Get It Legal with Cheech and Chong

Here they go again. America’s favorite cannabis clowns – Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong – hit the road once more beginning in Colorado in January.

This time around the comedy team is teaming up with the Marijuana Policy Project (MPP), to promote policy change through laughter.

The “Cheech and Chong: Get It Legal!” tour currently lists shows in 17 North American cities. It all starts in Boulder at the Macky Auditorium Jan. 16.

Chong spouse Shelby and DJ Joey Mojo appear on all dates.

For those of you feeling a little hazy when it comes to short-term memory, the “Cheech & Chong: Get It Legal!” tour is a follow up to the team’s successful “Light Up America” reunion tour. However, you can relive those memories when a DVD of the pair’s San Antonio show – “Cheech and Chong’s Hey Watch This” is released next April.

This time the funny guys have partnered with the Marijuana Policy Project to focus attention on “the harm caused by marijuana prohibition and the urgent need for different, more sensible marijuana laws.”

Or, as Tommy Chong said: “Want to make a change? Come to a Cheech and Chong show. It’s time to get it legal, before it’s too late.”

Sat 01/16/10 Boulder, CO Macky Auditorium Concert Hall

Fri 01/22/10 Indianapolis, IN Murat Theatre

Sat 01/23/10 Baltimore, MD Meyerhoff Symphony Hall

Thu 02/11/10 Bellingham, WA Mount Baker Theatre

Fri 02/12/10 Portland, OR Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall

Fri 03/05/10 Santa Barbara, CA Arlington Theatre

Fri 03/12/10 Tampa, FL Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center

Fri 03/26/10 Minneapolis, MN The State Theatre

Sat 03/27/10 Rockford, IL Coronado Performing Arts Center

Sat 04/03/10 Ann Arbor, MI Michigan Theater

Fri 04/09/10 Louisville, KY Louisville Palace Theatre

Sat 04/10/10 Washington, DC Warner Theatre

Fri 04/23/10 Bakersfield, CA Majestic Fox Theater

Sat 04/24/10 Phoenix, AZ Dodge Theatre

Fri 04/30/10 Fort Worth, TX Bass Performance Hall

To be honest, we were surprised by the volume of requests for passes to this duo's "Light Up America" tour this year. We have no doubt that the 2010 tour will generate similar interest, so make your requests early.

If you haven't joined us yet, you can do so here.

Cheech and Chong Light Up America - Member Review

This just in from BPD member BackFromIraq:

Cheech and Chong were un-effing-believable.

Shelby Chong opened the show. She was damn funny and got things started nicely with her sex, drugs and Cheech and Chong jokes.

Cheech wanders across the stage looking trim and healthy and we're off into Up In Smoke. The Led Zeppelin joint, now updated with some ky jelly is a CLASSIC!! From there we're off into Mexican in Space, Let's Make A Dope Deal, Bob and Margaret, Blind Melon, Red and Earache My eye with Alice Bowie, Ralph and Herbie, Old Man In The Park and the great sing-along of Born In East LA with a little Beaners mixed in and the finale of the Up In Smoke theme song.

Periodic smiles from Cheech Marin, as he quickly and seamlessly regressed back into each of his classic characters, melted the crowd's collective heart. Cheech literally had us crying with laughter throughout the show. He is a deeply important modern media figure for my wife's Latino community. One can only imagine what will take place between him and his increasing Latino audience particularly in certain other venues. Cheech masterfully cements a sheer connection with his audience and there is an electricity that forms quickly between him and those who watch his performances.

Tommy Chong was golden in every sense of the word. His sincerity, his unbridled authenticity and his strong and refreshing sense of social critical purpose, provoked tender and at times, socially angry emotions in the audience, which he masterfully channeled for them into deep belly laughs. What a powerful formula Tommy, linking the lightly psychedelic and profound emotional attachment of the audiences' collective memory of Cheech and Chong, with a gentle expanding of their social and political consciousness.

From backstage, it was easy to see that everyone was having a good time. Do I have to say how great it was to meet them?

There's a lot of water under the bridges of those two, yet there were times when the chemistry between Cheech and Chong seemed as strong as ever.

The tour schedule for early 2009 shapes up like this:

1/2/2009 Uncasville, CT Mohegan Sun Arena
1/3/2009 Verona, NY Turning Stone Casino Event Center
1/3/2009 Verona, NY Turning Stone Resort & Casino
1/8/2009 Nashville, TN Ryman Auditorium
1/9/2009 Dallas, TX Majestic Theatre
1/15/2009 Mescalero, NM Inn Of The Mountain Gods
1/16/2009 Omaha, NE Omaha Civic Music Hall
1/17/2009 Kansas City, MO Kansas City Music Hall
1/18/2009 Saint Louis, MO The Pageant
1/23/2009 Grand Ronde, OR Spirit Mountain Casino
1/24/2009 Spokane, WA INB Performing Arts Center
1/25/2009 Sacramento, CA Memorial Auditorium
1/29/2009 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre
1/30/2009 Cleveland, OH PlayhouseSquare
1/31/2009 New York, NY Radio City Music Hall
2/5/2009 Elizabeth, IN Horseshoe Southern Indiana
2/6/2009 Bossier City, LA Horseshoe Casino & Hotel / Riverdome
2/7/2009 Tunica, MS Horseshoe Casino
2/20/2009 Milwaukee, WI Potawatomi Bingo Casino
2/21/2009 Columbus, OH Palace Theatre
2/22/2009 Green Bay, WI Oneida Bingo & Casino
2/26/2009 Lemoore, CA Tachi Palace Hotel & Casino
2/27/2009 Shelton, WA Little Creek Casino
2/28/2009 Santa Rosa, CA Wells Fargo Center For The Arts
3/6/2009 Pittsburgh, PA Benedum Center
3/7/2009 Reading, PA Sovereign Perf. Arts Center

This is history in the making and you could see it all from backstage. For complete info, visit BackstagePass Direct.