Hundreds of jersey-clad fans stormed the Sanderson Centre theatre on Friday, June 5th for “Stocky Night in Canada,” a show headlined by famous geek director Kevin Smith. Presented on the heels of the first day of Hockeyfest, the massive theatre was nearly packed to the brim with a wide variety of fans, but mostly rowdy, sun-soaked street hockey players who had been playing all day in the 2nd annual Hockeyfest tournament alongside Kevin Smith and his pals from View Askew, Smith’s film and television production company.

The show was a live performance of two regular podcasts: “SModcast” with Kevin Smith and long-time producer partner Scott Mosier, and “Tell ‘Em Steve Dave!” with View Askew collaborators Bryan Johnson, Walter Flanagan, the “Tech Guy” Brian Quinn, and perpetually-belittled friend of the show, Ming Chen. This was the first live performance for either podcast and featured the show’s hosts sitting behind long desks on stage, chatting about whatever oddball topics popped into their heads. The shows, which ran well past midnight, were less performance-oriented and more like casual conversations that happened to have several hundred people listening in. Audience members shouted out suggestions and answered open questions from the performers. The three-hour event elicited plenty of laughs and applause throughout.

But the biggest roar of approval came after Smith announced that he would be personally donating $10,000 to the Brantford Sports Infrastructure Legacy Fund, which already received over $12,000 in raised funds from the tournament. Smith has been a huge supporter of Walter Gretzky and his Hockeyfest tournament, which in its second year has already become a popular Brantford tradition.