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Return to the Scene of the Crime

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By CURTIS ROSS | The Tampa Tribune

Published: September 25, 2008

Cheech and Chong want to make one thing clear.

This reunion of theirs? It's for the kids.

"We're trying to reach the young people. Children are the future," says Tommy Chong, tongue possibly in cheek, on the telephone from his Ottawa hotel room.

"The kids" comes up repeatedly during a conference call with Chong and comedy partner Richard "Cheech" Marin, who's ensconced in his own room at the same Ottawa hotel, the day after a performance there by the duo.

Kids who are now in their 40s and 50s made Cheech and Chong rich and famous in the 1970s, when their albums provided as many illicit laughs as the leafy green substance with which they were associated.

Bits such as "Sister Mary Elephant," "Dave" and "Ralph and Herbie" kept millions of teens in stitches and plenty of teachers infuriated as their class clowns repeated the routines ad infinitum.

"I don't know how many people have come up to me and said, 'I got kicked out of the drama class' or 'I got suspended for doing your routines at assembly,'" Chong says.

A 1973 performance at Tampa's Curtis Hixon Hall provided a bit of vengeance for the affronted educators. The twosome was arrested for disorderly conduct. The hall manager had complained to police, saying the duo had used obscenities and made gestures simulating masturbation during the show.

"Tampa's the only place we've been to jail," Chong says.

"It was a scam, man," Chong deadpans. "We were political prisoners."

"Free the Jackson Five!" chimes in Marin.

Still, they hold no grudges. They're coming back to town. With some new material as well as the old favorites.

'All The Hits'

"We'll do something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue," Chong says.

"We're gonna be like a wedding," Marin says.

"Actually, we'll do a lot of blue," Chong adds.

"We do all the hits," Marin says. "For the kids."

The duo's popularity peaked in 1978 with the release of their first movie, "Up in Smoke," which, while somewhat lacking in a strong plot, was awash in TCH-fueled humor.

Their focus turned from records and concerts to film, following "Up in Smoke" with 1980's "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie" and 1981's "Nice Dreams." They split up in the mid-'80s.

"We started off in strip bars playing for perverts," Chong recalls. "Then we graduated to hootenanny nights. There were no comedy clubs."

"We played jazz clubs, then the halls, then we played arenas," Marin says.

"We got tired of that and we did a movie," Chong says. "We got tired of that and said, 'Let's break up.'"

Why?

"We got rich and got sick of each other," Chong says.

"We quit sharing rooms in trailers," Marin says.

"Cheech had his entourage and I had mine. They didn't get along," Chong says. He adds, "We stopped talking to the kids."

"Kids are the future," Marin notes.

Both pursued acting, with Marin landing a spot on the '90s cop show "Nash Bridges" as Don Johnson's sidekick. Chong had parts in several movies and TV shows, often playing a variation of "Man," a recurring character in several Cheech and Chong bits. Most prominently, he played Leo, the well-baked camera store manager on "That '70s Show." He also developed a stand-up routine and toured often with his comedian-wife, Shelby.

He also went to jail.

Political Motivations?

Chong entered a plea agreement stemming from charges that he financed an Internet site selling bongs and pipes run by his son, Paris. He doesn't make much of the prison stay. "It was a Club Fed, a Martha Stewart-type place." But he's convinced the prosecution was politically motivated.

Cheech and Chong broke up during the "Just Say No" era, a phrase embraced by then-first lady Nancy Reagan.

Chong went to jail for nine months in 2003-'04, during another Republican administration. He thinks there's a connection.

"Every time a Republican gets in office they put dopers in jail," Chong says. Not surprisingly, he's supporting Barack Obama, as is Marin.

However, Chong finds Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin ripe for the comedic picking.

"She's hot. She has babies a lot," Chong says.

"She should go pick up the kids," Marin says.

"She's not doing it for the kids," Chong counters. "She's a small-town girl that won the lottery."

"She reminds of a guidance counselor," Marin says.

"She reminds me of a dominatrix," Chong says.

Obviously, anyone with delicate sensibilities concerning sex, politics, drugs and, well, anything, may want to take a pass on the show. Pot references will be plentiful, but both say the substance isn't as prevalent in their personal lives.

"I don't smoke anymore," Marin says. "It messes up my lungs."

"It's so strong now, you only have to smoke every other year," Chong says. "You just have to look at it."

.

But remember: It's all for the kids.

"We do it for the kids," Chong says.

"Kids are our future royalties," Marin says.

Curtis Ross can be reached at (813) 259-7568 or cross@tampatrib.com

ON TOUR

Cheech and Chong

WITH: Shelby Chong

WHEN: 8 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: Morsani Hall, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, 1010 N. MacInnes Place, Tampa; (813) 229-7827

COST: $39.50 and $59.50

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