An Intermewes: A Q&A w/ Jason Mewes

Jason Mewes. You all know him as the lovable trash-talking jester in the duo of Jay and Silent Bob. He has made appearances in Clerks, Dogma, Mallrats, and among many other cinematic romps. And although there aren’t going to be anymore Jay and Silent Bob movies, they live on in audio form on SModcast Internet Radio (S.I.R.).

Mewes took some time to answer a few of my questions. Being from New Jersey myself, Jason Mewes is a bit of a legend and I was quite nervous giving him a call that morning. But, all my qualms were laid to rest when he answered the phone with a resounding, “HELLLLOOOOO!”

How has it been collaborating with Kevin to get S.I.R. off the ground? Weekly podcasts are one thing but a whole radio station has to be a whole new beast.

It has been a lot of fun. I’ve been digging it. Credit goes to my wife Jordan. Jordan and Kevin go back and forth on iChat with ideas and sort of get everything going. There are also the interns that work on the technical stuff. It really is a team collaboration with Kevin’s assistant Megan and her fiance too. I try to come up with ideas that Kevin hates. I know he hates them but I try to just stick them into the live show anyway. But, I really have been enjoying it. They actually had me set up here in the old copy room of a school so we could stream the show while I’m here in Canada filming. But yeah, really enjoy it.

Now, I’ve heard I can see Jay and Silent Bob get old right before my eyes at the Jon Lovitz Theater. What’s it like recording in front of an audience?

Jay and Silent Bob Get Old was born in front of a audience. Having people there helps us. I get to feed off of the energy of the crowd and be animated. For segments at the end of the show like Let Us Act or Let Us Fuck we pull people out of the audience. I like it. There is pressure, a small amount of it. It isn’t like at home where we can pause the recording and gather your thoughts. You have to be entertaining through the whole hour. You have to make sure that you have stuff to talk about. But, I feed off the audience and I wouldn’t have it another way.

How did it feel closing the doors to the SModcastle and moving to the Jon Lovitz Theater?

I definitely liked the SModcastle. It was where we started. The setup was nice and there was an intimacy to it. But the Jon Lovitz theater is great. People can grab food and a drink. I like that it is a bigger room. The SModcastle had like 50 seats but now there is 200 to 250 seats at the theater. It means more people can get in and enjoy the show. We also have a DJ now so when we do Let Us Act or Let Us Fuck we get to have music and sound effects.

I saw you a few weeks ago on G4 wandering around the E3 convention. First of all, I’m super jealous. Second, what was your highlights of the convention?

I got to play Modern Warfare 3. Just a tidbit. But it was awesome. I’m all about Call of Duty and Modern Warfare 3 was great. I got to be hands on with the PSP Vita and the new Wii controller. It is different than Comic-Con but I love big conventions and E3 was amazing. I remember I went with Kevin up to New York for a comic convention when I was around 15. It was in the basement of this church. It was great. There were comics everywhere. There is also FanExpo in Canada which is awesome too.

What are some of your upcoming projects?

Season 2 of Todd and the Book of Pure Evil… premieres on Fearnet August 2nd in the US. Then I am in a movie called K-11 with Kristin Stewart’s Mom. It is about prisoners that can’t be with the general population like Charlie Sheen. It is about a record producer in jail and I play a prisoner.

—

Check out Jason on Jay and Silent Bob Get Old and Jay and Silent Bob Get Jobs at SModcast.com. Hou can also catch him on the Jay and Silent Bob Get Old Tour.