Cheech & Chong are a comedy duo consisting of Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong. In 1971, the comedy team released their first record. [7] Both Marin and Chong indicated in a 2003 episode of Biography that they were willing to reunite. [2] The pair performed stand-up shows, released many successful comedy record albums, and starred in a series of low-budget films. [6] In 1997, Chong made an appearance on Marin's TV series Nash Bridges, in an episode titled "Wild Card", which contained a reference to their iconic "Dave" skit from their 1972 debut album. Due to high volume of orders, please expect shipping delays. On stage together for the first time in 25 years, Cheech and Chong found that the old magic remained, and their chemistry was as vital as ever. Cheech and Chong's The Corsican Brothers, released in 1984, cast the comedy legends in a spoof of Alexandre Dumas' classic story of brothers who can feel each other's physical pain. The duo met in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the late 1960s. Cheech and Chong's manager thought the script was very funny; however, the comedy duo wanted complete creative control, so Reitman told the screenwriters to rewrite it for Bill Murray and Harold Ramis. But they announced in September 2005 that the reunion film had been canceled. [27], The Union: The Business Behind Getting High, Where There's Smoke There's Cheech & Chong, Cheech & Chong's Animated Movie! A modest hit, 1987's Born in East L.A. established Richard Marin as a creative force on his own. Recalling his exclusion from a friend's birthday party, Chong states, "I just looked out of the window of the second story and could see my friends gathering around the fire. Chong says of Adler, "If we changed our minds halfway through a shoot, and said, 'Oh, let's do this instead,' he'd say, 'OK, no problem.'". In 2000 both performers voiced characters in the animated television series South Park for the episode "Cherokee Hair Tampons", but their voices were recorded separately.

[18], On September 28, 2014 they were guests of Doug Benson on his podcast Getting Doug with High. On November 5, 2008, Cheech and Chong reunited for a Funny or Die video titled "Cheech and Chong Get Out the Vote!" Adapting some of their most popular sketches into a loose script centered on their Pedro and Man personas, 1978's Up in Smoke transformed Cheech and Chong into the stoner Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Sleeping Beauty & Let's Make A New Dope Deal. It would be the duo's final release before their acrimonious split. The comedy duo's next film, Things are Tough All Over, released in 1982, featured Cheech and Chong temporarily putting down their giant spliffs for a more story-oriented comedy. Copyright Traced, Inc. All images copyright to their respective owners. His father, Oscar Marin, was an officer with the LAPD. More films would follow, but by the mid-'80s, clashing egos led to an acrimonious breakup that lasted nearly two decades. "It was a day in the life of [...] Pedro and Man, which was much more interesting than a plot," Marin tells Rolling Stone. [1] It became something of a cult classic, and was also successful enough at the box office (grossing over $44 million despite a low budget)[3] to warrant two sequels: Cheech and Chong's Next Movie in 1980, and Nice Dreams in 1981. Budgeted at just under $2 million, Up in Smoke wound up making $20 million in its first month of release. Based on the success of the song and its accompanying video, Universal executive Frank Price contacted Marin suggesting that the story of a hapless Mexican American man's misadventures after being mistakenly deported would make for a great comedy feature. As a child, Marin moved with his parents to the LA suburb of Granada Hills, where he attended a Catholic high school. Traveling with Bobby Taylor & the Vancouvers, Chong had been exposed to the comedy of Chicago's Second City. The duo found commercial and cultural success in the 1970s and 1980s with their stand-up routines, studio recordings, and feature films, which were based on the hippie and free love era, and especially drug and counterculture movements, most notably their love for cannabis. In March 2014, they announced they were working on a new movie, with writer/director Jay Chandrasekhar.[10]. With Chong released, the duo planned to resume production on a reunion film. While Cheech Marin set out on a career as a mainstream star, Tommy Chong returned to the stage as a solo stand-up act. The album also garnered the comedy team what would be the first of six Grammy nominations for Best Comedy Recording. On June 25, 2019, The New York Times Magazine listed Cheech & Chong among hundreds of artists whose material was reportedly destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.[4]. "So [legalizing marijuana] means a lot more to me than just being able to smoke a joint without being arrested. [12][13], 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. Of the 55 individuals charged, Chong was the only defendant with no prior convictions to do jail time.

On March 1, 2010, Cheech & Chong were the guest hosts of WWE Raw in Oklahoma City. After their contentious parting in the 1980s,[5] the duo spent years without working together. Upon taking his first puff, straightlaced Marin was transformed. "There was always a contentious conversation between Tommy and I because we were very strong personalities [...] but it was the irritant that produced the pearl," Richard Marin related to Talks at Google. In 2007, Brett Harvey's marijuana advocacy documentary The Union: The Business Behind Getting High starred Tommy Chong as a commentator about marijuana related issues and his drug paraphernalia charge in 2003. "He wanted to be the director and the sole writer. Richard Anthony "Cheech" Marin was born on July 13, 1946, in South Central Los Angeles. Despite his best efforts, Tommy Chong was unable to negotiate for public service and house arrest and was sentenced to nine months in prison, as reported by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. In typical Chong style, he took the news with optimism and humor. In a 2020 interview with The Guardian, the comedian opened up about his childhood in conservative Calgary. Standing alongside such greats of the era as George Carlin and Richard Pryor, Cheech and Chong, with their over-the-top humor and deceptively lowbrow antics, lampooned the post-hippie era's … Although they originally conceived the movie as a compilation of the best bits from their albums and live shows, Cheech and Chong instead decided to concentrate on their Pedro and Man characters. Other characteristics include dirty, nappy hair and the smell of patchouli Over a decade into their reunion, the pair continue to pack theaters for their sold-out live shows. On January 25, 2010, Cheech & Chong appeared on Lopez Tonight. "[The movie] kicked off the rest of my life," Marin told CBS in 2017. On January 25, 2010, Cheech & Chong appeared on Lopez Tonight. Born to parents Stanley Chong, a Chinese immigrant who worked as a truck driver, and Lorna Jean Chong, a Canadian waitress, Thomas B. Kin Chong grew up in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. A longtime advocate for marijuana legalization and the medical use of cannabis, Chong turned to the plant as part of his treatment. Mining the peace, love, and dope ethos of the era for material, they developed and refined their Pedro and Man characters. The film had many other notable names such as former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell, Canadian marijuana seed retailer Marc Emery, Canadian baking marijuana icon "Watermelon Girl", and other marijuana advocates like Author & Former 'Pot TV' Manager Chris Bennett and former High Times editor Steve Bloom. Immediately following the release of the album, Cheech Marin separated himself from the pair's drug-inspired act by working on a solo career. After nearly two decades, ego and creative differences dating back to at least 1981's Nice Dreams had soured their friendship. I was uninvited 'cos the girl's father was worried she might end up with a [...] Chinese guy.". With Lou Adler at the helm, Cheech and Chong had free reign to experiment. The duo had plans to reunite for another film when Chong's California-based company, Chong's Glass, was raided by federal officials in February 2003, as part of a federal crackdown on "drug-related paraphernalia". The duo would follow their first record with a succession of best-selling, Grammy-nominated albums.

Working as an apprentice to a famous potter, Marin settled down to rustic life in a secluded log cabin in the Canadian wilderness. By the late 1990s, Richard Marin had put the drug-addled comedy of Cheech and Chong behind him with a slew of roles in TV and movies. While on the road, his parents had converted one of the nightspots he owned into Vancouver's first topless club. Dismissing the propaganda adults had fed him about the drug, he mused, "What else have they been lying to me about?". On November 5, 2008, Cheech and Chong reunited for a Funny or Die video titled "Cheech and Chong Get Out the Vote!" [1] 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". The duo landed a gig at an open mic night at Redd Foxx's comedy club thanks to Chong's connections in entertainment. "We just kind of talked over what we were going to do and then went on stage and did it. In 1978, Cheech and Chong set their sights on conquering the film world with their first feature, Up in Smoke. In 2003, Chong Glass/Nice Dreams, a company founded by Tommy Chong and his son Paris, was implicated in two investigations aimed at businesses selling drug paraphernalia. To warm up the crowd before the show, Tommy Chong and Richard Marin came out to tell some jokes. Beginning in September 2008, Cheech and Chong reunited for the Light Up America comedy tour[9] which opened in Ottawa, making a radio program appearance on The Bob & Tom Show. It was like we've been apart 25 seconds, not 25 years.". In March 2009, they recorded two shows at the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio for a DVD release of the reunion tour. After a disastrous show at the Irma Hotel, the two decided they just weren't connecting with their audience. Unfortunately, Chong would face another health setback in 2015, when he announced that, although his prostate cancer was in remission, he was under treatment for rectal cancer. Tommy Chong directed four of their films while co-writing and starring in all seven with Cheech Marin.