The two Kevins both have great comedic talents and timing, so we’re expecting a fun episode this Sunday. And it’s free. So tune on over.

“Silent Bob Speaks”

Carnegie Hall

June 17

The expression “like an open book” should be updated to reflect the startlingly full disclosures Kevin Smith has been offering his fans over the past few years through his online diary, Twitter account, SModcast, bestselling memoir and, most recently, his live “Silent Bob Speaks” performance, which played to a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall last night. But whereas most cases of celebrity over-sharing come off as mindless exhibitionism, Smith’s divulgences seem generous-a gift to the sizable portion of his audience that takes a near-scholarly interest in Smith’s day-to-day activities, from the directorial (he’s currently shooting A Couple of Dicks with Tracy Morgan and Bruce Willis) to the lavatorial.

The latter took precedence at Carnegie Hall. After being sweetly introduced by his daughter Harley Quinn, Smith gave thanks by announcing, “So you saw what happened when I came-that! I don’t know what your orgasms look like, but that’s what mine looked like.” The audience cheered. Wearing a pair of baggy ankle-length jean shorts and a New Jersey Devils t-shirt beneath a terrycloth bathrobe, he rhapsodized briefly about his newfound stonerhood (a result of his proximity to Seth Rogan on the set of Zack and Miri Make a Porno) and accompanying weight-gain. “These days I sweat when I breathe,” he said.

Things got saltier during the two and a half hour Q&A. Queried about his friendship with Malcolm Ingram, Smith praised the Canadian director of Small Town Gay Bar for introducing him to the phrase “sloppy party bottom” and the existence of the International Bear Rendezvous, where burly gay men “get together and look for guys like you to fuck,” he told his shy, purple-haired interrogator. Later, Smith asked a husky young questioner with a beard whether he wears his shirt during sex. “I often do, yes,” the guy said, heartbreakingly. And when a pretty girl in a pink dress with matching pink stilettos, pink bra, pink fingernail polish, and a pink iPhone asked, on behalf of Time Out, whether Smith had any dating advice, he replied, “Well, the first time I fucked my wife I had an open sore on my cock.” Smith’s wife and mom were sitting near one another in the third row.

One of the evening’s rare non-scatological digressions concerned Smith’s love for Wayne Gretzky and Gretzky’s dad, Walter, whom Smith met at this year’s Walter Gretzky Street Hockey Tournament. “He used to tell Wayne, ‘Don’t go where the puck is, go where the puck’s gonna be,'” Smith said. “I swear, Walter Gretzky is the most perfect man since Jesus Christ.” He paused. “When we met, he told me, ‘You’re one of God’s angels on earth, Kevin.'”

Don’t miss our own review of this show, one of Kevin’s best ever. And of course, when Kevin comes to your town, BE THERE.

Man, I wish we’d have come up with that “directorial to lavatorial” line. Nice one, VV.

Geekscape takes it a step further, by posting a spoiler-free set visit report. The lucky author enjoyed face time with Kevin Smith and star Tracy Morgan. Here’s a few snips:

About 1pm they wrapped for lunch and Kevin Smith walked from the set and said hi to us. He didnt know who we were really just sitting there. He was just being friendly.

I got up and introduced myself, but it seems as if our friend had already talked me up. Kevin and I got to talk for nearly 15 minutes today.

The real mind blower was how friendly and open he is. We talked about Mosier, about his new flick. He told me SModcast is one of his favorite things he loves to do in his life right now. We covered talk of old episodes and future endevors. It wasn’t Kevin who ended the conversation. I had to leave. See I work for a living and I was already out a day to go to the set, so i had a train to catch. Kevin told me to stay as long as I pleased and to watch the rest of the filming. I graciously bowed out and took the long train ride home.

If you catch a glimpse of the set or are lucky enough to experience some time watching the shoot, don’t forget to drop us a line. It sure sounds like things are going swimmingly up there in warm, sunny NYC. And if you DO find
your way to the set, New York’s Examiner has some tips on how to be a good looky-loo.

This second clip comes from the fresh “Reaper Season 2” DVD and features a short snippet of Kevin talking about the show, for which he filmed the acclaimed pilot episode. Enjoy. See ya next time. As always, thanks for stopping by News Askew today.

And now, my recollections of this wonderful evening (Photos above by Jenn Camp):

Kevin Smith is no stranger to the one-man stage show, having taken over college auditoriums, iconic theaters such as Red Bank’s Count Basie, even international venues. However, when the man walked onstage last night at New York City’s Carnegie Hall, one of the most famous stages in the world, the crowd knew this was going to be a special moment, and a special evening.

Following a charming introduction by his daughter, Smith triumphantly took to the stage and immediately got up close and personal with it, by literally rolling around and then just taking it all in. The crowd roared with appreciation. Before speaking a word, Kevin revealed he was wearing a New York Yankees jersey under his trademark trench coat, and under that, one for the New Jersey devils. Both shirts were met with a mix of cheers and boos. This is the tough crowd of New York City, after all.

The show, clocking in at around 2 hours and 45 minutes, featured a perfect blend of ingredients that make an evening with the guy so unique. In the opening kickoff, where Kevin usually monologues a bit before turning the crowd mics on, he discussed the monumental occasion and history of Carnegie, as well as confirming the tone for the evening. Since so many of the family and friends he cared about in his life had made the journey to sit in the audience, he felt pressured to deliver material to a crowd that, more than likely, were intimately familiar with many aspects of his life before he even walked through the stage door. A true challenge.

The remaining 2 hours of the evening found a mix of stories old and new. Some questions that were asked led to classic tales being weaved once again, including his encounter with a wall mounted toilet (almost becoming a signature bit) that somehow manages to get better and more vivid every time I hear it. There was also a rarely heard story regarding his experiences acting in “Catch and Release”.

For the most part, the Carnegie show featured quite a few shorter, rapid fire answers, including several “Would you rather” type questions, along with a handful of new extended tales — A detailed recollection of his experiences writing (and seeing published) his piece on hockey for Time Magazine. Some back story on his friendship and first encounter with his pal Malcolm Ingram. When questioned about his dating past, Smith even called back to classic bits such as the story of his first sexual encounter with wife Jen, even going as far back as a high school relationship, a callback to a tale he told to Playboy Magazine over 10 years ago. Freshest of all, a new story from the set of “A Couple of Dicks”, whose crew was in attendance to enjoy.

Still, for this author, the best moments involve those one on one exchanges with the other “star” of the show – the audience. Easily this reviewer’s favorite moments are those unique to each show alone — the encounters with some of the wacky, weird characters who enjoy a few moments in the spotlight as they pose their own queries to Smith. Sometimes, he simply answers. Sometimes, it’s something completely unexpected.

Carnegie organized this in a way never seen before, but that seemed to work quite well. Audience members who wanted to contribute a question did so prior to the show, and then were selected and randomly pulled then escorted to one of 2 mics on the floor, just below stage right and stage left, by staff members. “Can you just follow me around everywhere?”, Kevin quipped to one of the staff, who wore bright yellow shirts that read “Ask Kevin A Question”.

Most audience members had well thought out queries, or at least things original enough to score an answer. Still, a couple took the opportunity to push their own agenda, always leading to wacky, unique moments. One fan fell in love with his own voice and found Kevin dimming the lights and having the spotlight follow him. A local female journalist took a serious tone when asking Kevin for dating tips, only to be led down a lurid path of sexual topics, including the aforementioned dating tale.

It was the very first questioner who was the most memorable – A strange little guy who nervously took to a paper of handwritten notes (including one to remind him to complement Smith’s work before he asked his question). Before it was over, Kevin had brought the kid onstage, sharing with him the feeling of being in front of the Carnegie crowd. It didn’t get quite that crazy for the rest of the evening, but perhaps that was a good thing.

Book-ending the show, the man of the hour left the stage near 11 PM as suddenly as he dove in, with a fantastic off the cuff one-liner too good to repeat here. As the loudest roar of the night filled the space of the auditorium, he was strolling through the stage right door, having done it once again. Kevin Smith had conquered Carnegie Hall.

In keeping with the strong hockey theme that’s been permeating his life lately, Carnegie Hall represents yet another shoot and score for Kevin Smith. He’d taken a crowd and a venue and found the perfect way to put together a show for everyone – friends, family, fans, and first-timers. During the performance, Smith joked that this would be his “first and only” appearance at Carnegie Hall, but I can only hope that this beautiful venue will have him back again someday, for another shot at witnessing a great stage presence taking on one of America’s greatest stages.

Special thanks go out to Ming and Robb for their assistance in getting me in and out of the city in quick order, allowing me to catch a few hours of sleep before having to catch a plane out of the country (hence the delay in this posting). Thanks again, guys. And of course, thanks to Kevin for having me up for the show.

Missed the show and want to get in on the fun? Kevin has just announced many more upcoming road appearances that may be closer to you. Do not miss your chance to see Kevin Smith live. An experience that’s never the same twice, and one you won’t soon forget.

State Theatre
Minneapolis, MN
Thu, 09/17/09
08:00 PM
Ticketmaster (Codeword ‘bob’), HennepinTheatreTrust.org, charge by phone (800) 982-2787 or Visit the State Theatre Box Office

The Chicago Theatre
Chicago, IL
Fri, 09/18/09
08:00 PM
Ticketmaster (Codeword ‘bob’), Charge by phone (312) 902-1500, or Visit the Chicago Theatre Box Office

Michigan Theater
Ann Arbor, MI
Sat, 09/19/09
08:00 PM
Ticketmaster (Codeword ‘bob’), Charge by phone (734) 645-6666, or Visit the Michigan Union Ticket Office

Benaroya Hall – S. Mark Taper Auditorium
Seattle, WA
Sat, 10/17/09
08:00 PM
Ticketmaster (On sale Friday, June 26th at 10am)

The Orpheum
Los Angeles, CA
Sat, 10/24/09
08:00 PM
Ticketmaster (On sale Friday, June 26th at 10am)

The Warfield Theater
San Francisco, CA
Fri, 10/30/09
08:00 PM
Ticketmaster (On sale Friday, June 26th at 10am)

• Kevin made a quick appearance on the other other night’s NHL Awards show. Check out the video above!
• Entertainment Weekly’s Popwatch ran THIS glowing review of Kevin’s Carnegie Hall appearance.
• We mentioned this a while back, but here’s CTV’s official premiere announcement for their upcoming Degrassi TV movie featuring Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes:

  PARADISE CITY: DEGRASSI GOES HOLLYWOOD (Premiere)

  * Sunday, August 30 at 8 p.m. ET

  In the first ever DEGRASSI: THE NEXT GENERATION movie, the Degrassi students venture to L.A. via school bus with hopes to score parts in Mewesical High, a musical directed by Jason Mewes (Clerks) under the mentorship of Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma). Paige (Lauren Collins), personal assistant to THE SHORES reality television star Hailey Montel (Mary Ashton), understands that in life you work from the ground up, but when Hollywood hands Paige a shortcut to fame and fortune, she jumps at the opportunity and takes Marco (Adamo Ruggiero) and Ellie (Stacey Farber) along for the ride. Back in Toronto, Manny (Cassie Steele) has immersed herself in her university theatre program and is committed to becoming an actor of substance. The star of Jay and Silent Bob Go Canadian, Eh?, Manny blows an opportunity to star in Mewes feature and then heads on a road trip to L.A. to win the role and realize her dream.

• In possibly the latest movie review ever, the New Orleans Examiner posted their review of JERSEY GIRL.

Let’s kick it off with a great one. Here’s your two leads, Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, “courtesy Accidental Sexiness”, which looks to be from a car interior out in public. Note in a few of the extra shots of Willis that there’s quite a crowd of onlookers. You gotta love that first one with the Morgan wince and the stoic Willis in shades. That shot alone just OOZES character.

Next up, this hilarious shot courtesy Gizmodo featuring Tracy Morgan in character. The pic’s caption author humorously notes that he prefers to think this is the way Morgan gets around the city normally. Good stuff. We’ve seen this pic floating around with ComingSoon.Net logos on it as well, so the origin is not 100% verified.

You might also want to head over to the awesome /Film where they’ve also compiled some photos along with a look at a crew member’s T-Shirt, suspiciously missing the “A” from the start of the title.

And last, but certainly not least, some exclusives here from fan Nicole, who stumbled onto the diner set where she was lucky enough to get glimpses of the leads and some face time with Mr. Smith himself. Take a peek at some candid shots from around the set outside the diner.

It’s just getting underway, folks — With just three days into shooting, it’s looking like we’ll have a much more public look at this production, which always gives us lots of excitement plenty to do around here. More to come!

Now then, let’s summarize a few of the recent tweets that may be of a News Askew-type interest to you:

• “Did (nearly) full-cast read-thru of the script today. Funny, funny stuff. Lucky to be joined by two way-talented DICKS.” (referring to the new cast signings of Brody & Scott).
• Kevin linked up a Comic-Con piece from last year regarding the panel he sat on with Apatow, Miller, & Snyder.
• On Friday morning, Kev promoted an appearance on radio program “Scott & Todd” in NYC that we hadn’t known about. If anyone sees the podcast goes up or has audio, let us know.

To follow Kevin on twitter, it’s simple, just hit twitter.com/ThatKevinSmith. You’ll enjoy his regularly changing background images there as well. You can also follow News Askew on twitter, where we post a tweet and direct link to each new story on the site as it goes live.

Help us sell out Carnegie Hall by spreading the word. If you’ve got a website, post up a link to us. If you’re on Twitter, tweet up a link or a promo. Do what you can to let folks know, especially here in the northeast, that the best show in town, the best place to be, will be Carnegie Hall, June 17th. You won’t be wrong.

Kevin Smith comes to Carnegie Hall, for an uncensored night of laughs & surprises. Do NOT miss it. Tickets are available, but we’re hoping for a sell-out, especially as the date draws closer and folks firm up their plans. Buy now for the best seats.