New Releases: Kevin Smith – Too Fat For 40 and SModimations DVDs

Do you like to listen to Kevin Smith talk about nerdy things but feel that there’s something missing when you do? Would it help if you got to WATCH him talk about nerdy things? Does that kind of thing get you hot? Well, Shout! Factory has you covered. Today marks the release of 2 new Kevin Smith releases: Too Fat For 40 on DVD and Blu-Ray and SModimations: Season One on DVD.

Whenever I’ve gotten to see Kevin speak at Comic-Con or similar events, it’s always been a blast, because he’s the consummate geek storyteller. He knows how to spin a yarn. A yarn usually comprised of profanity and dick jokes, usually at Ben Affleck‘s expense. The man loves to talk and it’s clear that Smith has no qualms about showing off his Hitchcockian curves on camera when he does it. Yes, Smith’s size is the quick and easy bit of self-deprecating humor strung throughout all of his performances, so it’s no surprise that his 40th birthday stand up routine is truthfully titled Too Fat For 40. I’ve met the man a few times over the years and he’s never seemed that huge to me, but after watching this movie, it appears the hockey jersey store where he buys his wardrobe is soon going to run out of X’s when it comes to tagging the sizes. They say that the camera adds 10 pounds, but if that’s the case, there must me like twenty cameras on him throughout his performance.

Sorry. I kid, but after a few hours of watching his self-bashing but funny routines, it’s hard not to make your own fat jokes, just in the unlikely event that he missed any.

Too Fat For 40 takes place on stage in his home town of Red Bank, New Jersey in front of friends, family (including his mom), and thousands of fans. Kevin covers everything from working with Bruce Willis to getting kicked off of Southwest for being too fat and every other geeky corner of his life during his sweaty 3 and a half hour uncut tirade. I hate to say that he’s doing stand up comedy, because it doesn’t feel like he’s telling jokes. He’s telling elaborate, often lengthy stories that morph into more stories that morph into even more stories that go so far, you often have a hard time figuring out how you got there. But in the end it makes sense because it’s Kevin who is at his funniest when he’s being brutally honest, often at his own expense (or Affleck’s). I’m no prude, but I have no idea how he says some of the things he says with his mom in the audience. I have a hard enough time managing my Facebook posts. This guy says stuff I’d have a hard time saying to my imaginary girlfriend.

If a real life Kevin Smith is a little too real for you, but you still like listening to him talk (while apparently high), then the SModimations: Season One DVD is for you. That’s right, Kevin Smith gets animated with his pal Scott Mosier in visual recreations of their podcasts, adding a new layer to the often rambling, coughing, and wheezing conversations on just about any topic that crosses their minds. Aquaman, Scrabble, Canada, Animated Christmas Specials, Hogwarts Sex-Ed, and many more unsuspecting subjects get torn a new one in this series of clips from more than a dozen SModcasts over the years. Simply but deftly animated by a Canadian (Steve Stark), SModimations acts almost as a teaser reel to get you hooked on Smith and Mosier’s regular podcast series. Surprisingly, the included bonuses which feature Hollywood Babble-On with Ralph Garman (of KROQ and Joe Schmoe Show fame) and Jay and Silent Bob Get Old, two of Kevin’s other regular talk-fests, take up a majority of the DVD and stretch on much longer than the titular 60 minute SModimations segment. I’m not complaining, because all of them are entertaining, but I’m almost thinking that the other two bits should have gotten equal billing, even if it would have made it impossible to come up with a decently succinct title.

Shopping Pro-Tip: If you’ve got the urge to purchase both of these titles, you would do well to purchase them together in the 1 lb box set, which includes an additional bonus Hollywood Babble-On DVD.

And if you’re in the LA area on Wednesday, October 19th, you could even get to see Kevin and the gang at a special premiere party. The first 30 people to purchase the Too Fat For 40 / SModimations / Hollywood Babble-On [EXCLUSIVE Deluxe Edition Box Set] will get into a special meet and greet with Kevin before the show (although word has gotten out, so I’d be surprised if they weren’t all sold out by now… but give it a shot!).

Either way, whether you’re a Kevin Smith fan or if you want to know what it’s like to see the guy tell a story like nobody else, you know you’ve got to get these discs for your collection.

Click here to grab the special Too Fat For 40 / SModimations / Hollywood Babble-On [EXCLUSIVE Deluxe Edition Box Set] now!