Pubdate: Sun, 07 Sep 2008 Source: Ottawa Citizen (CN ON) Copyright: 2008 The Ottawa Citizen Contact: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/letters.html Website: http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/326 Author: Peter Simpson DAVE? DAVE'S NOT HERE... There was a certain scent around the National Arts Centre on Friday night, of that burning green herb, that pungent bringer of giggles. The masses -- the guys in tie-dye shirts and greyed Allman Brothers hair, the youngsters in their Chuck Taylor shoes and hipster poses -- were coming together to laud the ancient gods of Stonerism, Cheech & Chong. The scent was also keen inside Southam Hall, where a bold few in the sold-out crowd sparked reefers. One half-expected to hear the recorded voice of Hamilton Southam tsk-tsking it all, but nothing could temper the stoked anticipation of the assembled disciples of dope. They were ready for their tiny slice of history -- opening night on the legendary duo's first tour in decades -- and they hooted and laughed before the show even began. None outdid a particular lady in row H, who wore overworked Lycra, smelled of Lynchburg, Tennessee, and would have laughed uproariously at a recitation of Paradise Lost, had it been read in an I'm-so-stoned-man voice. Tommy Chong's wife, Shelby, primed the crowd with a short and raw set, and when her husband and his long-estranged friend came out, the place deliriously jumped to its feet. If Cheech & Chong were anxious about their reception after all these years, they could hardly have asked for a more sincere reaffirmation. What followed was a blurry mass of jokes about flying boogers and tampon pipes, of the familiar skits with interludes of Chong's recollections of his recent time in jail ("You know all that homo stuff, that Bubba stuff? It's not true. It doesn't hurt.") and his political thoughts (Prime Minister Stephen Harper is "Bush Light.") But mostly it was the old classics -- Let's Make a Dope Deal (with prizes of "B.C. bud"), the defecating dogs (dumping on a newspaper photo of Harper), and cruisin' with Pedro de Pacas. The all-time classic -- "Dave's not here" -- wasn't offered, though it was clearly wanted. The merchandise table in the lobby did a brisk business in "Dave's Not Here, Man" T-shirts, at $40 a pop. Does comedy age like wine or music or literature, its body and substance maturing, or does it remain tied to the notions and mores of its day? It couldn't be nostalgia for a sizable measure of Friday's audience, for those who were not yet born when Big Bambu hit turntables in 1972, or even when Up in Smoke hit movie screens in '79. For the others, it just didn't matter: they toked (many of them), they laughed (all of them), and they had a good time. As for Cheech & Chong, they were having fun -- Chong even said so -- and why wouldn't they be? Reunited, opening night, full-house, standing ovations; for those onstage and off, it was a high ol' time, literally and metaphorically. - --- MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart