The Leafly Cannabis Comedy tour kicks off in Seattle at the Crocodile on January 2, with an opening act by Emmett Montgomery. The show is 21+ and 100 percent, completely FREE, but you must RSVP to attend.
So, I understand this is "the worldās first-ever cannabis comedy tour"? What makes it a cannabis comedy tour? Obviously comedians smoke a lot of weed, and weed makes you think things are funny, butā¦
That, my friend, is very true. I mean, itās pretty fun. Each thing that happens that makes marijuana mainstream, I think is really interesting. I think [the tour] is really exciting, because marijuana should be mainstream. Iām hoping that legalization will happen nationwide, or at least in the more liberal states. That would be ideal. Iām so proud of Colorado for, kind of, leading the charge, yāknow? And being open to to the idea. Like, whatās gonna happen? The economy is gonna collapse or something? No! In fact, itās made our state $88 million dollars. What weāre able to do with schools and parks and municipal infrastructure, itās amazing.
Same in Washington State. The sky didnāt fall on us. Thatās pretty awesome.
Yeah itās awesome. I mean, everybody in Denver was already pretty ārelaxedā and we have such awesome natural surroundings. Thereās nothing better than smoking a joint and walking down the street and running into other Coloradans who are doing the same thing. It makes everybody really chill. I grew up next to Cheesman Park, and now that park is incredible, itās so much more beautiful and better and everything even in the last couple of years, and I walk into the pavilionāthereās a big marble pavilionāand thereās jugglers, girls doing hula hoops, and you see two middle-aged women sitting on a park bench smoking a joint, you walk past dudes just smokinā a bowl at lunchā¦havinā a bowl and some Chick-Fil-A. Itās become this stoner paradise hangout and, uh, I love that very much.
Denver sounds like a paradise for a lot of reasons.
DUIs are down. Crime I think subsided a bit. So thatās good.
And you have Chick-Fil-A. Like, we only have one and that sucks.
Oh no! Iām really, really all about Denver. So, I appreciate you being down with that. But the more mainstream [weed] gets, the more they figure out edibles and regulate them and all that kind of stuffā¦I donāt think they have edibles in Denver anymore, 'cause some kids got into 'em.
No! It was Maureen Dowd. She ate an entire candy bar and wrote about it for the New York Times. She kinda blew it for everybody.
Aw, jeez. She did kinda blow it for everybody. But weāre gonna have those setbacks on our way to legalization. I just want there to be bars in America where you can go to and just smoke. Nobody gets in a bar fight when everyoneās high. People kind of freak out and leave instead of saying, āHey, are you hitting on my girlfriend, dude? Hey answer me, man! Look at me! Hey dude from Yogi Bear 3D, why you talkinā to her for so long, huh?ā That doesnāt happen when everyoneās high. Instead theyāre like, āItās freaking me out to see you in real life. Hey, youāre great, Iām gonna go outside.ā
Does this happen to you in Denver? People see you and theyāre like, āThatās the Yogi Bear dude,ā and then they freak out because theyāre too high?
Well itās stemming from one experience. It wasnāt in Denver, but this dude was high out of his mind and when he turned to see meā¦I think for a moment he was like, āAm I in TV?ā Iād rather inspire that than have some drunk guy saying, āOh Mr. Famous canāt take a picture, huh?ā Thatās not the energy that Iām looking for. But I do love whiskey. I love gin. I love comedy club crowds. They get drunk and they have the greatest time. Like the Friday night late showā¦these are people that have worked all week, they probably went out right after work, itās doubtful that they even went home and changed. If they did they did it real quick so they could start drinking. Theyāve been drinking and also had dinner or didnāt have dinner, so those people are drunk and tired. Very drunk, very tired, and wild! Theyāre the people that are going, āLetās get the weekend started!ā Which is a really good thing in my opinion, thatās the way I am. Late show Friday is really hard for a lot of comedians, but Iāve come to embrace it. Like, Iām doing comedy and all that but Iām also sort of partying. Iāve had a week of travel or whatever, so Iāll take beers on stage, and send people shots and that kind of stuff.
You partake?
In Denver, I give them hits of whatever Iām smoking.
We canāt do that here, unfortunately.
Not yet!
Yeah, itās coming.
Hopefully Iām doing something, this being a cannabis tour. I mean, I play a marijuana user on Silicon Valley.
Yes you do!
Iām from Denver, I live in Los Angeles, so I know marijuana. But Iām hoping that, unlike Doug Bensonāwho is a great friend of mineāitās not gonna be stoner comedy. I am kind of an absurdist, ridiculous, performative kind of comedian, who happens to also be a very effective marijuana user.
And you were before it was legal too?
Absolutely not! Orā¦donāt tell Disney.
They would cancel Yogi Bear for you?
No Yogi Bear 4D! But, yāknow, I worked on How to Train Your Dragon, and Big Hero 6, and Gravity Fallsā¦I have a very broad audience on purpose, because I believe that life is fundamentally tragic and comedy is one of our best escapes from the harshness of life. I'm learning more about how you can instill morality in children through movies and TV.
Oh yeah, you've got a great responsibility as Ranger Jones!
Absolutely! Iām glad kids love my movies, like How to Train Your Dragon. You know that obviously because youāve seen it, but yāknow, that was my best role to date. Life has kinda been a sad descent from that. When you hit the pinnacle of your career so early on, life is just a sad descent into Transformers 4, Deadpool, and all that la di da.
Thatās rough, man.
Yeah it is. You probably peaked early right?
This interview is probably going to be my creative peak, soā¦I hope itās good.
That would be amazing. Itās gonna be a great article, you know that.
Well Iām just gonna use the funny words you say.
Some of your words were very funny too.
Aww, thatās sweet. I have to ask, are you going to tell jokes about weed on the Cannabis Comedy Tour?
[Laughs] Absolutely not! Iām only going to talk about heroin and opiates. Thatās the new thing to talk about! No oneās talkinā about that on the cannabis tour! Thatās the way Iām going to be different. These people are talkinā about weedā¦letās move on the next thing, yāknow?
Youāre just light years ahead of everybody.
I have a little bit of material about marijuana, to be sure. Iām mostly interested in how it affects you if you use too much of it, compared to alcohol. I tell a story or two about my escapades as a very high person. Times when Iāve overimbibed. Thereās a little bit, to be sure. But mostly, my material is so bizarreālike, āEver snerd of it,ā where you smell something a nerd heard, and thereās water being sprayed all over the stageāit's actually a really fun one to watch while youāre high. When youāre high, spectacle and things that are super bizarre are fun to just relax into. So thatās the thing, I donāt talk about weed so much as I perform material thatās very fun to watch high.
Do you feel like this will be the easiest audience of your life because everyone will be really high?
No! Iām just learning this, from playing shows in Denverāalso in Canada, they smoke a lot of weed up thereābut you don't ever know the speed that theyāre at. You really gotta gauge that. If everybodyās super high, sometimes it takes them a second to get a joke. You gotta take an extra beat waiting for them to be like, āOhhhh yeahhh!ā Sometimes you get that, but other times people are high and the more bizarre I get, the more I riff, the more theyāre into it.
Do you ever have people who literally cannot stop laughing?
Iāve had a couple times where someone has a laughā¦I donāt care what your laugh sounds like, but the rest of the audience is like, āWhoa that woman keeps laughingā¦ā I actually think thatās really fun, so Iāll sort of play with it and try to keep them laughing. Talking about them laughing makes them laugh.
Are you ever worried that someone will choke?
No, I always give them something to eat. Iāll send some chicken tenders to the table, goddamit!
You sound like the most generous comedian everā¦
Iām incredibly generous and very altruistic and Iām only out for money.
Youāre only out for money?
Thatās all I care about. Money, public service, and one day owning a boat that is mostly made of gold or platinum.
Wow, I donāt really know what to ask you after that.
Yeah I was about to say, thatās a pretty good out. Maybe it should be a tank?
Master P already did the tank, man.
Youāre right on that front. All right, letās make it a boat, but at least make it a catamaran.