Events

[COMEDY] The indie filmmaker who introduced the nation to “snowballing,” Kevin Smith, visits Helium Comedy Club on Sunday, May 17 and Monday, May 18. Smith garnered a cult following with his film Clerks (1994), followed by six films joined by the same microcosmic continuity (known as the “View Askewniverse”) and featuring a troupe of characters, trapped in various stages of arrested development (or dead). Here we list some of our favorite characters from the mind of Kevin Smith.

1. Jay & Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith): The most apparent connecting tissue between the films, the cartoonish drug-dealing duo that loiters in malls and outside convenient stores. One can’t shut up and the other is mute, save for one scene.

2. Hicks Cousins (Brian O’Holloran): Dante Hicks bookends the View Askewinverse, appearing in both Clerks films and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. O’Halloran returns as another Hicks cousin in the others. He’s at his funniest in Mallrats as dating contestant, Gil Hicks, who kisses “like a jackhammer.” Hopefully we’re introduced to another Hicks in Mallrats 2.

3. Julie Dwyer: Randall (Jeff Anderson) dubs her funeral the “social event of the year” before accidentally flipping her casket. In Mallrats—which takes place the day before Clerks—we learn that Julie was to be a contestant on “Truth or Date,” and died frantically swimming laps because TS (Jeremy London) told her that people look fat on television.

4. Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee) Brodie maintains Mallrats on the strength of his inspired pop culture riffs, cynical one-liners, and stinkpalm revenge tactics.

5. Walter Flannagan: Both real and fake, Walter Flannagan is immortalized in Smith’s dialogue as a shared cousin of Randall and Brodie who died during an ill-advised, yet bold attempt at auto-fellatio. The real Walter Flannagan appears in various roles, but his most iconic is Walt Grove, who has his own catch phrase, “Tell em’ Steve-Dave!”