EVENT: EuroTrip Screening with Dave Mandel Q&A

Courtesy of DreamWorks

Thanks to the University of West Georgia’s increasingly flourishing film program, numerous acclaimed writers and filmmakers have visited Carrollton over the last couple of years. The latest Hollywood veteran heading our way is someone I’ve admired for a long time, so I want to pack the room for his upcoming event.

Screenwriter and producer Dave Mandel, a prominent creative force behind some of the funniest movies and television shows of the past two decades, will hold a screening of his underrated EuroTrip (a raunchy comedy in the vein of Road Trip and Old School) on Tuesday, April 29 at the Carrollton Cultural Arts Center. The flick begins at 6 p.m., followed by a Q&A that I can’t recommend highly enough. It’s a rare opportunity to hear one of the funniest people in show business talk about his craft.

During the 1990s, Mandel was a writer for Saturday Night Live and Seinfeld, two of the most groundbreaking comedies in television history. Several years later, he went on to become a co-writer on HBO’s improv-heavy Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Dictator, Sacha Baron Cohen’s satirical look at global politics in the modern era.

In 2012, he achieved every writer’s dream by penning an episode of The Simpsons (that season’s “Treehouse of Horror” episode). And just last year he co-wrote Clear History, a Curb-esque HBO film starring Larry David, Jon Hamm, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Kate Hudson, Michael Keaton and many others.

But I’ll always revere Mandel for his work on the brilliant, hilarious and sadly short-lived Clerks:

Dave Mandel and Larry David at the Clear History premiere. (Getty Images)

The Animated Series. The six-episode oddity, years ahead of its time, captures the irreverent tone of Kevin Smith’s breakthrough film, but uses the animated format to pull off clever and bizarre gags (like making the second episode a clip show of the first episode).

Clerks debuted just a few years before DVR, YouTube, internet streaming and niche programming like Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim revolutionized television. In that world, where low-rated shows still run for many seasons thanks to a cult following, something tells me Clerks would still be going strong.

The event is free and open to the public. Just keep in mind the film is rated R for sexuality, nudity, language and drug/alcohol content. Also, if you show up and wonder who the dork is asking Dave Mandel about a car-driving bear and Korean animation, that’d be me. Don’t pass up this chance to hear a comedic icon (and potentially watch me turn into a stammering idiot).