Comments on: Bookshelf: Tommy Chong, “Cheech & Chong: The Unauthorized Autobiography”

By: Wolfgang

Wolfgang — Thu, 14 May 2009 05:39:06 +0000

That is a great picture of Cheech and Chong . I sit a public domain picture as I see it on many sites. thanks

By: Wolfgang

Wolfgang — Thu, 14 May 2009 04:39:06 +0000

That is a great picture of Cheech and Chong . I sit a public domain picture as I see it on many sites. thanks

By: rwcass

rwcass — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:02:55 +0000

I believe “Things That Make You Go Hmmmm …” was originally called “Things That Make You Get High.”

By: Abby

Abby — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 21:24:05 +0000

all this talk of C&C makes me miss C&C music factory!!!

By: rwcass

rwcass — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 06:06:54 +0000

Chong says in the book that Peter Sellers was one of their biggest fans. Sellers was once a jazz drummer. He also liked to get high. You do the math.

By: Ted

Ted — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 20:06:32 +0000

As the youngest of four kids who grew up in the '70s, I can safely say that I really didn't find C&C all that funny — but maybe I was too young to get into the humor. When I was in junior high, quoting Steve Martin and Monty Python lines were much more popular than: “I gotta go to the can, man.”

By: rwcass

rwcass — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:24:06 +0000

Thanks, Jeff. I first heard a snippet of their “Dave's not here” routine on a classic-rock station in Winston-Salem, NC, during my freshman year of college, and I did think that joke was funny. And the line “That basketball was like a basketball to me,” from “Basketball Jones,” is funny, but that parody of “Love Jones” is impressive mostly because of Cheech & Chong's musical abilities, which Unterberger pointed out in his review of their anthology.

I'd be curious to know what the reunion concerts are like and how much music is played in comparison to how many “bits” and sketches are performed. Chong says in the book that when he proposed a tour to Marin in 2005, Marin only wanted to play their old songs, not play characters or do sketches. Then earlier this year Marin was the one who proposed doing sketches. The Police didn't implode on their reunion tour, so maybe Cheech & Chong won't either, but I wonder about that “veiled hatred.”

By: Jeff

Jeff — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:31:48 +0000

Great review. I also grew up in the '70s, and C&C were about as big as you could get. Some of their ilnes became catch phrases still seared into my head more than 30 years later.

Now I'm faced with this problem: C&C are coming to my town on their reunion tour? Do I really want to go see them?

By: Old_Davy

Old_Davy — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 19:07:22 +0000

As one who lived through the Cheech & Chong era...and remembers it...let me say that, yes, comedy albums were quite popular in the early to mid-70's. Besides C&C, George Carlin, Monty Python and The Firesign Theater all had released several albums. If you go by record sales, then C&C was the most successful. Which really means nothing about the quality of the work.

C&C had one joke. Drugs make you stupid. Firesign Theater were no angels when it came to the subject of drugs, but they expanded on the concept by leaps and bounds over C&C. Just try to listen to "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers" or "How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All?" when you're high and you will understand.

C&C tried to be irreverent, but as we all know, Monty Python was the absolute KING of irreverent comedy.

And as far as Carlin goes, well, nobody even approached his singular level of genius. The man could make just about anything funny, especially back before his act deteriorated into political rants. His level of sophistication was something that C&C could never achieve, nor did they ever try.

I do still like "Up In Smoke" though, if only for Stacy Keach's performance.

By: DwDunphy

DwDunphy — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:26:14 +0000

Apparently, the best thing about marijuana is that it totally allows you to forget what sort of historical footnote you actually are.