Cheech and Chong to announce reunion

LOS ANGELES -- It's official, pothead humor is back in style.

Cheech and Chong, who have hinted for years that they might get back together some day, have scheduled a news conference for Wednesday to announce they finally have.

The duo, who broke up more than 20 years ago amid creative differences, are to announce plans for a comedy tour later this year, according to concert promoter Live Nation.

Although the pair declined to discuss the tour, to be called "Hey, What's That Smell," ahead of Wednesday's announcement, both have said in recent weeks that they were getting close to putting aside the differences that broke them up in the mid-1980s.

"You know what they say, 'Time wounds all heals,'" Cheech Marin joked in an interview with The Associated Press last month.

During their original run, Marin, 62, and Tommy Chong, 70, released nine comedy albums between 1972 and 1985, were nominated for four Grammys and won one. They also starred in eight feature films, almost always portraying a pair of comical stoners stumbling through life.

While Chong has continued to do standup since the two split, Marin has concentrated on films and TV appearances.

"I guess Cheech forgot how tough standup is," Chong joked last month after Marin said they were considering reuniting.

"But he's got the incentive and the enthusiasm and he's ready," he said of his former partner. "My boy is back."