Cheech and Chong: Difference between revisions

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While attempting to turn a strip joint into a comedy club (including combining strippers and comedy routines), Chong met Cheech, who came to Canada to evade the draft, and the rest was history. Born Richard Marin, the stage name "Cheech" is short for "chicharron", a fried pork skin that is a popular snack in Mexican cuisine.

Cheech & Chong developed a crossover audience by opening for rock bands in gigs arranged by manager Lou Adler, who got them a Warner Bros. recording contract and a string of hit comedy albums. Some of their best-known bits included "Earache My Eye" (a novelty single featuring a skit and a song by [[Alice Cooper ~~(Music)~~|Alice]] [[David Bowie|Bowie]]), "Basketball Jones" (sung in character by Cheech as an African-American basketball player, with appearances by [[George Harrison]], Carole King, Billy Preston, and Tom Scott), "[[Santa Claus]] and [[Mrs. Claus|His Old Lady]]" (in which Cheech tells a fractured version of Santa's origins), "Sister Mary Elephant" ("Class? Class--SHUT UP!!!"), and, in particular, "Dave", in which Cheech is trying to get inside the house after a successful drug transaction, but Chong, too stoned to realize who is outside, tells him "Dave's not here!"

Cheech & Chong developed a crossover audience by opening for rock bands in gigs arranged by manager Lou Adler, who got them a Warner Bros. recording contract and a string of hit comedy albums. Some of their best-known bits included "Earache My Eye" (a novelty single featuring a skit and a song by [[Alice Cooper|Alice]] [[David Bowie|Bowie]]), "Basketball Jones" (sung in character by Cheech as an African-American basketball player, with appearances by [[George Harrison]], Carole King, Billy Preston, and Tom Scott), "[[Santa Claus]] and [[Mrs. Claus|His Old Lady]]" (in which Cheech tells a fractured version of Santa's origins), "Sister Mary Elephant" ("Class? Class--SHUT UP!!!"), and, in particular, "Dave", in which Cheech is trying to get inside the house after a successful drug transaction, but Chong, too stoned to realize who is outside, tells him "Dave's not here!"

Their success with live shows and albums was followed by a successful film career, beginning with ''[[Up in Smoke]]''. However, Cheech felt that if he continued playing stoner roles, he wouldn't be taken seriously as an actor, leading to the duo's breakup, following more "experimental" efforts like ''The Corsican Brothers'', which didn't feature any drug humor at all, and the video and album ''Get Out Of My Room'', which focused primarily on comedy music (and, again, featured very little pot smoking).

Cheech had the most success as a solo actor, appearing in the series ''[[Nash Bridges]]'', lending voice acting to Disney movies like ''[[The Lion King]]'' and ''[[Cars]]'', and small roles in [[Robert Rodriguez]] movies like ''[[From Dusk ~~Till~~ Dawn]]'' (delivering a hilarious "pussy" speech trying to hustle people into the Tittie Twister bar), ''[[Spy Kids]]'' and ''[[Machete]]'', and pretty much moving away from his former stoner image entirely. Chong, however, retained firmly in the stoner culture, and his film and TV roles were pretty limited, with his biggest solo success being his role in the series ''[[That 70s Show]]''.

Cheech had the most success as a solo actor, appearing in the series ''[[Nash Bridges]]'', lending voice acting to Disney movies like ''[[The Lion King]]'' and ''[[Cars]]'', and small roles in [[Robert Rodriguez]] movies like ''[[From Dusk till Dawn]]'' (delivering a hilarious "pussy" speech trying to hustle people into the Tittie Twister bar), ''[[Spy Kids]]'' and ''[[Machete]]'', and pretty much moving away from his former stoner image entirely. Chong, however, retained firmly in the stoner culture, and his film and TV roles were pretty limited, with his biggest solo success being his role in the series ''[[That 70s Show]]''.

Attempts at a reunion were largely unsuccessful because the two comedians were unable to get along with each other for a very long time, and appearances together in ''Ferngully'' and ''[[South Park]]'' were done with their voices recorded separately. (Chong was also offered a part in ''[[The Lion King]]'', but turned it down, and as a result, the character was changed into a female and the part was given to [[Whoopi Goldberg]]). Meanwhile, Chong and his wife, Shelby, toured as a team, and their routine included updated versions of Cheech and Chong bits.

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* ''The Shrimp on the Barbie'' (1990)

* ''[[The Lion King]]'' (1994)

* ''[[From Dusk ~~Till~~ Dawn]]'' (1996)

* ''[[From Dusk till Dawn]]'' (1996)

* ''[[Spy Kids]]'' series (2001-2003)

* ''[[Cars]]'' (2006)

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* [[Cool Old Guy|Cool Old Guys]]: Cheech & Chong themselves definitely apply.

** Subverted in some of their comedy skits, like "The Old Man In The Park", where the Old Guy is kind of a dick (but so is the Young Guy).

* [[Cover Version]]: "Earache My Eye" has been covered numerous times, notably by [[~~Korn (Music)|~~Korn]]. [[~~Hank Williams III (Music)|~~Hank Williams III]] also did a notable cover of "Up in Smoke".

* [[Cover Version]]: "Earache My Eye" has been covered numerous times, notably by [[Korn]]. [[Hank Williams III]] also did a notable cover of "Up in Smoke".

* [[Creator Backlash]]: Chong disliked ''Get Out Of My Room'' because he had little input towards all of the songs in the album and its videos, and it was mostly Cheech's vanity project throughout the production. The album and video's hit single, "Born in East L.A." didn't even feature Chong at all. Neither were satisfied with ''The Corsican Brothers''.

* [[Dawson Casting]]: Parodied in Cheech & Chong's The Corsican Brothers as the duo plays their characters' as babies.