Every generation seems to have its own epic storyteller- humorist. In the early 20th century, Will Rogers entertained as a shy satirist, a cowboy making observations about society and politics; he starred in the Ziegfeld Follies for over ten years. For twenty-one years, from 1956 to 1977, Jean Shepherd filled the night’s airwaves on WOR in New York City with droll stories of his childhood. I was lucky to have attended one of his live performances while in college; he was even better in person. And then there’s Kevin Smith. He’s a screenwriter, director, actor, and inveterate teller of tales about his personal life and his experiences in the film industry. His scatological patter is laced with f-bombs used as nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, exclamations… and he never fails to amuse me.

On the occasion of his 37th birthday, August 2nd of 2007, he appeared before a sold out house in a large theater very near the hospital where he was born in Southern New Jersey. He’s introduced by his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith and eight-year-old daughter, Harley Quinn Smith (yes, the Smiths named their daughter after The Joker’s sidekick). Smith strolls onstage to a thunderous reception as one of the production’s cameras sweeps over the audience revealing many empty seats. Don’t be fooled; this is a sold out performance. Lined up in the left and right aisles are dozens of fans eager to stand in front of a microphone to ask a question and, too frequently, attempt humor with unfunny outrageousness. Smith’s signature live performance style is a Q&A format; this is his third to be released on DVD.

He’s dressed in his usual uniform: bulky jeans cut off to Capri length exposing his sockless ankles and funky sneakers, and an ankle-length overcoat to camouflage what seems to have become an unhealthy girth (between his addiction to nicotine and food, I fear for his longevity). Onstage is a stool with a pile of terrycloth towels and a couple of battles of water; overdressed, he’ll sweat profusely and replace water throughout his performance. He sprints from the gate; to eager applause and laughter he begins with “…that’s the woman I get to f%@k…” The audience is primed and ready. He offers a few funny remarks about his birthday and the occasion, but quickly opens the floor to questions. I felt very sorry for the audience members lined up behind the two microphones; almost all will spend the entire concert performance standing in the aisles, never even coming close to asking their questions.

This is because Smith has the wonderful ability to deliver a disproportionately long riff inspired by a question. The very first fan asks if he had ever considered making a movie suitable for children, since he’s now a father. The short answer is no. The long answer is a nearly hour-long epic tale of cat ownership as a child and dog ownership as an adult. He describes how three Labrador Retrievers and one miniature Dachshund came into the Smith household. He dwells on the sex lives of the dogs and depicts in great detail an unlikely coupling.

Such long responses are typical. Three other lengthy highlights are his experiences on the set of Die Hard 4 and about Bruce Willis in particular, the experience of shooting Clerks 2, and his being afflicted with a painful anal fissure and being called for jury duty in Los Angeles. Outrageous, foul- mouthed, self-deprecating, and seemingly incapable of embarrassment, I never stopped smiling or laughing. And there is much to amuse.

The first disc has 2:05:27 worth of material organized as twenty-one chapters. The second disc has 1:35:21 worth of material and is organized into an additional thirteen chapters. And then there is a collection of nineteen additional Q&As as a bonus; they have a runtime of 1:14:07. That’s a total of just a few minutes shy of five hours. Readily available for under $14, if you love Kevin Smith’s live performances, this is a great disc set at a great value.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The 1.78:1 anamorphic video is unremarkable but totally adequate for the material. There may have been up to a half dozen cameras, one on a conspicuous boom, several on Steadicam rigs, perhaps one on a dolly, and perhaps one on a track. It’s common for one or more cameras to be onscreen. The editor makes sure that the viewer never misses any of Smith’s droll mugging or body language. Color is fine, flesh tone is fine, shadow detail is not an issue on the well-lit stage, and the video dynamic range is completely acceptable. There are minor halos that run throughout, but I saw no macroblocking or mosquito noise.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

There is only one track on each of these discs; it’s in simple stereo. Would having audience reactions envelop the viewer add to the pleasure of the disc? Perhaps. Did having the audio anchored firmly in the front of the theater diminish my enjoyment? Not a bit. The track is totally adequate to convey what is essentially an extended monologue. I will only mention that from time to time, the amplitude drops (but not to the point of unintelligibility), either because Smith lowers the hand- held microphone or someone at the console screwed up. Why the DVD’s producers didn’t have the sound mixer ride the gain control for a more consistent level, I can’t speculate.

The optional subtitles are in English SDH and Spanish.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

As I mentioned in the body of the review, there are bonus Q&As with an aggregate runtime of about an hour and a quarter.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

None are included on this disc.