When Cannabis and Comedy Collide

Comedy is an art as old as human civilization. You can find
jokes in The Old Testament Bible, the Upanishads and the Popol Vuh. Cannabis is
equally as ancient, and it’s only logical that the two would combine in the
most creative ways in today’s modern era, especially in states that have
legalized cannabis for medicinal use or otherwise. Humor has an
under-appreciated function as an educational tool; pair that with shifting
perceptions and outdated stigmas, and you’ve got a very useful tool for social
change. Good comedians have an important function in society; they hold up a
mirror to our world and force us to confront realities that we would often
prefer to ignore. Humor can give social critique and instigate transformation
in a way that leaves many audience members with changed perceptions on taboo
topics or questioning their previous ways of doing things. Thankfully, as
cannabis becomes more mainstream, references to its use, support and influence
are also becoming very commonplace.

Out in Colorado, where the cannabis trade has flourished
thanks to the legalization movement, the state has become a stand-up comedy
haven. The most successful comedians to wander into or come out of Colorado are
sometimes the victims of their own excesses. In one famous instance, comedian
Pete Holmes drank an entire cannabis soda during his podcast, entitled “You
Made It Weird,” before performing for the High Plains Comedy Festival that
evening. Unfortunately, cannabis concoction got the best of his constitution,
and Holmes ended up wandering onto the stage to perform an obviously
intoxicated, very short routine, even though he was a headliner.

“Midnight Run,” a comedy showcase created by veteran
performer Andy Haynes, requires stand-up comics to smoke perhaps too much
cannabis before they perform, resulting in a Dadaistic display that could at
times invoke the likes of Andy Kaufman. Although some comics can handle their
herb, others burn out and crash under the excoriating pressure.

Cheech & Chong revolutionized cannabis humor long before
our modern legalization revolution, but their jokes often went beyond the
stoner stereotype to examine such social phenomena as racism and politics.
Tommy Chong and Richard “Cheech” Marin used the stoned hippy image as a
caricature that the common man could relate to, although their overt displays
of the use of cannabis at the time was as innovative as it was counterculture.

Up
in Smoke, Cheech & Chong’s first wildly successful feature-length
film, unapologetically exploited the stoned hippy stereotype in order to fuel a
plot that is nothing more than two men trying to procure and maintain what you
can buy with very little hassle whatsoever in California or Colorado. The end
of the film is so blatant that the hard-toking duo actually escape by creating
so much smoke from their stash that the police chasing them are rendered too
tranquilized to maintain their pursuit.

Doug Benson’s cannabis-infused humor is already well-known
and publicized, but the stand-up artist exceeds the stereotypical “stoner”
humor (MJ makes you hungry, it’s easy to get a MJ card, being baked makes you
lazy, ad infinitum)
by venturing into unexplored critical social commentary with his web series
“Getting Doug With High,” where he invites guests to imbibe cannabis for the
entertainment of his many viewers. It is pretty much a fact that Benson is
always under the influence when he performs, in sharp contrast to the many
other entertainers who refuse to partake before a show out of fear they’ll
implode onstage.

One of the greatest comedy tricks Benson ever performed
involving cannabis use was Super
High Me, a documentary where the
performer proceeded to get high every single day for a month, ingesting
cannabis in every way, shape or medium modern science would allow. Benson’s
running commentary throughout the film is funny in and of itself, regardless of
how Super High Me’s
inspiration and intent was supposed to affect the cannabis legalization
movement.

Other contemporary comedians that are utilizing the cannabis
culture, canna-friendly audience and herb itself include the ladies of Comedy
Central’s Broad City,
the guys of Workaholics,
Bill Maher, Lily Tomlin, Margaret Cho, Betty White, Mike Epps, Dave Chapelle,
Carlos Mencia, Bob Sagat, Kathy Griffin, Roseanne Barr, Chelsea Handler, Amy
Schumer, Sandra Bernhard and so many more. The list goes on and on, but it’s
obvious that the comedy scene is always going to be the boundary-pushing tool
we need to continue moving forward in our cultural evolution. So, keep laughing
it up!