One of the fondest memories from our misspent youth was seeing Richard "Cheech" Marin and Tommy Chong perform their stoner comedy routine live onstage. It was somewhere in Maryland (Gaithersburg?) sometime in the mid-1970s. Things remain, umm, hazy. We think Steely Dan was the headlining act.
"They opened for us, actually," Marin quickly corrected us. He's 58 now but despite all that pot consumption, his memories of those touring days are sharp. He's reviving them because tonight, at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colo., Cheech rejoins Chong, 66, for their first appearance together in more than 20 years. Neither is sure whether they'll do stand-up, but if they do, Chong's recent nine-month stay in the pen (on a federal bong-selling rap) may well provide inspiration.
Cheech Marin, left, and Tommy Chong are appearing together again for the first time in 20 years at the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen.
(Chong Photo by Magic Arts & Entertainment)
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"Jail was very exciting -- probably the most exciting thing I've ever done. I joined the ranks of the martyrs: Mandela and Lenny Bruce and Saint Paul," Chong tells us, sounding quite serious. Still torqued that John Ashcroft's Justice Department pursued him, he adds: "I'd never been in trouble before. . . . The whole pot experience itself is so misconstrued and misused by the authorities for their own personal gain."
On probation until July, he must submit to drug testing but says he probably won't partake of weed again. "It was more of a medicine for me than an addiction. I don't need it. I quit with no problem. If a smoker like me can quit with no problem, then how harmful is this substance that's putting people away for 20 or 30 years?"
Marin, who says he smokes only "in countries where it's legal," laughingly offers this sage advice for his colleague: "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime."
After Chong's release last summer, the pair resumed work on a script for an as-yet-untitled movie. Marin tosses out possible titles: "The Lord of the Smoke Rings" and "The Passion of the Cheech and Chong." Whatever. He promises "classic Cheech and Chong characters in their adventures, only age-appropriate -- if you're 14 years old." Just like we sort of remember.
Reagan, Stuck in Our Memory
• Just when you think everything in the known universe has been written about Ronald Reagan, another book comes out. Conservatives swooped into the Capitol Club -- conveniently located next door to the Republican National Committee -- on Tuesday night to celebrate Bob Colacello's new "Ronnie & Nancy: Their Path to the White House -- 1911 to 1980." As the author put his John Hancock on piles of books, we asked what was different about his tome as opposed others.
The commemorative Ronald Reagan stamp.
(AP)
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"Well, mine has Nancy," he said. "She's only had one biography previous to me, by a woman called Kitty Kelley. I can tell you she didn't like the Kitty Kelley book. . . . I gave her a fair shake." (The Kelley bio was unauthorized, but the former first lady got gentler treatment in "Nancy: A Portrait of My Years with Nancy Reagan," by former White House staffer Michael Deaver.)
Gipper fans on hand included host Eric Dezenhall, Frank Donatelli, R. Emmett Tyrrell, David Keene and Asa Hutchinson. "I don't think you can have too many Reagan books," said Hutchinson, a U.S. attorney under Reagan. Meanwhile, for those who can't get enough of the 40th president, the Postal Service unveiled a commemorative Reagan stamp yesterday.
Brando Didn't Refuse This Offer
• The Don lives on: Marlon Brando reprises his role as the iconic Vito Corleone in a video game version of "The Godfather." Before his death last July, Brando did a voice-over session in Los Angeles with the game's designers. He also granted his likeness to the game, as did James Caan (as Sonny Corleone) and Robert Duvall (as Tom Hagen).
Tonight, over lasagna and cannoli at Il Cortile in Manhattan's Little Italy, the actors will be among the guests for a preview of the Electronic Arts game, which lets players join the Corleone family and work their way up the mob in New York circa 1945. Release is set for the fall.
" 'The Godfather' is a revered film, so we wanted to make sure everything we did, from designing the game to this sneak preview, is authentic," an EA spokeswoman told The Post's Jose Antonio Vargas.
SQUIBS
• Sam Waterston of "Law & Order" fame is visiting the White House tomorrow for an event kicking off Abraham Lincoln's birthday weekend. Waterston performs excerpts from the Great Emancipator's speeches and writings in a presentation called "Lincoln Seen and Heard," with an assist from Harold Holzer, co-chair of the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission.
• How romantic: CBS's Bob Schieffer, ABC 7's Leon Harris, author Azar Nafisi and others are prepping for Valentine's Day by taking part in tonight's "Love Letters for Literacy" fundraising gala at the French Embassy. They'll read from works about love; we hear Schieffer's choice is "The Velveteen Rabbit."
• Attention, men on the make: The Washington-Baltimore area is the No. 1 place to find rich, single women, according to a new survey by Teasley, a Manhattan marketing firm. New York and Boston came in second and third, respectively.
With Anne Schroeder
