Review: Cheech & Chong light up sold-out crowd
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Forty-five years of classic contemporary comedy came to Honolulu in superb style Thursday night as counterculture icons Cheech & Chong entertained a sold-out house at the Hawaii Theatre.
Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy Chong performed for more than 90 minutes and in that time covered a good cross-section of their repertoire. There were costume character sketches, original songs and a signature song parody, some storytelling and some straight stand-up comedy. Chong’s wife, comedienne Shelby Chong, opened the evening with 10 minutes or so of a woman’s perspective on marijuana, sex, relationships, and the experience of being married for 40 years to Tommy Chong. She returned several times to serve as emcee and as her husband’s dance partner.
There was no “filler” material and no slow moments with Cheech and Chong. One of the many audience favorites was “Dave,” the sketch on their self-titled debut album famous for the phrase “Dave’s not here.” Another was a slightly updated version of “Santa Claus and His Old Lady” in which Santa cuts back on his Christmas deliveries because he almost got taken out by a drone over Afghanistan.
Unlike the situation with “The Book of Mormon” at the Blaisdell Concert Hall last month, where some bought tickets unaware of that show’s X-rated language and subject matter, there were no walk-outs on Cheech & Chong. Everyone in the place seemed primed for the duo’s sometimes explicit commentary on drug use and sex, their use of racial and ethnic stereotypes, and a sketch about Chong’s experiences of being strip searched in prison. Chong commented at one point that they broke up because they became rich and “You can’t make a rich Mexican do ——!”
Marin – who is Mexican-American and is well-known for portraying stereotypical Mexicans and Mexican-Americans — was in excellent form. The duo’s Bruce Springsteen parody, “Born in the U.S.A.” redone as “Born in East L.A.,” has been one of his showcase dialect numbers since 1985 and was a crowd-pleaser on Thursday. Marin displayed a hint of his range as a comic actor in another sketch when he portrayed a very stoned Texas comedian of unspecified ethnicity.
Chong plumbed the depths of political incorrectness with hilarious spot-on accuracy with his full-costumed portrayal of African-American blues singer Blind Melon Lemon.
During a solo stand-up sketch Chong suggested that Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton “have made a deal.” He said that America shouldn’t worry too much about a Trump presidency (“We got through Nixon, we got through Bush, we can get through Trump”). And, there would probably be no missile tests or other provocative acts by the North Koreans once they realized that Trump was waiting for a reason – any reason, just gimme a reason – to “push the button” on them.
There were a few serious moments. The most serious moment of all came with their rendition of “”Does Your Mama Know About Me,” the song Chong wrote in the 1960s when he was a member of a multi-racial soul group, Bobby Taylor & The Vancouvers. They explained that although Chong was writing about interracial relationships in 1968 the song could apply to any type of relationship. Marin joked that Chong had actually been writing about a type of relationship that even today isn’t accepted, but jokes aside, as they sang the song they made it clear that they support tolerance.
Smoking — of anything — is not allowed in the Hawaii Theatre, but as the show came to a close a familiar tell-tale odor revealed that at least a couple of fans were lighting up.