Full disclosure: I am quite a big Kevin Smith fan. That is, I was quite a big fan of Kevin Smith - I still remember how floored I was the first time a friend rented a goofy little flick called "Clerks" that was one of the most jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring moments in my cinematic viewing history. While I didn't live in a city big enough to catch "Mallrats" on the big screen, I devoured (and loved) it on video... and caught "Chasing Amy" in an art-house theatre. "Dogma" was another video release for me, "Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back" was in the theatre, "Jersey Girl" was on DVD, and I've also managed to collect the "Clerks" cartoon on DVD, associated View Askew flicks on DVD, etc, etc. When I took a trip to NYC a few years back, a 3 hour train ride to Red Bank, New Jersey was a day trip (with unenthused wife & sister in tow). I was nervous as all heck walking into the Secret Stash comic book store, as I was convinced either Jay or Kevin himself would be there (neither were, as it turned out).

However, something interesting happened recently - I stopped being a rabid Kevin Smith fan, and somehow lost the zeal (as well as the general interest) in his work. I thought to myself, "Maybe I'm just growing up and all the snoochie-boochie jokes just don't amuse anymore..." Yet, I had bought tickets to see Kevin Smith speak back in November, so when it was postponed until February, I knew I would still go and see my formerly-favourite director talk the talk...

So I lassooed a buddy of mine to accompany me to check out Mr. Smith and we headed down to the Jack Singer Concert Hall in downtown Calgary. Start time was 8:00pm and we strolled in about 7:30, had a whiskey pop, looked for the non-existent merchandise table, and then went in to take our seats. I knew I had managed to get front row seats (thanks to my wife), but the seating chart I'd looked up online a few months back put us in the very far left corner. However, we went to take our seats... and realized that we were indeed front row, but also 3 seats from dead-centre! I could not believe it - the fanboy in me returned, as I was about to be about 6 feet from Mr. Kevin Smith!

At 8:11pm, to rapturous applause, Kevin strolled out in his full regalia: "Hack" jersey #37, jean shorts, van slip-on shoes, and the actual Silent Bob jacket. Wow. It was a bit surreal, as he looked exactly like he always does, and somehow it didn't seem real - here he was, buddy to Ben Affleck, director of "Clerks", a man with a direct line to Harvey Weinstein - standing 6 feet in front of us! Unbelievable.

No surprise, but Kevin owned the crowd from the minute he walked on stage. Granted, anyone paying $60 (Canadian funds, or "coloured money" as Kevin called it) to hear a director talk, they're going to be fans, but I was truly impressed by how smooth the dude was. Granted, the evening was much more "A" as opposed to "Q & A" (as Kevin himself admitted), but he could talk and talk and talk and regale and entertain the entire time. He would take jokes and wise-cracks he made at 8:20pm and throw 'em back out at 11:20pm. Always quick with the quips, self-deprecating to many faults, and drop-down funny, he was a hoot to watch and had the audience in stitches all night.

Unfortunately, Jason Mewes ("Jay" from the many films) was not in attendance (publicity to the contrary), and we were told right from the onset that Alberta union rules mandated a 20 minute intermission and a 12:00 midnight curfew, so we knew we weren't going to tie the recent Indianapolis marathon for length of session. Thankfully, Kevin was great about this and got right to work telling stories and answering questions. About 20 people lined up to throw their best punches, but only about 7-8 actually got the opportunity to ask (did I mention this guy could talk? :)

Some highlights included:

• Kevin knew nothing about Calgary before coming up here (his sole Canadian experience being Toronto and Vancouver), but he did some research online before heading up and read about the Stampede, that one of the first escalators was installed at Eaton's in Calgary, and that the name of our hockey team has some apparently "non-heterosexual" conotations (hey, didn't we take the name of the American hockey team when they moved here?)
• his first penpal was some guy from Alberta who he met through the Star Wars Fan Club... and he told a great (and poignant) tale of his invention of a new weapon in the Star Wars universe: the Shock Stick!
• the telling of the infamous "Greasy" Reese Witherspoon and the personality traits (or lack thereof) that makes Kevin want to "throw some eggs at her house, have Ryan Philipe come running out without a shirt, tackle him and exclaim, "The guy from Clerks?!")
• Kevin's upcoming involvement in the Weinstein Company's animated feature "Doogal" (he voices a moose)
• a truly epic story involving a heartbroken Jennifer Lopez crying on Kevin's couch and then using the bathroom for a full 15 minutes.... with no toilet paper... and a missing hand towel after she had left
• the merciless zeal with which comic fanboys attacked Kevin for his 3 year hiatus in closing off the Spider-Man/Black Cat comic story (never mind the Daredevil/Bullseye one!)
• some wonderful stories about Ben Affleck and how he is currently in self-imposed "movie jail" (although he does have a one-line cameo in "Clerks 2")
• he does not shave his legs
• we got the full story on his recent anal fissure, including side-splittingly-funny stories involving jury duty, the proctologist, and the fine art of bowel movements
• we were all invited up to Edmonton for the next night's speaking engagement, to check out a sneak peak at "Clerks 2" (sadly, I did not make the trip, but would've loved to)

I walked away from the evening with a beaming smile and a renewed interest in Kevin & his work. It's not that I ever stopped liking it, I just kind of... moved away from it. While I thought his personal blog entries were a bit over-the-top and perhaps a bit too much over-indulgent, I gained a deeper appreciation for Kevin and his work tonight and realized that he truly is a great guy, a talented writer & director, and 100% appreciative of his fans and their unyielding support. I think I'm going to go revisit his film library again and await "Clerks 2" this summer...

For more information on Kevin Smith, check out the official View Askew web site, his personal blog, or the fantastic News Askew web site.