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Do IT this week: Layering
Younger generation remembers TV roles
By Malcolm X Abram
Beacon Journal music writer
Published on Sunday, Nov 01, 2009
Attempting to interview Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong together is like trying to wrangle two middle school class clowns — if those middle schoolers have been married and divorced a couple of times, spent a few years in jail, smoked prodigious amounts of marijuana and jump-started a movie genre.
Of course, Cheech & Chong aren't middle schoolers; they are 63 and 71, respectively, and after a couple of decades apart, they have found their way back to each other and to stages across America, including an appearance Friday night at E.J. Thomas Hall.
Cheech & Chong were one of the hottest comedy duos throughout the 1970s and into the mid-1980s, mixing comedy fueled by weed (and booze and sometimes coke) with music in classic songs such as Earache My Eye and Basketball Jones, and bits such as Dave's Not Here and Sister Mary Elephant.
The duo's films, including Up in Smoke, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie and Nice Dreams, set the template for the stoner comedy genre still going strong today in films such as Pineapple Express. But shortly after the minor hit Born in East L.A. from their final album, 1985's Get out of My Room, the duo broke up.
Marin worked hard to distance himself from his druggy days and go mainstream (''I couldn't wait to sell out,'' Marin has said of his decision), appearing in Disney films, becoming a stock player for director Robert Rodriguez and playing the sidekick on Nash Bridges. Chong also continued to work, though his profile was much lower, with a recurring role on That '70s Show as stoner hippie Leo and even a cameo on Nash Bridges, despite the pair's rancorous relationship.
In 2003, Chong was charged for partially financing his son Paris' water pipe business; he took a plea bargain and spent eight months in prison, from which a documentary, a.k.a. Tommy Chong, was made.
So after all these years, and all the rancor that surfaced between the two, what has brought them back to each other?
Is it love or money?
''M-O-N-E-Y and D-I-V-O-R-C-E,'' Marin, who is twice divorced and married longtime girlfriend and Russian concert pianist Natasha Rubin in August, said during a conference call from Los Angeles.
''Actually, love of money. We both ended up unemployed at the same time,'' Chong said from ''a real good space'' in what is still the quintessential stoner voice.
The two, who had been working on a film before Chong's imprisonment, were approached to reunite and tour, so they've been on the road for much of the year performing around the country.
Getting a straight answer from these two is as difficult as trying to teach Esperanto to a couple of stoned rhesus monkeys, as the two usually give different answers at the same time (Marin at least tries to address the question), then spend the next few minutes riffing and making each other laugh.
So who is coming to see the pair perform 25-year-old comedy bits and songs?
''All kinds of weed smokers,'' Chong said.
''The surprising thing is how young the audience is. . . . It's not a lot of the same old people you would think, because they're old and they can't get out of the house,'' Marin said.
Interesting. Why do you think that is?
''They're all smoking dope, that's why. They smoke that devil weed and then they come to see Cheech & Chong,'' Chong declared.
OK, perhaps; what does Cheech think?
''They've been hearing about Cheech & Chong since they were 12,'' he begins.
''And they saw me on That '70s Show and Cheech in Nash Bridges and Rodriguez movies, so that's why they come and see us,'' Chong said, finishing his partner's sentence.
''And they have nothing else to do,'' Marin concluded.
They have been breaking out many of their classic bits, updating some, including Cruisin' With Pedro de Pacas and the game show skit, Let's Make a Dope Deal. Marin dons the pink tutu of fictional rocker Alice Bowie for Earache My Eye, and Chong appears as bluesman Blind Melon Chittlin' (''Bush screwed up so bad, he got a black man elected president,'' goes one of the lyrics). Chong also talks about his adventures with the U.S. legal and penal system.
In the 38 years since their self-titled debut album and 31 years since Up in Smoke, marijuana has gone almost mainstream. Besides the continuing stoner comedy genre, weed is often casually mentioned in everything from sitcoms to (nonstoner) movies to music, and the fear-mongering of the '80s ''Just Say No'' campaign has all but dissipated. A fact for which Cheech & Chong take at least partial credit.
''We were the Wright Brothers. And we were right from the beginning,'' Chong said.
''We knew long before, and the people I knew knew. Jazz musicians, blues musicians always knew the weed was good for you and now everyone is learning that and finding out it's good for you in many ways. I mean, how many substances can say they have a whole genre of movies? Well, there are some cocaine movies.''
''I've seen some beer movies,'' his partner added.
The two still have the long-in-the-planning movie to make but also said they will hit the road again next year with mostly new material.
What, pray tell, will be on their minds when they unleash their new bits?
''Sex and dope,'' Marin said.
''And rock and roll. There's gonna be a lot more rock and roll,'' Chong said.
With the team revived, a new movie on their slate and a youthful infusion into their fan base, it would appear the Cheech & Chong ball is rolling again.
''It's a joint that's rolling,'' Chong corrected.
''And it's getting bigger and bigger, and we're making the joint big enough for everybody to suck on.''
Malcolm X Abram can be reached at mabram@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3758.
Attempting to interview Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong together is like trying to wrangle two middle school class clowns — if those middle schoolers have been married and divorced a couple of times, spent a few years in jail, smoked prodigious amounts of marijuana and jump-started a movie genre.
Get the full article here.
Comments
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Akron, OH
Posted 07:37 AM, 11/01/2009
Thanks for the article, Malcolm. These two are innovators.
Akron, Oh
Posted 08:37 AM, 11/01/2009
these two rock, that's why Korn did Earache my Eye..
cause its Rocks..just like Cheech&Chong..
Rock on Dude's...
Metairie, LA
Posted 08:43 AM, 11/01/2009
Saw them at Musiccarnival in 1974.
Man, am I old.
New Hope, MN
Posted 09:29 AM, 11/01/2009
Wow. A triumphant return to EJT. I saw them there when I was at UofA sometime during the early 70's. I think.
Macedonia, Oh
Posted 01:29 PM, 11/01/2009
UA students brought them to campus in 1973, the same year the performing arts hall opened. They sold out with no problem and UA students made a profit on the show. If I'm not mistaken, they booked two shows in that evening and the second one almost sold out.
UA students tried to bring them back in '74 but UA played dishonest games and prevented their return to Thomas Hall (aka. "Our Lady of The Moving Ceiling Cathedral) claiming that "entertainment is not speech and therefore not protected by the first amendment" something they knew wasn't true. By the time students told them the Supreme Court says otherwise, the open date was no longer available.
Students got UA back with avengence though. In early Spring of 1975, students booked, The National Director of The Knights of The Ku Klux Klan, David Duke for a speaking engagement in Thomas Hall claiming, "you can't say this isn't speech protected by the first amendment." UA had no choice but to allow the speech to take place. From what I hear, UA students had the ACLU breating down UA's neck.
My roomate was on the board of the student organization and allowed me to tape the speech. We had more fun at that than we did at Cheech and Chong. He told me on the day of the show, "after this evening's speech, UA will wish all they had to deal with were two foul mouthed pot smokers."
Welcome back Cheech and Chong!
Mesa, AZ
Posted 02:48 PM, 11/01/2009
You'll find it's a hell of a lot easier to teach a monkey Esperanto than to teach one English - or any other national language for that matter.
Vilchjo de Mesao Arizono, Usono
cuyahoga falls, oh
Posted 03:06 PM, 11/01/2009
anyone who is into stoner flicks should check out the real classic: Ganjasaurus Rex...read about it at imdb.com
but these guys were the elite ruling class of those movies--they laid down the pavement others drove down
new york, ny
Posted 05:09 PM, 11/01/2009
I saw them in June at the Borgata in Atlantic City and other than the fact that their much older, the comedy was just as good as when I saw them at EJ in the 70's. If you get a chance to see them it's worth your time.
NorthernWestVirginny, WV
Posted 05:43 PM, 11/01/2009
I just saw them in Cleveland. They were great and there was pot smoke in the air. Really cool. Then I caught a great special on VH1 which showed a lot of things I never knew about the 2. Really interesting.
WADSWORTH, OH
Posted 04:47 AM, 11/02/2009
Jason12-Thats a good post !!!!!!!!!
Akron, OH
Posted 07:59 AM, 11/02/2009
I read this site daily, and saw NOTHING on this event PRIOR to it happening, only AFTER the fact! If I'd known they were coming, I would have gladly purchased tickets and gone to this show! Way to go, ABJ, on keeping us informed on up-and-coming events and helping drive the economy by keeping us informed! Good job (idiots)!
Akron, OH
Posted 08:09 AM, 11/02/2009
Ah, that's because the show isn't until THIS Friday. Still, thanks for mentioning the date of the show, Mr. Abram! Way to write an informative article!
medina, oh
Posted 09:10 AM, 11/02/2009
Bury the Ashcroft "Justice" department for causing Tommy Chong to spend time in jail. Thank God they're gone.
hudson, oh
Posted 09:22 AM, 11/02/2009
The winter crop of G13 is in boys!
akron, oh
Posted 11:29 AM, 11/02/2009
love a stoner, easy going and laid back
its the sloopy drunk that ruins the party!
Akron, OH
Posted 11:38 AM, 11/02/2009
So true, sassy. And it's the drunks who want to fight at the drop of a hat; potheads usually steer clear of fisticuffs any way they can
akron, oh
Posted 01:20 PM, 11/02/2009
Let's get chineese eyed...
Macedonia, Oh
Posted 03:07 PM, 11/02/2009
BillyBob - remind me to tell you about the time UA faked a malfuntioning ceiling in E.J. Thomas in order to force UA students to change Lynard Skynard's campus venue to Memorial Hall at the 11th hour. Ted Mallo was UA's crack legal adviser back then as he is now.
Kandi, SL
Posted 05:37 PM, 11/02/2009
Ganjasaurus rex! That makes me laugh. Got any chips to go with that?
