Cheech and I didn't inhale: Chong

[balogna pogna]

This article is from cbc.ca:

ASPEN, COLO. - Tommy Chong says he and Cheech Marin didn't smoke pot when they were making the stoner comedies that made them famous.

Speaking at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival – where he and Marin reunited on stage last week for the first time in more than 20 years – the Edmonton-born comedian said they voluntarily refrained from smoking up because being stoned in front of the cameras was counterproductive.

Tommy Chong (AP file photo)According to Chong, there was only a single instance of the duo filming a scene while under the influence, which came during the making of 1978's Up in Smoke.

"We tried one time and we wasted so much film," he told reporters.

"We were in the car waiting for the cue, you know. And the camera's rolling and we're sitting there, you know, and neither one of us heard the cue."

Three decades ago, Cheech and Chong carved out a niche with marijuana-themed humour on comedy albums and the big screen.

Chong said he has no regrets about being a role model for an entire generation of tokers.

"When you think of how many kids died drinking alcohol, I feel I've saved millions of lives," he said.

The duo is planning a new film, which could be released as soon as this summer. It will be in the same mould as the films they made in the 1970s and 1980s.

"We are nearly done with the script," Marin said, adding that although its spirit will be in keeping with past Cheech and Chong pictures, the new film will have an "age- and time-appropriate" feel.

"It will be a movie about two guys who have all sorts of adventures together," a smiling Chong noted.

The two have been kicking around possible title ideas, including Grumpy Old Stoners and Lord of the Smoke Rings.

They had started working on the script when Chong was sentenced to nine months in jail for selling pot pipes, a stretch he finished serving in July.

[Jay Funk Dawg]

can't wait for the next installment of the CHEECH and CHONG Series... I know it's going to be great... Finally another Big Budget Stoner Film!

[Del]

can't wait for the next installment of the CHEECH and CHONG Series... I know it's going to be great... Finally another Big Budget Stoner Film!

Isn't Rae Dawn Chong supposed to be directing that? I think it would be a better film if she was left off of that project... As far as big budget stoner films go, I think perfection was reached with Half Baked... It'll be tough to beat that film...

[Booche]

This project has 'baaaaaaaaaaaad' written all over it, and that is why I think it has the chance to be good.

"The two have been kicking around possible title ideas, including Grumpy Old Stoners and Lord of the Smoke Rings."

That alone made me laugh. Therein lies the joke. There is NO WAY those two are even remotely considering those titles. They are already trying to make us laugh, and it worked for me.

Can't you picture that interview with those two falling into character?

[Velvet]

I bet this movie will be great.

[Booche]

Cheech, Chong reunion a high point of Comedy Fest

By Chad Abraham

February 12, 2005

The St. Regis ballroom was packed Thursday night with dope fiends and dope-film fans taking every available seat and inch of standing room in an effort to see comedic legends Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong.

The audience, which gave the two a raucous standing ovation, was not disappointed, listening spellbound, some would say entranced in the moment, as the counterculture figures, together for the first time in 20 years, spun stories from their early days on the road.

Sometime in the '70s, Chong said, they were performing their stand-up routine in Aspen. He said the crowd that attended the night's first show didn't leave when it was over, deciding they wanted to see the second performance, as well.

"We were backstage saying, 'What the f--- do we do now?'" he laughed.

Marin and Chong, who went their separate ways after their sixth movie in 1984, exchanged easy banter early and often, with Cheech making several cracks about Chong's sexual experiences in prison.

Cheech & Chong: Together Again, a career retrospective, was hosted by rapper Xzibit of MTV's "Pimp My Ride." He asked Chong how he ended up behind bars for nine months for selling marijuana paraphernalia across state lines.

"I'd like to give you some advice if you're going to sell bongs: Don't put your face on them," Chong said.

In response to a question of whether fans still offer them dope, Marin said he was offered a joint "in the elevator on the way here."

The evening began with a look back at a few of their cinematic, ahem, highlights that had the crowd roaring. Xzibit later asked the duo if they separated themselves from their on-screen personas.

"I said f--- it. I'm going to do it anyway, might as well get paid for it," Chong remembered.

Asked to describe their studio recordings, he feigned smoking a joint. They both spoke on the creation of the mythical Dave routine. "Tommy loved messing with me," Marin said.

They said they didn't actually smoke that much grass during the making of "Up in Smoke," their first and best movie, because they were worried about wasting film. When they did toke up, Chong said, they were sitting in a car on the set awaiting the director's cue. A knock on the car window told them the cue had been given and the crew were waiting on them.

On LSD, Chong said, "That's f---ed up. You're sitting there before the show and you say, 'How did I do?'" He also told a story about the last time they did cocaine before a show. It was at The Bitter End, the renowned rock club in New York City's Greenwich Village. The crowd's silence indicated how the duo was faring.

"It was a small club and when no one was laughing, you could hear it," Chong said, adding that he and Marin were yelling at each other before they were even off the stage.

Speaking about being prosecuted by the federal government, Chong said he had never had any type of parking, speeding or criminal offense. But Bill O'Reilly of Fox News went on the air and said the reason he was convicted was due to Chong having 17 prior offenses. "That lying c---sucker."

At any rate, the evening was an unqualified successful celebration of the unique and lasting legacy of Cheech and Chong. The latter said it all started with one line.

"The first time he said, 'Hey man, want a ride?' that was our career."

[Jay Funk Dawg]

i'm so down with Cheech and Chong.. they are like my heros.

I've see almost all the movies..

here's my top C N' C Flicks:

Up in Smoke

The Next Movie

Nice Dreams

Things are tough all over

Still Smokin'

also Tommy Chong's "Far Out Man" was pretty funny...especially if you were really baked!!

[purple foot]

i'm a little disapointed they didn't inhale.

[StoneMtn]

here's my top C N' C Flicks:

Up in Smoke

The Next Movie

Nice Dreams

Things are tough all over

Still Smokin'

also Tommy Chong's "Far Out Man" was pretty funny...especially if you were really baked!!

I take it, based on your list, that you agree with me that the Corsican Brothers was just a waste of time, eh? (I too am a big fan of those old-school stoners. To this day, though, I have never been able to confirm how much is in a "lid", although I think it's an ounce.)

[Del]

According to Erowid a "lid" is indeed one ounce of herb...

[Booche]

Things Are Tough All Over

I have shown that to soooooooo many people that love Cheech and Chong, but somehow missed that one.

"I feel like we're wearing dresses!"

"We are wearing dresses."

"Oh."

"MY BALLS! I LOST MY BALLS!!!!!"

[bradm]

"OK, Bob, how many joints are in a lid?"

"Uh, two."

"Two, Bob?"

"I roll big joints."

"Let's check with our judges...yes, they agree, 'cause they roll big joints, too!"

"OK, Bob, you have five quaaludes and you take one. How many do you have left?"

"Uh, three."

"Three, Bob?"

"I always take two. I never get off one one."

"Let's check with our judges...yes, they agree, 'cause they never get off on one, either!"

I think my brother and a buddy did "Let's Make A Dope Deal" as their "speech arts" thing back in grade 8 or so...

Aloha,

Brad

[Booche]

Man: You wanna get high man?

Pedro: Does Howdy Doody got wooden Balls man?

Here is a tidbit of information regarding one scene in Up In Smoke (Velvet and BradM should love this one):

Near the end of the movie, Cheech says "We're gonna be bigger than Ruben & The Jets." This is a reference to a doo-wop parody album recorded by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention called "Cruising with Ruben & The Jets". Reportedly, the cover of the album confused many DJ's, and they thought Ruben & The Jets was the name of the band.

[StoneMtn]

Here is a tidbit of information regarding one scene in Up In Smoke (Velvet and BradM should love this one):

Near the end of the movie, Cheech says "We're gonna be bigger than Ruben & The Jets." This is a reference to a doo-wop parody album recorded by Frank Zappa & The Mothers of Invention called "Cruising with Ruben & The Jets". Reportedly, the cover of the album confused many DJ's, and they thought Ruben & The Jets was the name of the band.

Funny you mention Reuben and the Jets. I love Zappa, but no matter how many times I try to listen to that album I still can't enjoy it. (There is another album with a simliar, lame doo-wop sound called "Rare Meat". Those are the only two FZ releases that I know of that I simply cannot like, no matter how I try.)

[Velvet]

"So, what's your name?"

"Oh, I know that one too, man."

Cheech and Chong are kings, Corsican Brothers was a large mistake, and Things Are Tough All Over is probably their best movie.

These guys' records used to outsell The Rolling Stones, and their first three movies (each of which started shooting with less than a page of script) each grossed over $300,000,000.

Trivia: Chong is Canadian, was the vocalist in one of Hendrix's first bands, and was once signed to Motown, where he had a minor hit before losing his contract because he got caught playing in the US without the proper papers. He met his partner in the middle of the woods in the BC interior, where Cheech had been apprenticing as a potter. Cheech says that besides his pottery instructer, Chong was the first human being he had seen in a year.

They started a band together and their first gig was a battle of the bands. They decided to start with a few jokes. They ended up using their whole time slot telling jokes while the rest of the band just stood there. They won the contest, fired the band, and the rest is history.

[StoneMtn]

Further trivia (although I've never confirmed this, but believe it's true)...

Cheech and Chong used to hang out with a guy named "Jerry Rivers" who later changed his name to "Geraldo Rivera".

[Davey Boy 2.0]

Cheech: Responsibility is a heavy responsibility!

[Booche]

More Up In Smoke trivia:

The car that Chong drives at the beginning of the movie is actually owned by Jack Nicholson and the license plate on Cheech Marin's car- MUF DVR, was his real license plate at the time.

[Velvet]

I was gonna include Cheech and Chong being friends with Geraldo in my trivia, but I didn't want to look like a geek.

[StoneMtn]

Luckily for me, everyone already knows I'm a geek.

the license plate on Cheech Marin's car- MUF DVR, was his real license plate at the time.

Awesome. A friend of mine had that made into a t-shirt. It is beautiful watching the double-takes when people clue in to the meaning.

(Occasionally he gets some ugly reactions from self-proclaimed feminists, but he then points out that his shirt is the type of thing they should want to support! His shirt doesn't say "Suck my...". Rather, he just wants to bring happiness to women everywhere, with or without gratification for himself...)