Kevin Smith at the Orpheum Theatre
Over the weekend we attended a Q&A/stand-up comedy with Kevin Smith. For those of you who are more fashion junkies and less film fanatics, Smith is the director of movies such as Mallrats, Clerks, Chasing Amy and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, among others. For those of you who have seen the movies, you can appreciate that Kevin Smith is much more my boyfriend’s cup of tea than my own. The humor tends to be fairly vulgar, and thus, not up my alley. So while I’ve seen most of his movies, they’re not the type of flicks I would watch multiple times of my own volition. And thus, I would not consider myself a fan. The boyf, however, treated these movies as his Bible growing up. I have to admit; however, that I left the Q and A with a much deeper appreciation for the man behind Dogma and Zach and Miri Make a Porno.
The setup.
The funny man himself.
Smith was a great entertainer. This is what he wore to the LA event. Jean shorts, sneaks and a sweatshirt.
Here’s the thing. I try to not judge others on what they wear, but the boyf. and I have a inside joke about men wearing jean shorts. So when his hero stepped on stage suited up in the longest pair of jean shorts I’d ever seen….well….let’s just say I had to log some photos for the boyfriend’s scrapbook. And then…..AND THEN…..
Around thirty minutes into the show, K Smith decided to change into this. Yes, you’re looking at it. A bathrobe. But you know what, it was late, and really, I shouldn’t judge because by this point I was definitely rocking a hoodie myself. Plus, I mean, really it was sort of the funny.
Here is the boyf. and our friends listening to Mr. Smith.
I’m still not going to go ahead and call myself a fan, but I WILL close with a bullet point summary as to why I now admire the man. Things I liked about the show:
- He spent about 45 minutes talking about Wayne Gretzky. And it’s not that I’m in love with Gretzky, or hockey, for that matter. But I like listening to stories about famous athletes, their upbringing/parents, and their dedication to their sport. K Smith chatted incessantly about the lessons he’d learned via the documentary on the great Gretzky’s life. His admiration cumulated in the quote by Wayne’s father: “Don’t go where the puck is; go where the puck’s going to be.”
- I was also a little surprised and impressed by K Smith’s unrepentant honesty. He never tried to justify or make excuses for movies that he considered “mistakes.” (ahem, Jersey Girl). He spoke candidly about his reasons for making Zach and Miri, and continued by concluding he had done that movie for all the wrong reasons (in short, he confessed, he was trying to stay “relevant” and compete with Judd Apetow’s fan base). K Smith didn’t try to hide anything- he let us spoke to us from his heart, as a real person, without obstructing any of the embarrassing facts that make him more human and less famous director.
- So that’s really it, I guess. Just two bullet points, but they’re big bullet points, in my book. While I didn’t enter the Q and A as a Kevin Smith fan or follower, and really didn’t leave as one either, I did gain an enormous respect for the man who is willing to own up to his mistakes and confess them publicly. It takes a big person to admit one’s own mistakes, especially to one’s own self. And hopefully, that is a lesson that I can (shockingly?) learn from Kevin Smith. Oh, and also: Don’t go where the puck is. Go where the puck’s going to be.
