Sorry for the delay, and thanks for your patience!
A morning with Kevin Smith
Filmmaker’s homecoming stretches into wee hours
By MARK VOGER – STAFF WRITER
So you’re impressed by Bruce Springsteen’s three-hour-plus shows? Another Shore native has “the Boss” beat by double, and then some.
Kevin Smith — the writer/director behind “Clerks,” “Chasing Amy” and “Jersey Girl” — turned his Red Bank homecoming into a seven-hour marathon.
Smith brought his Q&A-format program “An Evening With Kevin Smith” to the Count Basie Theatre in Red Bank on Saturday. Smith promised patrons would see “two hours of a fat guy sweating.” He surprised himself when the session lasted until 3 a.m., calling this his longest Q&A ever.
Timely reference
Many wondered if Smith — a Catholic whose religion-themed comedy “Dogma” drew controversy — would allude to the death of Pope John Paul II hours earlier. Indeed, the filmmaker opened by addressing the passing of a “man of peace,” a “little bald man” who “fed the hungry.”
“Tonight,” Smith said solemnly, “I dedicate my show to Frank Perdue.” He soon added: “And the pope died.”
As you can guess, the easily offended had no place at this show. No discussion of bodily functions, sexual peccadilloes, ex-girlfriends or bizarre “what if” scenarios was off limits.
Smith warned the first questioner that he was setting the tone for the entire evening, “so don’t be askin’ me any J.Lo questions.”
Smith cracked up when one fan began his question: “Like your friend (Ben) Affleck, I, too, am a struggling actor.”
“I am totally stealing that joke,” Smith said.
Many of the evening’s funniest moments came when Smith toyed with audience members.
When a man whose hair was dyed blue approached a microphone, Smith said, “Sir! Look at you with the blue hair, expressing your individuality.”
The man shot back: “I see you’re sporting a mullet (hairstyle).”
Smith explained he is growing his hair for an upcoming role. “I’m doing it for financial reasons,” he said. “What’s your (expletive) excuse?”
Smith said Wednesday will mark two years of sobriety for Jason Mewes, his longtime friend and co-star in “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back.” Now that Mewes is sober, is he boring? “Oh, God, no. He was boring when he was stoned.”
Marathon session
This reviewer left the venue at 1:45 a.m., but my brother, niece and nephew saw the marathon through. “At one point, Kevin laid down on the stage and kept talking,” said my brother Brian, who added that the remaining audience members counted down to 3 a.m. in unison.
Reached on Monday, a Count Basie Theatre spokeswoman said: “There’s no ordinance that says we have to end the show at a certain time.”
But Smith still wasn’t finished by 3 a.m.
An employee of Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, Smith’s comic book store on Broad Street, said that following the show, Smith autographed items at the store until 7 a.m.
You can also find the article online at their site.
But hey, just keep telling yourselves, Kevin will be making CLERKS 2 at the time…And that should make it all better on ya. With all the recent appearances, we hope you had a chance to catch Kevin in person elsewhere. Your next chance to see Kevin in the flesh should be at the end of this month, as we’re expecting to announce the Mallrats X Q&A any day now…
CRYSTAL LAKE – Silent Bob had plenty to talk about Sunday night at the Raue Center for the Arts during a decidedly R-rated show.
Kevin Smith, the director of “Clerks,” “Dogma,” and “Chasing Amy,” who also plays the character Silent Bob in several of his movies, performed a stand-up comedy routine that played off questions from the audience.
Clad in a long trench coat, knee-length blue jean shorts, a navy-blue baseball jersey, and gym shoes without socks, Smith began his act with a dedication to a “man of peace.”
“Because he fed the people and proved one little bald man could make a difference,” Smith joked, “I would like to dedicate this show to Frank Purdue – the chicken magnate, without whom I wouldn’t be here. Or, at least, I would be thinner.”
McHenry resident Judy Irwin, who works in the marketing department for Centegra Health System, is the 34-year-old New Jersey native’s aunt and was credited with recruiting her nephew for the show.
Irwin told the audience that the show would benefit the Raue Center and enable it to buy a $20,000 commercial DVD player that could be used to show movies it otherwise would not have access to.
“So few of them are available on 35 millimeter these days,” Irwin said. “We will be able to see wonderful films the way directors meant them to be seen. It is a great step forward for the Raue, and a step forward for film preservation.”
In response to a question about his views on downloaded music and movies, Smith said he was not worried about the impact on his industry.
People who get a sneak peek at his movies usually also go to see them at the theater and still will buy his DVDs, he said.
“I’m not like that dude from Metallica,” Smith said. “Only really a handful [download movies]. If everyone here downloaded ‘Jersey Girl,’ the movie still would have flopped.”
He said “Jersey Girl,” which starred Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, could not overcome the immense failure of their other movie, “Gigli,” and the cancellation of actors’ wedding.
“It was like telling people, ‘Hey, remember that movie that came out two months ago that you hated? Here’s another one,’ ” Smith said.
Smith said he was working on a “Clerks” sequel, the independent movie that launched his career.
Much of his act focused on adult and sexual themes, that while mostly funny, probably was not for children.
“It was very educational for them – maybe too much,” said Crystal Lake resident Ellen Morton who left the show with her husband and two sons about two hours into Smith’s show. “It was pretty body.”
Phil and Teresa Bellah made what they said was more than an hour-long trek to the Raue Center for the show from Crest Hill.
Phil Bellah said he identified with Smith’s unique sense of humor, while his wife said she liked his comedic take on religious issues.
“A lot of people don’t understand where he is coming from,” Teresa Bellah said. “No rel
By the way, this news reminds me of the girl in Red Bank’s Q&A whose favorite character from the Askewniverse was T.S. T.S.! Kevin almost did a spit take. He was in awe. So were the rest of us. Somehow, we dunno if London’s gonna show for the screening, but hey, it’d be interesting…
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – Paris Hilton and Jason Mewes are toplining the indie comedy “Bottoms Up” for Paul Walker’s Blue Collar Films and Cameo FJ Entertainment.
Described as in the vein of “Swingers,” the comedy-drama tells the story of a Midwestern bartender (Mewes) who finds love with Hilton’s character as well as money and success in Hollywood. Walker is expected to have a cameo in the project.
The script was written by Nick Ballo and Erik MacArthur. MacArthur also is directing.
Hilton, whose credits include “Raising Helen,” “Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat” and “House of Wax,” recently completed shooting the independent comedy “Pledge This!”
A Kevin Smith regular, Mewes has appeared in the writer-director’s “Clerks,” “Dogma” and “Chasing Amy,” as well as “Scream 3.” He appears next in the horror comedy “Feast.”
We got near record-setting levels of scoops on this one today. It also ran with Comingsoon , JoBlo, CHUD, AZCentral, and of course, our beloved Poop Shoot. Thanks to all who wrote in with the story.
But seriously, folks, after going 2 shows in a row, we just couldn’t make it to this one in middle America to cover it. However, we’ve got the next best thing to being there: Great scoopers like yourselves who love to send us all the dirt. So, we’ve taken the reports and tossed together a summary for ya:
“CLERKS 2”
“OH, WHAT A LOVELY TEA PARTY”
“SOUTHLAND TALES”
“DINNER FOR FIVE”
“STAR WARS TV SERIES”
That about does it for what we could gather up on the event. Major thanks to all who wrote in. Photos were prohibited at the event, hence the lack of shots (so just look back to the shots from Red Bank, then close your eyes and imagine). With Clerks 2 now on the horizon, that’s likely the last Q&A for a bit, though after 14 hours onstage in a weekend, we imagine Kevin needs a bit of a hiatus, himself. Thanks again to Kevin for coming out, and for the venues that continue to invite him to entertain the masses for an evening.
Know the answer? Wanna know? Click HERE.
Kevin relates a long back feud with the duo…who HATED Kev’s guts.. Why? Because during the Clerks buzz at the film fest circuit, Trey and Matt’s “Cannibal: The Musical” got its thunder stolen by Clerks. This was pre-South Park in 92-93.
Kevin then relates an anecdote of actually meeting them in 2001 when they received the “Defenders of Democracy” award. Then later he had a chat with Matt Stone, who he’d met through John Pierson years before.
Kevin admits, funnily enough, that he’s never even seen Orgazmo during his story. This was recorded around two years ago, though, so that may have changed by now.
See ya again soon, folks. And thanks for coming by News Askew today.
