Often dismissed by newscasters with the relatively unoriginal, “Are you high right now Mr. Chong?” actor Tommy Chong is as prepared as the next guy to laugh at his own drug-addled persona. In recent years Chong has been making the most of his Cheech and Chong celebrity, touring comedy clubs around the country with his wife Shelby, publishing a memoir (The I Chong: Mediations From the Joint), and promoting the release of the Josh Gilbert documentary a/k/a Tommy Chong, which recounts the legal battle that ended with him behind bars. And while his comedy routines may not strive to rise above his high-as-a-kite persona of yesteryear, Chong himself has begun to thrust himself into the spotlight as a counterculture activist, not only for pot, but for anything that he sees as reflecting poorly on the United States of America.
“I used to pride myself on being just a pot-smoker,” says Chong, “ I never gave a thought about the activism part of it. But I’ve really evolved into quite a spokesman.” After the DEA sting operation known as “Operation Pipe Dream” (seriously!) led by former Attorney General John Ashcroft ended with Chong serving a nine-month prison sentence for selling bongs, he began to see his trial and subsequent imprisonment as little more than a media diversion. He even sees himself as somewhat of a martyr. “Nelson Mandela went to jail for 28 years,” Chong points out, seemingly alluding to a connection between the two of them, “but because he was a saint and he went there on a mission, it just made him more powerful and equipped him to do what he did: to take his people, like Moses, out of the dark ages and into the ruling class.” While Chong may not be what one normally equates with a biblical hero, he is becoming a known contributor to the present culture wars.
Priding himself on his ability to filibuster any interviewer’s leading questions and to see through the vacuous nature of “talking head” reporters, Chong has begun to forge a new name for himself as an outspoken commentator on typically straight-laced news shows. He famously mocked a stunned Contessa Brewer for MSNBC’s coverage of Paris Hilton’s jail sentence and repeatedly called Bush a “moron” while speaking with a stammering Neil Cavuto on Fox News. It seems that reporters invite him on for his stoner image and then freeze up when he comes across as more than an aging pothead.
“They just read their monitors and they don’t really do their homework,” says Chong of most newscasters. “They have no clue. I know their game: conflict, conflict, conflict.” And Chong is delighted to provide them with a little more pushback than they expect. But he insists he’s not just playing for laughs. In fact, he’s of the opinion that a little comedy can actually serve up a revolutionary message better than serious, demanding politics. “That’s why the king always had his joker,” remarks Chong, “because he would tell the truth, but no one could be mad at him because he was making fun of it.” And with the current administration, Chong sees plenty to make fun of. “Bush is an actor whose play’s been cancelled,” he declares rather enigmatically. “You look at these guys like Fox News and the Bush Administration and realize that they’re oil people. They’re dinosaurs and they’ve got one foot in the grave and the other one on a banana peel.” It’s biting statements like this that can leave concurring viewers nodding enthusiastically in agreement while the uninitiated may be left shaking their heads in bewilderment, wondering exactly what Chong is attempting to convey. But before you’re able to fully digest his statement, he’s on to the next topic with a quiet laugh and a knowing gleam in his eye.
And while Chong may be overtly critical of the present, he doesn’t hold back his bold predictions about the future. From alternative fuel sources: “We’re a year or two away from having highways built where it will charge your [car] batteries,” to the current election: “Obama will be our next president. And within his first year as president he will have decriminalized [marijuana],” Chong can state the most outlandish assumptions with such conviction that you almost feel as if you must have somehow missed the news story about the battery-charging highways or somehow failed to grasp Obama’s inherent ability to immediately bypass Congress and single-handedly win a fight that pot activists have been hammering away at for years.
The truth is that regardless of whether Tommy Chong is out to promote a legitimate political agenda or just promote his new film (a/k/a Tommy Chong opens in theaters across America on April 20th), he’s relentlessly captivating to listen to.
