Tommy Chong

As riotous as his altercations with the (often bumbling) law were in his classic stoner comedies with Cheech Marin, there was nothing funny about Tommy Chong’s real life run in with the authorities. In 2003, Chong was sentenced to nine months in jail for financing a business that sold drug paraphernalianot actual drugs, mind you. He wrote a furious book about the experience, 2006’s The I Chong: Meditations From The Joint, an odd but compelling break from the affable, slipshod stoner persona he seldom sheds. His stand-up appearances, however, are less about Tommy Chong, martyr activist, and more about Tommy Chong, perpetually dazed hippie. Tonight, Chong begins his three-day stint at Jokerz Comedy Club with an 8 p.m. performance.