Perhaps the biggest news in comedy this year has been the reunion of comedy team \u00a0Cheech and Chong for a series of standup concerts starting next month. But a tour is only the first part of their renewed partnership.<\/p>\n
On Howard Stern’s Sirius Satellite radio show this morning, Tommy Chong confirmed that he and partner Cheech Marin are actively looking at new film\u00a0projects, the first of which will follow a concert movie to be filmed during their\u00a0upcoming tour titled “Light It Up America\/Canada.”<\/p>\n
“We’re doing a concert movie for the Weinsteins, and then we’re talking about a series of [new comedies],” Chong stated.<\/p>\n
The duo rose to fame in the 1970s based on a series\u00a0of albums that\u00a0mined material from\u00a0the hippie and drug cultures. Their first film, 1978’s Up In Smoke<\/strong> was an immediate hit (pardon the oun) and lead to several more comedies including Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie<\/strong> (1980), Nice Dreams<\/strong> (1981) and Things Are Tough All Over<\/strong> (1982).<\/p>\n Although\u00a0acrimony had been slowly building between them, their partnership dissolved in 1987 when Marin was asked to\u00a0star without Chong\u00a0in the movie Born In East LA<\/strong>, although it was based on a song that appeared on the pair’s 1985 album Get Out Of My Room<\/em>. The pair had previously discussed reuniting in 2003, but Chong’s conviction for “distributing drug-related paraphenalia” in May of that year and his ensuing nine-month prison sentance\u00a0nixed any tour plans.<\/p>\n When pressed by Stern for more details about any forthcoming films, Chong said that they had not written any scripts yet. “So far it’s both of us, though,” joked Chong, referencing the pair’s\u00a0split over Born In East LA<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The pair couldn’t have picked a better time to stage a reunion, as drug humor in comedies is definitely on the rise. Though he stated he hasn’t seen the recently released pot comedy Pineapple Express<\/strong> yet, Chong\u00a0had nothing but praisefor its star Seth Rogen’s hit\u00a0comedy from last summer\u00a0Knocked Up<\/strong>. Still, Chong \u00a0didn’t seem worried about competing against the current generation of comics making films.<\/p>\n “The great thing about comedians is that the older you get, the funnier you get,” he stated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"