Filmmaker, actor, director shares anecdotes at Stambaugh Auditorium

YOUNGSTOWN — Many Mahoning Valley residents are probably tired of the incessant rain the area has received, but hundreds of people found themselves laughing about it, thanks to Kevin P. Smith.

“My ex-girlfriend went to Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. We broke up the night before her graduation from Carnegie Mellon, but I stayed for it,” remembered Smith, a filmmaker, comedian, actor, comic-book writer and podcaster who recalled also having driven home to his native Red Bank, N.J., afterward.

On the seven-hour trip, he and a friend drove through a blinding storm that caused their vehicle to hydroplane and veer off the side of the road.

Smith, 48, was reminded of the occurrence as he traveled through a downpour from Cleveland to Youngstown before entertaining hundreds of fans with that and many other stories during his two-hour performance this evening at Stambaugh Auditorium.

His appearance was part of Youngstown State University’s Skeggs Lecture Series, and he plans to be in town for Youngstown Comic Con at the Covelli Centre Saturday and Sunday.

Smith is perhaps best known for the 1994 low-budget comedy “Clerks,” which he directed, wrote and co-produced, as well as played the character Silent Bob of the Jay and Silent Bob duo.

For the complete story, read Saturday's Vindicator and Vindy.com