The Firesign Theatre

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The Firesign Theatre is an American comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman and Philip Proctor.

Contents

[edit] Formation

The troupe began as live radio performers in Los Angeles on radio stations KPPC-FM and KPFK during the mid-1960s.

The group's name is an astrological reference: The membership comprises all three "fire signs," born under Aries (Austin), Leo (Proctor), and two under Sagittarius (Bergman and Ossman). It is also a parody of Fireside Theatre, an early television series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1955, followed by Jane Wyman Presents the Fireside Theatre (1955–58); it may also be a reference to the "Fireside Chat" radio shows of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a parody of which can be heard in one of the Theatre's Nick Danger adventures.

[edit] Style

The Firesign Theater employs a stream of consciousness style that links direct references to movies, radio, TV, political figures and other cultural sources, intermingled with sound effects and bits of music. The resulting stories border on psychedelia, including the theft of a high school, a fair of clowns and holograms and aliens who use hemp smoking to turn people into crows. The stories are often interrupted by commercials satirizing real products.

The Firesign approach to comedy was strongly influenced by The Goon Show. All four Firesign members have spoken of their admiration for this show. Said Ossman:

“ We all listened to The Goon Show, Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan and Harry Secombe, at various times in our lives. We heard a lot of those shows. They impressed us when we started doing radio ourselves, because they sustained characters in a really surreal and weird kind of situation for a long period of time. They were doing that show for 10 years, all the way through the '50s. So we were just listening to them at the end. It was that madness and the ability to go anywhere and do anything and yet sustain those funny characters. So when we first did written radio, where we would sit down and write half hour skits and do them once a week, which we did in the fall of 1967, we did things that were very imitative of The Goon Show and learned a lot of voices from them and such.[1][2] ”

While their stream of consciousness style has the feel of improvisational comedy, most of it actually is tightly scripted and memorized. They have employed a writing method that demands the consent of all four members before a line can be included.[3] Much of their work has been copyrighted under the name "4 or 5 Crazee Guys".

[edit] Other projects

In September 1967, The Firesign Theatre performed an adaptation of Jorge Luis Borges' short story entitled "La Muerte y La Brujula" ("Death and the Compass") on Radio Free Oz.

Between September 9, 1970 and February 17, 1971, The Firesign Theatre performed a one-hour live show on radio station KPFK in Los Angeles titled Dear Friends. These live shows were recorded by the group and then edited into slightly shorter shows which the group syndicated to radio stations across the country on 12-inch LPs. The group later collected what they thought were the best segments from the Dear Friends radio program for their fifth record, Dear Friends.

In 1972 and 1974, Straight Arrow Press, Rolling Stone's book publishing arm, published two books authored by The Firesign Theatre. These books, The Firesign Theatre's Big Book Of Plays and The Firesign Theatre's Big Mystery Joke Book, contain scholarly information, satirical introductions and parodic histories, as well as transcriptions of many of the performances from their first seven albums. Apocalypse Papers, also authored by the group and published by a small press, was limited to an edition of only 500 copies.

In 1996, Peter Bergman began placing radio-show-like comedy sound bites on his own Internet-based comedy radio station www.rfo.net. "The show will be the Internet's funny bone," Bergman said.[4]

In 2008, the Firesign Theatre released a 4-CD boxed set based on their most-famous character, Nick Danger "Third Eye". It was compiled from various radio shows, albums and fan recordings that were sent in via their website Firesigntheatre.com

As of 2009, there are plans to reissue all of their past Firesign albums with new bonus material. The members are asking fans to submit any quality audio and video clips to their website.

[edit] Films

The group co-wrote the screenplay to the comedy Western Zachariah, released in 1971. The film was inspired by the novel Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse. The movie Americathon (1979) was based on a sketch created by Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman.

[edit] Later work

During the mid-1970s, members of the group mostly went in separate directions. Firesign productions continued sporadically, but Proctor and Bergman[5] also performed as a duo, and Austin and Ossman worked individually and together in a few stage shows and most notably in the writing and production of In the Next World, You're on Your Own. In the mid-1980s, Ossman temporarily left the group to produce shows for National Public Radio.

Their recordings through 1975 were originally released by Columbia Records.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Firesign Theatre commercial releases

  • Lawyer's Hospital
    • (Rhino RNLP-806 — 1982)
  • Shakespeare’s Lost Comedie
    • (Firesign/Rhino RNLP-807 — 1982)
    • (re-released in expanded edition as Anythynge You Want To Firesign Theatre Records MSUG090, 2001, 2005)
  • Eat Or Be Eaten
    • (Mercury 826 452-2 — 1985)
      • (An official Firesign Theatre release but without David Ossman)
  • Shoes for Industry: The Best of the Firesign Theatre
    • (Sony/Legacy 52736 — August 1993)
  • Pink Hotel Burns Down
    • (LodeStone Media MSUG006 — December 1996)
  • Bride of Firesign
    • (Rhino R2 75390 — September 2001)
  • Radio Now, Live|Radio Now Live!
    • (Whirlwind Media — July 2001)
  • Papoon For President
    • (Laugh.Com — 2002)

[edit] Non-commercial releases (radio, promotional LPs)

  • Let’s Eat — Syndicated Radio Program
    • (1974)
  • The Proctor-Bergman Report
    • (1977–1978)
  • The Cassette Chronichles
    • (Rhino RM-73 — 1980)
      • (A six cassette collection of The Firesign Theatre’s presidential and campaign commentaries which aired on NPR during the 1980 election season.)

[edit] Firesign-related albums

  • TV or not TV
    • (Columbia KC-32199 — 1973)
      • (an album by the team of Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman)
  • How Time Flys
    • (Columbia KC-32411 — 1973)
      • (a “solo” album written and presented by Ossman, but with all members performing, among others)
  • What This Country Needs
    • (Columbia PC-33687 — September 1975)
      • (an album by the team of Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman)
  • Daily Feed 1988 Newsreel — The Daily Feed
    • (DC Audio — 1988)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Austin)
  • The George Tirebiter Story Chapter1: Another Christmas Carol
    • (Sparks Media — 1989)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Ossman)
  • George Tirebiter's Radiodaze
    • (Sparks Media — 1989)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Ossman)
  • The George Tirebiter Story Pt.2 Mexican Overdrive / Radiodaze
    • (Company One — 1989)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Ossman)
  • A Capital Decade Daily Feed 1989 Newsreel — The Daily Feed
    • (DC Audio — 1989)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Austin)
  • The George Tirebiter Story Pt.3 The Ronald Reagan Murder Case
    • (Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop — 1990)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Ossman)
  • Down Under Danger
    • (Sparks Media — 1994)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Austin)
  • Tales Of The Old Detective And Other Big Fat Lies
    • (Audio Partners — 1994)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Austin)
  • David Ossman's Time Capsules
    • (Otherworld Media — Omw 1996/1 — 1996)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Ossman)
  • George Tirebiter's Radio Follies
    • (Twin Cities Radio Theatre Workshop — July 1997)
      • (a “solo” cassette by Ossman)

[edit] Filmography

  • 1970 - Zachariah (co-written by Firesign Theatre) (92 min.)
  • 1972 - Martian Space Party (Firesign Theatre with Campoon workers) (27 min.)
  • 1973 - Love is Hard to Get (Peter Bergman) (26 min.)
  • 1973 - Let's Visit the World of the Future (stars Bozo characters from Firesign Theatre, directed by Ivan Stang) (44 min.)
  • 1976 - Six Dreams (Peter Bergman - executive producer, Phil Proctor) (13 min.)
  • 1976 - Tunnel Vision (featuring Phil Proctor) (70 min.)
  • 1978 - Everything You Know is Wrong (40 min.)
  • 1978 - TV or Not TV (Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor) (33 min.)
  • 1979 - Americathon (Based on a play by Phil Proctor and Peter Bergman) (86 min.)
  • 1979 - J-Men Forever (Firesign Theatre featuring Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor) (75 min.)
  • 1979 - The Madhouse of Dr. Fear (Firesign Theatre) (60 min.)
  • 1983 - Nick Danger: Case of the Missing Yolk (60 min.) (Originally an Interactive Video, Pacific Arts PAVR-527)
  • 1985 - Eat or be Eaten (Phil Austin, Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor, RCA Columbia 60566) (30 min.)
  • 1985 - Hot Shorts (Phil Austin, Peter Bergman and Phil Proctor, RCA Columbia 60435) (73 min.)
  • 1994 - Back from the Shadows
  • 2001 - Firesign Theatre Weirdly Cool DVD Movie

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Under the Influence of the Goons," Firezine 4.
  2. ^ Ventham, Maxine (2002). Spike Milligan: His Part In Our Lives.. London: Robson. ISBN 1-86105-530-7. 
  3. ^ http://www.tickets--tickets.com/event/5863/Firesign-Theatre-Schedule.html
  4. ^ Conference With Comedy, by Thornton Massie
  5. ^ Proctor & Bergman, - The Concert Vault

[edit] Sources

  • Firesign Theatre. Firesign Theatre. 19 Jan. 2006 <http://www.firesigntheatre.com/>.
  • "FIREZINE: Linques!." Firesign Theatre FAQ. 23 Jan. 2006 <http://firezine.net/faq/>.
  • Marsh, Dave, and Greil Marcus. "The Firesign Theatre." The New Rolling Stone Record Guide. Ed. Dave Marsh and John Swenson. New York: Random House, 1983. 175–176.
  • Smith, Ronald L. The Goldmine Comedy Record Price Guide. Iola: Krause, 1996.

[edit] Further reading

  • Ossman, David. Firesign (Theatre) Follies. (Albany: BearManor Media) (2008) ISBN 978-1593931483
  • Ossman, David. The Ronald Reagan Murder Case: A George Tirebiter Mystery. (Albany: BearManor Media) (2006) ISBN 1-59393-071-2
  • Wiebel, Jr, Frederick C. (2005). Backwards into the Future - The Firesign Theatre. Albany: BearManor Media ISBN 1-59393-043-7
  • Santoro, Gene. Highway 61 Revisited: The Tangled Roots of American Jazz, Blues, Rock & Country Music. (New York: Oxford University Press) (2004) ISBN 978-0-19-515481-8

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The Firesign Theatre
 
Performers
 
Albums
Commercial
Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him · How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All · Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers · I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus · Dear Friends · Not Insane or Anything You Want To · The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra · Everything You Know Is Wrong · In the Next World, You're on Your Own · Forward into the Past · Just Folks . . . A Firesign Chat · Nick Danger: The Case of the Missing Shoe · Fighting Clowns · Lawyer's Hospital · Shakespeare's Lost Comedie · The Three Faces of Al · Eat or Be Eaten · Shoes for Industry: The Best of Firesign Theatre · Anythynge You Want To · Back from the Shadows · Pink Hotel Burns Down · Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death · Boom Dot Bust · Bride of Firesign · Radio Now Live! · Papoon For President · All Things Firesign
Non-commercial
Related
 
Bibliography
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