These days, stoner comedians Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong, aka Cheech and Chong, have the volatile dynamic of a married couple, each tiring of the other’s company quickly.
“It’s like …” says Marin from his home in Los Angeles, stopping midsentence to burst into laughter. “It’s like we have this affinity together that comes along only once every couple of generations.
“My wife calls us ‘Grumpy Old Stoners.’ We’ve always tried to get back together over the decades, but it’s like remarrying your ex-wife.”
But the Grammy-winning duo behind eight cult films (“Up in Smoke”) and nine comedy albums (“Big Bambu”) and classic sketches (“Sister Mary Elephant”) somehow seem to reunite with natural camaraderie and, of course, an enduring love of cannabis.
On Tuesday, the toker-jokers perform at the Chicago Theatre.
Over the summer, Cheech and Chong toured with R&B; stalwarts Tower of Power and funk-rockers War, bands whose 1970s-era rhythms are reminiscent of the duo’s heyday, when they preached about counterculture, sang “Basketball Jones” and carved out now-classic sketches such as “Dave’s Not Here,” a bit about a weed dealer showing up at a residence to deliver “the stuff.”
“We were the new Latino mainstream. We made it cool to be a Mexican, man,” Marin says. “Onstage, we still got it. It’s like being athletes who can still play.
“Funny thing is, when we first reunited five years ago, we found a whole generation who only knew us from the movies and the records, so they were like, ‘Uh, have you done this stage thing a lot?’ I was flabbergasted, because we already had this stage act for zillions of years.”
More Top Picks Best Roasting Pans For Holiday Dinners
Marin, 67, says he and Chong, 75, are working on a new live-action feature film, their first since 1984’s “The Corsican Brothers.”
“Cheech and Chong’s Animated Movie,” which was released this year, features the pair voice-acting characters with darker hair, thinner waistlines and redder eyes.
“Definitely, redder eyes. We don’t toke up much anymore,” Marin quips. “Although I always wonder where Tommy disappears to backstage right before the show. People who say I quit, that’s just vicious rumors, man.
“This whole pot legalization thing is inevitable, and I’m just gearing up so we can benefit the most from it. In the future, who wouldn’t want a pack of Cheech and Chong 100 Menthol Lights?”
Twitter @chitribent
When: 8 p.m. Tuesday
Where: Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St.
Tickets: $59.50-$89.50; ticketmaster.com