Before Saturday’s screening of his incredible Mister Lonely at the Alamo Ritz here in Austin, director/notorious bullshit artist Harmony Korine took the stage and, wired mic in hand, paced back and forth whilst grasping for the appropriate words to mark the occasion. “I’m not used to theaters where people eat like this,” he began. “I saw somebody back there choke on a nacho.” Pause for effect. “I got excited.”

Korine then launched into a story about the last time he was in Austin, which, he claimed, was at age 16, when he was picked up on a hitchhiking road trip by a guy who drove whilst eating raw sticks of butter. Long before Korine got to the punchline, the guy sitting next to me, who earlier said he was friends with the filmmaker, started laughing. He leaned over and whispered, “None of this is true.” Not that it matters––it was the best stand-up comedy I’ve seen in a while.

More on Mister Lonely soon.