Kevin Smith Aids Donkey Show On ‘Bang! Bang!’
Kevin Smith, famed writer/director of Clerks, Chasing Amy, and most recently,Tusk, appeared on this week’s Comedy Bang! Bang! on the IFC channel in an episode titled, “Kevin Smith Wears A Hockey Jersey & Jean Shorts.”
In the episode, the show’s host, Scott Aukerman, who in reality is 44-years-old, has his 28th birthday forgotten by his on-air best friend and house band Reggie Watts, who, with Smith’s help, attempts to make up for it by gifting the Aukerman with a half-eaten bagel and a cigarette. In turn, Aukerman requests that for his birthday Steve Wonder, the blind piano-playing man, as Aukerman calls him, to play the love theme from the Disney hit Mulan.
AV Club’s David Kallison lauds Smith and Aukerman’s banter and ponders whether it is Smith who gets the last laugh on America.
“Aukerman welcomes professional gabber Kevin Smith, bedecked in his now trademark Fatman on Batman jersey and jorts. Who’s trolling who, America? Say what you will about Kevin Smith, which is usually a lot, but the man is good on a mic. He’s in his element here, trading some of the season’s best one-liners with Aukerman.”
Later in the show, and following Smiths comic book-centric banter, Watts presents to a blindfolded Aukerman the supposed Stevie Wonder, which in reality is merely a donkey in sunglasses and a wig with a tape player attached. Before the inevitable reveal, Aukerman, while blindfolded, drops what Kallison called the episode’s best joke.
“Oh right, I forgot. You did ‘Hee Haw.'”
Paste Magazine’s Ross Bonaime speaks to the episode’s concentration on the relationship between Aukerman and Watts as evidence of a welcome focusing on a theme that began with the previous week’s episode starring poet and actress Amber Tamblyn as a nice deviation from the show’s usual absurdist chaos.
“These last two episodes have also focused on the bond between Scott and Reggie, which is rarely the case. Often the episode focuses on Scott, with Reggie occasionally jumping into the spotlight. This split focus is a welcome change. This new direction for ‘Comedy Bang! Bang!’s’ aesthetic is an extremely strong turn, especially considering how wonderful the guests are, and the entertaining focus on Scott and Reggie together.”
“Kevin Smith Wears A Hockey Jersey & Jean Shorts” wasn’t Smith’s first encounter with a donkey. In the sequel to Clerks, Clerks II, also written and directed by Smith, convenience store clerks-turned-fast food workers Dante and Randall are to be split apart as Dante prepares to marry the wrong woman and move out of state, so best friend Randall decides to send him off properly by presenting him with an authentic Tijuana-style “donkey show” called “Kinky Kelly and the Sexy Stud.” Hilarity, as expected, ensues.
