Jay and Silent Bob are throwing their 100th birthday party - and you're invited

Jay and Silent Bob are turning 100 years old this summer, and you're all invited to help them celebrate the grand centennial.

Let us explain: Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith, the two Bayshore natives who have played the iconic characters Jay and Silent Bob in Smith's View Askew cinematic universe since 1994, are reaching the combined age of 100. Mewes turned 48 in June, Smith will turn 52 in August.

To celebrate the occasions, the two longtime cohorts will host a photo opportunity with fans from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 2, at Smith's Red Bank comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash at 65 Broad St.

Following the photo sessions, Smith and Mewes will head north to the Atlantic Moviehouse, 82 First Ave. in Atlantic Highlands, for a live edition of their "Jay and Silent Bob Get Old" podcast at 8 p.m.

Tickets, $99 per person, include both a photo with Smith and Mewes, and admission to "Jay and Silent Bob Get Old." For tickets and more information, visit secret-stash-stuff.square.site/events.

Smith, a Red Bank-born and Highlands-raised filmmaker, podcast impresario and author who now lives in Los Angeles, is set to spend plenty of time in Monmouth County in the near future.

He returns to his old stomping grounds to launch "Clerks III: The Convenience Tour," a series of roadshow engagements featuring both his latest film and a question-and-answer session. The tour begins with shows at 1:30 and 7 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 4. Tickets, $30 to $79, are now on sale via thebasie.org.

Central Jersey will also continue to have a strong presence in Smith's filmography for the foreseeable future. He announced Sunday on his Instagram page that this weekend he completed the first draft of a new screenplay, sharing a sample page that reveals the setting as Memorial Day weekend in 1986.

"I finished a new script today," Smith wrote in the accompanying caption, "One day I might get to direct it. And some total strangers will love it. While other total strangers will hate it. But that's only if I get lucky. Today, I've got a blueprint for what my possible future might look like. And so the journey begins again ..."

Alex Biese has been writing about art, entertainment, culture and news on a local and national level for more than 15 years.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Jay and Silent Bob 100th birthday party at Secret Stash Red Bank NJ