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.
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MAP posted-by: Keith Brilhart