Features

Enlarge Image

Jay and Silent Bob: BFFs (PROVIDED PHOTO)

"When I was younger, that character was me," declares gravel-voiced Jason Mewes of the character he made famous in 1993 indie comedy Clerks. By contrast, director Kevin Smith — who played Jay’s eternal sidekick Silent Bob — "actually talks and stuff."
   
Still, the title of the real-life friends’ present tour, Jay & Silent Bob Get Old, which hits the Burton Cummings Theatre on Dec. 11, remains appropriate.
   
"Our relationship is the same," says Mewes, who also stars in the Space channel series Todd and the Book of Pure Evil, shot here in Winnipeg. Certainly their characters’ onscreen relationship has proven durable; the duo reappeared in Smith’s subsequent films Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997) and Dogma (1999), and were at the centre of Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back (2001).
   
Now, the offscreen banter between Mewes and Smith is the focal point of their live show, based on a podcast of the same name on SModcast, a collective podcast website co-developed by Smith.
   
"It does hit me every once in a while that it’s been almost 20 years since Clerks," Mewes says. "But my friendship with Kevin has lasted — and with what I’ve put him through over the years, that’s amazing."
   
Two guys talking about their friendship is, in essence, the whole show. "We talk about our adventures being friends," Mewes says. "And everything we talk about is real, whether it’s about the first time we met, or the first time I pooped my pants. Or when I shat myself one time having sex."
   
It’s precisely the casual, unscripted nature of the presentation that makes it special. "It’s like one of our podcasts, but live. I have no notes, everything’s off the top of my head. And we’ve even been interacting with audiences. No show’s been the same."
 
Which is why Mewes likes it. "Just listening to people laugh, laugh, laugh is fantastic. Playing to a crowd makes me work harder to please, and the applause feels awesome. I love entertaining people.
 
"I’ve been drawing upon any past experiences with any respective city," he continues. "So, for instance, a girl who recognized me at a sporting-goods store in Polo Park might make it into the show, who knows?"
   
For the Winnipeg stop, Mewes does have some stories in mind from the Todd and the Book of Pure Evil set. "I really hope they do Season 3," he says. "I’ve had a great time."
   
And it’s so great, he concludes, to travel for work with friends. "I hate flying, but I love being on a tour bus every day," he says. "We watch TV, we play video games and we have a great time."
   
The live show, then, could be considered a chance to join in.
 

JAY AND SILENT BOB GET OLD
Dec. 11, Burton Cummings Theatre