As pot has become increasingly widespread and legal, pot culture has seeped into the mainstream. So come trip with us through Stoner Week on Vulture as we explore bleary-eyed entertainment in its various guises, from the weirdest outpourings to the business behind it all. See more from Stoner Week »
All this week, we've been exploring the role of marijuana in popular culture. When it came time to assemble a guide to the best entertainment to consume after getting lifted, we figured: Who better to poll than those people who entertain for a living? So we asked a handful of actors, writers, comedians, and musicians, all of whom are familiar with the ways of the weed, what they enjoy when high. As it turns out, it's the same dumb shit as everyone else.
Simone Venable
I like to cook. I mean, I like to do that anyway, but smoking makes me better at it. My tastebuds become more sensitive, I guess, so it's like tasting everything in stereo; I'm suddenly super aware of flavors and shit. It's like an episode of iron chef, but the ingredient is weed. I fucked around and put coffee in a pot of chili once and it changed my entire perspective on life! Also important: TV land reruns. I'm convinced that 'Gilligan's Island' was written specifically for me to watch while I get high.
James Fornarola
I wish I could tell you about the choices I made leading to this moment in my life, but I remember listening to Sweeney Todd while on, like - I don't even remember what I was on, it wasn't pot. But I was listening to "Epiphany" and I got to the line, "We all deserve to die," and I - you know, had an epiphany, like, "Holy shit, we all do deserve to die." I don't remember who I called but I do remember having a meltdown over it at anyone who would listen, meanwhile everyone's going, "Yes, those have been the lyrics for the past thirty-five years, where have you been?" I imagine if I'd listened to it on pot I would have been a lot more relaxed about it. "Yeah, we do deserve to die, but we're going to live until then, man. It's cool. Circle of life. Whatever.
Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer
Abbi Jacobson: I feel like animation is the way to go.
Ilana Glazer: Fucking Adventure Time, for sure.
AJ: I just feel like it’s sort of amplified when you’re stoned.
IG: Planet Earth is fucking incredible.
AJ: Oh yeah, animation or, like, stuff about the world. Cosmos.
IG: I like Planet Earth at my parents’ house. They have a great TV.
AJ: That kind of stuff more than, like — I’m not going to watch a drama.
IG: No. That gets anxiety-provoking.
Adam Pally
I spend so much of my day under the influence, it's hard to pick out a specific show or thing. You know what — I ate a pot cookie on a plane and watched Birdman. Which I had seen before, but when you're kind of focused in like that, it's a different experience. I found it to be very chill.
Coleby Tremayne
When I was younger, I liked to get high and listen to industrial rock, cause it made me feel like I was inside the fucking music. My favorite way to get stoned back then was finding a cool, dark room, black out curtains, and I'd listen to Nine Inch Nails or Tool or AFI. Louder than loud, as loud as I could get it. I'd stay like that for hours. Now? I ain't that picky, I like to get stoned in my recliner and watch back to back episodes of 'How It's Made' for twelve hours.
Anders Holm
The Oliver soundtrack, probably.
Ace Young
I think watching Disney movies stoned is about the best way to pretend like you are back in childhood and experiencing them all over again for the first time. On the flipside I like watching fucked up movies like Fight Club and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind because I feel like I just get them better. Just make sure that the remote is nearby because otherwise you'll end up hate-watching The Canyons because the remote is just too far away.
Eva Luton
I'll watch telly, especially South Park. Sometimes I'll try to make my own 'Dark Side of Oz' by watching cartoons on mute with Biz Markie or Gogol Bordello or Ke$ha or someone really improbable playing in the background. It never works, but it always amuses me. And also crisps. I must find crisps at all costs.
Colin Quinn
When I was growing up, we would watch SCTV — Second City TV. Unbelievable. It really fed the vibe of being stoned. We were only like 16 or 17, so we'd get the joke, and then we were like, "Oohhhh." I don't know if we would have gotten it as much if we were straight. We were kids. You really see it for what it was. As for recent stuff, I don't know, Lord of the Rings? That would probably be a good one. I haven't gotten stoned in a hundred years!
Steve Guttenberg
There's only one. The Big Lebowski. End of story. I might run for office, so I can't admit to having smoked, but people tell me that's the best movie to get stoned to. It's just brilliant, and it has Sam Elliott — and any movie with Sam Elliott is worth watching.
Solomon St. James
I feel like I got a pretty shaky grasp on adulthood even at my best, and when I'm high, all that flies out the window. I watch a lot of cartoons from the 90's, the ones I was too dumb to get when I was a kid, like The Animaniacs, or old episodes of Looney Tunes. I like the color; I like how frantic everything is. Between that and old CCR records, I'm about the happiest guy on Earth.
Pete Davidson
Trying to get the UK government to legalize pot is like trying to get a bass guitar to sound unique, they're really against it. In a way that works for me, I can feel like I'm doing something rebellious when what I'm really doing is arguably less destructive than the nationwide binge drinking culture. I really like to sit on my veranda and look at stupid blogs like Lawnmower Inspiration, Brian Eno with Cats, and Kim Jong-Il looking at things. Besides that, I'd do anything to marry Susan Sarandon. Can I get her number?.
Jess Glynne
The Black Messiah album by D’Angelo. It’s the new album — if you want to chill out and listen to someone who is just genuinely talented. Black Messiah, it’s amazing. It’s like I’ve always loved D’Angelo, and I am a big R&B/soul girl. When I listen to that, it’s like … ah.
Colin Jost
I so rarely smoke weed, but one time I did and Kenan and Kel was on TV, and it felt like some sort of alternate reality. I was seeing my officemate with Kel, just hanging out. This was like a year ago. I was on vacation in Puerto Rico and watching this and I was like, is this really happening? Then I was like, that’s a pretty good sketch. I think I told him. He probably gets that every week from someone — "Hey, what’s up, I was up late watching you." And he’s like, "Yeah, the show was on for like ten years, that’s me."
Ari Siego
When I first used to get stoned, I used to watch really colorful movies because it soothed my mind or something. Or anything with puppets. Jim Henson specifically, really. But once I watched The Neverending Story and it really fucked me up, had me seeing Falcor out my window and we lived against a foresty area so he could have been hidden anywhere. There was no chill. So I stopped watching puppet movies, now I like to watch murder docs and listen to vinyl.
Michael Che
I like watching like cartoons. I always liked Looney Tunes and stuff like that because you don’t need a long attention span. You can kind of just let it fly.
Allen Stone
Emily King’s Seven. She’s an artist from Brooklyn and is easily the most underrated unknown R&B singer of my time. Her record Seven really is my favorite record to blaze to.
Zofia Allyne
I don't like a lot of things going on when I'm stoned, you know? If it's a well planned smoke up, I surround myself with snacks so I don't have to actually get up and then I turn to telly or Netflix to keep me entertained. Usually sitcoms. Do you know how many times I've marathoned Happy Endings or just left The Golden Girls on? More times than can be counted. I also love laying on the floor and listen to records like the cliché trash I am, but I don't always have the motivation to get up and flip them so I've taken to laying on the floor and letting my iTunes shuffle.
Reporting by Sean Fitz-Gerald, Adrienne Gaffney, Kylie Gilbert, Trupti Rami, Caroline Ryder, Valentina Valentini, Jennifer Vineyard, and Kara Warner.