Film director Kevin Smith’s bringing his unique comedy view to Hemmens in Elgin

Filmmaker and mega-multitasker Kevin Smith’s bringing his stand-up comedy/Q&A show to The Hemmens Cultural Center in Elgin on Friday, in part because he wanted to visit a town with a tie-in to a TV sitcom.

“It’s been a red-hot minute since I’ve been to Chicago (other than) for appearances in the city and Rosemont. So when Elgin popped up as a place looking to book me, I remembered that ‘Roseanne’ was set there,” Smith said.

While in town, Smith may also be looking for a vegan meal. After he had a heart attack in 2018, his daughter, Harley Quinn Smith, convinced him to give up meat and dairy. They now host “Vegan Abattoir,” a father-daughter podcast about plant-based diets, recipes and restaurant food set in greater Los Angeles, where they both live.

“(When I travel) I sometimes bring my own food. And I can always find Fritos and Oreos,” Smith said.

Smith has family ties to McHenry County, north of Elgin. When Smith was 9, his family took a train trip from New Jersey to see his Uncle Al Smith, who lived there.

“I was into acting and stuff, and my dad said my uncle was into acting too, so we’ll visit him,” Smith said.

Smith’s uncle died shortly before the release of “Clerks,” the film comedy that launched Smith’s career. In fact, Smith dedicated his debut movie to his uncle and in 2005 brought his live act to the Raue Center in Crystal Lake in his uncle’s honor and to raise money for the venue.

Back in the day, the loquacious Smith’s live comedy and Q&A sessions were legendary for going on for hours on end. These days, audiences can expect a tighter 90 minutes to two hours of material and chatting with the crowd.

For his 56th birthday in August, Smith performed his routine and his daughter’s band played for friends and family at The Starlight Cafe in Studio City.

“I consider my birthday a marketable holiday,” he said.

The cafe owners had a surprise for Smith — a burlesque act featuring a duo dressed as Jay and Silent Bob, the comic characters who debuted in “Clerks” and became the center of Smith’s View Askewniverse, with appearances in other films, TV shows, video games, comic books, animation and social media.

Smith plays Silent Bob, while childhood buddy Jason Mewes plays the rarely silent Jay.

“We became sort of the white Cheech & Chong,” Smith said.

The pairing almost didn’t happen as Smith initially planned to play Randal, the New Jersey convenience store clerk in “Clerks,” Smith said. But the chemistry between Smith and Mewes was too good to pass up and ultimately led to long careers managed by Mewes’ wife, Jordan Monsanto.

“Jason is a (expletive) man now and a great dad,” he said. “But in some ways he hasn’t changed. He has the vitality of a 14-year-old, still comes at things from a unique perspective and was the rocket sauce for launching things for us. (Actor) Alan Rickman called Jay an American icon, and Alan was an icon himself.”

You can catch the duo in a new video game later this year — “Jay and Silent Bob’s Joint Ventures,” in the summer comic book release, “Jay and Silent Bob: Jays of Future Past,” and even dancing together in videos to be found on Facebook.

In August, Smith signed copies of his comic miniseries “Spider-Man/Hulk: Fire & Brimstone” at Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, a 30-year-old comic book store in Red Bank, New Jersey, that Smith founded.

Smith also co-owns Smodcastle Cinemas, the movie house he haunted as a kid that now shows current releases and holds various film festivals and events, including a live reading of “Jaws” in August in which Smith played Matt Hooper, the marine biologist played by Richard Dreyfuss in the Spielberg classic.

In late September, Smith will return there to take part in “Clerks: Open All Night,” a marathon showing of his Clerks-related movies.

If that weren’t enough, Smith said he’s working on another book, another movie, a sequel script to his 1999 movie, “Dogma,” which starred Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and he and Mewes are voicing two really hungry coyotes in the fifth season of the animated Disney Channel series “Big City Greens.”

“I’m not a coyote person, but being in ‘Big City Greens’ gives Jay cred with his young kids,” Smith said.

Mike Danahey is a freelance reporter for The (Elgin) Courier-News.