For someone who became a household name as ‘Silent Bob’, Kevin Smith once again shows his incapability to shut the fuck up as he takes to the stage to gab away in front of sell-out crowds for four hours. This time he’s in the UK (Manchester, London and Edinburgh) and has hetero life-mate Jason ‘Jay’ Mewes in tow. Unlike previous Smith stage performances though, this isn’t yet another standard Q&A – it’s a filming of one of his increasingly famous podcasts (fans should recognise it as being from the SModcast family) entitled ‘Jay & Silent Bob Get Old’.
Envisioned as a way for Smith to keep Mewes in check with regards to previous substance abuse, J&SBGO has proven incredibly popular amongst Smith’s legion of devotees due mainly to Mewes’ and Smith’s foul-mouthed repartee. Teabagging In The UK does nothing to stray from convention. Here Mewes dishes out tales of sexual depravity with superb timing and candidness while maintaining a touch of idiotic innocence that stops it from feeling unnecessarily crude.
Instead he comes across incredibly likeable and riotously funny with flashes of insightful genius. As for Smith, he once again proves to be an amazing storyteller and phenomenal anecdotalist – so much so, in fact, that the four hour run-time sails by in the blink of an eye. He’s a born yarn-spinner (hence his turn towards podcasting in the past few years) and his knack for painting a word-picture works brilliantly with Mewes at his side, spouting tales about his dick while sporting a massive grin on his mug.
Still, if you’re not a fan of Smith’s films, then this simply won’t appeal. If you dug Clerks, however, you’re pretty much guaranteed to adore this dose of candid brilliance. It’s a shame there’s only a few bonus sketches as extras, but when the set features four hours of content, it’s tough to grumble.
Overall verdict: Another incredible, unscripted few hours of anecdotal brilliance from one of the world’s funniest filmmakers.
Special Features:
Bonus sketches
Reviewer: Jordan Brown