The 1978 film "Up In Smoke" is the work for which Cheech Marin and Tommy Chong are arguably best known, and for many people, it is what put these two on the map. But in fact, the duo already had a nearly decade-long comedy act that had made them quite famous and successful. According to Rolling Stone, the two men met in 1968, in Vancouver, and discovered a shared love of comedy. "We started in a strip bar that Tommy's family owned in the worst part of Vancouver," Marin told Rolling Stone. "He wanted to do improv theater, but he wanted to keep the topless element at the same time in order to preserve the audience that was already there. So it became topless improv, hippie burlesque.
The pair then recorded and released numerous comedy albums during the 1970s, including multiple records that went gold, according to Rhino. Their albums sold well according to various metrics, including their self-titled debut album entering the top 30 in the charts, and their second, "Big Bambu" peaking at No. 2 in the Billboard 200 charts. In 1973, their third comedy album "Los Cochinos" won a Grammy award for the best comedy recording.
Their hard work on the comedy circuit made the pair popular, but their movies, including "Up in Smoke," "Cheech and Chong's Next Movie," and "Nice Dreams" enhanced their profiles and brought in a slew of new fans.
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