Squeaking springs pierce the air in the garage of Tommy Chong’s stately home in L.A.’s Pacific Palisades. Dressed in a pair of cuffed blue jeans, a black tee, a dark grey button-up, and black and red high-top Nikes—a youthful skate style that his late guitarist friend and collaborator Gaye Delorme turned him onto—the white haired 77-year-old comedian, actor, writer, director, musician, activist, and stoner icon is illustrating how to use a funky exercise contraption he built 20 years ago to train his legs for mogul skiing. Holding his torso erect, he simulates the movement of skiing over quick, bumpy courses by pushing down vigorously on an old skateboard deck suspended from a pipe frame by four metal coils. On the floor next to him lay 40- and 50-lb. dumbbells. Chong, who started lifting weights when he was 16 and played hockey into his late 60s, says he works out every other day.

Were it not for the beige ostomy pouch cover that occasionally peeks out as his shirt rises, Chong would seem the picture of senior health. He’s worn the pouch since last October, when he had surgery to remove a rectal tumor and reroute his colon. A vocal Bernie Sanders supporter, he jokingly refers to his new waste disposal accessory as “The Donald,” because, like Trump, “it’s always full of hot air and bullshit.” The anatomical transformation causes depression in some patients, but Chong doesn’t appear to be masking any underlying discomfort with his humor. “I don’t mind it at all, other than the cosmetic thing,” he says. “But my wife doesn’t appreciate it. She’s like, ‘Your bag is showing.’ It’s a trip. It’s almost like a sex change operation, because all of a sudden now, I’m spotting like women do. It’s like Tampax. I don’t use a toilet, I don’t sit down, ever. I kind of miss that. That used to be my meditation period.”