The Castle

Ever since the 1st time that I watched 'Mallrats' Kevin Smith has been my idol.For those of you who don't know who Kevin Smith is, here's his imdb: SNOOGANS . For years, his movies, podcasts, comics and Q & A's have helped shape the scope in which I view the world through. Whether it's dealing with inadequacy issues , crisis of faith , or just sharpening my wit I have spent countless hours with his work. What had seemed to be unfortunate for me was that my trench-coat clad hero's hay-day was in the 90's. Or so I thought...

On August 13th I moved to L.A. It just so happens that on that exact night Kevin Smith himself would be opening up his own black box 50-person theatre called the SModcastle. This name comes from the name of his podcast, called SModcast, which I have been listening to weekly since its debut in 2007. If you've never heard it, check it out here: SModcast . It's incredibly funny and 100% free. Anyways, the theatre would serve as a home for Smith and his partner Scott Mosier to do their show live and weekly (not replacing their home-recorded episodes, but just accompanying them).

The minute tickets went up, I purchased one for me and one for Jenn (my girlfriend who was helping me and my family with the move). Jenn and I left my apartment that night and took the 5-minute drive from Fuller ave. to 6488 Santa Monica Blvd. Here is the exterior of the castle:

Upon arriving, Jenn and I found a line of people out in front of the building. We walked to the

front of the line to check in and get our bracelets. We stood at the front for a few minutes, because

no one was coming to help us and when I turned around, I saw a man walk past the line, who I had seen

in movies but never in real life (I had already met Kevin Smith at WonderCon, so it's not him). I looked at

his face, then looked at the building that had his face on it, then back to him. He walked right up to the

front door and began knocking. I looked at Jenn in shock and she was giving the same look back to me.

After about 2 minutes I had to say something. "Scott Mosier?" I said. The man of many roles in the Askewniverse

(the universe that Kevin Smith's inter-connected movies are set in) turned and responded "Hey, what's up man?"

After a few more minutes of him knocking on the door called the SModcastle (the M stands for Mosier) without

an answer I said "Man, your face is on the building and even you can't get in". He chuckled and then turned around

to engage me in conversation. I asked him if he would mind taking a picture and he obliged:

I asked him if he would be working on RED STATE (Smith's next movie) and he said that due to his cartoon in

development over at Disney, he would not be able to. As soon as someone realized that they had locked one of

the bosses out of the building, they opened the door to let him in. He said goodbye and that he hoped we enjoyed

the show. Ever since this meeting, Jenn has seemed to have an odd fascination with him. haha.

We waited in line for a few more minutes and then Jason Mewes (Jay from the movies) walked out of the front

door. I was so shocked that I accidentally blurted out "holy shit!" Once we got inside I realized that he was working

the merchandise booth, where I bought a SModcastle poster signed by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier:

and a picture with Jay himself:

The show was hilarious and it was a great night. Here are a few more pics:

Here is a link to a video that G4 did to cover the Castle: G4

& here's the Castle's site 2 see the weekly shows they do and to buy tickets: SModcastle.com

I try to go at least twice a month. A very cool story related to this one coming very soon.