My pal Chris Ward and I went to see Kevin Smith’s Live From Behind last night at the Regal Green Hills 16. For those that don’t know, it was a 3 hour laugh fest that was broadcast live from Toronto, Ontario to hundreds of theaters across North America. Our theater was one of 2 in Nashville that hosted the event, and if you have never watched a live event on a movie screen, you should try it. It’s the next best thing to actually being at the event.

If you follow Kevin Smith at all, you know he is an out of the box thinker when it comes to presenting his brand of storytelling. It works really well because he understands better than most in entertainment how to best reach his fans. He offers them value for their money, while at the same time allowing them to be a part of the show. In the case of Live From Behind, the audiences at theaters around North America were encouraged to tweet in their questions with the hashtag #livefrombehind. He and Jason Mewes answered as many questions as they could within the allotted time, both from the live audience in Toronto and from Twitter.

The show was broken into two parts. Part 1 was a live Smodcast featuring he and Mewes. The second part was the Q & A. If you don’t regularly follow Mr. Smith, he has created a network of podcasts that feature he and his associates (his wife too) talking about everything from the very deep to the very banal. He calls them Smodcasts, and they have developed quite a following.

The Smodcast portion of the show was very funny, with only a few slower moments. Those were typically during the parts when Kevin and Jason descended into those personal interactions that only they  really understand. It is essentially the same type of thing that happens when we get with old friends, and you have that little language that only you understand. To the outside world, it makes little sense. It’s not at all a bad thing. This portion of the show was at its best when they were telling stories about their everyday lives.

The second part of the show was the Q & A portion. Chris and I saw Kevin in Lexington at the University of Kentucky several years ago, and we have watched several of the DVD recordings of his other Q & A’s. Quite simply, they are hilarious. Just remember, they can be rather blue, so if you are faint of heart, you might want to see something else. Otherwise, if you haven’t seen one before, I highly recommend it.

It really was a good time, and I’m sure it was made even better because we were in a movie theater with other Kevin Smith fans. The communal laughter really added to the feeling of almost being there live. Hopefully other entertainers will look for new and innovative ways to connect with people. This type of engagement makes for an incredibly fun time.

I’m sure Kevin is glad this is starting to lose steam. He’s provided some more final thoughts with the series of video clips below. You should also listen to the new Smodcast he did with the girl that sat next to him on the last flight. It’s quite good.

Stark Toons did it again. Here’s another hilarious animated clip of the SModcast podcast.

Anyone who reads this space is well aware of my affinity for Kevin Smith. He and his longtime producer, Scott Mosier, have a podcast called SModcast. Some creative folks animated a clip from SModcast. I hope you enjoy. BTW, there is some salty language.

Here is the Kevin Pollak Chat Show interview with Kevin Smith. It was quite good. Remember, you can download this in iTunes’ podcast section.