Cheech and Chong with War
When: Sunday
Where: Royal Theatre
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
It’s hard to imagine Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong as anyone other than Pedro De Pacas and Anthony (Man) Stoner, the pair of mismatched potheads they portrayed in 1978’s Up in Smoke. (Scroll down to see the original 1978 trailer.)
In the movie business, that’s what you call dream casting.
The movie made a significant mark on audiences, enough so that the two collaborators could perform Sunday night in Victoria — largely in character, as it was billed the Up in Smoke Tour — decades after films starring Cheech as Pedro and Chong as Man qualify as first-run.
No matter what they have done apart in the years since, which is considerable, they will always be Cheech and Chong, the so-named “Popes of pot.” That is how the two were introduced at the Royal Theatre by Chong’s wife, Shelby. She served as the opening act/emcee for the night, so there was a comfort level as she welcomed Cheech and Chong to the stage for their bits, and saw them off to make way for sets by the Latino funk band, War.
The symmetry between all involved helped make for an easygoing affair. War — which, it could be argued, made the most impact on this night — is known primarily for its hit, Low Rider, which gained famed after being used in Up in Smoke. When the night closed with an all-hands-on-deck version of Why Can’t We Be Friends?, it was with smiles all around, the culmination of a tour decades in the making.
The show itself was once thought inconceivable, what with the animosity between Cheech and Chong that kept them apart for more than 20 years. Fences were officially mended with a reunion tour in 2008, and it would appear by their interaction Sunday that the friendship is back in full swing.
The night began with a question and answer segment, with Shelby firing fan-written questions at the two stars. When asked if his life had changed in recent years, due to relaxed pot laws in the U.S., Chong shrugged his shoulders. “As far as I was concerned, it was always legal,” he said with his trademark giggle, drawing a roar from the audience.
For Cheech and Chong, it was a case of preaching to the faithful.
The theatre, three-quarters full and consisting of a nice-cross section of men and women both young and not-so-young, became a pot-smokers paradise. Outside, pro-pot pamphlets were handed out to attendees. Inside, pot was talked about, on average, every two minutes or so. Though the whoops and hollers that greeted each reference were made all the more raucous by the two stars, the audience was clearly inhaling on this night (rarely do ticket-holders hit the exits for intermission with such urgency; think George Costanza on Seinfeld when he thinks a fire has started).
The two comics inhabited their famous movie characters for much of their Victoria show, with Cheech playing the straighter of the two and Chong the lovable low-watt bulb. They did so to the tune of some of their most iconic episodes. Chong’s Blind Melon Chitlin (in which he plays a blind bluesman) was excellent, as was the newly-written bit that took a cue from 1971’s Dave, which has become the duo’s most quoted quip (Chong’s refrain, “Dave’s not here,” brought the house down Sunday).
In another routine largely lifted from Up in Smoke, Cheech and Chong sat stage-front on chairs and riffed about getting stoned and riding in Cheech's low rider. More uproarious howls of laughter.
War, which features a lone original member, singer-keyboardist Lonnie Jordan, provided a nice counterpoint with their revved-up funk, the entirety of which as impeccably played, though occasionally out of place. The seven-piece group had twice as much stage time as Cheech and Chong, which should never be allowed to happen.
The band’s version of Slippin’ Into Darkness was red-hot, simply put. A frenetic and funky 10-minute take on Galaxy ripped, not unlike Cisco Kid, during which a member of the audience took the microphone from Jordan and rapped a few verses, before getting on stage and duck walking, even attempting a Michael Jackson moonwalk. He would eventually high-five fans on his way back to his seat.
Only on the Up in Smoke Tour.
War joined Cheech and Chong at various points, providing the back-up for some of the comedy duo’s most renowned songs. Basketball Jones, Beaners, Mexican American, and Born in East L.A. were pleasant surprises, but nothing could compete with the roar that greeted Cheech as he strode on stage — sporting his pink tutu, as per the battle-of-the-bands scene in Up in Smoke — to perform Cheech and Chong’s proto-punk favourite, Earache My Eye. In a tip of the hat to his legendary scene from Up in Smoke, he lip-synched to the soundtrack performance from the film.
Cheech is 68 and Chong is 76. Neither is getting any younger, or writing comedy comparable to that of his youth. But as evidenced by their show on Sunday, sometimes you don’t have to reinvent the wheel in order to make your fans happy. For fans of Cheech and Chong, seeing the two together was enough of a reward.
