Over nearly 30 years as a professional filmmaker, Kevin Smith has felt a potent and direct connection with the city of Boston. Sure, being friends with two guys named Ben and Matt might help the cred, and the mutual disdain for New York found deep in his New Jersey heart doesn’t hurt either. But in all reality, the love affair between Silent Bob and not-so-silent Boston, oddly enough, is deeply rooted in a mutual fandom for Kevin Smith movies.
Although it may be dumb to assume, we assure you it will be much of the same case when Smith brings Clerks III to The Wilbur on Monday (December 5) as part of The Convenience Tour. Having occupied The Wilbur stage a multitude of times over the years, starting way back when brought the original Clerks classic to town in the mid-90s, Smith is feeling a bit of two-fold nostalgia, aside from his admiration for Boston starting at a young age as a super fan of Bobby Orr while juggling an allegiance to his hometown Devils. Having sold out the space plenty of times for a myriad of different reasons, the man in the purple suit coat and jorts knows what being able to do it again after all these years means for his career.
“There’s something in common [between Massachusetts and New Jersey], and I think because of that, Clerks played really well there early on,” Smith tells Vanyaland. “Later on, when we started working with Ben and Matt, that certainly bolstered our reputation, but now being able to keep going back to The Wilbur is great. This has to be the tenth or fifteenth time I’ve played that room, whether it’s been with a movie or with a podcast, or when it’s just been me up there by myself, and every time, it just makes you feel like a pro because it’s one of the greatest venues on the planet, and coming back makes me feel like I’m still relevant enough to book a gig here, and if I can get bodies into the seats, then I know I still matter in Massachusetts, and in the city of Boston.”
Since Smith initially released the latest chronicling of the happenings in that legendary Quick Stop back in September, fans have had plenty of opportunities to see it, but when it comes to the now-customary tours that he brings around the country, it easy to see what makes the setting so alluring.
And to be honest, it may not be a stretch to say that nobody has a better moment of bliss than Smith himself.
“When I look out there, it’s mostly old people around my age, but a lot of them are accompanied by 20-somethings, and I always wonder ‘what could you possibly get out of this old-men-crying-in-a-convenient-store movie?’” says Smith. “The answer is usually something about how they’ve watched these movies with their mom or dad since they were kids, and then I remember that there was probably some stuff that I watched when I was a kid that was probably too advanced for me. But it’s really nice to see multiple generations getting into it, with parents passing these movies on like a legacy, which means I won’t have to get a real job one day, thank Christ.”
The strategy of these presentations is as much of a financially smart move as it is a creative goldmine for an extrovert like Smith, and every time he hits the road, it gets better and better. The atmosphere of the room alone is an experience in and of itself, but when you factor in Smith’s personal intro and post-show Q&A (which often goes on longer than the film itself) bookending the presentation, the price means very little to those who want to be baptized in the church of Blunt Man.
“For the folks who are hardcore fans, this is the perfect way to watch the movie, and not just because I’m there, but because the room is packed with hardcore fans who have been there since the beginning and know every joke and reference,” says Smith. “The only people showing up to pay fifty bucks for a movie are people who feel religious about it, kind of like a Phish audience. When you come out to The Convenience Tour, it’s like going into a church where the guy up front is both the priest and Jesus at the same time. It’s a pretty religious experience.”
It wasn’t too long ago that Smith and his hetero life partner Jay Mewes brought Jay And Silent Bob Reboot to the city, but even just in that short amount of time, the vibe is different with the third installment of the cult classic (the Return Of The Jedi of View Askew lore, perhaps). Where there was a much more unhinged, rock and roll show reaction to the top-tier stoner heroes returning, the personal connections that Smith has witnessed and those that have been explained to him by fans over the years when it comes to the Clerks franchise cranks the intensity to 37, and Smith can’t think of a better way for fans to drink in the latest chapter than together.
“That ‘Roadshow’ tour was kind of like a celebration of the fact that I didn’t die from the heart attack, but after seeing the reaction on that tour, I remember thinking ‘what would happen if I brought a good movie next time?’ and that’s what Clerks 3 is,” says Smith. “It’s a fun movie and you can definitely party with it, but it’s also a movie where I can go ’hell yeah, I survived, now let’s go and meditate.’ And while we give people the comedy they’re looking for, it’s also partly the most emotional movie you’ve ever seen, and that’s the weird surprise of this flick. I’ve been telling people to bring tissues, for all sorts of fluids, because you’re going to jizz because it’s so funny, and then you’re going to fuckin’ cry because, oddly enough, it’s pretty emotional.”
Having always been one to downplay his contributions to film and pop culture, Smith has had to learn how to embrace the many different perspectives and outlooks that so many people have about his art. Not to mention, as a fellow Kevin Smith fan, he does get it. But to see just how long the tail of meaning is what baffles the bell out of the man.
“When I started out, I wasn’t thinking about anybody else. I was just making movies for myself, but over the years, you meet people who say things about the movies that are profound and jaw-dropping,” says Smith. “It used to be people saying ‘I love Clerks, man. Thirty-Seven dicks!’ but now it’s ‘I love Clerks, because that’s the movie my mom was watching while she was dying of cancer and it was the only thing that could make her laugh, and it reminds me of her every time I watch it,’ and that shit is heavy. The guy who made the movie certainly never thought that would ever be a compliment he would get. You learn that the movies become something much more to everyone, and it doesn’t matter why you made them. At the end of the day, people are going to make those movies what they’re going to make of them.”
As the Convenience Tour was being mapped out, there was a moment where it seemed like the chance to bring the film to Boston was a withering flame. But after so many visits to the city over the years to get in deep with his loyal and often boisterous fans, it didn’t feel right to pass up the next one, so Smith pushed for a date by any means necessary. Now, as the tour draws to a close, Smith is feeling right at home with a proper return to one of the first cities that helped get the freight train that has become of the View Askewniverse in motion, and he couldn’t be happier.
“It’s not a tour unless I’ve brought it to Boston. I came to Boston with Clerks, with Chasing Amy, Dogma, and Reboot. It’s just one of the major watershed moments of every movie I’ve done. The city really means so much to me, and of course Ben and Matt help, but my connection to the city goes even farther before I ever met those boys. The city embraced me and made me feel like I was a legit filmmaker in 1994, so not being able to come back with this one just didn’t make sense to me.”
‘CLERKS 3′: THE CONVENIENCE TOUR WITH KEVIN SMITH :: Monday, December 5 at The Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St. in Boston, MA :: 7 p.m. :: Tickets are $46 to $56