An Evening with Kevin Smith

Kevin Smith is the writer and director of the films Clerks, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and Jersey Girl. Also, he produced and is mostly responsible for Good Will Hunting getting made at all. Fans know he plays "Silent Bob" in all of his flicks except Jersey Girl.

But that's all beside the point.

Kevin Smith is one of the FuNNieST SOBs I've had the pleasure to see speak. Not personally, mind you, but seeing him speak in person is now on my "to do before I die" list. Luckily, someone else realized this and put out a DVD set of a lecture tour of universities Smith did recently.

<Valley Girl Accent>OH. MY. GAH-AWD!</Valley Girl Accent> Besides the fact that Smith is a consummate storyteller - almost in the Bill Cosby stratosphere of gifted - he never ever pulls a punch or glosses over embarrassing details. He names names, blames himself as quickly as he points out the idiocy of others, and is a savant at managing a crowd. I have never seen anything quite like it.

I put this sucker on just to casually check it out, kinds preview it for viewing later when I had more time, and I ended up staying up until 1:00 AM on a worknight, laughing my ass off. Of the many topics he covers, the best are:

1. His being hired to write the script to the new Superman movie, and the hilarity that results.
2. Being hired by the artist once again known as Prince to do a documentary, and coming back with weird scenes from the goldmine. I knew Prince was insane, I just didn't realize the sheer extent of his insanity.
3. The first time he had sex with his wife, which became a journey through the very pit of pain itself because he was sporting an egregious penis wound she had unknowingly given him during foreplay.

The lectures were spliced into about 4 hours of sheer entertainment, and I haven't had a better time in front of the tube this summer. Do check out An Evening with Kevin Smith, mang.