell us who you are?
My name is HaHa Davis. I’m an Instagram sensation, that’s what they call me. I’m from the east side of Detroit and I’m 26 years old.
Would you tell us more about where you grew up?
I was born on the west side. I moved when I was five. I’m from Lothrop, so when I say I’m from the east side, my mama don’t like that. I left the west side and I grew up on seven mile and Hickory. I was over there till I was about 14. Then I moved to Glenwood. I went to college and then I came back home and started doing the Instagram thing. I think it took off when I was like 22.
What was it like growing up in these areas?
I mean when you’re young, you don’t really know what it’s like to be from the hood. When you get old and you go back and see where you’re from, you’re like, I survived this? So it’s a blessing to be where I was from and being able to survive where I came from.
I wasn’t supposed to be this big. I promise you, I wasn’t supposed to get this big.
Ok, so what is your first memory of comedy?
It would be “Martin.” That was the first time I ever saw any sitcom, and we’re still watching it 25 years later. It’s crazy. So that’s really the first time I saw comedy. I was like, man, I want to be like that if I have a chance.
How would you describe your personal style and how does it fit into your comedy?
My style has never been about trying to be the funniest person on the internet. A lot of people aim towards being a funny person on the internet. I just aimed towards being myself and giving people something that they can use in everyday life. That’s why I got so big because I give people so many different things that they can choose from. It was never me trying to be the funniest guy on the internet.
What does comedy mean to you?
Comedy, for me, means joy. I say joy because laughter brings joy to the soul. Especially with everything that is going on in the world, I probably get 40 or 50 DMs everyday where people say I saved their life. They watched my videos and it made them want to keep going. People tell me that they were suicidal until they saw one of my video posts.
Did you ever think you’d have this reach and this impact?
It’s beyond me! I wasn’t supposed to be this big. I promise you, I wasn’t supposed to get this big. I used to work at Cedar Point and people would tell me that my shit ain’t even funny. It ended up working out, but I never thought it would get this big. At first, it was just for fun, then we started taking it seriously, and then it became a career.
How do you represent yourself through your craft, through comedy?
Every day I get up and I try to bring it, but it’s hard being HaHa Davis all the time. Sometimes you’re going through hard things in life and people are like, HaHa let me get a picture. Some days I won’t be feeling it, but I always take pictures with all my fans. You never know, they may never see you again. That one time might be the only time they ever see you. You don’t want to make that one time they see you a rough experience, like “HaHa was an asshole.” Every time I see one of my fans I want to make sure it’s love.
How do you view yourself and your career?
Comedy is what got me to where I’m at. I’m never going to forget where I came from, but I want to be an actor, like on some serious drama role type project. I want to get on the serious side of it, like what Will Smith was able to do going from “The Fresh Prince” to all his serious roles. That’s really where I want to go with my career.
I’m just trying to put my hand in everything, in case this doesn’t work out.
You said that “Martin” was an early inspiration for you and your career. Do you have other influences and inspirations?
Yeah, Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, and Kevin Hart. What Kevin Hart is doing has never been seen before, as far as comedians are concerned. He’s selling arenas. You’ve never seen a comedian bring out 30- to 40,000 people in one night and he’s doing it every night. So Kevin Hart is a big inspiration about opening up way more doors than anyone thought possible. There are a million people: Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, and so many others. Richard Pryor, who paved the way for us to do this. We came a long way.
How do you view yourself in comparison with other comedians who primarily put out content on the internet?
I stand out in my own way because I was able to change culture. The things that I do on here [online] people use in their everyday life. Everything I’ve said on the internet, you’ve seen the biggest people in the world say it. That’s why I stand out because I was able to have an effect on culture.
What are some things that people should know about you that they don’t?
Be on the lookout for my clothing line, Fellas clothing line. Be on the lookout for what me and Jay-Z got going on; we’ve got some big stuff coming. I’ve got my show on Comedy Central. We just working, working, that’s what we do. I’ve got my candy bar, the “Big Fella” candy bar coming out. I’m just trying to do stuff that people ain’t doing. I’m just trying to put my hand in everything, in case this doesn’t work out.
Anything I should’ve asked that I didn’t?
One thing people always ask me is they want to know how it was working with Chance [the Rapper]. I love Chance to death, but that was five years ago! You can’t keep dwelling on that, you know? But it’s dope, Chance is my bro and it was dope being a part of his album.
