It’s called Silent but Deadly for a reason. On February 25, veteran comic Kevin Smithtook the stage at the Alex Theater in Glendale, CA, to perform the first of two planned stand-up shows. But right after the first show ended, he suffered a near-fatal heart attack.
Smith tweeted about it after the fact, writing: “After the first show this evening, I had a massive heart attack. The Doctor who saved my life told me I had 100% blockage of my LAD artery (aka “the Widow-Maker”). If I hadn’t canceled show 2 to go to the hospital, I would’ve died tonight. But for now, I’m still above ground!”
Now Showtime has set a premiere date of 9 PM Friday, May 11, for the special that was shot that night.
In the set, Smith riffs on marriage, fatherhood, friends and his work (or lack thereof).
Smith recently tweeted that he’d lost 26 pounds, writing that the “heart attack was the best thing that ever happened to my health!”
Down 26 pounds today! Started March 8th and now 4 weeks later, I’ve lost a small child worth of weight! Doc told me to lose 50 pounds and I’m now over halfway to that goal! Ironically, this heart attack was the best thing that ever happened to my health! pic.twitter.com/PaPD9XOFCo
— KevinSmith (@ThatKevinSmith) March 30, 2018
Smith rose to prominence with his 1994 insta-classic indie film Clerks, which earned him both critical and fan praise and also introduced Smith as the quiet half of legendary cinematic stoner duo Jay and Silent Bob. The film garnered awards at the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals and were followed by ’90s favorites Mallrats, Chasing Amy and Dogma.
Smith’s TV credits include multiple episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation, The Mindy Project, Speechless and directorial stints on both The Flash and Supergirl. He currently hosts the unscripted series Comic Book Men, now in its seventh season, which takes place in Smith’s famed New Jersey comic shop, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash.
Kevin Smith: Silent but Deadly is written and executive produced by Smith, executive produced by Brian Volk-Weiss and Cisco Henson and directed by Volk-Weiss and Gil Cunha. Jordan Monsanto produced. The Showtime presentation is a production of Comedy Dynamics.