Tough Shi*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good

I’ve always been a moderate fan of Kevin Smith’s films, but a big fan of his words. Actually out of all of his movies, the Q&A series An Evening with Kevin Smith are by far the most entertaining. And from that came my interest in his various podcasts – something to entertain me on the treadmill or in the car – which would eventually trickle down to his book: Tough Sh*t: Life Advice from a Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good.

I don’t know if this book provides a great deal of advice on being successful in life, but it does recount some very entertaining stories of Smith’s life in Hollywood, out of Hollywood, and the infamous Southwest airline fiasco. (He can bitch at Southwest all he wants for throwing him off their plane for being too “fat,” but it was that bit of press that introduced me to his podcast in the first place… and I’m sure I’m not the only one.) In between his memoirs of breaking into the business, then trying to survive it, Smith does lay down some life lessons which can really be summed up thusly, “Be daring and do whatever it is that you want to do. Remember, as long as you have fun at your job, it will never feel like work” - or something to that affect. Easier said than done. He insists, though, that if he’s capable of making it in this world than just about anyone can do it. Thanks for the words of encouragement, but I’m going to disagree. In one of Sir Richard Branson’s (the billionaire entrepreneur who will likely be the first person to commercialize space and deep sea travel) books, he lays out all the groundwork that he’s used to establish the Virgin empire. Branson states that he doesn’t care about revealing any hidden gems on his business philosophy because in the end he knows that even if people have the information to accomplish something great, it still may not change the fact that they just aren’t going to do it. Call it laziness, intimidation, whatever. Some people aren’t deemed to succeed in these methods – I freely lump myself in this category… come on lottery tickets!

However, let's just push that "life advice" notion aside. This book isn't some motivational seminar. It's just entertaining stories about the "biz" and Smith's insight on how he's adapted to the ever changing professional climate. As Smith discusses his tenure in Hollywood, he describes how his education of the film business has evolved over his current two decade career. How Harvey Weinstein took him under his wing in the early 90’s when Miramax bought up Clerks and explained to him some of the fundamentals on marketing a film. From there he moves on to a variety of different stories. Dealing with Bruce Willis’ bitchy attitude on CopOut; smoking pot with Seth Rogen; or surviving that religious-extremist Westboro Baptist Church's protests over the release of his last film, Red State. 

Speaking of Red State, I have to comment on his interesting marketing tactic he discusses using for this film's release. With this movie having a shoestring budget of around $5 million, Smith explains how he looked to abandoned typical marketing strategies as they were far too costly and just didn’t make sense to the film’s release. Instead he went on a road trip, touring around the country screening his film with a Q&A session to his already large and loyal fan base. I remember as this was happening last year and reading in Variety and the Hollywood Reporter how Smith was “breaking all the rules” with this new releasing tactic. In the end it actually worked in his favor. I don’t think Red State racked James Cameron money, but it did alright… and he managed to do this all outside the Hollywood system. Clever.

For anyone interested in humorous tales on the film industry, pick this guy up. Or better yet grab the audio book. Smith reads it himself with a joint in hand, constantly interjecting his own thoughts on his writing. Good stuff.

Now, on a completely unrelated note, take a second and watch what is probably the funniest thing to ever come Kevin Smith's creative universe. From the short-lived Clerks: Animated Series, here's the end to Episode 4: the Korean alternate ending - an oldie but a goodie. Enjoy.