Judge Mary Jane
Stoner Doug Benson bangs the gavel in courtroom comedy
ALL rise for the honorable Doug Benson. The comedian’s latest TV project, “The High Court,” premieres Monday night on Comedy Central. It places him in the role of judge, presiding over real smallclaims cases, all while high on marijuana. Really. In each 15-minute episode, Benson and a guest bailiff (also a comedian) take bong hits in the judges’ chambers before rendering a verdict. Luckily, the show films in California, where recreational marijuana is legal.
“The details get confusing, the numbers get confusing, the names get confusing,” Benson says of judging cases while baked. “[But] just because you’re high, I don’t find that it changes your values, or how you feel about [it] if two people are having an argument, [and] who’s right.”
Getting real people to agree to have their cases decided by a stoned judge wasn’t as hard as you’d think, the 54-year-old tells The Post. Producers hired the same company that finds litigants for daytime shows such as “Hot Bench” to reach out to people who had either filed suit or been served a summons to appear in a US municipal court.
While Benson’s “verdicts” aren’t legally binding — he went straight from community college to stand-up without pausing for law school — participants, all small-claims cases for less than $5,000, are motivated nevertheless to come before him. TV court is quicker than the real thing, and the production company picks up the cost of the settlements.
Benson’s built a career normalizing marijuana use, with his affable stoner attitude and projects such as the YouTube series “Getting Doug With High” and 2007 documentary “Super High Me.” He hopes that “The High Court” helps prove that “people that are high can still do a job.” Or, at the very least, create compelling TV.
“It’s people yelling at each other,” he says. “It’s very pleasant to fall asleep to.”