Cheech & Chong

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 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

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. 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.

Reunion

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.

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. On June 3, 2008, Tommy Chong announced that, starting in September 2008, he will be reuniting with Cheech Marin for a comedy tour. Shelby Chong, Tommy's wife, will be opening.

On July 3, 2008, Tommy Chong (on a live webcam chat) reconfirmed that he and Cheech will be doing another film, based on their reuniting and live bits from the aforementioned comedy tour.

On July 30, 2008, the team reunited to publicly announce their fall comedy tour, titled "Cheech and Chong Light Up America/Canada". This announcement was made at a press conference at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, California. Ottawa was the first city worldwide on September 5, 2008. And on September 19, 2008, they appeared on The Bob and Tom Show.

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 is titled "Cheech and Chong Get Out the Vote!"

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.

On March 7, 2009, Cheech & Chong appeared on Spike Feresten's talk show and they said that there is a new movie in the making.

On March 14, 2009, Cheech and Chong recorded two shows at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio, TX for a DVD release of their tour.

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.

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 American's but it turned into "Get It Legal", in reference to their current US tour.

On March 1, 2010, Cheech & Chong were the guest hosts of WWE Raw in Oklahoma City.

On April 20, 2010 (420) Cheech and Chong's Hey, Watch This, the DVD filmed in San Antonio on March 14, 2009 is scheduled for release.

An animated film based on their comedy albums is currently in development.

Discography

Albums

Singles

Filmography

References

External links

Category:American comedians Category:American novelty song performers Category:American satirists Category:Cannabis culture Category:Celebrity duos Category:Comedy duos Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Epic Records artists