In the 2000s it seemed Cheech and Chong had run their course – the comedy albums from the 70s gathered dust, their cult movies had given way to Harold and Kumar and “Pineapple Express,” and the drug metaphors were tired and overdone. And then in summer 2008 came the announcement that the two would be reuniting for a comedy tour for the first time in 25 years – the “Hey, What’s That Smell?” tour.
With Cheech Marin born and raised in Los Angeles, and Tommy Chong growing up in Alberta, Canada, it would seem unlikely given these disparate backgrounds that these two would become a dominant comedy duo capitalizing on the 1970s and 80s American hippie culture. It was in Calgary in the 1960s where the two would find each other. Cheech, interested in the entertainment acts around town as well as the night life, found refuge at a nightclub called the Shanghai Junk – owned by Tommy Chong’s brother. It was there where young comics tried out their acts and where Chong would eventually launch the comedy troupe City Works. Tommy brought on Cheech as a member of the fledgling group. Two years later, they banded together as Cheech and Chong.
They entered the American comedy scene in the early 1970s and immediately smelled comic gold in the chaotic cultural events of the day – drugs, free love and hippies. Their first record, Cheech & Chong, went gold, and their follow up, Big Bambu, was voted was voted the number one comedy album for 1972. Four more albums followed that decade and in 1978 came their debut movie, “Up in Smoke.” While the records were Cheech and Chong’s avenue for fame in the 1970s, it was film that broadened their fan base and exposure in the 1980s – they made nine movies in the first part of the decade.
It was in the mid part of the 1980s when the two ventured into solo careers after 15 years together. Cheech went on to voice characters in numerous movies as well as play Don Johnson’s sidekick on “Nash Bridges” in the mid-1990s. Chong co-starred on “That 70s Show” as well as numerous other cameo-type appearances. In the 2000s, a federal raid on Tommy Chong’s company, Chong’s Bongs, led to Chong doing time for a few years Finally in 2008, the duo announced a long-awaited reunion tour, holding a press conference to make the announcement at the Troubadour – the West Hollywood nightclub that was the site of their first act as Cheech and Chong in 1970.
Cheech and Chong on the Screen
Their first film together was 1978’s “Up in Smoke.” Two years later, the aptly titled “Cheech and Chong’s Next Movie” followed. “Nice Dreams” premiered in 1981, and 1982 saw the release of “It Came from Hollywood” and “Things Are Tough All Over.” “Still Smokin’” and “Yellowbeard” were 1983’s contribution to the canon, “Cheech and Chong’s Corsican Brothers” debuted in 1984, the pair played burglars in Scorsese’s “After Hours” in 1985, and their final movie together, “Get Out of My Room,” opened that same year.
Cheech and Chong Says
Cheech on growing up:
“I was a wise-ass in school. I got away with it because I was little and cute.”
Chong on their success:
“What makes us so dangerous is that we’re harmless.”