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May 23, 2019 - The Joe Rogan Experience
01:42:15
Joe Rogan Experience #1303 - Tommy Chong
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joe rogan
24:21
t
tommy chong
01:14:19
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j
jamie vernon
00:07
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Speaker Time Text
joe rogan
Tommy Chong, ladies and gentlemen.
How are you, sir?
tommy chong
I'm fine, man.
joe rogan
It's great to see you again, man.
tommy chong
You too, Joe.
joe rogan
I tell everybody that one of my first ever experiences with comedy recordings was listening to Big Bamboo when I was a kid.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
My parents had it, and they'd let us listen to it.
We'd open it up like a big old packet of rolling papers and pull out the albums back then, the actual record.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
You know, and so I've been a fan for a long time.
unidentified
Yeah.
tommy chong
I can tell, man.
I can tell.
joe rogan
How are you?
tommy chong
The lover of the weed.
I'm fine, man.
I couldn't be better.
I'll be 81 Friday.
joe rogan
Wow.
That's amazing.
Does that sound crazy to say?
Because I'm 51. That sounds crazy to say.
When I say it, I'm like, Jesus, is that true?
Fuck.
tommy chong
I'm 30 years older than you.
unidentified
Wow.
Wow.
tommy chong
That's something.
But I feel good, man.
You know, all the systems are go again, you know.
And that makes a big difference in the life, you know.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
That's what I found out the fountain of youth is the pussy.
joe rogan
That's it?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
That's all it is?
tommy chong
Drink out of the fountain of youth and you'll live forever.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Yep.
joe rogan
Okay.
What about if you're gay?
tommy chong
Well, I guess...
joe rogan
Long pause.
unidentified
Yeah, I had to think about that one.
tommy chong
Well, I guess...
joe rogan
It might be dick for that one.
tommy chong
No, it has to be the fountain.
It has to be the fountain.
joe rogan
So, even for gay folks, it's gotta be pussy too?
tommy chong
Well, what's the longest living gay guy that you know?
joe rogan
That's a good question.
Huh.
tommy chong
Like Bob Hope, man.
joe rogan
Was he gay?
tommy chong
No.
At least one night I knew him.
No, that's my final use.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
You know, because it...
joe rogan
Sure, romance.
tommy chong
Well, what happens is your body, when it reaches a certain stage, it starts disintegrating because it's getting ready for the recall and the reboot.
unidentified
Yeah.
tommy chong
And you get a new body and away you go again.
But if you keep this body healthy, it feels that there's no need to leave because you obviously still got more shit to do.
joe rogan
Yeah, you're still enjoying it.
tommy chong
Yeah, you're still producing, you know.
joe rogan
Are you exercising and everything?
tommy chong
Oh yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, what do you do?
tommy chong
I got a trainer now.
joe rogan
Yeah?
tommy chong
But my main exercise is tango.
joe rogan
Tango?
tommy chong
Tango.
Really?
I will turn you on to tango.
Tango is old folks' sex.
The whole thing about tango is it's so intricate.
The original tango was a mating dance from Africa.
Really?
And what they would do, the tribes, the young kids would get together and dance and flirt with their feet.
And so when the slaves got taken, you know, from Africa and put on the boats and that, they ended up crossing the foot dance with the Adagio French dance, the dance of the brothels.
And so then they ended up with a music or a dance called tango, which was a combination.
Tango itself is a word that means small drum.
It's an African drum.
Just like Mambo, it's an African word that means storytelling.
Really?
Yeah.
joe rogan
Dude, story time with Tommy Chong here.
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
Man, I was in jail.
I had nothing but time.
And I wrote a whole paper on Tango.
So anyway, Tango, like I go to Argentina with my wife a lot.
And it's very tough dance to dance with your wife.
You have to dance with a stranger.
And she has to dance with a stranger.
joe rogan
Why is that?
tommy chong
I think you're too intimate, too personal.
You know each other too well.
If you're a stranger, then all you can respond to is the dance signals.
Like, the man has to lead.
But he has to lead in such a way that you can't see him.
He can't pull her around.
He suggests.
And so he'll suggest a certain move and then the girl, his partner, will understand that move and then she can do a couple of steps.
In a certain way.
Like one is called the...
I can't remember the term.
Ochos.
Ochos, which means back and forth.
And out of those combinations, once the guy gets the girl going into the ochos, for instance, then he can move on to another...
He'll stop her with his foot, and then he'll move on to another series of moves.
And they're all designed.
But the stranger...
The woman has to really listen to the moves if she's dancing with a stranger or a teacher.
And that's how...
And then it has to be a close embrace.
And the woman has to be cuddled up against the guy.
Not always, but for the most part.
So you're not looking at your feet at all.
And it's all about feel.
And so you have to feel the other person's body.
And it can get so intimate, man, that you really, after a good dance with a good tango teacher, you really feel like having a cigarette and relaxing for a bit.
joe rogan
Did you study this?
Did you take classes?
tommy chong
I got turned on to it in Paris.
Cheech and I were finishing up the Corsican Brothers, and we got offered to do the Cisco Kid.
And they sent me the script, and in the script it said, Tango Dancers.
And so my wife and I, girlfriend at the time, but wife now, we used to drive by this place that said Tango in neon lights, and so we stopped and And took our first tango lesson from this George and Rosie, a couple there.
And George was too old to get out of bed.
He was in his 90s or something.
He was in bed.
Rosie came and met us and she showed us the first little bit of tango.
Well, my wife, Shelby, who was an excellent dancer, she's been studying dance, you know, ever since I can remember, you know.
And so she started doing salsa first, and then I found out about that, and I had to learn salsa.
But then we started learning tango together.
And then she went on to really learn how to dance, how to dance with the pros.
Me, I'm still struggling to be a pro.
And it's very hard.
It's like MMA fighting.
She's a pro, I'm an amateur.
And so when we go down to Buenos Aires, like we went down for her birthday, I was the video operator because I didn't know how to dance that well.
I take lessons almost 20 years now, but I still don't have the skills to be a professional like that.
Yeah, so I went down and videotaped her, and then I came back and I made a vow.
I said, this is embarrassing, you know, because people know me from years ago, and I still can't dance.
So it's about time that I learned.
So I gave up everything to learn tango.
Really?
joe rogan
But what'd you give up?
tommy chong
Golf, more than anything.
Really?
Yeah.
joe rogan
There's a lot of guys right now that are going crazy.
Why would you give up golf for tango?
tommy chong
Actually, it worked out really well.
I played a tournament, golf, last week, and I did the best I've ever done.
If you lay off something, you forget all your bad habits.
joe rogan
Oh, that's true, too.
And you're probably really enthusiastic about playing it again.
tommy chong
Oh, I loved it.
I did good.
I got about two pars.
Incredible.
For me, I got about a 36 handicap, something like that.
But I gave up golf because it's too much energy.
It's taking too much energy.
joe rogan
Sure, you gotta walk around all the time.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I would also imagine that the tango dancing, all the movement and the footwork would actually probably make you more steady and stable, balanced better, so it'd probably make your golf game better.
tommy chong
Oh, it did.
Totally, totally.
joe rogan
I noticed that with yoga.
Yoga makes pool better in some weird way.
It makes you stand stronger.
Yeah.
tommy chong
There's also a pause.
In comedy, someone asked me about the secret of comedy.
I said, it's a pause.
And the tango is a pause, too.
joe rogan
Timing.
tommy chong
Timing.
Waiting.
joe rogan
Waiting.
tommy chong
Waiting and using that silence, you know, before you say something to give people a time to formulate their own thoughts about what you're doing or to concentrate on what you're going to say next.
And that's the same thing with tango.
joe rogan
Is this you?
tommy chong
Yeah.
Oh, that's me with Peter.
joe rogan
Were you on Dancing with the Stars?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Oh, shit.
How hard was that to do?
tommy chong
Oh, it was incredible.
joe rogan
Look at you, carrying her everything.
What the hell is going on here?
Good Lord.
What are you saying to her there?
tommy chong
We did it.
Wow.
joe rogan
You got Randy Couture crying.
I got a 10. It looked like Randy was crying.
tommy chong
What's his name?
Kevin Hart.
Kevin Hart was the judge.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
He gave me a 10. Oh, that's amazing.
The only 10 I got.
Look at me.
She had to carry me off there.
joe rogan
Wow.
tommy chong
Oh, man.
That tore my butt up, man.
joe rogan
I imagine literally serious fucking training for that, right?
tommy chong
I came off that with rectal cancer.
joe rogan
Whoa!
tommy chong
Yeah, I found out on that show.
joe rogan
Wow.
You don't think you got it from dancing?
tommy chong
I think I got it from...
No smoking and the stress.
joe rogan
From no smoking weed?
tommy chong
No smoking weed.
I quit smoking weed during the show.
joe rogan
Why'd you do that?
tommy chong
I thought it would help me with my...
joe rogan
Coordination or something?
tommy chong
Well, with my being there.
unidentified
Concentration?
tommy chong
Listening, you know.
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's hard to learn things when you're stoned sometimes.
tommy chong
That's what I'm saying.
joe rogan
Yeah, like in jujitsu, most people agree that it's not a good idea to smoke pot when you're learning skills, but it's a good idea to smoke pot when you have the skills.
tommy chong
Yeah.
It'll calm you down.
joe rogan
Yeah, when you roll and you already know what to do, it's like instinctive, then you can smoke some pot.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But like learning, like if someone shows me a new move and I'm high, I can't even figure out where the body's going.
I'm like, wait a minute, where's your arm?
How am I doing this?
You get too high.
tommy chong
And then what am I doing?
joe rogan
You get baffled.
tommy chong
Yeah.
Well, that's the same as Tango Weld.
joe rogan
So you really think that that happened to you because of that?
tommy chong
See, I had prostate cancer.
And it was a kind of prostate that was so slow acting.
The lazy ass doctor said, well, we won't do it.
We'll just leave it alone and you'll probably die of something else before that happens.
joe rogan
That was his attitude?
tommy chong
That was their attitude.
Jesus Christ.
Yeah.
It happens all the time, you know, because, you know, prostate can be very slow.
And I had a slow one.
But I had a biopsy when I had one to find out.
Because I was going to do the growth hormone therapy.
And that's why I checked out my blood to make sure I didn't have cancer.
Found out I had prostate cancer.
But they did a biopsy.
And I think that could have done it.
You know, in a biopsy, they come and take a piece of your...
joe rogan
So you think that taking a biopsy could have caused damage, which could have led to cancer?
tommy chong
Could have caused the cancer cell to hit the rectum the way it did.
And so I've got a bag now.
I've got a colostomy bag.
But I'm totally healed now, and I'm good to go.
So I don't know if it was the lack of weed and the stress and the fact that I had prostate.
So when they fixed the rectal, and I got one of the best doctors, Kajandian.
joe rogan
What did they have to do?
tommy chong
They had to operate.
They had to change the plumbing from the front From the back to the front.
That's a colostomy bag.
So I have no more rectum.
Wow.
So I'm a virgin again.
I'm kidding.
And then you put the bag around to the front, and that's all they did there.
But what they did, they swept the prostate clean with the radiation.
They said, we're down there anyway, so we might as well do their prostate too.
So they fixed the prostate.
And thank God I never had it taken out because now I got the sleeping giant is awoke again.
joe rogan
Sleeping giant?
unidentified
Yeah.
tommy chong
I woke the sleeping giant up.
I think it was the weed that did it, too, plus my gorgeous wife.
But yeah, I started getting these urges, and I thought, oh, what's happening here?
And I'm doing testosterone.
joe rogan
That's probably what did it.
tommy chong
Yeah, the testosterone.
And then I'm going in for a shot tomorrow.
It's a new procedure that they use...
Apparently to help induce labor because it's all about blood flow down there.
And so it's going to induce...
I tried pills.
I tried Viagra.
You know, it doesn't work enough.
And so I'm going in tomorrow for an injection of some help to blood flow to help the giant get a little more awake.
joe rogan
Now, when you went to jail, you had a...
The case was horrible.
I mean, it was so depressing to hear that you were going to jail for making bongs.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
I mean, the whole thing was so sick, and that they were threatening to put your family in jail, and that's why they sent you to jail.
You couldn't smoke pot for a while after that, right?
tommy chong
For years.
How long?
Probably three years.
joe rogan
Because you're on probation.
tommy chong
Probation.
Pre-probation.
Before you went to jail.
Pre-trial.
Because if you get caught, then you end up getting tortured.
The whole time I was there, nine months I was there.
I couldn't smoke.
They tested me all the time.
They tried to catch me.
They had nothing to catch.
And then a year after that, I was on probation and I never smoked.
I can quit.
You know, I got willpower.
I can quit.
I quit smoking.
I quit drinking.
I quit drinking.
Eating bad food.
joe rogan
One thing that happened that was great was that you became even more of a hero to the cannabis community.
Because people knew you truly were a martyr.
And it was outrageous.
And it was so wrong that even people that didn't smoke pot were like, how the fuck are you arresting Tommy Chong?
Come on, man.
All the terrorists in the world, the criminals, the rapists, the murderers.
tommy chong
I know.
joe rogan
You're going to put Tommy Chong in jail.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Like, what are we, protecting or serving?
What are we doing here?
Which one?
Which one is that?
tommy chong
Yeah, they were just showing off.
But once I got in there, I was in there with a lot of people that were unjustly incarcerated.
I was in there with the orthopedic surgeon for the Rams, and he had been in a tax, it was legal at the time he did it, which was that he had a big car collection.
And he rode off the car collection somehow.
And then the IRS changed people, and next thing you know, they came to him and said, you owe all this money, and if you don't pay it, you've got to go to jail.
And he couldn't pay it, so he went to jail.
He's an orthopedic surgeon.
He's one of the straightest guys I've ever met.
And there was another guy that figured out the OJ tax scheme.
You know how OJ can keep his money from the NFL? Pension because he's in Florida?
Yeah, well, it's a law, a loophole that allowed OJ to keep his taxes.
I mean, tax-free money.
And so this accountant figured out how to do it, and he started getting rich people so they didn't have to pay taxes.
And so rather than to change the law or do anything like that, they just put his ass in jail.
Because they could.
And they put him in there for a year.
joe rogan
And he wasn't doing anything illegal?
tommy chong
Nothing illegal.
And then they told him, you're going to get out in a year, but you're not going to do that tax thing anymore.
joe rogan
Wow.
tommy chong
Yeah.
No one owed the government.
joe rogan
The IRS is creepy.
You do not want to owe them money.
tommy chong
Especially if you're Trump.
unidentified
Oh.
joe rogan
Well, they're coming after him right now, right?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
What are they coming after him for now?
New York State is allowing Congress to subpoena his tax returns?
tommy chong
Oh yeah.
Deutsche Bank.
They got his accountant.
Nothing to do with the federal government.
joe rogan
I tell everybody, why would you want to be president?
Why would you want to do that to yourself?
tommy chong
Unless you're super clean.
joe rogan
Even if you're super clean, they're going to make shit up about you.
tommy chong
No, the only reason Trump did it is because he owes Putin so much money.
joe rogan
You think so?
tommy chong
Oh, for sure.
For sure.
How did this loser billionaire get financed over and over and over again?
And guess who's laundering money like crazy from Russia?
The guy that needs the money.
No, the whole Trump family is going to go down.
joe rogan
You think so?
tommy chong
Oh, for sure.
Taxes, man.
Al Capone to Donald Trump.
You can't evade taxes.
joe rogan
So do you think that he owes taxes?
tommy chong
He owes Putin.
He owes Putin so much money that he's scared to death.
joe rogan
How do you know this?
tommy chong
Common sense.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
So it's a guess.
tommy chong
Oh, no.
Figure it out.
joe rogan
Okay.
tommy chong
Let's go down to history.
Comey is a FBI. Right.
Mueller, the FBI. Trump was attacking Obama with a birther.
Obama's a president.
Obama's got control of the FBI, CIA, everybody.
So Obama said, okay, find out about this Trump guy.
So they found out about him.
But the thing is, they can't really do anything unless he becomes president.
Other than that, he'd just walk away free.
No one would get a decision.
No one cares.
joe rogan
He can't do anything unless he becomes president?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Or you mean the FBI can't do anything?
tommy chong
No, there's no breaking the law.
There's no law that says that you can't deal with Russia.
joe rogan
Right.
tommy chong
Only law says that you can't deal with Russia and be the president of the United States at the same time.
unidentified
Right.
tommy chong
The only time he would break any laws is that if he became president.
unidentified
Right.
tommy chong
And he has to become president.
And he became president.
Thanks to Comey.
Because Hillary was going to win.
No matter what they say, Hillary was going to win.
Until Comey said, oh, some new stuff came up.
And they knew, they knew back in Obama time that there was nothing really wrong that Hillary did.
Nothing.
Nothing.
joe rogan
Well, they told her to release emails and she deleted 30,000 of them.
tommy chong
So?
joe rogan
But she wasn't supposed to do that.
That's illegal.
And she was using her own personal email server instead of the government's.
tommy chong
It was out of laziness and convenience more than anything illegal.
You know, she wasn't looking to get financed to her hotel by the Russians.
You know, she wasn't looking for money.
Her and Bill had money.
They got money.
Yeah, it's a little fishy, little stinky stuff around there.
But it's normal.
joe rogan
Normal politics.
tommy chong
So my theory is that Comey and the FBI said, let's get this guy.
joe rogan
So you think they let him become president so they can get him?
tommy chong
I think Barr is part of the...
The Comey Gang.
joe rogan
You know what's going to be hilarious about this video?
When people watch this, they're going to go, how high is Tom Chum?
Tommy Chong thinks that Comey made Trump president so they could prosecute him.
That's an interesting theory.
I don't know if I buy it.
I don't think anybody's controlling the strings that well.
I don't think the puppeteers are that good.
tommy chong
Listen, look at everybody that was around Trump that became chief of staff and everything else.
All military.
Why?
Because Trump's got his finger on the button.
He's got ability to get on the button.
And so, in order to keep him in line, they got people around him that can keep him in line.
joe rogan
Yeah?
tommy chong
Yeah.
And the FBI, they can infiltrate anything.
They infiltrated the mob for years.
They infiltrated the Hells Angels.
Do you think they couldn't infiltrate Donald Trump's gang?
joe rogan
But do you think they were trying to?
tommy chong
Absolutely!
joe rogan
Just because of him going after Obama with the birther stuff?
tommy chong
It's a start.
joe rogan
You know?
tommy chong
You mess with the president.
Look at Adonardi.
joe rogan
But a lot of people were saying he was from Kenya, right?
There was some ridiculous Photoshop analysis of his birth certificate.
tommy chong
Anything to keep a black guy from being a president.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
And that's what they found out, you see?
And the FBI and the federal laws, you know, against racism, and that's pretty strict, pretty heavy, you know, until Trump got in.
So, anyway, this is my theory.
joe rogan
That's some stony-ass theory right there.
tommy chong
Yeah, like, I really feel that Giuliani is part of the scheme to keep Trump.
You know, with hope.
Well, he gives him hope.
You know, hey, they can't look at your taxes.
You're the president, for Christ's sake.
You know, you're the supreme leader.
joe rogan
Well, there's some things they won't do when you're in office.
tommy chong
Absolutely.
joe rogan
They won't indict you for certain things once you're in office.
tommy chong
And so they plan it.
Well, look what Mueller said.
He says, I'm going to hand this off to the Congress.
You can impeach him.
Here's all the evidence you need to impeach him.
And now the Democrats have got to figure out, are we going to impeach him, go through that, or are we just going to go to the election and beat his ass in the election and then arrest him after the election?
joe rogan
Who do you think is going to beat him in the election?
tommy chong
Anybody?
joe rogan
Anybody?
You think Joe Biden can beat him?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
You are high, huh?
tommy chong
No.
joe rogan
Strong weed.
Where are you getting it?
tommy chong
Well, look at the Trump backers, for instance.
unidentified
Right.
tommy chong
Can you find one thinker in that backing group?
joe rogan
Well, I mean, who we're talking about?
tommy chong
Same thing.
You know, can think.
Racism binds you.
unidentified
Right.
tommy chong
Because racism is ignorance.
It's a form of ignorance.
I've got it in...
I had it in my family, you know.
So I know exactly.
I've been, you know...
I'm kissing clothes too racist.
And I know that mentality.
joe rogan
Pure ignorance.
tommy chong
Yeah, pure ignorance.
And ignorance doesn't stop with one thing.
It carries on to a lot of other things.
Like work and all sorts of things.
And so when you look at the people that are opposing Trump...
You know, the women, the kids, the intellectuals, the liberals, the progressives, all those people, they want a good future for our country, you know?
The other ones, they just want to keep everybody else out, or perceived enemies.
It's perceived enemies, like anybody with a gun.
That's the whole thing, you know?
If you have a gun, you're not very intelligent.
joe rogan
Why's that?
tommy chong
Because you're paranoid.
joe rogan
Wait a minute.
If you have a gun, you're not intelligent because you're paranoid?
tommy chong
Having a gun means that you're afraid that someone's going to come and attack you.
Right.
And so having a gun is...
Like they want to arm teachers, for instance.
joe rogan
That seems kind of crazy.
tommy chong
That is so stupid.
It is so dumb.
unidentified
Right.
tommy chong
And just like the ones that know about guns, like the cops that didn't go into the school, they knew the guy's got an AK. They're not going to go into that school with their little pistols.
And so they didn't go into the school.
And the ones that rushed the guy, they ended up dying.
So what I'm saying is that if you have a gun, if you think you need a gun for your house, for whatever, if you think you have something that's worth someone else's life, then you are ignorant.
joe rogan
Well, I don't necessarily think that's what they think.
They don't think that the gun is worth someone else's life.
They think they don't want to get their life taken by a home invasion, which does happen.
tommy chong
Did you see that video of the guy that had a raccoon on his boat?
joe rogan
No.
He had a raccoon on his boat?
tommy chong
A pet raccoon?
No.
It was a wild raccoon and he filmed it.
And he's 20 miles out in the sea and he sees this raccoon and so he filmed himself kicking the raccoon off the boat.
joe rogan
Into the ocean?
tommy chong
Into the ocean.
He filmed it.
And then he posted it.
Because he had no idea how ignorant that was.
He had no idea.
joe rogan
Was the raccoon dangerous?
Raccoons will fuck you up.
They will fuck you up.
tommy chong
Well, sure.
Sure.
But the wildlife guys said, just get a blanket.
Throw it over and put them in the bathroom.
Until you get close to shore.
Then kick them off.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
But this guy, right away, he freaked out.
He said, this is my boat.
Get off my boat.
joe rogan
Terrible way for a raccoon to die, too.
tommy chong
Well, see, that's the form of ignorance that I'm talking about.
joe rogan
It's also just fear.
It's fear.
tommy chong
That's what fear is.
Fear is ignorance.
joe rogan
Right, but if someone has a gun in their house to protect themselves from home invasions, home invasions do happen.
And people have saved their family with guns.
That's a real thing.
tommy chong
Well, you don't read about that much.
joe rogan
Oh, you read about it plenty if you go looking for it.
tommy chong
Really?
joe rogan
Yeah, there's plenty of stories.
If you look at the overall, they have like a pie chart of gun violence in this country.
And an unfortunately large number is suicides.
When they start talking about how many people have died, unfortunately a large number is suicide by gun.
And I feel like if people are going to kill themselves with a gun, they'll probably kill themselves with pills or anything else if they had that as well, right?
And then there's justifiable homicides by the police.
There's people that are protecting their house.
There's a bunch of different – there's gang violence.
There's a bunch of different things that get lumped in when we talk about gun violence.
But a certain percentage of them are people that are protecting their house or their family from someone who's trying to hurt them.
It does happen occasionally.
tommy chong
I'm in business with an ex-pilot from Vietnam.
And I'm quite sure he has a sidearm in his house.
But it would be useless because it's so locked away and so hidden by the time anything happened.
By the time he got to that gun and got it loaded and found the ammunition in the house.
joe rogan
Yeah, maybe.
Or maybe he could keep it right by his bed.
tommy chong
No, but I'm saying...
In this one instance.
And then what if it's your...
Daughter or something coming in late at night and you mistake her for...
joe rogan
Well, you open your mouth and you say something.
tommy chong
Possibly.
joe rogan
And you just go shooting into the dark.
tommy chong
Or what if you have homicidal tendencies and you've been...
See, one thing I learned about guns, because I grew up with guns, too.
I grew up in the country.
Where'd you grow up?
In Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
joe rogan
Oh, really?
Oh, that's right.
You're Canadian.
tommy chong
Yeah.
Crazy.
And so guns.
Guns were...
joe rogan
Did you ever think about moving back up there?
tommy chong
Oh, no.
I lived up there.
joe rogan
Oh, no.
tommy chong
L.A. is where you want to be.
But I grew up with guns where you actually needed a gun, especially when the hawks are coming down to get your chickens or some stuff like that.
But I've seen the gun culture in Calgary, and it turned me off because I've seen kids...
They would take a stray dog and bring him up to the field and tie him to a tree or something or a post and then shoot him.
joe rogan
Oh, Jesus.
tommy chong
Shoot him.
That is sport.
Here's the thing about guns.
I went duck hunting with my brother one time in the field, and he got bored waiting for the ducks to come.
And so here comes, what do you call it?
Yeah.
I'm sorry.
joe rogan
It's okay.
tommy chong
It's your wrist.
It's your wrist.
joe rogan
Your wrist is ringing.
tommy chong
He turned it off.
No, we went duck hunting, and we're waiting there for hours for the ducks to come over.
And my brother, he got bored, and there's a muskrat swimming across the thing, so he shot it with a shotgun.
And he walks out into the middle of the slough, picks up the muskrat as the ducks flew over top of us.
Just stupidity, man.
joe rogan
Well, that's definitely stupid.
But there's responsible gun owners, don't you think?
tommy chong
Well, as they are, like, I was an Army cadet, and when we had practice, I'm a sharpshooter, by the way.
joe rogan
Yeah?
tommy chong
Yeah, I got some, what do you call it, patches, you know, sharpshooter, 300 yards.
So I know how to handle a rifle anyway.
But when we go shooting, we would have to, first of all, we never got the weapon.
And until we marched down into firing position, then we were handed the weapon and one bullet.
And then we put the bullet in, shoot the target, another bullet, shoot the target.
And then when we were finished, we had to pick up all our casings and give them back.
And if anything was missing, no one left until they found that missing bullet.
And that's gun safety.
Then the gun was taken from us and put it in an armory.
It's only used when you're going to use it.
Just like walking around with a skill saw.
You can have a license to carry a skill saw, but you don't have a skill saw strapped to your side.
You can take out and try your skill saw anytime you want.
joe rogan
The open carry thing is very strange.
When you see people walking around with guns strapped to their hips in Arizona, you're like, okay.
tommy chong
They're targets.
Once you do that, you're a target.
joe rogan
In a way, yeah.
tommy chong
It's like the bikers.
Bikers, you know, the Hells Angels and the Mongols and that, they're the only crime and syndicate I know that advertise.
On their back.
Look at me.
unidentified
Look at me.
tommy chong
I'm a thug.
I extort.
I beat up people.
I kill people.
And I ride on a big hog.
It's crazy.
But people do that for recognition.
That's like mass shooters.
That's what they do it for.
Get their name in the paper.
Look what I did.
Look at the useless old me.
I'm not so useless.
joe rogan
The craziest thing about mass shooters is guns have been around for a long time, but this is not a thing that's been around for a long time.
This is a fairly recent thing that keeps erupting over and over and over again.
tommy chong
I don't know.
You were too young to remember, but...
When I was a kid, the crime comics were banned.
joe rogan
They were banned?
tommy chong
They were banned because they were bad.
They showed violence.
joe rogan
Comic books?
tommy chong
Comic books.
joe rogan
Wow.
tommy chong
And they were people up in arms about comic books.
And now, you've got video games where you've got to be a masked killer.
joe rogan
Well, how about movies?
You know, I mean, so many movies.
tommy chong
Movies!
joe rogan
John Wick movies.
Everybody's getting shot.
tommy chong
Everybody.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
One of my favorites is Peppermint.
joe rogan
Peppermint?
What's that?
tommy chong
Jennifer Gardner.
Have you seen that?
unidentified
No.
tommy chong
Oh, check it out.
She's a superhero.
joe rogan
Oh.
Her name is Peppermint?
tommy chong
The name of the movie is Peppermint.
joe rogan
Have you heard of this, Jamie?
You have?
I remember like in the last eight months or something.
unidentified
Really?
Not that long ago.
What?
tommy chong
It's great.
Really?
I've watched about three times now.
unidentified
What?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Why have you watched so many times?
tommy chong
I think Jennifer Gardner is kind of hot.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
tommy chong
And to see her with the guns and everything.
And the third time, I realized a lot of it were stunt people.
joe rogan
How can you tell?
tommy chong
Just, I've seen it so many times, it wasn't Jennifer.
joe rogan
Oh, okay, so you're looking for everything.
tommy chong
Yeah, I'm looking for that little thing, yeah.
But, again, that's the kind of violence that we get shown.
And people get immune.
joe rogan
Yes.
tommy chong
And especially...
People, they get stupid, you know.
Like when I was a kid, I saw a picture, my brother died recently, and there's a whole picture, photo thing of him and I when we were kids.
And they used to get put under the Christmas tree, six guns.
And when we're little guys, we were three or four years old, I had six guns strapped to myself, you know, because Roy Rogers and Gene Audrey, and that was a big deal, you know, you had your six gun shooters, but you never shot anybody, you just shot the gun under their hand, you know.
joe rogan
Yeah, that was the old days.
unidentified
Right?
joe rogan
The good guys always shot people in the hand.
They shot the gun away from them.
Alright, you got me.
Different world.
tommy chong
Yeah, it is.
joe rogan
Going from the old days to Big Bamboo to where we're at today, where you're actually in the weed business now.
tommy chong
Oh, you know it.
John's Choice.
joe rogan
Which is crazy, right?
It's like you were arrested for just selling glass.
How many years ago?
Was that like 15, 16?
03. 03. 16 years ago.
03. So 16 years ago, you were arrested for just selling glass.
2019, you're selling full-on weed legally.
tommy chong
In four or five countries.
That's crazy.
Germany, Spain, Canada.
joe rogan
You were so ahead of the curve.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
But you were one of the real OGs that paid a price.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And, you know, now it's got to be nice to see that your influence had something to do with all this.
tommy chong
It did.
It feels really well.
unidentified
It really did.
joe rogan
All your movies.
I mean, you guys made Weed look fun.
Yeah.
tommy chong
It was fun.
joe rogan
Yeah, but everybody made it out like, you know, you go from, if you think about propaganda, positive and negative, you go from Reefer Madness, which is the most negative, to the Cheech and Chong movies, which is probably the most positive.
tommy chong
Most positive.
joe rogan
Up until like Half Baked, that was the most positive Weed stuff we ever saw, right?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Super positive.
It was all just silly and fun.
tommy chong
Crazy.
Crazy.
Silly humor.
Ghetto humor.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
You know, a lot of ghetto humor.
And I wanted to be the rich guy.
You know, the kid of the rich guy.
Because that's what the 60s happened.
You know, all the hippie.
You know, in order to get laid, you had to be a hippie.
And so, all the rich kids growing their hair long.
You know, living on the streets.
All that stuff.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, you guys popularize vans, too.
tommy chong
Yeah, we used to say, when we'd be on some of the radio shows, and I was really popular on the right-wing radio shows.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Yeah.
I'd inflame the whole crowd.
They'd get all pissed off at me because I would out people.
I outed Danny Sullivan, the race car driver.
I said, oh yeah, Danny smokes pot.
joe rogan
People got mad at you for that?
tommy chong
It went nuts.
I think that's why I got busted.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Because I was in St. Louis on a radio show that Ashcroft listened to.
I think Ashcroft heard me and the hit went out.
joe rogan
People forgot how crazy that guy is.
unidentified
Yeah.
tommy chong
Is he still alive?
joe rogan
That's a good question.
But do you remember when he was singing?
He had a song that he sang that he wrote about Let the Eagle Soar.
Right!
Yes, when he was Attorney General.
And it was so creepy and crazy that this person would sing.
He had a whole album of gospel music.
Like, he was a psycho.
tommy chong
Oh, he was.
joe rogan
I would love to climb inside that guy's head and find out what kind of gears are spinning around in there.
tommy chong
I think I did.
I think I ended up in jail for a while.
For my thing.
joe rogan
Yeah, he had a whole song that he sang on television.
I think he sang it...
It was either in front of Congress or something along those lines.
No, he was giving a speech somewhere.
And then along with the speech, he wanted to sing the song, Let the Eagle Soar.
unidentified
Like she's never soared before.
joe rogan
It's so...
You want to hear it?
See if you can find it, Jamie.
It's so bad.
jamie vernon
They got 10 seconds from a Daily Show Moment of Zen that they did with it.
joe rogan
Well, the video is...
No, that video looked shitty.
This is the clearest video I could find real quick.
unidentified
It's just 10 seconds of it.
joe rogan
Okay, here's the video.
Look at this.
Check this out.
Look up there.
unidentified
The eagle soar like she's never soared before.
tommy chong
From Rocky Coast.
unidentified
Ha, ha, ha.
Stop.
joe rogan
That's all you need to say.
Like, stop.
unidentified
You can't.
joe rogan
Nothing.
Forever, bro.
tommy chong
No more.
No more.
That's when you kind of say, yeah, maybe guns are okay.
joe rogan
Yeah, maybe everything's fine.
Maybe missiles.
But seeing a guy like that, thinking that that psychopath had any control whatsoever over any laws or anyone getting arrested, that guy is fucking insane.
He's the guy who wanted to cover the breasts on statues.
He did cover them.
Yes.
unidentified
He covered them?
joe rogan
Yeah.
unidentified
Yeah, he did.
tommy chong
Which brought tension to him.
unidentified
Yeah.
tommy chong
No one noticed the tits before he put a veil over him.
joe rogan
Exactly.
tommy chong
Now they're looking at all you see is titties.
joe rogan
He was a spooky guy.
tommy chong
He was, y'all.
I found that out.
joe rogan
That Bush administration had some spooky fucking people there.
They really did.
It's really interesting that history whitewashes these weird old guys.
Like Ronald Reagan.
After he died, Ronald Reagan became like this patron saint of conservative thinking.
When I was in high school, Ronald Reagan was president and everybody fucking hated that guy.
They hated him.
It was like he was a creep.
You thought about him like, this guy's a fraud, he's a phony, he's lying about selling arms to Iran.
The whole thing was, it was so crazy to watch that guy become this loved figure.
tommy chong
I used to work out with his daughter, Patty.
Really?
Yeah.
And her and I were pretty good friends until one day I came to the gym and I saw part of a movie called Caliglia.
And she said, Oh, how did you like it?
I said, it was too faggy for me.
And apparently, Ron, her brother is very gay, and she blew it.
She blew up at me.
How dare, how can you say that?
How dare you?
Don't you know my brother?
Yeah?
unidentified
So?
tommy chong
It's nothing to do with the movie.
joe rogan
I'm not into that.
That's okay.
I just don't like watching it.
It doesn't mean I don't want you to do it.
That's funny.
Yeah, Ron was like super hardcore Democrat, right?
His son.
That was an interesting little thing.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
That his son was gay.
tommy chong
Well, Well, Ronnie wasn't that right-wing until he found a better path for him.
joe rogan
Like Trump.
tommy chong
Yeah, Ronnie was a Democrat.
joe rogan
Like Trump.
tommy chong
Yeah, when he was younger.
See, when they get older.
joe rogan
That always happens.
Old guys get paranoid.
Well, they also get paranoid.
They start wanting to tighten up the borders.
Lock and load.
unidentified
Let the eagle soar, like she's never soared before.
joe rogan
Imagine, like, sitting down, writing that out, and then singing it with all that emotion and passion, as if that makes any fucking sense to anyone.
tommy chong
Well, obviously, there is no...
Stopping him, you know.
joe rogan
Yeah, he's a fucking moron.
And the song's about a bird that's an evil raptor.
Like, a raptor.
Like, an eagle is a fucking monstrous animal who'll eat babies.
They'll eat anything they can get their hands on.
They swoop down and snatch fish right out of the fucking river.
I mean, they're amazing creatures.
I don't hate eagles, but the idea that that's America.
America is a fucking vicious flying dinosaur.
It's kind of hilarious.
It really is kind of hilarious that that's our animal.
tommy chong
It's funny, man.
No, I pissed off a lot of people in, you know, not meaning to.
joe rogan
But it was a different time.
tommy chong
You know what we used to say when they would attack us, you know, and say, what if we're right?
What if everything we're doing is right and you're wrong?
And next thing you know, we were right.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Well, you were right the whole time.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And, you know, I remember when I first started smoking weed, I was, well, I had smoked it a couple of times up until I was 30. And then when I was 30, my friend Eddie, Eddie Bravo, got me high for the first time.
I remember I couldn't believe that this was what pot was.
I was like, this is it?
I thought it made you stupid.
Like, oh, I can't stop thinking about things.
Like, yeah, some of the thoughts are a little unorganized and kind of chaotic, but it wasn't making me lazy.
It wasn't doing any of these things that people were claiming it did.
It didn't make me stupid.
It made me curious.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Made me want to watch science documentaries.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
And eat.
tommy chong
Yeah.
And eat.
joe rogan
And eat.
Food tasted so good.
I can't believe how good this food tastes.
tommy chong
I know.
joe rogan
I know.
It is one of the biggest puzzles of modern times is that even in 2019, with all these states that have legalized it, there's still a bunch of people that think that pot is bad for you and that it makes you lazy.
I always say that pot is like any other tool.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's like a hammer.
You could build a house with a hammer, or you could just hit yourself in the dick if you're fucking crazy.
And it's the same thing with pot.
tommy chong
That's exactly it.
joe rogan
You could use pot, and it can enhance your life, and it can enhance your relationship, and it makes you friendlier, more camaraderie, more compassion, or you could just get stoned all day and do nothing.
You got that goddamn phone ringing on your wrist again.
tommy chong
No, he's got it.
joe rogan
Does that freak you out, having that thing?
I had one of those on my wrist for a day, and I was like, what am I doing?
tommy chong
I don't know how to work it, so it's just decoration for me.
joe rogan
Why do I have a regular watch then?
tommy chong
My son got it for me.
Oh, okay.
Paris got it because he updates my everything.
joe rogan
Oh, okay, okay.
tommy chong
If it wasn't for Paris, I'd still be riding a bike.
joe rogan
Yeah, I had one of those that I was using for a while for fitness tracking stuff, but then I got this Whoop.
I got this other thing that's quite a bit more accurate and does more stuff.
tommy chong
You're 51?
joe rogan
51, yeah.
tommy chong
Wow.
Good shape, man.
joe rogan
Thank you.
I'm scared.
Never let it go.
I work out all the time because I'm terrified of it falling apart.
tommy chong
Well, no, you're hooked on the adrenaline.
You're hooked on the endorphins.
joe rogan
Yeah, but that too.
It's also for mental health reasons.
Like, for me, I need to exercise.
tommy chong
Well, like Arnold, you know, when I first came to L.A., the first thing I did was join Gold's Gym because I read about it, you know, up in Vancouver.
And then I met Arnold and all the guys and And they were so healthy.
You know, if he took a sip of seven up, he'd spit it out.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Yeah.
And he was super, super healthy.
But he smoked a joint.
He would smoke a joint.
joe rogan
That was another thing.
Pumping iron.
That documentary Pumping Iron.
So him, after he won, smoking a joint.
unidentified
Smoking a joint.
joe rogan
And made Pot look bad.
Like, wow, this guy smoked Pot?
unidentified
That's right.
joe rogan
How the fuck does Pot make you a loser if the biggest bodybuilder on the planet?
tommy chong
The most successful.
joe rogan
Yes.
tommy chong
By far.
joe rogan
Successful guy, yeah.
tommy chong
Yeah.
I outed him one time, like I outed everybody, and Arnold was walking with Stallone at the time.
joe rogan
There's that famous picture.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Arnold is numero uno.
tommy chong
They asked Arnold, you know, Tommy Chong said that he smoked pot with you, and Stallone jumped in right away.
Oh, no, that's a lie.
That's a lie.
He never smoked.
And Arnold said, no, no.
Yeah, we did smoke pot.
We knew how to enjoy ourselves back then.
joe rogan
Yeah.
Why was Stallone trying to cover it up?
unidentified
That's true.
tommy chong
Well, Stallone is Stallone.
joe rogan
Those Rambo movies.
tommy chong
I got some good stories on Stallone, but...
You remember Jordan Belford?
joe rogan
Jordan Belford.
tommy chong
The Wolf of Wall Street?
joe rogan
Yes.
tommy chong
Yeah, I was in jail with him.
unidentified
Oh.
tommy chong
I helped him write his book.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Yeah.
In fact, all I did was insult him and made him write his book.
Because I was writing my book, and he started, he said, what are you doing?
I'm writing, because we shared a cubicle.
And I said, I'm writing my book.
He says, oh, I'm going to write a book.
So he wrote a couple of pages, and he handed it to me like, hey, read this, you know.
And I read it, and it was like a copy of Tom Wolfe, you know, Bonfires and Vanities.
And I said, you haven't written shit.
And I handed it back to him.
And he said, what do you mean?
I said, you haven't written nothing.
He said, what should I write?
He challenged me.
I said, write what you know.
I said, write those stories you've been telling me every night.
There's one rule that you've got to remember when you're writing or doing anything.
It's called the most of.
So you don't just get high.
You get higher than anybody's ever gotten in their life if you're going to put it on screen.
You don't just have a fight.
You have a fight that goes on forever.
That's the kind of stuff you need that people are interested in.
And so he said, you didn't talk to me for about...
About a month after that.
joe rogan
He was mad at you?
tommy chong
Yeah, he was just writing, I'll show this guy.
And he wrote The Wolf of Wall Street.
Really?
Yeah.
joe rogan
And then he'd give it to you and you're like, alright, you got something here.
tommy chong
No, no, no, no.
The next time I saw him, he pulled in front of my house with his car.
We were both on probation, so we couldn't talk to each other.
And so he yelled from his car.
He goes, hey, I sold the book to Martin Scorsese.
joe rogan
So you're allowed to talk to each other by yelling?
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
But you couldn't be close?
tommy chong
Yeah, you couldn't be.
joe rogan
How far away do you have to stay?
tommy chong
Well, technically you're not supposed to talk to each other, but yelling, no one's going to say anything about that.
joe rogan
That's hilarious.
tommy chong
How stupid is that?
You violate your probation, they put you back in jail.
joe rogan
Right, because you're associating with felons.
unidentified
That's right.
joe rogan
That's so crazy that someone who you're trying to rehabilitate with, you can't talk to them because they also fucked up.
tommy chong
There was a Nixon speechwriter that was in with me, and he was so innocent.
The government was trying to get stuff on Imelda Marcos, the Philippines.
And this lawyer that I was in there was a speechwriter, a Reagan speechwriter.
And he wouldn't give up Marcos or Imelda.
And so they put him in jail for a year.
And when he got out on probation...
Being a straight guy he was, he went home and took a Valium to help him sleep.
And he got drug tested the next day and went back in jail.
He went back in jail.
So you got to be very careful when you're dealing with probation people because they got you by the balls, man.
joe rogan
It's got to be a weird thing dealing with the probation officers because they have that power over you.
tommy chong
Oh yeah.
joe rogan
Do they fuck with you?
tommy chong
Not me.
I was too much of a celebrity.
And I had a lot of nice ladies and so I'd flirt with them.
unidentified
Right.
joe rogan
You're all friends.
tommy chong
Yeah, I'd flirt with everything.
joe rogan
I'm sure like all things, right?
There's good people doing it and bad things.
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
It's a job.
joe rogan
It's a job.
tommy chong
It's a paycheck.
The sad thing about when I was in jail in Taft was that it's built over a toxic waste dump.
That's where they found oil in Taft, in California.
And when they found oil back in the day, they never had a way to contain it.
They would just dig it and hit it, and they would just spill all over the ground.
And so they would dig big trenches out there, big pools, and they would fill up with oil.
Then they would get the barrels and dip the barrels in, and that's how they filled up the oil barrels.
And so after they figured out how to do it, the ground is all toxic.
And so they built a federal prison over top of it.
And so everybody that's worked there and a lot of people that did time there all got cancer and died.
joe rogan
So you think that's probably the root of your cancer?
tommy chong
Could be.
joe rogan
Could be.
tommy chong
Could be, for sure.
Yeah, easy, yeah.
Because that's where I got it.
joe rogan
And they say that marijuana does something to cancer, right?
Inhibits cancer in certain ways?
tommy chong
I don't know technically what it does.
I think what it does, more than anything, it calms the brain.
See, anytime you calm the brain, you lose the fear.
See, you know, fear is that fight or flight.
You know, that's your response.
Your body goes into this fight or flight mode.
And when you calm that down, your body just goes into relaxation mode.
And when you're in the fight or flight mode, the other parts of your body can't function properly, like your immune system.
But when you're in a total relaxed mode, that's why when an animal gets hurt, they usually just crawl off in a corner somewhere and just lay there and lick their wounds.
And they just calm everything down and then they let the body take over the heel.
And I think what happens with pot is that it mellows the brain to the point where you, eh, so what?
Allow your body to take over.
But you still need that other treatments.
You still need the chemo, the radiation.
You need all that stuff.
joe rogan
Are you taking CBD oil?
tommy chong
No, yeah.
joe rogan
How much do you take?
tommy chong
I'm not sure.
I'm not good at amounts.
joe rogan
But you take it every day?
tommy chong
I take it.
Right now I'm on testosterone.
And CBD. Yeah.
And then just flour, you know, you smoke up a couple of joints.
Well, we've got a gift bag for you.
joe rogan
Yes, thank you.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Thank you.
Tommy John Weed.
tommy chong
Thank you.
joe rogan
It's always good to have it.
I got some from Be Real.
It scared the shit out of me.
unidentified
Was it?
joe rogan
I did Be Real Smokebox.
unidentified
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Be Real from Cypress.
tommy chong
Yeah, yeah, I know.
joe rogan
Fuck.
That's probably as high as I've ever been in my life.
tommy chong
Really?
joe rogan
Those guys go hard.
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
I couldn't keep up with them.
tommy chong
No, no.
I don't even try.
I'm a lightweight, man.
When I spoke with Arnold, Dave Draper, all these muscle heads would come around, and they'd get a big bong, and the thing was they'd put like an ounce in the bowl, and then they'd fire it up, and then they'd suck on it so hard, whoever...
It exploded.
The bowl into the water made it explode.
Then you were the hero.
All the muscle heads, they're taking their hit.
Arnold takes a big hit.
You know, the thing explodes.
Then they handed it to me.
It was like...
unidentified
And they looked at me like...
tommy chong
Tommy Chong!
No, I was the Chong at the time.
So they just looked at me like, yeah, okay.
Go sit over there or something.
joe rogan
Back then, you were just a guy.
tommy chong
Yeah, I was just...
Almost faceless.
joe rogan
What was it like being famous for being a pothead back in the 70s?
Because that ought to be weird.
Because you and Cheech were famous potheads.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Where I don't think there was anybody else.
Like, who else was a famous pothead?
tommy chong
No.
joe rogan
At your level?
tommy chong
No.
joe rogan
No one.
Maybe no one ever.
You guys were the trailblazers.
tommy chong
What's his name?
The actor...
unidentified
Oh, Christ, I can't think of his name.
tommy chong
He did time.
He did a year in jail in County for one joint.
Robert Mitchum.
joe rogan
Oh, yeah.
tommy chong
Robert Mitchum.
joe rogan
But he was like a straight-laced guy.
Yeah.
The image.
tommy chong
Big cowboy.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
He got high.
joe rogan
He was a tough guy.
That was the image.
tommy chong
Well, you know what the big draw for pot was?
The sex.
See, it was before, what do you call it, sopers or...
Sopers?
Quaaludes.
You know, the Quaalude thing?
The Quaalude was a big sex thing.
That was...
joe rogan
People would have sex on quaaludes.
tommy chong
Why?
joe rogan
I've never taken a quaalude.
What does it do for you?
tommy chong
Oh, they're called spreaders.
When a girl gets high on a quaalude, it's like, take me.
joe rogan
Do you think that's why Bill Cosby was dosing those girls with quaaludes?
tommy chong
Totally.
joe rogan
So that was the thing?
It just relaxes you?
tommy chong
It makes you horny.
Really?
Oh, yeah.
And that's what plot does for me now, but it does for women.
Women love to sleep with it, and they love to have sex after smoking joint.
Was it Annie Hall?
Was it Woody?
And he got a little pissed off.
Do you have to get high every time you make love with me?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Oh, that's right.
Was that Annie Hall?
tommy chong
I think it was Annie Hall.
And I think everybody in the movie company said, yeah, I can dig it.
joe rogan
Yeah, it definitely changes the way things feel.
tommy chong
Yeah, it relaxes.
It relaxes.
You hear music better.
So you feel things better.
Everything feels nicer.
joe rogan
I like to do yoga on it.
I like to smoke weed right before I go to yoga class.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's amazing.
You feel all the muscles.
The tiny ones and the ones connected to weird spots.
tommy chong
And you don't smoke a lot?
A couple of tokes?
joe rogan
Before yoga class?
I don't like it too high.
I don't just be inside my head.
I just wanted like two hits.
tommy chong
Just two hits.
joe rogan
Just going high.
I'm high, but I'm not blasted.
tommy chong
Yeah, that's me too.
I got...
I've been given all sorts of toys, you know, because I got the Chong's Choice weed in the stores and that.
And so they...
I'm getting tons of pipes all the time.
And I make pipes, too.
In fact, this is...
joe rogan
That's the not-a-pipe.
tommy chong
This is the not-a-pipe.
joe rogan
You gave me one of those.
tommy chong
You got one?
Yes, I got one of those.
Okay.
joe rogan
Last time was like six...
Whatever it was, six years ago, last time you were on the show?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
You gave me the not-a-pipe.
tommy chong
Oh, good.
joe rogan
I got it at home.
tommy chong
But I... You know, so now they got a new one.
I can't think of it.
I got it for you here anyway.
Oh, great.
joe rogan
Thank you.
tommy chong
It's called Easy Pipe.
joe rogan
Oh, okay.
tommy chong
Easy Pipe.
It's so cool because you open the thing and it's got a lighter built in and there's just enough, the bowl holds enough for a little nug.
Put the nug in there and you can carry it in your pocket because there's a lid.
And then when you want to hit it, you just hit the lighter and you got to hit it.
joe rogan
Oh, I've seen one of those before.
It has like a little metal lid that slides over to the side.
Yeah, those are pretty cool.
tommy chong
Oh, yeah, they're very nice.
joe rogan
Yeah, nice little contraption all contained.
tommy chong
Well, the old one hitters used to be...
joe rogan
Chong's Choice, right there.
Kapow.
tommy chong
Yeah, that's the Chong's Choice.
Oh, that's the...
joe rogan
That's a different thing, though.
tommy chong
That's the Genius Pipe.
joe rogan
Ah, Genius.
Like the Genius Bar at Apple?
tommy chong
That's incredible.
Incredible.
joe rogan
What does that do?
tommy chong
Well, it cools the smoke.
See, from the bowl to the mouthpiece, the whole thing is dimpled inside.
And so the smoke goes through all the dimples.
And it cools it off.
joe rogan
Sort of like ice water in a bong?
tommy chong
Yeah, yeah.
Better, better.
joe rogan
Better?
tommy chong
Oh, it's so smooth.
I'll cough just thinking about it, but you do the genius pipe and it's just so cool.
joe rogan
Do you get, all these kids are dabbing and using wax and I watch, do you ever go to Cypress Hills Instagram page?
I get fucking, I get anxiety just watching their videos.
Like, how high are you getting?
unidentified
Because they play, I want to get high!
joe rogan
So high!
And you're watching the video and you're like, oh my god, I can't do this.
I can't even watch this.
tommy chong
I know.
joe rogan
They're scooping that yellow wax in there.
unidentified
I know.
They go so deep, these kids today.
joe rogan
They're out of their fucking mind.
They're heating up glass and dropping the THC into the glass.
tommy chong
I was at one dispensary, and the guy was so proud.
He handed me a big jar of shatter, you know, the dab stuff.
And I pretended like, oh, it's a gift?
Oh, thanks.
unidentified
And I put it in my pocket, and I walked away.
tommy chong
And the guy's mouth was just, it dropped.
joe rogan
Yeah, it was probably a lot of money for that stuff.
tommy chong
Oh, it was like a year's worth of dab.
joe rogan
Oh, my God.
tommy chong
And I kept it long enough to make him nervous.
You know, in Canada, we had to deal with hash a lot.
unidentified
And it's okay, but it's a little bit too harsh.
tommy chong
Hash is harsh.
joe rogan
Yeah.
The high is interesting, though.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, it's an intense high.
How do you feel about edibles?
tommy chong
I love them to sleep on.
I love them.
The chocolate I got you is what my wife and I both use.
Oh, yeah.
We'll wake up in the middle of the night instead of, you know, fussing and fighting or, you know...
Thinking about it, we just go and get a little chocolate thing.
It's delicious chocolate, too.
It's de Fonsi chocolate, and it's the best thing.
And you just sleep.
Not only I slept last night, but I had a couple of epiphanies that just blew my mind.
Like what?
How art is going to save the world.
joe rogan
Art is going to save the world?
Yeah.
How's that?
tommy chong
Well, you look at history.
The pyramids.
That was art.
That was an art piece.
And what happens when you have big, huge art pieces like that, you create employment.
And it's not war.
So you're not fighting.
You're creating.
And so the people that care for the animals, the people that have to feed, the mass of people that have to work on getting those rocks, carving those rocks and everything else, it creates employment.
And it also creates tourism.
And so when you have a piece of art, everybody wants to come and look at it.
And so that's what we need in the world today, you see.
And we not only need art, but we need functional art.
Because that's what the pyramids were.
They were functional.
And a lot of people think it was the astronauts.
joe rogan
You mean the aliens?
tommy chong
The aliens.
Which could very well be.
joe rogan
You really think so?
tommy chong
Oh, sure.
For sure.
For sure.
joe rogan
Why do you think that...
tommy chong
Well, because there's nothing new in the universe, you know.
We've had space flights.
We've had all that stuff forever.
joe rogan
But you have Chong's Choice cooler pipe.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
That genius pipe, that's new in the universe.
tommy chong
No, it's probably rehashed.
unidentified
Probably somewhere in the world or somewhere in the universe.
tommy chong
Oh, you want to talk about pot?
Chinese, Indians, all religion.
joe rogan
What makes you think that aliens built the pyramids, though?
tommy chong
I'm saying they could have been.
unidentified
Really?
tommy chong
I think aliens are just humans.
Because if they're wearing space suits, if they're aliens, why do they need a space suit unless they come from another atmosphere?
I personally believe that Earth is the only planet in this universe.
And the reason I believe that is that there are countless universes.
Like space is endless.
And so if space is endless, why wouldn't we have our own universe?
joe rogan
Okay.
So you think that Earth is the only planet in this universe?
unidentified
Yes.
joe rogan
But what about Mars?
tommy chong
Well, it's a dead planet.
joe rogan
Okay.
So Earth is the only live planet?
The only planet with life in this whole universe?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
So you think that there's multiple universes, or infinite numbers of universes, and each universe probably has an Earth.
tommy chong
Or two.
joe rogan
Or two.
But you think this whole universe of hundreds of billions of galaxies, each with hundreds of billions of solar systems.
tommy chong
Could be.
joe rogan
There's only one planet.
tommy chong
Could be.
Because we have the space.
joe rogan
So you mean by one planet, one planet with life.
tommy chong
Yes.
Intelligently.
joe rogan
But why wouldn't you think that there's, because it's so big, why wouldn't you think there could possibly be other life other places?
tommy chong
Why couldn't it be the other way?
Why couldn't we be the only ones?
joe rogan
We could be.
tommy chong
That's what I'm saying.
joe rogan
We totally could be.
tommy chong
So there's no reason for me.
See, that's why I have trouble with people that are afraid of AI, you know, artificial intelligence.
joe rogan
Yeah?
tommy chong
I think it's so silly.
unidentified
Why that?
tommy chong
Well, because they're smart.
They're smart enough to know that they're not going to enslave anybody or torture anybody or take over anything.
Only dummies do that stuff.
Because when you capture something, you know what you capture?
Their problems.
Whatever their problems are.
joe rogan
Unless you extinguish them.
tommy chong
Yeah.
For what reason?
joe rogan
Well, the people are just destroying the earth.
They're polluting the rivers.
They're sucking all the fish out of the sea.
tommy chong
It's not the first time.
joe rogan
The sky is filled with carbon.
The artificial life is going to be like, you know what?
The real problem is these goddamn people.
They're dirty little litterers.
They're choking squirrels.
tommy chong
See?
That's the paranoid look at it.
Look at the positive look at it.
joe rogan
What's the positive?
tommy chong
Well, first of all, you have to remember, we live in a physical universe.
joe rogan
Okay.
tommy chong
For every action, there's a reaction.
So for every good, there's a bad.
Nothing explains Trump more than for every Obama, there's a Trump.
You know what I'm saying?
joe rogan
Okay.
tommy chong
So there's no limit to how ignorant you can be, and there's no limit to how smart you can be.
There's no limit.
And so when you go up the scale to intelligence scale, then you realize that there's no reason to be paranoid about anything.
Because it's all written out, and all the holy books have written it out, especially the Bible.
See, the Bible has been misconstrued by so many people, because what they do, they take it to what's going to suit their purposes.
But to really interpret the Bible, it's written in code.
It's a secret code.
joe rogan
The Bible is?
tommy chong
Yeah.
It's metaphysical terms.
It's not physical terms.
They're metaphysical terms.
joe rogan
What do you know about the Bible and code?
tommy chong
There's a writer called Emmet Fox.
You should get into him.
joe rogan
Yeah?
tommy chong
He deciphers the whole Bible.
joe rogan
Does he decipher the ancient Hebrew version of the Bible, or the Greek version of the Bible, Latin version of the Bible?
tommy chong
All the versions.
joe rogan
Right, but I mean, it all comes from ancient Hebrew.
And when you translate things from ancient Hebrew, you know, ancient Hebrew, the letters also double as numbers.
tommy chong
Sure.
And see, with the people I read, there's another mystic that I read a lot.
joe rogan
Mystic?
tommy chong
Well, he's mystic, you know, or mystic.
His name is Joel S. Goldsmith.
I discovered him a long time ago, but I discovered him in jail.
It's a very popular book in jail.
And Goldsmith, look him up.
He's all on the computers and everything else.
Check him out.
You'll really, really enjoy it.
It'll give you a new perspective.
Because what he maintains, it's all written, like I say, in the Bible.
Eternity.
There's no beginning and no end.
That explains everything to me.
Because if there's no beginning to no end, what can happen will happen.
You know?
And because, again, this is my theory.
In the physical world, we have to learn everything.
That's why everything's physical.
Like the first thing when you're born, you have to learn how to breathe.
You have to learn how to walk.
You have to learn how to eat.
These are all skills that you have to literally learn.
And mothers and everything teach you that.
And then when you reach a certain age, You leave the planet, at least your spirit.
And the body stays.
The body is just a vehicle.
And so, because of eternity, this goes on and on and on and on forever.
It never stops.
What we do as humans, we're learning.
We're all students, whether we want to be or not.
I was trying to explain this to my one son, because my youngest son is a musician, and I try to understand that he's a musician.
Musicians aren't that entrepreneurial, as some people would like them to be.
But anyway, everybody's here to learn a certain task.
And some of us are blessed to the point, like me, I'm blessed.
I'm very blessed.
Because I've been given the ability to do what I do and to see what I see and to say what I say, you know.
It doesn't come from me.
It comes from, you know, the source, what I call the source.
And that's why I could turn prison into a religious retreat.
Because it's like a monk going into hiatus for nine months.
joe rogan
You just had a thought in your head that you're going to treat it like a religious retreat.
tommy chong
Yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
And you learn about yourself and educate yourself.
tommy chong
Read all the books.
Take advantage of your solitude.
Because that's very important.
When you get a chance to be alone, man, that's a very important time.
Because that's when you connect with your spiritual teacher.
joe rogan
It must have felt so good to be released, though.
tommy chong
In a way, there was a lot of sadness.
Really?
Yeah, yeah.
I never looked as good as when I got released, man.
Because one of the inmates there, he was a barber.
He spent two hours cutting my hair.
Perfect.
He was a Chicano.
Just perfect.
I come out, my wife, Shelby, looked at me, whoa, that's the best haircut you've ever had.
Everything was perfect.
joe rogan
Were you exercising in jail?
tommy chong
That's all you do.
You walk at night.
There's a track and you can walk miles around the track.
And the whole prison's out there walking around.
That's when you socialize and talk and everything else to people.
And they all group together.
And I learned games.
I learned how to play bocce ball.
Learned.
I played pool.
And then I sang.
I had a little area where I had my own private studio.
It was the entrance to the pool hall.
And I'd sit in there and the echo was perfect.
joe rogan
You guys had a pool hall?
tommy chong
Oh yeah.
We had tennis courts, pool hall.
joe rogan
Sounds like a great time.
tommy chong
It was!
I'm telling you!
joe rogan
Other than not being able to leave.
tommy chong
And even then, if you wanted to leave, I'm going, why would you want to leave?
I mean, it was perfect.
joe rogan
So you think that's why people go back to jail?
tommy chong
Totally.
joe rogan
Like, after they get released?
tommy chong
Totally.
I saw one guy who was sad.
He was crying.
But he was sitting there crying.
And I said, what's wrong?
He gets released next month.
And he was a junkie, and he knew that as soon as he hit the street, he was going to die, you know?
And he did.
As soon as he hit the street, he died.
But he was funny.
They had a little game that when they opened the dormitory, the first few people to hit the mess hall got to order eggs any way they wanted, like over easy or sunny side up, whatever.
And so he'd get all anxious.
He'd be the first guy in line, and he'd be kind of...
Getting ready to, so the doors open.
Man, he'd do it.
And you couldn't run.
You had to walk.
And so he learned to walk fast.
He'd walk real fast.
And he was a delight.
But when he got released, he took his own life.
unidentified
Wow.
Yeah, I hung his own life with heroin or?
tommy chong
Probably.
Yeah, probably.
It was sad.
joe rogan
So he just couldn't help himself once he got out.
tommy chong
Well, see, you know, everybody's worried about socialism.
Well, America's the biggest socialist country in the world.
joe rogan
We are?
tommy chong
Yeah, we've got more people in jail than anywhere else in the world.
And what happens in jail?
Cradle to grave.
You're fed, you're clothed, you're told what to wear, you're allowed to study certain things.
You're totally controlled.
Medical, you got free medical.
There were prisoners that would go to jail so they could get their open heart surgery.
Because the federal law mandates that if you have something wrong with you, they have to fix it.
And so there were prisoners that would break the law so they could get in to get their open heart surgery.
unidentified
Wow.
tommy chong
Yeah.
That's crazy, man.
joe rogan
That's some next-level thinking.
I'm going to go to jail so I can get open-heart surgery.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Did they prevent you from reading any books?
Was there anything that was like, could you order whatever you wanted?
tommy chong
They had a...
It was weird.
They had a thing about...
They would take covers off magazines.
And you know the subscription cards?
They would take that off.
Because people on the outside would dose them with the acid, LSD, and ship the books in there.
And then next thing you know, half a dorm would be tripping on acid.
joe rogan
Because they were eating pieces of the subscription paper?
tommy chong
And that kind of stuff always went on.
But as far as, no, you could read whatever you wanted, basically, you know.
But I read a lot of books that, you know, I was meaning to read, you know.
And I helped a lot of people.
I would do the I Ching.
Do you know the I Ching?
joe rogan
Sure.
tommy chong
Yeah, I would do the I Ching.
joe rogan
You know how to do that?
tommy chong
On the Indian grounds.
Oh, yeah.
unidentified
Yeah?
tommy chong
It's real easy.
Yeah, to throw the coins.
It's really heads and tails, you know.
joe rogan
Well, supposedly it's some sort of like future reading thing, right?
Do you think it works?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
What does it tell you?
tommy chong
Well, first time I did it, I rolled it.
I did my...
joe rogan
Explain to people how it works.
tommy chong
Well, what it is, you get three coins.
And you throw the three coins and you get numbers from six to nine.
And anything in between six, seven, six, eight...
I think it's something like that.
Anyway, each number tells you what line you're going to read.
And you throw it three times and you write down and then you get a sort of like a plan of what page you're supposed to look at.
And then when you get the page...
Then it tells you, you know, but you're asking it.
Because you've got to ask the I Ching for something, you know.
And it'll answer you.
For instance, I threw mine, when I did it, I threw it, and the first line said, you are in jail for a reason.
Whoa.
joe rogan
How does it say that?
tommy chong
It just said it.
joe rogan
And if it says it how?
What do you translate it?
tommy chong
You write it.
You read it.
It's been written in that book for centuries.
That line was in that book for centuries.
unidentified
Really?
tommy chong
3,000 years, something like that.
And so I read it, because they still talk about chariots and kings and queens and everything.
That was the first line, you are in jail for a reason.
Jails are corrective institutions that will correct your behavior.
joe rogan
That's what the I Ching is telling you.
tommy chong
That's what the I Ching.
Well, what they did, they updated it.
The girls that wrote it, they updated it to the modern time.
I think it's Armstrong.
There are a couple of girls that wrote it.
It's a big, thick book.
And then it went on there.
And another guy, Mike, this Chicano, he saw me.
He thought it was a game.
So he's all set for the game.
What are you playing?
I said, no, I'm doing the I Ching.
I said, do you want me to do you?
And he said, yeah.
So I did his.
And it's very polite not to read the readings of the other guy.
You know, let him read it first.
And so I did the numbers, and I give it to him.
And he read it, and he just handed me the book, and he went, sat on his bunk.
And he just stared.
And so then I read what it said.
And a month before, he lost his wife and child in a car accident.
They were coming out to visit him.
And the I Ching said, you suffered a great misfortune.
unidentified
It was like dead on.
tommy chong
And the I Ching goes on to tell you what to do.
Next month is going to be tough.
This month is going to be good.
We see hope for you.
It's like astrology.
It's almost the same.
joe rogan
I know Terence McKenna was really into it.
He's really into the I Ching and he thought it was some sort of a map of time.
He was trying to Figure out what it was and how it worked and why I can predict things.
tommy chong
And if you mess with it, it'll tell you.
If you fuck with it?
Like the Ouija board, you know, sometimes if you do the Ouija board, it's the same thing.
If you start making it a game, you know, let's ask it this, let's ask it that.
Who's going to win the race tomorrow?
And right away, the I Ching catches that and knows your real feelings and it tells you.
And it tells you, don't do that.
joe rogan
What do you think it is?
tommy chong
It's a Chinese...
joe rogan
It's a method of divination, right?
tommy chong
I think what it is, it's a spiritual way of communicating this.
Remember in Ghost, where Patrick Swayze had to learn how to move a coin?
Remember that?
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
The spirits, especially spiritual people, they're around us.
And so you give them a chance to communicate with you because they know all.
They will communicate.
And so the I Ching gives the spirits a chance to communicate.
So when you throw a coin, they know what heads or tails or whatever it is, number, that you need to talk to you.
That's my theory.
Gotta try it, man.
joe rogan
Yeah, I'm curious because I do know that many people have used it to try to figure out what their life is about, what they're doing with their life.
The weirdest thing about it is they seem to find some real answers in it.
tommy chong
And they keep them to themselves.
joe rogan
Yeah, but the idea that I had heard that made the most sense was that The way the world works is not as simple and as easy as 1 plus 1 equals 2, left, right, left, right, walk down the road, but that there's intention and thought that also helps formulate our universe.
And what the I Ching does is it somehow clarifies intention and thought, and it clarifies your actual...
The actual process is going on in your mind, and it quantifies it and puts it into a way that you can read your effect on life and life's effect on you in this, and then it reads it somehow or another, even though it doesn't make any sense.
It's a method of divination.
It's a method of discovering what's happening.
tommy chong
Yeah, it's a method of communicating with the spirit world.
joe rogan
You think that's what it is?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And the thing is, getting back to the AI, the artificial intelligence, we already use artificial intelligence in our lives every day.
Like Alexa is a good example.
That bitch.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
I love her.
I love her.
joe rogan
Siri.
tommy chong
She never...
Steered me wrong yet, you know.
She's told me I've asked the wrong questions.
But, see, this is my theory, is that we are...
Everybody in the universe wants us, the spirits, they want us to be enlightened.
Because the more enlightened we are, the more we can enjoy what we've inherited.
Because when you're born into this world, you've inherited a kingdom.
joe rogan
You've taken it for granted.
Amazing.
tommy chong
Yeah, you've inherited a kingdom.
joe rogan
Especially in comparison to the rest of time.
All of human history.
This is the greatest time, the greatest, most fortunate.
tommy chong
That's what I'm saying.
Look at us.
Look at what we got now, going for us now.
And how much effort did that take?
It was like being part of a team.
And so when you're ready, boom, you're pushed out in front.
You're up there.
And so our duty as students is to learn everything we can learn and to teach whatever we can teach.
And that's why there should be no paranoia because we're not here long enough So that being rich or being poor makes any kind of a difference.
Because you know yourself, I mean, what do you really need in this life?
What do you really need?
Water?
Food?
joe rogan
Companionship?
Love?
Friends?
Yeah, and something interesting that you like to do.
tommy chong
Yeah, because I've been hanging with billionaires now.
joe rogan
What have you been doing with them?
tommy chong
Yeah, I'm just hanging out.
They like me because I get recognized everywhere I go.
So it's like walking around with a famous guy.
You can get into restaurants and people and give me pictures.
And for the most part...
They're hard-working, very, you know, like a lot of burdens being rich.
A lot of burdens.
And, you know, just with me, you know, it's like instead of owning a boat, I'd rather know a guy that owns a boat.
joe rogan
Definitely you don't have to deal with any of the maintenance costs.
tommy chong
That's what I'm saying.
joe rogan
That's true.
tommy chong
I like to be free.
unidentified
I like to be totally free.
Yeah.
joe rogan
Yeah, that's the reality of, I mean, if you want to have a big, giant, crazy business, you're going to have a lot of employees, you're going to have a lot of problems you have to deal with.
tommy chong
And you're the last guy to get paid.
joe rogan
Yep.
Yeah.
tommy chong
And you're the last guy that goes home.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
Everybody else forgets what they're doing as soon as they walk out that door.
And all those problems are in your butt.
joe rogan
Yeah.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
It's true.
tommy chong
I went through that.
I had two nightclubs at one time, but I never bothered with the money part at all.
I just worried about the stage and the mic was working.
joe rogan
Where was this?
tommy chong
In Vancouver.
joe rogan
How long ago was this?
tommy chong
This was the 60s.
Yeah?
joe rogan
You had nightclubs?
Like comedy clubs?
tommy chong
Well, one was an after hours, sort of like a jazz dance bottle club.
And it was given to me.
There again, you know, hey, Tommy, you want a club?
And I said, sure.
joe rogan
Why did he give you a club?
tommy chong
Yeah, well, he bought a building.
And back in the day, there was a steakhouse in the basement.
He says, well, that's yours.
Pay rent when you can.
joe rogan
What?
tommy chong
So I went in.
joe rogan
What was this guy's deal?
tommy chong
He owned buildings.
He owned all the buildings.
joe rogan
Most people that own buildings don't be giving them away.
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
Oh, they do.
Free rent.
Free rent.
You saw them all the time.
You can get a year's free rent.
joe rogan
Just because they want to get someone in the building.
tommy chong
They want to get it going.
See, as soon as we started being successful, we were paying $500 a month rent.
joe rogan
So he got you going.
tommy chong
So we made a...
A ton of money in there.
And that's where I got the bands, you know, that's where I honed my skills as a musician and singer and all that.
And then I got offered another club because it was going under and it was a dine and dance club in Chinatown.
And I thought, yeah, make a great strip club.
And so we took it over.
The Shanghai Junk turned it into a strip club, Vancouver's first strip club.
joe rogan
You were the proprietor of Vancouver's first ever strip club?
tommy chong
First strip club.
First one.
In fact, we did a midnight mass at a church.
I think we had the stripper dancing.
joe rogan
At the church?
tommy chong
But not stripping.
She kept her clothes on and she danced.
joe rogan
That's appropriate.
When did you start getting into live shows?
tommy chong
Well, I got fired from Motown because I had to get a green card and nobody at Motown knew what a green card was.
And so I had to miss a gig to get my green card.
I got the green card and I came back.
And I got fired.
And so then Barry Gordy found out about it.
He said, oh, you're not fired.
I said, I think I'll stay fired.
I want to be a Barry Gordy.
I don't want to work for one.
And so then I came out to LA and tried to live on the beach and be a songwriter.
But then my clubs were calling me because they needed help.
So I went back and I turned the strip club into an improvisational club.
So we were doing naked improv.
It was great, man.
All the girls, they were strippers.
Once I turned them into actresses, they were a lot cheaper, and they were a lot more beautiful.
They talked, they did skits, and then they would take off their clothes when they had to.
Within, you know, the script.
And that's where I met Cheech.
Because we had a straight guy, and the straight guy's wife found out what he was doing, and hauled him away.
And then Cheech came on board as a straight guy.
joe rogan
This is in Vancouver?
tommy chong
Yeah, in Vancouver, yeah.
joe rogan
But Cheech was an L.A. guy, right?
tommy chong
Yeah, he was up there in case a Viet Cong attack from Alaska.
joe rogan
LAUGHTER So he was hiding from the draft.
tommy chong
Well, not really.
joe rogan
Well, not really.
tommy chong
He was trying to stay out of the way.
Let's put it that way.
unidentified
Good move.
tommy chong
And then he had to sneak back into L.A. from Canada.
joe rogan
Really?
unidentified
Yeah.
tommy chong
But it was easy coming into L.A. from Canada.
He just showed someone else's ID, and they said, all right, go on.
joe rogan
Back in the day.
unidentified
Yeah.
joe rogan
The world was a lot slipperier.
tommy chong
Yeah, and that's...
So that's why I'm saying I'm so blessed, you know, because everything, the universe, you know, and it was from the I Ching.
One of the guitar players turned me on to the I Ching back then, and my reading was perfection.
You're gonna be, everything's perfect.
You're gonna really do well.
And then Cheech and Chong and all that stuff happened.
And here we are.
joe rogan
And you guys are touring again.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
How long have you been touring again?
When did you guys get back together?
08. 08. Yeah.
11 years.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
How crazy is that, that that's 11 years ago?
That doesn't seem like 11 years ago.
unidentified
I know.
tommy chong
I know.
joe rogan
When you say 08, it's like, oh, it just happened.
And you're like, oh, no, no, no.
It's 2019. It's almost 2020. I know.
unidentified
Weird.
tommy chong
I know that that train keeps rolling.
It just never stops.
joe rogan
What is this, Jamie?
jamie vernon
This is Bobby Taylor and the Vancouver's.
joe rogan
Whoa.
tommy chong
That's me.
joe rogan
That's you?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
How old were you there?
unidentified
Twenty...
joe rogan
Bobby Taylor and the Vancouver's.
Why does that guy have sunglasses on?
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
They did it even back then.
Wow.
Bobby Taylor and the Vancouver's.
tommy chong
That's the Motel on Sunset Strip.
joe rogan
Is that you with the yellow jacket?
Which one's you?
tommy chong
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
joe rogan
That's you?
tommy chong
Yeah, that's me.
unidentified
Wow.
That's me.
joe rogan
That's crazy.
tommy chong
And then we went over to England.
Met Jimi Hendrix.
unidentified
Whoa.
tommy chong
And changed our lives.
This is the way we looked when we went over there.
And we come back, long hair, everybody wore different clothes.
joe rogan
Wow.
Now, when you went from this to comedy, how did you make that leap?
unidentified
Well, nobody really...
tommy chong
Knew that I could talk.
I was in a black band, so everybody else...
I was a guitar player, so I had nothing to say other than I owned the club.
And no one knew that.
No one knew that.
I was always a backup guitar player.
When I got into comedy, well, what happened?
I had hired, when I turned the strip club into an improvisation club, I hired the act we already had, which was a black tap dancer named Taps Harris.
And Jeannie, a black singer, and they had a band.
The first skit was about a pajama party that all the strippers were having at their house after.
And so they all change into their pajamas in their little nighties.
And that was very sexy.
And then Taps comes by after the show, you know, so-called.
And they say, hey Taps, do that number that you did on the show.
And so Taps, first time he ever tap danced, you know, in front of a live audience.
Because usually he was just an MC. So he did his tap dance.
And it was so good that everybody wanted to encore.
So they made him do an encore.
He quit that night.
unidentified
Really?
tommy chong
It was too hard work, man.
He was hired to just, and here comes Lolo.
And so the doorman, an English guy named Dave, and so I said, Dave, I need an emcee, you know.
He said, well, I'll do it if you do it.
And so I, oh, okay.
And so we became, Dave was my first partner.
And so we started, we had long hair, we were like hippies.
And so we did a lot of hippies and TNA jokes, you know, tits and ass jokes.
And we had a guitar player named Gay DeLorme.
He wrote our big hit, You're In My Eye.
He wrote the music.
And so Gay was this incredible guitarist.
But he was a very funny, funny, funny guy.
And so we wrote a skit, you know, where...
We would torture the audience.
They're all bikers, mostly bikers, you know, come to a strip bar, you know, bikers and that.
And so the first act, we had it, because when we turned it into a theater company, we attracted all the theater people, all the performers, you know, there's a stage, oh boy, we'll go work there.
And so we had a mime artist.
And so we opened the show with a mime artist and Gay playing classical guitar.
He's playing this classical guitar.
Now this is a strip joint and all the hardened bikers are sitting around waiting for naked girls to come out and here comes a mime artist.
Pretending he's picking flowers and smelling them and prancing around the stage.
So the bikers sat through that.
They were yelling things like, Hey Elvis!
The remarks weren't that funny.
And then Dave would come out, and Dave's a very funny-looking guy.
He looks like an improv actor.
And he'd come out, and he sings this horrible song.
unidentified
I dream of Jeannie with the light brown.
tommy chong
Hair genie is my favorite, wired hair terrier.
And then just when the bikers are getting ready to revolt, I kicked the door open.
We had doors in the back, you know, and I kicked the door open and I'm shirtless, my hair's messed up, and I got a rolled up newspaper.
And I walk over to Dave, I go, what kind of fucking song is that?
Beat him to death with this newspaper.
And the bikers just explode.
The whole joint just exploded with laughter.
Because we created that tension that long.
And then the release was like a roar.
And then the word went out.
Boom.
And that place was packed almost every night.
joe rogan
Wow, what a weird world it must have been back then.
Look at this.
The city works.
tommy chong
Yeah, there we are.
There's Dave.
joe rogan
Satirical sexy at the Shanghai jump.
tommy chong
There's Cheech on the far right.
joe rogan
Wow, that's Cheech.
That's crazy that that's Cheech.
tommy chong
That's Dave, and that's me.
joe rogan
Wow.
tommy chong
Without a goatee.
And that's the mime artist, Ian, the mime artist.
And it's Wendy, Maureen, and Shirley.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
What a weird world.
Is it crazy looking at that?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
Wow.
joe rogan
Memories, huh?
Sandy and Lawrence.
tommy chong
That was the first strip joint.
joe rogan
Starting Tuesday.
tommy chong
Yeah.
joe rogan
Wow.
tommy chong
The police were there.
joe rogan
And when did you start doing albums with Cheech?
tommy chong
Cheech?
joe rogan
When did that happen?
unidentified
71. How'd that all take place?
tommy chong
Well, we came to L.A. in 70, and we struggled with all the places we could work.
Then we started being a regular at the Troubadour.
They had Hootenanny night, Sunday night.
joe rogan
What's that mean?
What's Hootenanny?
tommy chong
Hootenanny is when folk singers would get on stage and sing a song.
joe rogan
Hootenanny.
tommy chong
Hootenanny.
The Hootenanny night.
And so all the singers would sing.
And so we would get up and do comedy.
And, of course, we became regulars.
In fact, the troubadour would phone us up and say, are you guys coming?
Because they had a lot of requests.
joe rogan
And how did it turn into this weed-based comedy?
tommy chong
Well, it was the only thing that worked in this audience.
The weed.
See, when we were at City Works, it was all T&A, you know.
joe rogan
Right.
tommy chong
But when we got down here, we had to go right for the stoners because that was what was going on, you know.
And so we played a club in Reseda, Irma Hotel, that was what it was called.
And it was owned by a crazy, a big fan.
He saw us work somewhere and so he hired us for two nights.
And the first night, First night, we had to do two shows, but it was a dance club.
And so the dancers had to stop dancing, sit down and watch us do a show.
And it was not a good combination.
So the first show didn't go very well because we were doing TNA stuff and it just didn't go over.
And so the second show, Cheech and I got together and I said, Cheech, come on, man, you're from here.
There must be a character you can do.
And the night before that, we were standing outside and this lowrider pulls up and he goes, hey man, tell me how to get to Reseda Boulevard.
And Chief says, oh, you're on it.
He goes, oh, thanks, man.
And he drove away.
And it was that character.
And Chief says, yeah, well...
Yeah, we can do that character.
And then I showed him the car bit, this old black comedian showed me, Sir Pineapple.
He showed me this old taking a girl out on a date, and he'd just make the car appear by pretending to wash it, wax, you know, just do the mime, and the car would appear, and then Cheech got in the car, and he's driving, and then he goes, Hey, Red Freak, want to ride, man?
And then I would come out, and we'd do our skits, and And it went over really well.
As soon as we started doing, you know, weed and pills and stuff like that, everybody related.
joe rogan
So you feel like you had that, and then you just ran with it?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
Yeah.
And then we just improved, improved, improved, improved.
And so when we met Lou Adler saw us, And we never thought about doing a record until we went to meet in his office.
He's got gold records all over the place.
And we said, yeah, we'll do a record.
I was a big Lenny Bruce fan anyway.
Because when I got high the first time, the guy gave me a joint and a Lenny Bruce record.
So I studied that record for months.
And so that was ingrained in my head.
And so then when we started doing it, the first bit we did was an accident.
Cheech got locked outside the mix-down room that we were in La Brea, you know, the old Charlie Chaplin studio.
And it was a little courtyard where the sun was beating down.
It was like noon and it was hot.
And Cheech is a method actor and he had to put on all the costumes, you know, to get into character.
So he's got all these costumes on, he knocks on the door, and I was working the tape recorder, and when he knocked, I looked up at the door, and I didn't see if the needle moved or not.
And so when he knocked, it didn't answer, and then he knocked again, and I saw the needle moved.
And so I said, who is it?
And I was supposed to just open the door and let him in.
And so there's a pause.
It's me, man!
It's me!
Let me in!
Come on, man!
joe rogan
Is that where Dave's Not Here came from?
tommy chong
Yeah, so I waited, then he knocked again in a long pause, the pause.
Who is it?
And he's getting mad.
Come on, man, it's me.
I think the cops saw me.
Come on, open up.
Then he went into character.
unidentified
Then I just wait, wait, wait.
tommy chong
He's waiting for me to open the door.
Then he knocked again.
And then finally he goes, it's me, Dave, man, Dave!
I said, Dave?
And he goes, yeah.
I go, Dave's Not Here.
He blew it.
Kicking the door, screaming, open the door.
You almost punched me.
But I said, listen, listen, listen.
We played it back.
Then Lou heard it.
We recorded it.
Not as funny, but we recorded it.
And next day, it was all over America.
Cheech and Chong was born.
unidentified
Wow.
joe rogan
And then how long after that did you start doing movies?
tommy chong
Seven years.
78. We started doing the movies because I got tired of going to Australia.
joe rogan
Did you guys get accused of promoting pot?
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
joe rogan
Did you get accused, like, you guys are a bad influence on the youth?
What was that like?
tommy chong
It was nothing, really.
It was more publicity, basically.
You know, it's just people.
You know what really got...
What really, I noticed anyway, it was the comedy establishment, the committee and the Second City and all those guys.
They hated us.
joe rogan
Really?
tommy chong
Hated us.
joe rogan
Why?
tommy chong
Except Belushi.
Belushi was the only one that loved us.
Because Belushi was young enough that he heard our records and it influenced him.
But these other guys, like, what's his name?
Can't even think of his name now.
Maybe it's better.
I don't even name him.
But Howard Hessman, he was one of the committee members, you know, WKRP in Cincinnati.
He was a big, and I got influenced by him big time.
Because I saw them doing the committee in San Francisco, and they had a top-notch improv group there, and they were incredible.
And that's where I got the inspiration to go up and turn the strip club into an improvisational club, because I love improv.
joe rogan
But why didn't those guys like you?
tommy chong
Because we were successful.
We took what they were doing and took it out of that snotty theater, you know, I'm so evolved theatrically, you know, who does records, you know, that kind of thing.
joe rogan
So records were bad back then?
tommy chong
Well, they ended up trying to do a record, but they had no clue.
See, I'm a fighter, man.
I've been in the trenches forever.
I've been playing black clubs as long as I can remember.
And so I've seen a lot of humor, a lot of stand-up comics.
Red Foxx was a real good friend of mine.
joe rogan
Did you ever do his comedy club?
Yeah.
Did you ever hear those Richard Pryor tapes from the Red Fox Comedy Club?
They would record him doing his workout sets.
Fucking amazing stuff.
tommy chong
Oh, amazing.
Oh yeah, Richard.
And Richard was a big fan.
Now, see, we had fans like that.
When Cheech and I did the Comedy Store after Up and Smoke, We broke up with Lou.
We were broke.
We had a hit movie, no money, nothing coming in.
joe rogan
What happened?
Really?
They stole your money?
tommy chong
With Lou?
joe rogan
Yeah.
Who's Lou?
tommy chong
Lou Adler.
joe rogan
Okay.
tommy chong
He's a producer and director of Up in Smoke.
Although I wrote it and directed most of it, especially the ending.
I directed it.
Like again, like I said before, I'm not into the money part of it.
joe rogan
But how were you guys broke?
tommy chong
Well, we weren't getting any money from our life because we had to stop touring because of the movie.
And so we had no touring money coming in.
unidentified
Right.
tommy chong
And then we got paid a little bit on the movie, but nothing compared to what we were making on the road.
joe rogan
But it was a hugely successful movie, right?
tommy chong
Totally.
Totally.
But that's the way it is.
joe rogan
The smoke was giant.
They took all the money.
tommy chong
Yeah.
Yeah, they did.
I mean, we got dribs and drabs at the end of the accounting time.
joe rogan
Yeah, Hollywood accounting.
tommy chong
Yeah, at the end of the period of, you know, when you've gone on to something else and you get a check, oh, that's nice.
So Cheech and I went to the comedy store to get our act together.
And Richard Pryor helped us off the stage.
We had about five sold-out shows.
Paula Shore was a little guy up in the light booth watching us because he was too young to be in the crowd.
And as we walked off the stage the first night, Richard held out his hand.
It was the greatest compliment ever.
joe rogan
Wow.
That must have been incredible.
tommy chong
It was.
joe rogan
Listen, man, you had an amazing life.
You really have.
The I Ching was correct.
tommy chong
Oh, yeah.
Totally.
Totally.
joe rogan
It's worked out incredible.
I've got to find a professional.
You've got to get them to come in and read us the I Ching.
Somebody really knows their shit.
tommy chong
Do it.
It's easy.
Read it.
There's one called the Armstrong version.
I'll text it to you.
joe rogan
Okay.
tommy chong
And just read it.
Hey, listen, if I can follow instructions, anybody can follow instructions.
joe rogan
Well, listen, brother, it was a pleasure having you on.
Tell people about your weed, Chong's Choice.
We're going to get it.
Dispensary's everywhere.
Is there a website?
tommy chong
Yeah, there's websites.
Actually, the fun is finding Chong's Choice.
Because we are so elite as far as the testing and the purity of the product that it's very rare that certain dispensaries have it.
A lot of dispensaries don't.
And they'll try to sell you something else.
But don't settle for less, man.
Chong's Choice is the best.
joe rogan
Chong's Choice, ladies and gentlemen.
tommy chong
It's way better than Cheech's Private Scotch.
unidentified
Oh!
joe rogan
How dare you?
tommy chong
No, no, teach us.
I mean, it's okay, but it's Mexican, you know?
joe rogan
Well, thank you, sir.
Thanks for coming on here, man.
It's always a pleasure.
tommy chong
My pleasure, Joe.
joe rogan
And an honor.
Thank you.
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