HOLY SMOKE! IT'S CHEECH & CHONG

Stoner Duo Set to Light Up Just for Laughs Festival

Words of wisdom from those seemingly ageless stoners: "For some
reason, we're timeless," marvels Tommy Chong. "Yeah, we're like the
immigration problem. We're never going to go away," pledges Richard "
Cheech" Marin. Right they are. Cheech and Chong, credited by many with
creating the stoner genre of film and comedy, have been sparking up
together, and apart, for more than 40 years.

Clearly, the pot hasn't killed them or their careers. The duo will likely go
several tokes over the line when they make their Just for Laughs fest debut
July 16 in Montreal. Presumably on hand to serve as gala hosts, the pair
will be doing excerpts on stage from Cheech and Chong: Get It Legal, the
followup to their hit reunion tour, Cheech and Chong: Light Up America.
Doubtless, the theatre staff are hoping patrons don't attempt to do their
own rendition of Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong's classic stonerflick. Even
for those who weren't born in the tandem's heyday, Cheech and Chong are
cultural icons - curios? - who still resonate.

It's no accident, Cheech observes in an interview with Canwest News Service:
"We hypnotize people." Many of their fans weren't even born when the duo
separated in 1985 to pursue solo careers. But they got back together as a
comedy unit a few years ago, in, of all places, Ottawa. The Canadian
connection is strong. The L. A.-raised Cheech, who turns 65 July 13, and the
Edmonton-born Chong, 72, f irst started as a joint act in Vancouver in the
late 1960s and soon conquered the continent with their countercultural
shtick, relating mostly to their everchill states.

Their stoner shtick paid monster dividends: They cut nine hit discs,
including Big Bambu and Los Cochinos, the latter winning the 1973
Grammy award for best comedy album. They also made nine hit flicks,
including Up in Smoke, which grossed more than $100 million at the
gate. The guys also materialized in Graham Chapman's pirate spoof
Yellowbeard and Martin Scorsese's off-centred After Hours.

After a messy split in the mid-'80s, Cheech showed up in such flicks
as Tin Cup and the Spy Kids trilogy, as well as the TV series Nash
Bridges. Chong popped up in comedy clubs and on That '70s Show. They
planned to get back together for a movie in 2003, but Chong had to do
nine months in the jug after pleading guilty to charges of
distributing drug paraphernalia in the U.S.

"We don't fight with each other any more," Chong says. "We've got our
wives to fight with now."

What is intriguing is that the same issues that burned when the pair
first started out continue to sizzle today: the legalization of
marijuana and Latino immigration crackdowns. " I did Born in East L.A.
almost 25 years ago, but the topic is still as relevant today - even
more so," says a no-nonsense Cheech, about the f ilm comedy that he
wrote, directed and starred in about a legal Latino in L. A. who is
deported to Mexico. "And, of course, there are less people smoking
dope now than ever before," cracks Cheech. " But that's what keeps us
in the news and still working," Chong interjects.

Chong still maintains a residence in Vancouver: " I go back frequently to
put out the garbage and to mow the grass." We'll leave the latter remark to
your own imaginations.

The pair - their voices, anyway - are set to be unleashed shortly in
an animated feature film. "We're playing around with a few titles,"
Cheech says. " But I think we've settled on Avatar 2. It has a nice
ring to it." They are also working on a live action feature, set in
Mexico and slated for release next year. The working title: Grumpy Old
Stoners.

Ah, old habits die hard. But lucrative though those habits may be,
they do invite much scrutiny - mostly for Chong - from customs off
icials. Due to his bust, Chong is invariably on a watch list.

"When I came to Ottawa, I was greeted by agents in flak jackets with
automatic weapons and sniffer dogs," Chong claims. " Then they found
out that I was Canadian and they had to let me in."

Cheech muses that he has been largely spared these hassles at the
border: "They've tried to get me for narcotics smuggling, but I
usually hand them back to Tommy at that point. On the other hand, they
did think I was a terrorist in Edmonton."

Chong does, however, believe that pot will be legalized in parts of
the U.S. and even Canada within the next three years. But that's a
good news/ bad news scenario: " Once they do legalize it, we'll break
up for good," Chong laments. " We won't have an act any longer."