The Fading Reverb: Up In Smoke (1978)

Skimming through the endless rabble of daytime talk shows and the latest experiment in soul-sucking cultural nihilism passing itself for reality TV, I came across something much funnier than I remember it being (or seemingly having any right to be). 

And for the record, let me make plain my pronounced disdain for what they call “stoner humor” (or anything else operating on a fifth-grade level while attempting to pass itself off as adult).  I shudder at the very mention of it.  Some of the absolute worst examples of modern comedy fall under this label, but those are movies and TV shows I’d never deign to divulge here. 

That said, UP IN SMOKE is a very funny movie, whether you can relate to the subject matter or not.  I think this might say more about the dismal state of comedy today than anything else, but this thing has aged exceptionally well.

"That is a toothpick."

From their first onscreen encounter, it's easy to see why Cheech and Chong became the 70's counterculture equivalent of Abbott and Costello, as their chemistry is as organic and natural as anything they might attempt to stuff into a ceramic pipe masquerading as a malevolent wizard.

Not long into the movie, the pair meet up quite by accident as Pedro (Cheech Marin) mistakes Anthony (Thomas Chong) for a female hitchhiker.  

An honest mistake, really...

Anthony(?!)--hereinafter referred to, in the interest of christian harmony, as Chong--cunningly finagles his way into a ride by complimenting Pedro's radical eye for interior decorating, then the randy duo strike up a casual discussion somehow veering from a sober exchange concerning whether radical feminism and campus Marxism can freely coexist,  to, "Hey, wanna smoke a joint, man?"  

Producing a joint so impossibly huge that one is left wondering how many men were lost during its storied construction, Chong warns Pedro that the substance of which he is about to imbibe just might very well be some "heavy shit".  Never one to shy away in the face of insurmountable odds, Pedro proudly regales Chong with tales of pot-conquests past, to which Chong curtly retorts, "better buckle up your seat belt, man".

Chong-  "Kinda grabs you by the boo-boo"

"Am I driving okay, man?"