Since 2013, comedian Doug Benson has been hosting the audio pot-cast “Getting Doug With High.” It’s also available as a video via Benson’s YouTube channel (airing on the East Coast live at 4:15 p.m., which gives you time to be locked and loaded by 4:20 p.m.). With a plethora of celebrity stoners getting high on air, it’s like having a sesh with a different crew every episode.
Indica and sativa strains are both represented equally, as well as implementing different methods of ingesting for variations on the theme.
Some of the recurring segments on the show include “High History,” where the guests talk about the first time they ever got high; “Pot Topics” where Benson and guests talk about cannabis news and “Pot Quiz Hop Shot,” a round of cannabis-related trivia questions, the kind of which you will never see on a Trivial Pursuit playing card.
The guests are mostly comprised of comics and Benson’s comrades. The most notable alumni include Sarah Silverman, Jack Black, David Cross, Jay Chandrasekhar, and Kevin Smith, as well as the Godfathers of Ganja Cheech and Chong. There are many repeat offenders on the show, which usually leads to an attempt to reminisce on what happened the last time those guests were on and baked. Benson is usually the highest one there, and relies on clues to trigger his memory –as the host of a talk show where everyone is high, it’s an occupational hazard.
The charm of the show is watching the public persona of the guests fade into a haze of smoke, and see their demeanor change to something a bit more honest. It’s in that moment where you think “I wanna party with you!”
There are plenty of archived episodes going back a few years, and there are no shortage of laughs. If you can’t watch them all, consider them for a soundtrack on your next road trip.
If this 4:20 jam is your cup of herbal tea, Benson’s show “The High Court,” which wrapped up a season on Comedy Central, is worth a view. Benson is the honorable judge between a bailiff and defendant handing out stoner justice along with a jury of his peers.
