One thing that has long amused me about comedy is that one of the benefits of success and fame in the industry that you then get to push political causes you deeply believe in. And people will listen.
That's kind of ironic because you got to that place by making fun of many things, usually including yourself. Be a clown long, hard and well enough and eventually people will take you seriously!
Tommy Chong's recent appearance at a pro-pot rally in Lansing, Michigan is an example of this:
Headlined by comedian and famed marijuana supporter Tommy Chong, the 44th annual "Hash Bash" brought together people of various ages, races and backgrounds to talk about cannabis.
"What we're having here today is a celebration of the freedom of the greatest plant known to man," Chong said.
Clearly he wasn't joking when he said this.
And you can understand why he's so enamoured of cannabis. Using it as comedic inspiration has made him famous and, presumably, rich as well.
But I can't help noticing another irony: That the memorable stoners he and Cheech Marin created were hardly productive citizens. Much of their comedy came from their lovably goofy incompetence in so many areas of life. We laughed at them as much as with them. Not exactly great role models by anyone's standards!
And that's fine, of course. Comedy is just a fun-house mirror of life. It shouldn't be presented as -- or be seen to be -- an instruction manual for how to live it. Sadly, though, I think many fans of Cheech and Chong did just that, trying desperately to emulate their cinematic heros and doing much damage to themselves in the process.
Well, I suspect that was almost certainly not the plan when Cheech and Chong began their careers. They were just out to have a ball making fun of a world they knew and loved.
But now at least one of the pair is proselytizing for the drug. Which suggests to me that he's grown little.
That's kind of ironic because you got to that place by making fun of many things, usually including yourself. Be a clown long, hard and well enough and eventually people will take you seriously!
Tommy Chong's recent appearance at a pro-pot rally in Lansing, Michigan is an example of this:
Headlined by comedian and famed marijuana supporter Tommy Chong, the 44th annual "Hash Bash" brought together people of various ages, races and backgrounds to talk about cannabis.
"What we're having here today is a celebration of the freedom of the greatest plant known to man," Chong said.
Clearly he wasn't joking when he said this.
And you can understand why he's so enamoured of cannabis. Using it as comedic inspiration has made him famous and, presumably, rich as well.
But I can't help noticing another irony: That the memorable stoners he and Cheech Marin created were hardly productive citizens. Much of their comedy came from their lovably goofy incompetence in so many areas of life. We laughed at them as much as with them. Not exactly great role models by anyone's standards!
And that's fine, of course. Comedy is just a fun-house mirror of life. It shouldn't be presented as -- or be seen to be -- an instruction manual for how to live it. Sadly, though, I think many fans of Cheech and Chong did just that, trying desperately to emulate their cinematic heros and doing much damage to themselves in the process.
Well, I suspect that was almost certainly not the plan when Cheech and Chong began their careers. They were just out to have a ball making fun of a world they knew and loved.
But now at least one of the pair is proselytizing for the drug. Which suggests to me that he's grown little.
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