By Michelle Kramer-Fitzgerald
Any Gen X-er worth their salt is likely both familiar with and a celebrant of the hilarious cinematic world that writer-director-actor Kevin Smith has toured us through over his now 30-year career. From his emergence in the ’90s with the smash cult classic Clerks, to his recent release, The 4:30 Movie, Smith has created iconic characters, massively quotable dialogue, and has held a mirror to collective experiences from the agony of dull jobs to pop culture nostalgia and even religion.
Now, Smith and his longtime co-star and “hetero lifemate” Jay Mewes, are back on the road talking about making movies, cracking dad jokes, and being middle-aged kids. Their Jay and Silent Bob: The Aural Sects Tour arrives at The Grand on February 8.
We caught up with Smith during the tour to get a peek into the world of Jay & Silent Bob’s creator and half of their alter ego.
O&A You’ve worked with many beloved pop culture icons (Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, George Carlin). Who might you like to add to that list that you haven’t yet?
Smith: I’d love to say Bill Murray, although I know it can be tough to nail him down for projects. Also, wow, would I love a chance to work with Harrison Ford. I’m so fortunate to work with people I adore. It’s not beneath me to ‘geek out’ on the chance to work with icons from my childhood.
O&A: Which character in the Kevin Smith Askewniverse is your favorite and why?
Smith: Well, you know that Dante is basically modeled after me and my experiences. But my favorite character’s journey is Randal. Randal is the epitope of a true manchild. Throughout the arc of the Clerks series, I got to grow him emotionally, which was a really fun thing to explore.
O&A: We’re excited about the “return” of Dogma*. Do you have plans for a re-release or a “celebration tour”?
Smith: You hit the nail on the head! [LAUGHS] Like any good religion or church, we’re gonna milk this for every penny it’s worth now that we have it back. We’ll take it out much like Clerks and the Jay & Silent Bob Reboot — probably a 50-60 city tour, showing the film with a Q&A.
I love taking the movies out on tour; it’s like going to a church where you’ve both the priest and Jesus. And with Dogma, it will feel even moreso. So, we’ll take it out next year, it will be available on streaming, and we’ve even started talking about what a sequel might look like. But I’m being really careful about what a follow-up might look like. I don’t know that I could do a direct sequel, so to speak. The world can only end once.
*Until recently, the movie Dogma was unavailable to watch due to rights issues with the Weinstein brothers, who owned the film and prevented its widespread distribution on streaming platforms. Smith has recently regained control of the rights.
O&A: Your style — elevating the cult film genre, relatable characters and plotlines, staying true to your artistic choices — has had a real impact on emerging filmmakers. How do you feel about being an influencer in that way?
Smith: I absolutely adore it. It’s nothing I ever thought about at the beginning. You know, starting the journey it’s very selfish — “I want to make a movie!” — and I’m so lucky I’ve gotten to do it now for three decades.
Serving as inspiration for another artist is an honor that I’ll gleefully carry, because some other artist did it for me. (Smith has said that seeing Richard Linklater’s Slacker “…made all my [expletive] possible.”)
I know that Clerks has launched thousands of ‘artistic ships’ as well. I love that I’m part of the conversation, even if I’m not a current part of the conversation. Knowing that some of my art has made people start their own journeys, oh, that means everything to me. That means I was serious; I wasn’t a fluke.
O&A: You’re a filmmaker who has a strong connection to your fans and an army of loyal followers. To what do you attribute that?
Smith: I really fostered that relationship. I have fans who might have liked my work, but I formed a relationship so they could reach beyond the work. The work can disappoint you, you know, but if [you’re] engaged [with the audience], you can’t let them down.
I’m still entranced by the notion of being able to talk to the people that buy tickets. That’s captured my imagination from Day One. I gotta know who that person is that picked us over this or that.
My audience has very much empowered me. For all I’ve given to them, they’ve given me back a thousandfold. They’re this invisible army that’s always at my back when I go to pitch something. So, thank God for my audience!
O&A: Given that Clerks was loosely based on Beckett’s Waiting for Godot, would you ever consider a project in theater?
Smith: Oh, yeah. God damn! In a heartbeat! I was a theater kid in high school. You’re talking to the guy who played Kenickie in Grease and Rocky in Damn Yankees. Before we did Clerks 3, I was pitching it [to Clerks co-star Jeff Anderson] as a live show, where we would paint everybody monochromatically. And he was like, ‘I think you need to stop smoking weed.’ So, it became a movie instead.
I do feel one day I’ll wind up doing a theater thing. In America, I own the live theatrical rights of Clerks. I can do a Clerks musical or a Clerks Broadway show or, you know, just theatrical presentation. I will get Clerks on a stage sooner or later.
One of the things I’m most interested in lately — I’ll be honest with you — is reminding Gen X of the fact that there are less years in front of us than behind us at this point. My job has always been to distract the audience from their imminent death. But as a member of that audience, I feel it’s my duty to be like, hey, kids, get ready. Here’s your [expletive] five-minute warning.
O&A: What’s the most oft-quoted line from your movies that people throw at you?
Smith: The one that I get the most, hands down, is ‘What’s a Nubian?’ which is from Chasing Amy. I do a lot of Q&As, and invariably, somebody will raise their hand or be at the mic and they’re like: ‘What’s a Nubian?’ and then there’s a polite chuckle.
O&A: What movie do you wish you had made? And you can’t say The Empire Strikes Back.
Smith: Oh, God, no, I couldn’t make that! I’m not talented enough. There’s not a lot of movies that I see that I go like, man, I wish I’d made that. I do love this movie, A Man for All Seasons, which won the Academy Award in 1969, but nobody knows it anymore. Once in a while, I whimsy that if nobody else is going to do it, maybe I should remake it.
There is one thing that I do really go, ‘[expletive], that should have been me.’ Have you ever seen the Harley Quinn cartoon? DC superheroes cursing their heads off feels like a missed opportunity in my world. I’m baffled how that never occurred to me.
O&A: Because you’re such a Batman guy, who’s the best Batman in your opinion?
Smith: That’s easy. Kevin Conroy (who voiced the character in Batman: The Animated Series). He’s had the most screen time with the character, and he never had to put on a goofy costume or anything like that.
I also lean heavily toward Michael Keaton’s Batman because he was ‘our’ Batman — the one that we were like, oh my god, they’re treating him seriously.
But that being said, my Batman was truly Adam West. He was my very first Batman. You eventually come to realize there’s room for every interpretation. They all work.
O&A: So, let us ask you, Gen Xer. What three movies would you say define your childhood?
Smith: I would definitely say the original Star Wars trilogy; they marked my entire childhood. I’m always looking for some kind of three-act structure to make sense of everything. Even in life. Star Wars emerged when I was 7 years old. The Empire Strikes Back comes out a couple of years later, when I’m 10 or 11. And then Return of the Jedi comes out, and I’m a teenager. After I saw Return of the Jedi, I was so depressed that the story was over, that it was the end. If I only knew then what we know now!
O&A: You’ve created fun spaces in your home state of New Jersey — Smodcastle Cinemas, Jay & Silent Bob’s Secret Stash Comic Book Store. Anything else in the works?
Smith: I mean, the comic book store is about to start year 28, which is so cool for a brick and mortar. Smodcastle is absolutely my heart, and it’s so awesome to have a home stage where you can just feel like putting on a show or play one of the old movies.
I honestly feel there’s a Mooby’s** in me, but restaurant margins are razor thin. But it would be so awesome to sell a chicken sandwich called the Cock Smoker. I don’t know if it’s reason enough to have an entire restaurant…but it is. [LAUGHS]
Nothing I’m ever going to hardcore pursue, but there’s a motel near [Smodcastle Cinemas] called the Leonardo Motel with a big old neon sign, maybe 10 rooms. I dream that I would turn that into a themed motel. Like, “Hey, man, you’re in the ‘Clerk’s’ room tonight. You’re in the ‘Yoga Hosers’ suite tonight.” That’d be dope.
**Mooby’s is the fictional fast-food chain that has been a staple in many Kevin Smith projects.
O&A: So let’s talk about the Aural Sects Tour. What can we expect?
Smith: Finally…you’re the first one to say it out loud! [LAUGHS]. Yes, I should explain it. It means, like, a talking tribe, man. A bunch of people who talk. And that’s all we do now. You know, you’re just trying to make a dirty joke. And, if we can accomplish two things at once, the fun begins before the audience even gets into the theater. If we’re telling you in the name of the tour to expect dad jokes, then there you go. You can’t show up and be shocked when we make a bunch of dad jokes.
For over a decade now, we’ve been doing ‘Jay and Silent Bob Get Old’ like a live show, podcast, and whatnot. We kicked it off chiefly because [Jay] was getting sober, and it was a tool we were using for his sobriety.
We’re kind of building the show now. We do live readings of scenes — I’ll write new scenes or choose scenes that I pull out of a flick. Like, ‘this was going to be in the new Jay and Silent Bob movie, but it’s not good enough.’ So, let’s do it here… And we bring up people from the audience, and they get to act as well.
When we first started doing live shows, it was me showing [Jay] the ropes. But for the last 5, 10 years when I couldn’t do a show, Jay would go on the road himself. Over that time, he’s become an excellent raconteur. It’s a joy to go out with him. We do a 90-minute to 2-hour show, and everyone seems to have a good time. I think some people just show up to look at us and go, ‘I can’t believe these [expletive] are still alive!’
O&A: Since this will run in February…What’s the most romantic thing you’ve ever done?
Smith: I mean, I’ve made whole-ass movies for people, that’s for sure. [Smith’s wife, actress Jennifer Schwalbach] always complains, ‘…you never made a movie for me.’
But here’s the thing that she says, to this day, is the most romantic thing: We moved out of our house almost two years ago, and she loved that house. There was a chance for me to get us back into that house. I pulled it off, but that ain’t the romantic thing. The romantic thing is that when we returned, I said ‘hold on’ …and picked her up and carried her across the threshold. She still talks about that.
Pick One with Kevin Smith
Philly cheesesteak or New York style pizza? PHILLY CHEESESTEAK
Pork roll or scrapple? PORK ROLL
Bluntman & Chronic or Jay & Silent Bob? JAY & SILENT BOB
Mooby’s* or McDonalds? MOOBY’S
The ‘80s or The ‘90s? THE ‘80s
Holden McNeil or Banky Edwards? HOLDEN MCNEIL
JJ Abrams or George Lucas? GEORGE LUCAS
Movies or comic books? MOVIES
Jersey or California? JERSEY
Above: Kevin Smith (l) with co-star Jay Mewes. Photo by Jessica Montgomery.