TOMMY CHONG STILL HAS WHAT IT TOKES

They came seeking comic wisdom from the King of Dope. On Saturday a
capacity crowd crammed into Yuk Yuk's to hear Tommy Chong lay out his
signature brand of stoner humour. Accompanied by his wife Shelby Chong, the
66-year-old did not disappoint. Part stand-up, part Borscht Belt vaudeville
and part THC revival meeting, Chong rocked the audience with his dry
delivery and finely tuned writing.

"Have you seen people today?" he asked the audience. "Marijuana shouldn't
be decriminalized, it should be mandatory."

Unlike previous Tommy Chong visits, Saturday's show had a political
undertone. In 2003 Chong was arrested for selling drug paraphernalia on the
Internet, or, as he would put it, "I was busted for selling bongs." Chong
was sentenced to nine months in a Californian minimum-security prison. It
was an ironic turn for the comedian, who in 1992 told me he was amazed that
people were still "doing incredible amounts of time for possession of pot.
It is like the Twilight Zone for me."

The arrest has become comic fodder. Last December he appeared in the
Marijuana-logues in New York City and the comic spent a fair portion of his
Yuk Yuk's show detailing the experience. Decked out in a "Tommy Chong Free
at Last" T-shirt, he turned the ordeal into a picaresque monologue.

His prison guards asked for his autograph, his fellow prisoners wanted him
to do lines from his movies. "When they picked me up, it was unreal. I
thought, I'm a celebrity, they couldn't really do that, there are people
out there who love me .. Then I realized that there are about 10 times that
amount who really, really hate me."

Chong is an icon of Canadian comedy. Bred in Calgary, he moved to British
Columbia, where he teamed up with a comedian named Cheech Marin. Cheech and
Chong were born. The pair honed their craft at Vancouver counter-culture
venues such as the topless club Shanghai Junk. Hollywood beckoned and the
pair went on to record six gold records and a host of successful movies,
such as Up in Smoke. Cheech and Chong had killer timing, deceptively
well-written material and exceptional comic rhythm. They split up in 1985,
though rumours of a new Cheech and Chong flick still circulate. Chong is
best known among young fans for playing "Leo the Photo Shack Guy" on That
'70s Show.

Chong's newest collaborator is his wife. At Yuk Yuk's they performed a
sketch based on their everyday lives (while waiting in the car for his
wife, Tommy finds a joint and smokes it). As the drug takes effect, he
begins shouting, "Hurry up, we're going to be late." When Shelby turns up
she asks him where they're going, to which Chong replies, "I don't know but
we're going to be late for it."

Their act was a stoner spin on the "Dumb Dora" vaudeville routines of the
1920s and '30s (epitomized by George Burns and Gracie Allen) only in this
instance the wife played the straight man, with Chong laying out the
slow-witted punch lines. This variety turn was followed by dancing
(merengue and salsa) with a lady chosen from the audience.

The show was topped by a "big finish" worthy of vaudeville. With Tommy
playing guitar, he and Shelby sang "Up in Smoke" and the crowd sang along.
It was an appropriate choice. As far as comedy is concerned, Tommy Chong is
still smoking.