Adventure: “Live SModcast: Philadelphia, PA”
13 Jul
On June 21st, 2010, I had the great opportunity to watch Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier perform a live SModcast performance at the World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, PA. The Philadelphia show was part of the Live Nude SMod 2: The Wee, Wee Tour that spanned across the United States. For those who may not know, Kevin Smith is a film director and Scott Mosier is his long-time producer. Since 2007, they have been doing a weekly comedy podcast at Kevin Smith’s house discussing current events and off-the-wall topics.
I arrived at the building with much enthusiasm about an hour and a half before the 8:00pm start time and was able to successfully secure my place in line (I was the fourth person). While I was in line, I realized I made a poor mistake of not bringing my iPod along because there was literally nothing to do but look at the expensive merchandise table. While in line, I was able to put my name in a raffle for the chance to win the sponsor’s product that would be presented by both Kevin and Scott at the end of the show. While I didn’t care for the product, I figured I would throw my name in just for the chance to meet Kevin and Scott face to face. As time went on, more people started to arrive and the anticipation started to rise among the people in line.
Food was slightly overpriced, but wasn't half-bad
The moment finally arrived at 7:45pm when the staff started to let the people go inside the small theater. When I got inside the theater, I quickly secured a small table right in front of the stage. Within minutes, the theater quickly filled up and the World Cafe staff went to each table asking if we wanted anything to drink or off the menu. Since I didn’t have dinner, I figured I would get something to eat while I enjoyed the show. Looking through the menu I noticed that the prices were slightly overpriced, but since this was a special occasion I figured I would treat myself. I ordered Chicken fingers with French fries and it actually arrived at my table pretty quickly.
8:00pm finally arrived, but there was no sign of Kevin Smith or Scott Mosier on the stage. Idle chatter was in the air and the audience started to become impatient as the generic music started to repeat itself over the speakers. Out of nowhere, Kevin Smith walks across the stage to get on the other side. The crowd starts the cheer, but Kevin quickly puts his index finger to his mouth to silence the audience. About fifteen minutes later, the moment finally arrived and Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier approached the stage. They did not hesitate and went right into their signature introduction.
One of the first topics they decided to bring up was their first experience in Philadelphia. Kevin was an art camp as a child and Scott was when he attended a self-motivation seminar that Kevin recommended to him while they were both in post-production with Clerks. Without going into much detail, it was a humorous story and got the audience consistently laughing. Then they talked about their Philadelphia experience during the production of Jersey Girl. It was revealed that during the Philadelphia shoot of the film, Scott met his future wife who was Ben Affleck’s personal chef. This was in my opinion the highlight of the show with Scott trying to tell his side of the story and Kevin giving his signature commentary that made the room cry in laughter.
After a few more small topics, the show took a serious turn. Kevin then talked about the night his father died in Philadelphia. It was heart-warming and made me personally reflect on what I have and how easily it can be taken away. Since both of them stated out loud that they didn’t want to end the show on a sad note, they continued on and brought the room back to a positive vibe.
After an hour and forty-five minutes, the show finally came to a close. Kevin brought his mother (Grace Smith) onto the stage to pick out the five names from the basket of names to win the sponsor’s product and meet both him and Scott. Unfortunately, my name wasn’t chosen. As we exited the theater we were handed a free copy of Batman: The Widening Gyre Issue #1 that was signed by Kevin Smith. In the next couple days, I’m going to sell the comic book on eBay with all of the profits going towards an organization that’s helping with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Overall, I had an amazing time and it was definitely worth the ticket price. They are about to go on another tour called Live Nude Smod 3: The Southworst Tour and if you live near the region, I highly suggest checking them out if you enjoy their kind of humor.
Tags: Adventure, July 2010, Kevin Smith, Scott Mosier, Smodcast, World Cafe Live
This sounds like an experience you don’t forget. As much as I feel Kevin Smith’s films have taken a downward turn over the last few years, he’s a very funny, straight-forward, and down to earth speaker. I love his commentary tracks for Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Jay and Silent Bob.
wow, this sounds like a really great experience. Are you a Philly native? I am always there and actually headed there this weekend. Love it. I must admit that I am not a big fan of Smith and his overrated works (but was impressed with and enjoyed Dogma), but this does sound quite cool. He does seem like a man very in touch with his audience and very people-friendly.
I really liked Zach and Miri, didn’t care for Cop Out. Smith has always been true to his writing and seeing him take directorial duty over for a generic cop comedy was disappointing.
How awesome… can’t wait to download that one now that I know someone who was there!
I’ll admit the podcast has gone sort of downhill lately especially since Fleshlight became a sponsor. However, the live shows remain hilarious. Smith feeds better off an audience and is funnier than when he’s just stoned at home… and Mosier has gotten progressively more and more funny as the weeks go on!