Cheech & Chong

Cheech & Chong
Cheech and Chong onstage in 2008
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books, radio
Nationality	American, Canadian
Years active	1971–1985; 2008–present
Genres	Latino comedy, Stoner comedy/culture
Subject(s)	Recreational drug use, drug culture
Influences	Lenny Bruce, George Carlin, Mort Sahl, Bill Cosby, Jonathan Winters
Influenced	Chris Rock, Adam Sandler George Lopez, Russell Peters, Mitch Hedberg, Ron White, Jackie Martling
Notable works and roles	Up In Smoke (1978) That '70s Show Nash Bridges

Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Richard "Cheech" Marin and Tommy Chong, who found a wide audience in the 1970s and 1980s for their films and stand-up routines, which were based on the hippie and free love era, and especially drug culture movements, most notably their love for cannabis.

Career

Cheech & Chong in 1972.

The duo released many successful comedy albums, and starred in a series of low-budget films, becoming a successful comedy team. Some of their best-known comedy routines and songs include "Earache My Eye", "Basketball Jones", "Santa Claus and His Old Lady", and "Sister Mary Elephant". Perhaps their all-time most famous line is "Dave's not here", from their self-titled debut album.

Their early success culminated with the release of their first feature-length movie, Up in Smoke, in 1978. Relatively successful, it became something of a cult classic and was successful enough to warrant a sequel, Cheech & Chong's Next Movie, in 1980, and Nice Dreams in 1981. The pair attempted to shy away from stoner comedy with 1984's "Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers" but the film was universally panned by critics and fans alike.

Tommy Chong directed four of their films, while co-writing and starring in all seven with Cheech Marin.

They also appeared in smaller supporting roles in Graham Chapman's Yellowbeard and Martin Scorsese's After Hours.

In 1985 the duo released their album Get Out of My Room, which included the novelty hit song, "Born in East L.A." (based on Bruce Springsteen's "Born in the U.S.A."). This song would later serve as the basis for the 1987 film of the same name, in which Cheech Marin played the starring role. Immediately following the release of the album, Cheech Marin separated himself from the pair's drug-inspired act by working on a solo career.

Chong also appeared in the hit sitcom "That '70s Show" as Leo, the owner of the Foto Hut.

Reunion

After their contentious parting in the 1980s, the duo had a less-than-stellar friendship. Chong recalled going to Cheech's birthday party in 1994 and seeing Cheech "on the couch with his arm around his wife like we had just met. It wasn't comfortable."^{[citation needed]}

They somewhat reunited in 2000 to voice characters in the animated television series South Park for the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons", though their voices were recorded separately. In 1997, Chong also made an appearance on the show Nash Bridges, which Cheech co-starred alongside Don Johnson. He appeared on an episode entitled "Wild Card", which also featured Philip Michael Thomas, who was Don Johnson's co-star on the popular '80s show Miami Vice. The episode contained a reference to their iconic "Dave" skit from their 1972 debut album. Both Cheech and Chong indicated in an 2003 episode of Biography that they were willing to reunite.

The duo had plans to reunite for another film when Tommy Chong's California-based company, Chong's Glass, was raided by federal officials on February 25, 2003, as part of a federal crackdown on "drug-related paraphernalia." Tommy Chong pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to distribute drug paraphernalia in May and on September 11, 2003, was sentenced to nine months in federal prison, fined US$20,000, and forced to forfeit US$120,000 in assets. He served the time between October 8, 2003 and July 7, 2004. Chong agreed to a plea bargain which allowed his son and wife to remain out of jail.

With Chong released, the duo planned to resume production on their latest opus. A variety of titles were rumored, including Grumpy Old Stoners. Cheech and Chong announced on September 8, 2005 that the reunion film had been canceled. In a 2007 interview, Chong hinted that the reunion may be back on.^[1]

Beginning September 5, 2008, Cheech and Chong reunited for a comedy tour.^[2] which opened in Ottawa. On September 19, 2008, they appeared on The Bob and Tom Show. On March 14, 2009, Cheech and Chong recorded two shows at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, TX for a DVD release of the reunion tour.

Additional notable media appearances

On November 5, 2008, Cheech and Chong reunited for a timely message in a video on Funny or Die to encourage people to get out and vote on Wednesday, November 5, the day after the election. The video was titled "Cheech and Chong Get Out the Vote!"^[3]

On November 30, 2008, Cheech & Chong were honored during a roast special on TBS hosted by Brad Garrett which included other guests, among them Chong's wife. The event was filmed at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas during The Comedy Festival.^[4][5]

On April 17, 2009, while on the Sydney leg of their "Cheech and Chong Light Up Australia" Tour, they had to delay the start of their show as it became the target of a drug operation by the New South Wales Police. About 25 police and four drug dogs were involved, searching around 50 people, with six people caught in possession of small amounts of cannabis.^[6] On October 24, 2009, Cheech & Chong hosted the main stage at the Smoke Out festival in San Bernardino, CA.

On January 25, 2010, Cheech & Chong appeared on Lopez Tonight. During a singing segment they started to sing Mexican Americans, but it turned into "Get It Legal", in reference to their current U.S. tour. On March 1, 2010, Cheech & Chong were the guest hosts of WWE Raw in Oklahoma City.^[7][8][9] On April 20, 2010 (420) Cheech and Chong's Hey, Watch This, the DVD filmed in San Antonio on March 14, 2009 was released.

On March 13, 2011, Cheech & Chong were guest stars on The Simpsons episode "A Midsummer's Nice Dream", where, during a reunion tour, Homer briefly replaced Chong before the pair reconciled.

In September 2011, Cheech & Chong appeared in a viral video posted on Youtube which at first appeared to be a trailer for a (non-existent) upcoming movie titled Cheech & Chong's Magic Brownie Adventure, but which at the end revealed itself to be a commercial for Fiber One 100-calorie snack brownies.^[10]

Future projects

On March 19, 2011, During their last show of the "Get It Legal" tour (Adler Theater, Davenport, Iowa) Cheech and Chong confirmed a new movie in production to be released in 2012.^{[citation needed]}

An animated film based on their comedy albums is currently in development. In 2011, the makers of the animated film released the Facebook game Cheech & Chong's Animated Game. Gameplay derives from statistic games like Mafia Wars and asset management games like FarmVille.^[11]

Discography

Albums

• Cheech and Chong -- Ode 77010 (1971)
• Big Bambu -- Ode 77014 (1972)
• Los Cochinos -- Ode 77019 (1973)
• Wedding Album -- Ode 77025 (1974)
• Sleeping Beauty -- Ode 77040 (1976)
• Up in Smoke -- Warner Bros. 3249 (1979)
• Let's Make a New Dope Deal -- Warner Bros. 3391 (1980)
• Greatest Hit -- Warner Bros. 3614 (1981)
• Get Out of My Room -- MCA 5640 (1985)
• Where There's Smoke There's Cheech & Chong -- Rhino / WEA 74265 (2002)

Singles

• Santa Claus And His Old Lady / Dave—Ode 66021 (12/71)
• Basketball Jones featuring Tyrone Shoelaces / Don't Bug Me—Ode 66038 (8/20/73)
• Sister Mary Elephant (SHUDD-UP!) / Wink Dinkerson—Ode 66041 (1973)
• Earache My Eye featuring Alice Bowie / Turn That Thing Down—Ode 66102 (8/10/74)
• Black Lassie featuring Johnny Stash / Coming Attractions—Ode 66104 (1974)
• (How I Spent My Summer Vacation) or A Day At The Beach with Pedro & Man, Parts I & II—Ode 66115 (9/75)
• Framed / Pedro's Request—Ode 66124 (1976)
• Bloat On featuring The Bloaters / The Bloaters' Creed (Just Say "Right On!") -- Ode 50471 (1977)
• Up In Smoke / Rock Fight—Warner Bros. 8666 (8/78)
• Born In East L.A. / I'm A (Modern) Man—MCA 52655 (1985)
• I'm Not Home Right Now / Hot Saki—MCA 52732 (1985)

Filmography

1. Up in Smoke (1978)
2. Cheech & Chong's Next Movie (1980)
3. Nice Dreams (1981)
4. It Came from Hollywood (compilation, 1982)
5. Things Are Tough All Over (1982)
6. Still Smokin' (1983)
7. Yellowbeard (1983)
8. Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers (1984)
9. Get Out of My Room (1985)
10. After Hours (1985)
11. Born in East L.A. (1987)
12. Far Out Man (1990)
13. Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This (Documentary film about their 2008–09 reunion tour) (2010)
14. Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil (2011)
15. Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie (Currently in Production)
16. New Film (TBA)

References

1. ^ "cheechandchong.com". cheechandchong.com. 2010. http://www.cheechandchong.com/news/. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
2. ^ AOL News "What's That Smell? A Cheech, Chong Tour", 2008-07-30. Retrieved on 2008-07-30.
3. ^ ""Cheech and Chong Get Out the Vote!"". Funnyordie.com. March 22, 2011. http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/0602e5e7f7/cheech-and-chong-get-out-the-vote-from-cheechandchong. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
4. ^ Gallagher, Brian (November 18, 2008). "Cheech and Chong Set to Be Roasted". Movie Web. http://www.movieweb.com/news/NE4s1b68WqDw74. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
5. ^ "Cheech & Chong: Roasted". The Comedy Festival. http://www.thecomedyfestival.com/thecomedyfestival/display/0,,156624,00.html. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
6. ^ "Cheech and Chong fans busted for marijuana possession". Herald Sun. April 17, 2009. http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,25346005-5005961,00.html. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
7. ^ November 29, 2010 (2010-11-29). "www.wwe.com". www.wwe.com. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/special/allspecialguesthosts/upcomingguesthosts. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 
8. ^ McNichol, Rob (2010-03-02). "Raw, what is it good for?". The Sun. http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2835956/Its-a-long-and-winding-road-to-WrestleMania-after-WWE-Raw.html. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
9. ^ Adkins, Greg (2009-03-01). "A long, strange trip to WrestleMania". World Wrestling Entertainment. http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/archive/03012010/. Retrieved 2010-03-03. 
10. ^ "Magic Brownie Adventure Movie". Youtube. September 12, 2011. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vK7hZ9CxCfU. 
11. ^ "Cheech & Chong's Animated Game". F84 Games. April 26, 2011. http://www.f84games.com/news.php?text=114&year=2011. Retrieved November 7, 2011. 

External links

• Cheech and Chong Dot Com
• Official Live Nation Tour website
• HoboTrashcan's One on One with Tommy Chong An in-depth interview about politics, Cheech and Chong and Tommy's wife and kids
• L.A. Weekly photographs of Cheech and Chong's "Light Up America" reunion show at the Roxy Theater, September 18 2008
• Cheech and Chong Interview over reunion, "Light Up America" tour. December 10, 2008 Riverfront Times
• Submerge Magazine Interview with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, Jan. 2009
• First to confirm "Up in Smoke 2" Chronicles of The Nerds Interview with Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, Feb. 2010
• review, Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This by UnRated Magazine
• Cheech and Chong Movies

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