If you’re a regular reader of the blog here (and probably even if you’re not a regular reader), you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Kevin Smith. Not only do I enjoy his movies, but his books, his podcast, Twitter, etc. I’ve often said that he’s the modern day George Carlin for the way he weaves words and that’s the biggest compliment that I can give him. Speaking of Carlin, one of the things that sets him apart in my mind is his stand up routine. If you’re a fan of Carlin’s stand up routines, you owe it to yourself to check out the Evening With series from Mr. Smith.
There are currently 3 versions of these stand ups, where Kevin takes questions from the audience and extrapolates his show from there. The first installment (An Evening With Kevin Smith) came out in 2002, followed by An Evening With Kevin Smith 2: Evening Harder in 2006 and Sold Out: A Threevening With Kevin Smith in 2008. All three installments are absolutely hilarious and cover a wide range of topics from comic books, sex, drugs, movie making and child rearing. As with Carlin, Smith’s language is definitely not for all audiences. If profanity offends you, stay the fuck away from this one (sorry… couldn’t resist).
All three of these are absolutely hysterical if you’re a fan of Smith’s body of work. The first was taken from a series of Q & A sessions done at college campuses in 2002 (Clark University, Cornell University, Indiana University, Kent State University and University of Wyoming if you’re interested). The second was filmed on location partially at Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto and partially at the Criterion Theatre in London. Finally, the third installment was filmed in Smith’s hometown in Red Bank, New Jersey on his 37th birthday. It’s also important to know that that these are LONG shows. All three are on multiple DVDs if you get them from Netflix… just wanted to make you aware in case you were looking for a short show. That being said, they’re segmented in such a way that if you need to pause and come back you certainly can.
Granted I’m a huge Smith fan, but I simply cannot recommend these highly enough. There is a supposed 4th installment in the works which I can’t wait for. Snoogins.
I never saw Evening 3. Evening 2 was really bad compared to the first installment.
It’s pretty good. It was filmed in England on two different evenings. Sames stuff from the first one. I also watched the 4th one (I think it’s called Too Fat To Fly) which was OK. What can I say… I’ll watch pretty much anything he puts out.
I’m out of the loop. I know “Hit Somebody” was supposed to be shot here in Detroit, but I never heard if they started production. Did it ever happen? And did you see “Red State”?
Also, have you seen “Vulgar”, “A Better Place” or “Drawing Flies”?
I actually haven’t seen Red State yet though I heard it was good. I saw “Vulgar” WAY back when. I don’t remember it all that well honestly, but I don’t really recall loving the flick. Not familiar with “A Better Place” or “Drawing Files” – worth looking into?