Kevin Smith taught me a lot about life. I discovered his films at 13, and was fascinated by the comic-book references, the soundtracks, the filthy dialogue, and the strong female characters, who were in control of their sexuality in a way that I had never seen on a screen.

For most of my teen years I modelled myself on Joey Lauren Adams in Mallrats, while avoiding any situations where I had to bang someone on a pool table. I listened to Weezer because of the end credits of Mallrats. I bought into every aspect of the View Askewniverse, where the characters all existed and were felt to keep on living after the credits rolled.

There are many constants in that universe – Dante from Clerks with his catchphrase, "I wasn't even supposed to be here today," Rick Derris of pool-table fame … then there are Jay and Silent Bob, aka Bluntman and Chronic, played by Smith and his best friend Jason Mewes, who appear in every film, have their own comics, and are now appearing in the Mewes-produced animated film, Jay and Silent Bob's Super Groovy Cartoon Movie.

Smith and Mewes have been hosting screenings of the film in the UK, and I went to the Hammersmith Apollo event, which also included a recording of Smith's podcast Hollywood Babble-on. The evening was split into two segments, first the podcast, then the film. In the last few years, Smith's podcasts have become one of his most successful ventures, providing further access to the director's worldview, which contains a lot of references to ejaculation but is also honest and inclusive in a non-Hollywood way.

Hollywood Babble-on is specifically sold on the idea that Smith is biting the Hollywood hand that feeds, but it's more lighthearted, and filthy, than that. The audience at Hammersmith Apollo were fans already, and knew all the segments and jingles by heart, and there's something exhilarating about sitting in a crowd of 3,600 people, all of whom are singing "Justin Bieber, we don't need ya … Why? Cause you're a little cunt!"

I learned about the likes and dislikes of the modern Kevin Smith fan. A loose list of what they hate includes Lindsay Lohan, Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, North West, and One Direction. Loves include Doctor Who, Father Ted, Star Wars, and Game of Thrones. They also love geeks dressed up as Superman, and they love shouting.

As you might expect from a film produced by Jason Mewes and made for $69,000, Super Groovy Cartoon Movie had more animated penises than I needed to see in one lifetime, and they got Neil Gaiman to say "pussy", which was a little strange.

The film pre-empts many likely reactions. In one scene, the action shifts from two girls having sex to Smith explaining that Jay's opinions about women might not mirror his own, and the film's last song is called Fuck a Critic in the Mouth, which basically makes criticism moot if not dangerous.

Mewes and Smith have been close in recent years, while Mewes recovered from drug addiction, and this is just one of the ways that they have found to spend time together while he stays clean. Their devotion to each other is just another of the constants that makes Smith such a hard habit to break. Like the fact that, for someone who created a universe, he is incredibly humble. In the final Q&A, Smith gave an impassioned speech about trying whatever it is you want to do, be it movies or podcasts, repeatedly referring to himself as having no talent, while simultaneously displaying the greatest talent he has, which is to connect with people.

By the end of the night, a man had proposed to his girlfriend in the audience, and Smith had brought his wife, Jennifer Schwalbach Smith, onstage. His fan base is like a family, but crucially, not a real family because the final segment involved members of the audience improvising sex acts with Mewes. As Mewes and a science teacher called Lauren mimed a Star Wars-themed blowjob, Smith, who has toured the Star Wars VII set, said: "I've signed a non-disclosure agreement, but I can tell you that this does not appear in the movie."

Smith's next venture is a horror feature based on a Gumtree ad he found while recording a podcast. Smith asked his listeners to vote on whether or not the ad, posted by a Brighton resident who was looking for a roommate who would dress as a walrus, should be turned into a film. Tusk will star Justin Long and Haley Joel Osment, and is due for release this year. In a typical Smith gesture, the ad's author has been taken on as a producer.

Read an extract from Tough Sh*t: Life Advice From A Fat, Lazy Slob Who Did Good, by Kevin Smith