The idea for Doug Benson's movie "Super High Me" started in perhaps the most obvious place: a joke in his act.

"If the guy in 'Super Size Me' (Morgan Spurlock) can eat McDonald's for 30 days and people actually pay to see it, why can't I smoke pot for 30 days and film it to see what happens?" Benson said. "Next thing I knew, it was actually doing the same experiment with weed."

Benson performs tonight at the Pipeline Cafe with opening act Graham Elwood. Benson has stopped in Honolulu before, during the tour of The Marijuana-Logues.

"The best thing (about touring) is kicking it in a nice hotel room," he said. "I love hotels — room service, maid service, blackout curtains, wake-up calls. The worst thing is flying — delays, crowded planes, noisy passengers, charging for checked bags. It sucks."

Benson cites comedy legends such as Bill Cosby, Steve Martin and the late George Carlin as his top influences. He also enjoys "Saturday Night Live" and was quick to praise its current election satires.

"Tina Fey's Sarah Palin is spot on," Benson said. "But Jason Sudekis' Joe Biden makes me laugh, too. The VP hopefuls are definitely funnier characters than the Ps."

Benson is a regular on VH1's "Best Week Ever," which isn't as easy a gig as viewers assume.

"The writers and producers of the show will send me an e-mail that includes all the things they want me to talk about on that week's show," Benson said. "I write a bunch of jokes, and then go into the studio and sit in a chair and say 'em. It takes an hour or two each week to shoot my parts. Then I watch the show on Friday night to see what stuff they used."

Benson credits the advent of home video and DVD for revitalizing stoner comedies, which almost disappeared from Hollywood in the '80s.

"Potheads rent the crap out of funny movies that are fun to get baked to, like 'Half-Baked,' the 'Harold and Kumar' movies and now 'Super High Me,' " he said.

Benson feels the movie industry would thrive if marijuana were legalized federally.

"The people making them won't have to smoke the fake stuff like they did in all the movies listed above except mine," he said.

There would also be fewer hecklers to deal with during performances.

"It's a hazard of the business, because drinks are served in comedy clubs, leading to drunken outbursts during shows," Benson said. There would be a lot less yelling out if clubs had a two-joint minimum."

Benson said his most fun performances were his two appearances at Amsterdam's Cannabis Cup, but he loves interacting with his fellow comics more.

"I enjoy Dave Attell a great deal. He's a joke-writing machine," Benson said. "But there are lots of other comics I enjoy. That's one of the perks of the business, seeing and hanging out with other comics: Patton Oswalt, Paul F. Tompkins, Sarah Silverman, the late Mitch Hedberg, Brian Posehn, Graham Elwood, Jimmy Pardo. These people are all friends of mine and great comics."

Las Vegas is the city every comic aims to perform in, but Benson has a different dream venue.

"The Ed Sullivan Theater," Benson said. "Because that's where they tape 'The Letterman Show.' He was one of my early influences as well."

Benson plans to record a new CD every April 20 and to continue touring. Being a comedian was always his dream job, and he never had a true backup plan.

"I guess I could've been a movie reviewer," he said. "Because I love movies. I have a podcast named 'I Love Movies,' where I chat about films with my comedian friends. You can get it for freesies on iTunes."

Jeremy Castillo is a graduate of Windward Community College and the University of Idaho. Read his wrestling blog, Men in Tights, at www.menintights.honadvblogs.com.