6/7: Jay and Silent Bob to record 'Get Old' podcast

• Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith will be at Stand Up Live for one night only.
• Mewes has a history of drug addiction%2C which soured his relationship with Smith for two years before the two came back together to create their podcast.
• Mewes%2C who%27s almost 40%2C has been sober for nearly four years.
• Jay and Silent Bob have appeared in six films. They also collaborated on Mewes%27 animated film %22Jay %26 Silent Bob%27s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie%2C%22 based on Smith%27s %22Bluntman and Chronic%22 comic book.

Hollywood is not keen on getting older, with many celebrities resorting to plastic surgery, dressing youthfully and seemingly wanting to avoid growing up.

But comedy-flick veterans Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes not only have accepted the aging process, they've embraced it with the wildly popular podcast "Jay & Silent Bob Get Old."

The podcast is named for the duo's comic-book-loving characters, Jay (played by Mewes), a loudmouthed pothead, and Silent Bob (Smith), Jay's best friend, who's mute. The characters have appeared in most of Smith's films, starting with 1994's "Clerks," which garnered the pair a cult following and launched a string of successful films.

Like their characters, Smith and Mewes are best friends. But Mewes battled drug addiction for years, souring his relationship with Smith after the release of 2001's "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back." In 2003, after he started a fire while high, Mewes realized how deep his problem had gotten and sought help. He has been sober for almost four years.

Mewes eventually reconnected with Smith, who was doing his own podcast at the time, and they teamed up. Instead of hiding his mistakes, Mewes uses the podcast as a forum to talk about his battles.

But in true Jay and Silent Bob style, much of the podcast material is raunchy (and in reality, Smith actually is quite talkative), with Mewes and Smith reminiscing about their past shenanigans, including stories from the sets of their movies and on the road. The duo has been on tour for the podcast, and will record it live for one night at Stand Up Live in downtown Phoenix. Mewes talked about the tour, how he found his footing again and what's up next for him.

Question: How do you two come up with material?

Answer: We just start talking and sort of riff off each other. Some stuff we come up with beforehand and jot it down before a podcast, like Kevin does shout-outs to people on Twitter, those who traveled four hours to come to a show, stuff like that. I'll tell a story when we're in Phoenix about a time I was in Arizona spending time with a friend, and we met this girl in the bathroom, and there was this situation that happened. I'll try to jot down specific stories in cities and have them ready for when we visit the place.

Q: What situation happened in Arizona?

A: You'll just have to wait until the show in Phoenix to find out.

Q:How would you describe your typical fan?

A: Everyone is so loyal. Our fans really range — we have fans who are 15-year-olds whose parents gave them the DVDs. We were at the Ontario Improv setting up, and there were two couples who looked between 55 and 70 years old, and we wondered, 'Do they know who we are?' But they had the pre-sale tickets and their seats were right in front, and they were cracking up the whole time. Our fans are dedicated and have been part of it all from the beginning. It's all ages ranges, ethnicities, and I think a lot of punk-rock types.

Q:Why did you decide to reveal such a personal side of your life to your fans?

A: In the beginning, I kept going back and forth, and was worried to admit I was strung out and disappeared for a couple years, but people knew. ... Kevin told me I needed to be accountable and suggested I talk about it, so I did, and it was a big help getting it off my chest. At first, it was more about helping me, and it was selfish in a sense. But then people started coming up to me at shows, telling me they knew someone who was six months' sober, and I could see it was helping. A lot more came out of it than I thought.

Q: How has your relationship with Kevin changed since you reunited?

A: It's been amazing. Between touring and podcasts, we've known each other at least 25 years if not more. The past four years we've gotten closer than we ever had. When we were younger, he was like my older brother, calling me a knucklehead and helping me not die. Now we're business partners and best friends. I was bad before, and now I see things way differently.

Q:You turn 40 in June, how does that feel?

A: Wow, I'm turning 40, that sounds old, but I'm excited about the show we'll be doing in LA to celebrate. I'm thinking by the end or the middle of my 40th year, I'd like to have my wife get pregnant. We have two dogs, we both work a bunch, and we debated starting now, but then we're going to London and Italy, and Comicon in July, then Jersey for a few weeks, so we'll be doing a lot of traveling. But by the end of the year, I want to see it happen. We're working on it!

Q: How would you say Jay has grown with you?

A: When Kevin wrote "Clerks," that's exactly how I acted. Seventy percent of the stuff he wrote was spot-on. We met when we were 13 or 14 and were hanging out at the community center, comic book stores, out in the street yelling obscenities to women. ... Jay in "Clerks" was me to a T, but I never sold weed. In "Mallrats" Jay was really goofy. In "Clerks II," Kevin wrote a real story into the script about me going to rehab. Now I've sort of changed, I'm not as obnoxious ... and I know now to yell things to women. I have a little bit of a filter.

Listen to the podcast at http://smodcast.com/channels/jay-silent-bob-get-old/.

"Jay & Silent Bob Get Old" Live Podcast: 7 p.m. Saturday, June 7. Stand Up Live, 50 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $40. Age 21 or older. 480-719-6100, standuplive.com.

Kevin Smith Presents: "Edumacation With Andy McElfresh" Live Podcast: 10 p.m. Saturday, June 7. Stand Up Live, 50 W. Jefferson St., Phoenix. $40. Age 21 or older. 480-719-6100, standuplive.com.

Reach the reporter at kellie.hwang@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8690. Follow her on Twitter @KellieHwang.