Tommy Chong plans to spend a good amount of time on the greens while here for iconic comedy duo Cheech &Chong’s first-ever Big Island show.
Tommy Chong plans to spend a good amount of time on the greens while here for iconic comedy duo Cheech &Chong’s first-ever Big Island show.
By greens, he means Hawaii Island’s famous golf courses, and yes, marijuana, because “Hawaii is home to the best bud in the world,” said Chong, who is also well-known for his work as an activist for medical marijuana and marijuana decriminalization.
Sporting a slimmer, stronger physique and feeling better than ever (he was recently declared cancer-free for “all intents and purpose,” a feat he attributes to a combination of Western medicine and cannabis), Chong is ready to hit the stage with Cheech Marin, golf course and everything else Hawaii Island has to offer while here for this Saturday’s 7 p.m. show at the Waikoloa Beach Resort.
“I’m bringing my golf clubs because apparently you got some good golf there,” Chong said during a recent interview with West Hawaii Today. “(I want to) golf, and I just want to go to everything we can go to in Hawaii.”
Though Chong said he’s been to Hawaii many times, he and Chong have never performed a show for fans here, both before the duo split in the 1980s and after reuniting in 2008.
Their last adventure to the Aloha State was around 2009-10, he said. They performed at the Waikiki Shell — a place they’ve played numerous times over the years.
“Cheech was swearing up and down that we’d never played there before,” Chong said in his unique “stoner” voice that has become known far and wide. “And when we showed up at the gate the guy had a big scrap book of all the times we’ve played there.
“We’ve been all over. We’ve been to Hawaii many times,” Chong said. “I’m an honorary hapa-haole over there.”
The duo is in Hawaii for three shows; they performed first on Maui on April 30 and then in Honolulu on Thursday. They wrap up the “Smoking Through Hawaii” event at 8 p.m. in Waikoloa. The show is sold out.
Cheech and Chong defined an era with their hilariously irreverent, satirical, counter-culture, no-holds-barred comedy routines. Their success began on the stand-up comedy circuit, which led to nine hit comedy albums and eight hit films, breaking box office records, shattering comedy album sales, garnering multiple Grammy Award nominations and mesmerizing fans for more than a decade.
The comedy duo was nominated for four Grammys, winning the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album with their third album, “Los Cochinos,” released in 1973. “Big Bambu,” their second album, was the biggest selling comedy record of all time in 1972 and remained so for many years. Their successful comedy streak transitioned to film in 1978 with their first movie, “Up In Smoke,” the highest grossing comedy of 1978, topping $100 million at the box office. Cheech and Chong co-wrote and starred in a total of eight feature films together, all directed by Chong.
The pair split in 1985 because of creative differences, both taking on solo careers. They reunited more than two decades later for the Light Up America comedy tour.
“We first got back together in ‘08 after being apart for 20 years, and it took us about five seconds to get back into the groove,” Chong said. “The only thing that was weird was the way we look now: Before I used to dress like an old man, now I look like an old man. I grew into my costumes.”
Back together, attendees of the Waikoloa show can expect a lot of the good ol’ stuff, as well as history and introspect.
“The Cheech &Chong phenomenon has gone through a lot of stages and right now we are in our sort of iconic stage where we get on stage and kind of just chat with the audience, get into bits, talk about the history, and then we do some music,” Chong said. “And then we talk about breaking up.”
“We’re like a vaudeville act — you know the old time — the little singing, the little dancing, the little everything, the little snappy paddock,” he summarized.
The show will be opened by Chong’s wife, Shelby Chong.
“She does about 20 minutes of really good female, married to a star stand up stuff,” he said. “And then we just do our Cheech and Chong bits and everybody is happy.”
There’s also a special surprise for show attendees, Chong said.
“What we do in all the shows, because you know I’ve got a brand of medical marijuana called ‘Chong’s Choice,’ is secretly hide ‘Chong’s Choice’ under the seats and so on,” he said. … “So that’s one thing we are looking forward to doing. It’s legally possible, and if its not legally possible, then we’ll find another way.”
“That’s the big surprise — I’m going to be very very sharing,” Chong said. ■