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The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American
surreal Surreal may refer to: *Anything related to or characteristic of Surrealism, a movement in philosophy and art * "Surreal" (song), a 2000 song by Ayumi Hamasaki * ''Surreal'' (album), an album by Man Raze *Surreal humour, a common aspect of humor ...
comedy troupe A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated personnel who work together to perform comedy as entertainment. The term is often used interchangeably with comedy group, and the troupe may specialize in a specific genre or style of comedy ...
who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station
KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commerci ...
FM. They continued appearing on ''Radio Free Oz'', which later moved to
KRLA 1110 KRDC (1110 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial AM radio, AM Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles as a full-time simulcast of ESPN Radio affiliate KSPN (AM), KSPN. The station is owned and oper ...
AM and then KMET FM, through February 1969. They produced fifteen
record album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records coll ...
s and a 45 rpm single under contract to
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
from 1967 through 1976, and had three nationally syndicated radio programs: ''The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour'' icin 1970 on
KPPC-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronou ...
; and '' Dear Friends'' (1970–1971) and ''Let's Eat!'' (1971–1972) on KPFK. They also appeared in front of live audiences, and continued to write, perform, and record on other labels, occasionally taking sabbaticals during which they wrote or performed solo or in smaller groups. The Firesign Theatre was the brainchild of
Peter Bergman Peter Michael Bergman (born June 11, 1953) is an American actor best known for his portrayals on soap operas, such as Cliff Warner on '' All My Children'' (1979–89) on ABC as well as Jack Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (1989–prese ...
, and all of its material was conceived, written, and performed by its members Bergman,
Philip Proctor Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Career Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had t ...
,
Phil Austin Philip Baine Austin (April 6, 1941 – June 18, 2015) was an American comedian and writer, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre. Early life and education Austin was born in Denver, Colorado and later grew up in Fresno, California, att ...
, and
David Ossman David Ossman (born December 6, 1936 in Santa Monica) is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as '' Zachariah''. Early life Ossman attended Pomona College, where he starr ...
. The group's name stems from
astrology Astrology is a range of Divination, divinatory practices, recognized as pseudoscientific since the 18th century, that claim to discern information about human affairs and terrestrial events by studying the apparent positions of Celestial o ...
, because all four were born under the three "
fire signs In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up ecliptic, Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the Equinox ( ...
":
Aries Aries may refer to: *Aries (astrology), an astrological sign *Aries (constellation), a constellation of stars in the zodiac Arts, entertainment and media * ''Aries'' (album), by Luis Miguel, 1993 * ''Aries'' (EP), by Alice Chater, 2020 * "Aries" ...
(Austin), Leo (Proctor), and Sagittarius (Bergman and Ossman). Their popularity peaked in the early 1970s and ebbed in the Reagan Era. They experienced a revival and second wave of popularity in the 1990s and continued to write, record and perform until Bergman's death in 2012. In 1997, ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' ranked the Firesign Theatre among the "Thirty Greatest Comedy Acts of All Time". Their 1970 album '' Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers'' was nominated in 1971 for the
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
by the
World Science Fiction Society Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
, and their next album ''
I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus ''I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus'' is the fourth comedy album made by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records, released in August 1971 on standard stereo vinyl LP, and Quadraphonic LP and 8-track tape. It was nominated for a Hugo Award f ...
'' received the same nomination in 1972. Later, they received nominations for the
Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to presen ...
for three of their albums: ''
The Three Faces of Al ''The Three Faces of Al'' is a 1984 comedy album by the group Firesign Theatre. It features the group members reprising their most popular characters from earlier collaborations, notably hard-boiled detective Nick Danger and his nemesis, Lieuten ...
'' (1984), '' Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death'' (1998), and ''
Bride of Firesign ''Bride of Firesign'' is a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre released in 2001 by Rhino Records. It is the third volume of the Firesign's Millenium Trilogy ''We're Doomed'', following ''Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death ''Give Me Immortali ...
'' (2001). In 2005, the US
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
added ''Don't Crush That Dwarf'' to the
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
and called the group "
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
of comedy."


Before ''Firesign''

Peter Bergman Peter Michael Bergman (born June 11, 1953) is an American actor best known for his portrayals on soap operas, such as Cliff Warner on '' All My Children'' (1979–89) on ABC as well as Jack Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (1989–prese ...
and
Philip Proctor Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Career Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had t ...
met while attending
Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...
in the late 1950s, where Proctor studied acting and Bergman edited the Yale comedy magazine. Bergman studied playwriting and collaborated as lyricist with
Austin Pendleton Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor. He is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen who has appeared in films including ''Catch-22'' (1970); '' W ...
in 1958 on two Yale Dramat musicals in which Proctor starred: '' Tom Jones'', and ''
Booth Booth may refer to: People * Booth (surname) * Booth (given name) Fictional characters * August Wayne Booth, from the television series ''Once Upon A Time'' *Cliff Booth, a supporting character of the 2019 film ''Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'' ...
Is Back In Town''. In 1965, Bergman spent a year working in England on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
television program ''
Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life ''Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life'' (commonly abbreviated to ''NSMAPMAWOL'', pronounced ens-map-may-wall and stylised as Not so much a programme, more a way of Life) is a BBC-TV satire programme produced by Ned Sherrin, which aired d ...
'' and went to see surrealist comedian
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
in a play. Bergman went backstage and struck up a friendship with Milligan. Also that year, he saw
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
in concert, which gave him the inspiration to form a four-man comedy group. On returning to the US, Bergman started a late-night listener-participation
talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...
, ''Radio Free Oz'', on July 24, 1966, on listener-sponsored
KPFK KPFK (90.7 FM) is a listener-sponsored radio station based in North Hollywood, California, United States, which serves Southern California, and also streams 24 hours a day via the Internet. It was the second of five stations in the non-commerci ...
FM in Los Angeles, working with producers
Phil Austin Philip Baine Austin (April 6, 1941 – June 18, 2015) was an American comedian and writer, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre. Early life and education Austin was born in Denver, Colorado and later grew up in Fresno, California, att ...
and
David Ossman David Ossman (born December 6, 1936 in Santa Monica) is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as '' Zachariah''. Early life Ossman attended Pomona College, where he starr ...
. According to Austin, the show "featured everybody who was anybody in the artistic world who passed through LA." Guests included the band
Buffalo Springfield Buffalo Springfield was a rock band formed in Los Angeles by Canadian musicians Neil Young, Bruce Palmer and Dewey Martin and American musicians Stephen Stills and Richie Furay. The group, widely known for the song "For What It's Worth", rele ...
and
Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationsh ...
. In November, Proctor was in Los Angeles looking for acting work and watching the Sunset Strip curfew riots. When he discovered he was sitting on a newspaper photo of Bergman, he called his college buddy, who recruited him as the fourth man for his comedy group. Bergman originally named the group the "Oz Firesign Theatre" because all four were born under the three astrological fire signs (Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius), and the group debuted on his November 17, 1966 show. Bergman had to drop "Oz" from the name after legal threats from
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
and
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
, who owned movie rights to '' The Wizard of Oz'' and other associated works.


''Radio Free Oz''

The Firesigns initially chose an
improvisational Improvisation is the activity of making or doing something not planned beforehand, using whatever can be found. Improvisation in the performing arts is a very spontaneous performance without specific or scripted preparation. The skills of impr ...
style and carried it to a level which revolutionized
radio comedy Radio comedy, or comedy, comedic radio programming, is a radio broadcast that may involve variety show, sitcom elements, sketch comedy, sketches, and various types of comedy found in other media. It may also include more surreal or fantastic element ...
. According to Proctor: On nights when he had no guests, Bergman would have the Firesigns come on the air and pretend (including himself) to be outrageously interesting guests. On their November 17, 1966 debut, they pretended to be the panel of an imaginary "Oz Film Festival": Bergman was film critic Peter Volta, "writing a history of world cinema one frame at a time"; Ossman was Raul Saez, maker of “thrown camera” films, who had just won a grant to roll a
70 mm film 70 mm film (or 65 mm film) is a wide high-resolution film gauge for motion picture photography, with a negative area nearly 3.5 times as large as the standard 35 mm motion picture film format. As used in cameras, the film is wid ...
camera down the
Andes mountains The Andes, Andes Mountains or Andean Mountains (; ) are the List of mountain ranges#Mountain ranges by length, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range i ...
; Austin was Jack Love, making "Living Room Theatre" porn films like ''The Nun'' and ''Blondie Pays the Rent''; and Proctor was Jean-Claude Jean-Claude, creator of the "Nouvelle Nouvelle Vague Vague movement" and director of a documentary ''Two Weeks With Fred'', which lasts a full two weeks. By 1967, Bergman had the Firesign Theatre appear regularly on ''Radio Free Oz''. The Firesigns were strongly influenced by the British ''
Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1 ...
''; Proctor, Austin, and Ossman were big fans since the
NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
program ''
Monitor Monitor or monitor may refer to: Places * Monitor, Alberta * Monitor, Indiana, town in the United States * Monitor, Kentucky * Monitor, Oregon, unincorporated community in the United States * Monitor, Washington * Monitor, Logan County, West ...
'' broadcast ''Goon Show'' episodes in the late 1950s, and Bergman became a fan after forming the Firesigns. According to Ossman: In the fall of 1967, the Firesign Theatre was broadcasting Sunday nights from ''The Magic Mushroom'', in
Studio City Studio City is a neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California, in the southeast San Fernando Valley, just west of the Cahuenga Pass. It is named after the studio lot that was established in the area by film producer Mack Sennett in 1927, ...
, formerly a
Bob Eubanks Robert Leland Eubanks (born January 8, 1938) is an American disc jockey, television personality and game show host, best known for hosting the game show ''The Newlywed Game'' on and off since 1966. He also hosted the successful revamp version of ...
' ''
Cinnamon Cinder The Cinnamon Cinder was a chain of Southern California nightclubs owned by Bob Eubanks. Acts that appeared in the clubs included the Coasters, the Drifters, Sonny & Cher, Buffalo Springfield, Ike & Tina Turner, and the Shirelles. Background The ...
''. In September 1967, they performed an adaptation of
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known bo ...
' short story "La Muerte y La Brujula" ("
Death and the Compass "Death and the Compass" (original Spanish title: "La muerte y la brújula") is a short story by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986). Published in '' Sur'' in May 1942, it was included in the 1944 collection ''Ficciones''. ...
") on Radio Free Oz. In 1969, they created improvised television commercials for Jack Poet Volkswagen in Highland Park, California, with the characters of Christian Cyborg (Bergman), Coco Lewis (Proctor), Bob Chicken (Austin), and Tony Gomez (Ossman).


Golden age


Early recording career

Bergman coined the term "
love-in A love-in is a peaceful public gathering focused on meditation, love, music, sex and/or use of recreational drugs. The term was coined by Los Angeles radio comedian Peter Bergman, who also hosted the first such event on Easter, 26 March 1967 in ...
" in 1967, and he promoted the first Los Angeles Love-In, attended by 40,000 in Elysian Park, on his program. The Firesigns performed there, which led to ''Radio Free Oz'' moving to
KRLA 1110 KRDC (1110 Hertz, kHz) is a commercial AM radio, AM Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles as a full-time simulcast of ESPN Radio affiliate KSPN (AM), KSPN. The station is owned and oper ...
AM, which had a much wider audience than KPFK FM. This event also caught the attention of
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
staff producer
Gary Usher Gary Lee Usher (December 14, 1938 – May 25, 1990) was an American rock musician, songwriter, and record producer, who worked with numerous California acts in the 1960s, including the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and Dick Dale. Usher also produced fict ...
, who sensed commercial potential for the Firesign Theatre and proposed to Bergman they make a "love-In album" for Columbia. Bergman countered with a proposal for a Firesign Theatre album, and this led to a five-year recording contract with the label. Usher also used the Firesigns' audio collages on songs by
The Byrds The Byrds () were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1964. The band underwent multiple lineup changes throughout its existence, with frontman Roger McGuinn (known as Jim McGuinn until mid-1967) remaining the sole cons ...
("Draft Morning") and Sagittarius (the 45 RPM version of "Hotel Indiscreet") in 1967 and 1968. The album was given the non sequitur title ''
Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him ''Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him'' is the first comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in January 1968 by Columbia Records. Synopsis The first side of the original LP presented a trilogy of thre ...
'', from Bergman's undeveloped 1965 idea for a comic film. The Firesigns changed their improvisational style, producing tightly scripted and memorized material. According to Bergman: "There was no leader." The Firesigns always billed themselves alphabetically on their album jackets and other printed materials. "Everything was communally written, and if one person didn't agree about something, no matter how strongly the other three felt about it, it didn't go in." The resulting synergy created the feeling of a fifth Firesign; according to Austin: "It's like, suddenly there is this fifth guy that actually does the writing. We all vaguely sort of know him, and a lot of the time take credit for him." This resulted in the group inventing the name "4 or 5 Krazy Guys Publishing" to copyright their work. Their contract with Columbia, in exchange for a low royalty rate, gave them unlimited studio time, allowing them to perfect their writing and recording. ''Electrician'' revolutionized the concept of the
comedy album Comedy is a genre of fiction that consists of discourses or works intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter, especially in theatre, film, stand-up comedy, television, radio, books, or any other entertainment medium. The term o ...
: it consists of four radio plays. Side one is a trilogy of pieces: starting with "Temporarily Humboldt County", a satire of the Europeans' displacement of the
indigenous peoples of the Americas The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the A ...
; followed by "W. C. Fields Forever", a satire of the 1960s
hippie A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States during the mid-1960s and spread to different countries around ...
culture; leading into "Trente-Huit Cunegonde (Returned for Regrooving)", a projected future in which the roles of the hippie counterculture and
the Establishment ''The Establishment'' is a term used to describe a dominant social group , group or elite that controls a polity or an organization. It may comprise a closed social group that selects its own members, or entrenched elite structures in specific ...
culture are reversed. Side two, the title track, is a
stream-of-consciousness In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. The term was coined by Daniel Oliver in 1840 in ''First Li ...
play about an American tourist (Austin) to an
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc and the Soviet Bloc, was the group of socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Africa, and Latin America under the influence of the Soviet Union that existed du ...
country, who ends up in prison and is rescued by the
CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...
. It was recorded in
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
's Los Angeles radio studio from which ''
The Jack Benny Program ''The Jack Benny Program'', starring Jack Benny, is a radio-TV comedy series that ran for more than three decades and is generally regarded as a high-water mark in 20th century American comedy. He played one role throughout his radio and televis ...
'' and others had been broadcast; the original
RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...
microphones and
sound effects A sound effect (or audio effect) is an artificially created or enhanced sound, or sound process used to emphasize artistic or other content of films, television shows, live performance, animation, video games, music, or other media. Traditi ...
devices were used. It was released in January 1968, selling a modest 12,000 copies in its first year. The Firesigns continued to work on the radio and began performing in
folk club A folk club is a regular event, permanent venue, or section of a venue devoted to folk music and traditional music. Folk clubs were primarily an urban phenomenon of 1960s and 1970s Great Britain and Ireland, and vital to the second British folk r ...
s such as the Ash Grove. ''Radio Free Oz'' moved again to KMET FM until February 1969. ''The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour'' aired for two hours on Sunday nights on
KPPC-FM KROQ-FM (106.7 Hertz, MHz) is a commercial Radio broadcasting, radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronou ...
in 1970. They concentrated their writing on the folk-club material and produced improvisational skit material for the ''Radio Hour'' and its successors. The Firesigns almost lost their recording contract after their first album. According to Bergman: "Columbia was going to kick us off the label, so we scripted the next record and the old guard at Columbia took a look at the script and said 'This isn't funny—this is dirty!' And to our rescue came
James William Guercio James William Guercio (born July 18, 1945) is an American music producer, musician, songwriter, and director. He is well known for his work as the producer of Chicago's early albums as well as early recordings of The Buckinghams and Blood, Sweat ...
roducer_of_ roducer_of_the_Buckinghams">the_Buckinghams.html"_;"title="roducer_of_the_Buckinghams">roducer_of_the_Buckinghamsand_ roducer_of_the_Buckinghams">the_Buckinghams.html"_;"title="roducer_of_the_Buckinghams">roducer_of_the_Buckinghamsand_John_Hammond_(producer)">John_Hammond."_Austin_says,_"With_Hammond_backing_us_up,_CBS_came_around."_They_went_on_to_produce_three_more_Columbia_studio_albums_from_1969_to_1971._Each_grew_technically_more_sophisticated,_taking_advantage_of_multitrack_recording.html" ;"title="John_Hammond_(producer).html" ;"title="the_Buckinghams.html" ;"title="the_Buckinghams.html" ;"title="roducer of the Buckinghams">roducer of the Buckinghams">the_Buckinghams.html" ;"title="roducer of the Buckinghams">roducer of the Buckinghamsand John Hammond (producer)">John Hammond." Austin says, "With Hammond backing us up, CBS came around." They went on to produce three more Columbia studio albums from 1969 to 1971. Each grew technically more sophisticated, taking advantage of multitrack recording">up to 16 tape tracks and Dolby noise reduction by 1970. ''
How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All ''How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All'' is the second comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in July 1969 by Columbia Records. Track listing Side one This side of the vinyl LP ...
'', released in 1969, consists of a stream-of-consciousness play on side one about a man named Babe (Bergman) who buys a car and goes on a road trip that turns into a parody of
Norman Corwin Norman Lewis Corwin (May 3, 1910 – October 18, 2011) was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing. His earliest and biggest successes were in the writing and directing of radio drama during the ...
's 1941 patriotic radio pageant ''
We Hold These Truths ''We Hold These Truths'', a celebration of the 150th anniversary of the United States Bill of Rights, was an hour-long radio program that explored American values and aired live on December 15, 1941, the first to be broadcast on all four major ne ...
''. Side two, ''The Further Adventures of
Nick Danger Nick Danger is a fictional character created by the comedy group The Firesign Theatre, portrayed by Phil Austin. Danger is a parody of the hard-boiled detective, and is often announced as "Nick Danger, Third Eye", a parody of the term '' private ...
'', is a parody of 1940s radio, about a
hard-boiled detective Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence ...
(Austin) who became possibly the Firesigns' most famous character. '' Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers'' (1970) is a single play centered around an actor named George Tirebiter (Ossman), who gradually ages into an old man while watching his old movies on television: a
Henry Aldrich Henry Aldrich (15 January 1648 – 14 December 1710) was an English theologian, philosopher, and composer. Life Aldrich was educated at Westminster School under Dr Richard Busby. In 1662, he entered Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1689 was mad ...
parody ''High School Madness'' (in which he is named Porgie Tirebiter), and the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
film ''Parallel Hell''. ''Dwarf'' marked a high point in the Firesign's use of
blue comedy Ribaldry or blue comedy is humorous entertainment that ranges from bordering on indelicacy to indecency. Blue comedy is also referred to as "bawdiness" or being "bawdy". Sex is presented in ribald material more for the purpose of poking fun at ...
: Porgie has explicit sex with a housemaid as creaking bedsprings are heard. This album was nominated for a
Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation The Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation is given each year for theatrical films, television episodes, or other dramatized works related to science fiction or fantasy released in the previous calendar year. Originally the award covered both ...
in 1971 by the
World Science Fiction Society Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
, ''Dwarf'' brought a level of success to the Firesigns that started to spoil them. Bergman said, "We toured after ''Dwarf'' and we began to realize the extent we were influencing people. We realized that FM radio was playing our albums whole, and that people were memorizing them." Austin said of this period, "At that point we began not to get along with each other that well, and the being taken so seriously — ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
'' did a long article on us, and we were being compared to
James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influential and important writers of ...
— there was a prideful attitude that took over. But we weren't making money; we might as well have been teaching school somewhere and worrying about making tenure for all the money we were making. So in some sense we didn't really understand what we were doing, which is why we were never able to make a second ''Dwarf'', which to me is a real disappointment." Their fourth album, ''
I Think We're All Bozos On This Bus ''I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus'' is the fourth comedy album made by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records, released in August 1971 on standard stereo vinyl LP, and Quadraphonic LP and 8-track tape. It was nominated for a Hugo Award f ...
'' (1971), also a single play, centers on a young, early-technology computer
hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...
(Proctor) and an older "bozo" with a large nose that honks like a clown's (Austin), who attend a Disneyesque Future Fair. The blue comedy was dialed back from explicit to suggestive, as a scientist invents a machine that mimics sexual intercourse. This album also received a Hugo nomination in 1972. Meanwhile, from September 9, 1970 to February 17, 1971, they were performing a one-hour weekly live series on KPFK, '' Dear Friends''. These programs were recorded and then edited into slightly shorter shows and syndicated to radio stations across the country on 12" LP albums. Their fifth album, ''Dear Friends'', was a double-record compilation of what they considered the best segments from the series, released in January 1972. ''Dear Friends'' was followed with the KPFK show ''Let's Eat!'' in 1971 and 1972. Both titles came from lines uttered by televangelist Pastor Rod Flash (Proctor) on his "Hour of Reckoning" program in ''Don't Crush That Dwarf''. In 1970, the group had performed a live stage show, the
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
parody ''The Count of Monte Cristo'', at
Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
. In January 1972 they decided to expand this and retitle it ''Anything You Want To'' for their next album. On March 9, Columbia signed them to a second five-year contract. On March 30, they ended ''Let's Eat!'' with a live broadcast titled ''Martian Space Party'', which was also recorded on 16-track tape and filmed. The Firesigns combined parts of the two shows with some new studio material to produce their sixth album, ''
Not Insane or Anything You Want To ''Not Insane or Anything You Want To'' is the sixth album released by the Firesign Theatre on Columbia Records. It was released in October 1972 and includes some material that was recorded in the studio as well as some material that was recorded ...
''. But before releasing the album in October 1972, they had discarded their original story line idea and some newly written scenes.


1973 split

The ''Not Insane'' album performed poorly, and the Firesigns later claimed to be disappointed with it. In the liner notes to the group’s 1993 greatest hits album, '' Shoes for Industry: The Best of the Firesign Theatre'', Bergman criticized ''Not Insane'', saying it "was when the Firesign was splitting apart; it was a fractious, fragmented album." Ossman called it "a serious mistake" and said it “was incomprehensible, basically”, and “it was not the album it should have been and I think that caused us to slope off rapidly in sales." The four decided to take a break from the group in 1973 to work in separate directions.
Proctor and Bergman Proctor and Bergman was a comedy duo consisting of Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman. The two started performing in 1973 while taking a break from the four-man comedy act The Firesign Theatre, with the comedy album " TV or Not TV", on which they ...
decided to perform as a duo, and made a separate record deal with Columbia, producing ''
TV or Not TV ''TV or Not TV'' is the debut album by the comedy duo Proctor and Bergman. It was originally released in 1973 by Columbia Records. Unlike most Firesign Theatre albums, it included songs ("Communist Love Song" sung by Proctor at the end of side ...
: A Video Vaudeville in Two Acts''. The record predicts the rise of pay cable TV, and it depicts an amateur station run by two men who must constantly block a group of teenage
hijackers Hijacking may refer to: Common usage Computing and technology * Bluejacking, the unsolicited transmission of data via Bluetooth * Brandjacking, the unauthorized use of a company's brand * Browser hijacking * Clickjacking (including ''like ...
. They turned this into a
vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...
-type show which they played on tour. While promoting the show, they did a radio interview with disk jockey
Wolfman Jack Robert Weston Smith (January 21, 1938July 1, 1995), known as Wolfman Jack, was an American disc jockey active from 1960 till his death in 1995. Famous for his gravelly voice, he credited it for his success, saying, "It's kept meat and potatoes ...
. Meanwhile, Ossman wrote a solo album ''
How Time Flys ''How Time Flys'' is a comedy album written by David Ossman and featuring the voice talents of all four members of The Firesign Theatre plus several other contributors. It was originally released by Columbia Records in 1973. Character development ...
'', based on the Mark Time astronaut character he created for a ''Dear Friends'' skit, used on ''I Think We're All Bozos'' and cut from ''Not Insane''. He co-directed the album with Columbia producer Stephen Gillmor, and the other three Firesigns starred on it, along with several guest personalities including Wolfman Jack,
Harry Shearer Harry Julius Shearer (born December 23, 1943) is an American actor, comedian, writer, musician, radio host, director and producer. Born in Los Angeles, California, Shearer began his career as a child actor. From 1969 to 1976, Shearer was a member ...
of
The Credibility Gap The Credibility Gap was an American satirical comedy team active from 1968 through 1979. They emerged in the late 1960s delivering comedic commentary on the news for the Los Angeles AM rock radio station KRLA 1110, and proceeded to develop more ela ...
, and broadcast journalist
Lew Irwin Lew Irwin has been a Los Angeles-based journalist for more than 50 years. He was the original anchor/reporter at KABC-TV from 1957–1962 and the news director of Los Angeles radio stations KPOL, KRLA, KDAY, and KNX-FM. While at KRLA in the late 1 ...
. Mark returns on New Year's Eve, 1999, from a twenty-year round trip to
Planet X Following the discovery of the planet Neptune in 1846, there was considerable speculation that another planet might exist beyond its orbit. The search began in the mid-19th century and continued at the start of the 20th with Percival Lowell's ...
, only to find the space program has been dismantled, and no one cares about him except for an eccentric
impresario An impresario (from the Italian ''impresa'', "an enterprise or undertaking") is a person who organizes and often finances concerts, plays, or operas, performing a role in stage arts that is similar to that of a film or television producer. Hist ...
(Bergman) who kidnaps him for his video recordings of encounters with alien life. Austin wrote the solo album '' Roller Maidens From Outer Space'', based on a
hardboiled detective Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence ...
in the same vein as his
Nick Danger Nick Danger is a fictional character created by the comedy group The Firesign Theatre, portrayed by Phil Austin. Danger is a parody of the hard-boiled detective, and is often announced as "Nick Danger, Third Eye", a parody of the term '' private ...
character introduced on the B side of ''How Can You Be In Two Places...''. ''Roller Maidens'', released in March 1974 on Columbia's Epic label, also featured all four Firesigns and included actors
Richard Paul Richard Paul (June 6, 1940 – December 25, 1998) was an American actor who was born in Los Angeles, California. Early life Paul was born in Los Angeles, California. Richard earned a Bachelor of Arts in public affairs from Claremont Men's Coll ...
and
Michael C. Gwynne Michael C. Gwynne (born October 1, 1942) is an American film, television and radio actor. His film roles include ''Payday'' (1973), ''A Cold Night's Death'' (1973), ''Harry in Your Pocket'' (1973), ''The Terminal Man'' (1974), '' Special Deliver ...
. The album satirizes
series television A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...
,
televangelist Televangelism (wikt:tele-, tele- "distance" and "evangelism," meaning "Christian ministry, ministry," sometimes called teleministry) is the use of media, specifically radio and television, to communicate Christianity. Televangelists are minister ...
s, the
1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...
, and the
Presidency of Richard Nixon Richard Nixon's tenure as the 37th president of the United States began with his first inauguration on January 20, 1969, and ended when he resigned on August 9, 1974, in the face of almost certain impeachment because of the Watergate Scanda ...
.


Comedy style

The Firesigns made use of inside humor. They peppered ''Waiting for the Electrician'' and ''How Can You Be in Two Places At Once'' with Beatles references not found on the band's
top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
material. Firesign characters quoted lyrics from songs such as " The Word", "
I'm So Tired "I'm So Tired" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as "the White Album"). It was written and sung by John Lennon, though credited to Lennon–McCartney. Lennon wrote the song ...
", and "
I Am the Walrus "I Am the Walrus" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1967 television film ''Magical Mystery Tour''. Written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, it was released as the B-side to the single "Hello, Goodbye" a ...
". The name of Danger's criminal nemesis Rocky Rococo was a parody of the Beatles' "
Rocky Raccoon "Rocky Raccoon" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 double album ''The Beatles'' (also known as the "White Album"). It was primarily written by Paul McCartney, although credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. M ...
", and Danger's girlfriend has multiple names but "everyone knew her as Nancy" just like Rocky Raccoon's girlfriend. Later the Firesigns created their own inside jokes by referring to their own previously released material. A famous example is when a confused caller tries to order a pizza from Nick Danger; the other side of this phone conversation is portrayed in ''Dwarf'', where George Tirebiter is the frustrated, hungry caller trying to get food delivered from "Nick's". "He's no fun, he fell right over" became a famous
catchphrase A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
delivered by Austin in "How Can You Be In Two Places at Once" and repeated on side two in "The Further Adventures of Nick Danger". This line was repeated on the albums ''Not Insane'' and ''How Time Flys''.


Reunion

The group reunited in late August 1973 to produce the
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
parody ''
The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra ''The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra'' is the seventh comedy album produced by the Firesign Theatre and released in January 1974 by Columbia Records. It is a send-up of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, " The Giant Rat of Sumatra", which was not wri ...
'', based on one of the plays from their 1967 Magic Mushroom broadcasts, ''By the Light of the Silvery''. This was released on vinyl in January 1974. The Firesigns sold this script to science fiction writer
Harlan Ellison Harlan Jay Ellison (May 27, 1934 – June 28, 2018) was an American writer, known for his prolific and influential work in New Wave speculative fiction and for his outspoken, combative personality. Robert Bloch, the author of '' Psycho'' ...
for Book Three of Ellison's
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...
''
The Last Dangerous Visions ''The Last Dangerous Visions'' is an unpublished speculative fiction anthology intended to follow '' Dangerous Visions'' (1967) and '' Again, Dangerous Visions'' (1972). Like its predecessors, it was edited by American author Harlan Ellison, ...
'', which Ellison never completed. In October 1974, the Firesigns released their eighth album, ''
Everything You Know Is Wrong ''Everything You Know Is Wrong'' is the eighth comedy album by the Firesign Theatre. Released in October 1974 on Columbia Records, it satirizes UFO conspiracy theories and New Age paranormal beliefs such as Erich von Däniken's ''Chariots of ...
'', which satirized the developing
New Age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
movement. Ossman said this record "grew out of our basic interest in those parapsychological things ... from Castaneda to the
hollow Earth The Hollow Earth is a concept proposing that the planet Earth is entirely hollow or contains a substantial interior space. Notably suggested by Edmond Halley in the late 17th century, the notion was disproven, first tentatively by Pierre Bougue ...
theory to the guy who bends spoons. Originally, when we started writing it, it was going to be a much more complicated and 'cinematic' record; we were trying to write a radio movie." The Firesigns produced a film made by
Allen Daviau John Allen Daviau (June 14, 1942 – April 15, 2020) was an American cinematographer known for his collaborations with Steven Spielberg on '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'' (1982), ''The Color Purple'' (1985), and ''Empire of the Sun'' (1987). ...
(who later filmed '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial'') using the album as the soundtrack. The film was shown in a live appearance at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
and released on VHS video tape in 1993. In 1975, they released the
black comedy Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...
album ''
In the Next World, You're on Your Own ''In the Next World, You're on Your Own'' is the ninth and last comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records. It was released in October 1975. Track listing Side one #"Police Street" – 21:30 Side two #"We've Lost O ...
'', written by Austin and Ossman. The story centers on Random Coolzip (Proctor), an
alcoholic Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomin ...
dirty cop Police corruption is a form of police misconduct in which law enforcement officers end up breaking their political contract and Abuse of power, abuse their power for personal gain. This type of corruption may involve one or a group of officers. I ...
whose son (Bergman) is a by-the-book cop, whose daughter (Proctor) is a porn actress, and whose police
dispatcher A dispatcher is a communications worker who receives and transmits information to coordinate operations of other personnel and vehicles carrying out a service. A number of organizations, including police and fire departments, emergency medical s ...
wife (Ossman) lives in a
soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
. In a parody of
Marlon Brando Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004) was an American actor. Considered one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academ ...
's 1973 Academy Awards protest, the brother and sister stage a
terrorist Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
attack on an
Oscar awards The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...
ceremony. This album, like ''Not Insane'', also sold poorly, and Columbia declined to offer them a third contract in 1976. This time, the Firesigns didn't protest. Bergman said, "The group had really split apart; we had just burned out. I mean it was five years non-stop work. We would stop one album and start writing the next. Frankly, we didn't have five more albums in us at that point."


Second split

As Austin looked back on this period from September 1993, he wrote that he saw Proctor and Bergman wanting to take the Firesign Theatre in a different direction than he did, moving away from intensely written albums released one per year, to more live performances with lighter material. Proctor and Bergman turned their attention in 1975 to producing a live show recorded on the Columbia album '' What This Country Needs'', based in part on material from ''TV or Not TV'' and named for a song added to the show. The Firesign Theatre closed out their Columbia Records contract with a greatest-hits compilation ''
Forward Into the Past ''Forward Into the Past'' is a 1976 compilation album by the Firesign Theatre. It presents the "Greatest Hits" from their nine Columbia albums and includes two tracks that were previously released only on a single. Track listing Side one #" ...
'' in 1976. This title came from the A side of a 45 RPM single originally released in November 1969. This track and its B side, "Station Break", were included on the 1976 album. Meanwhile, Austin and Ossman toured the west coast, billing themselves as "Dr. Firesign's Theatre of Mystery". They produced a live stage show ''Radio Laffs of 1940'', which included a second episode of the private eye character
Nick Danger Nick Danger is a fictional character created by the comedy group The Firesign Theatre, portrayed by Phil Austin. Danger is a parody of the hard-boiled detective, and is often announced as "Nick Danger, Third Eye", a parody of the term '' private ...
, "School For Actors"; and a soap opera "Over the Edge". This was performed at the Los Feliz Theatre in Los Angeles in May 1976 and at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco in June. Austin wrote in 1993 that this tour "was meant to be an antidote to confusion but ... had not turned out to be much fun at all". The Firesigns took it easy for the rest of the 1970s, producing a 1977 album '' Just Folks... A Firesign Chat'' based largely on unreleased ''Dear Friends'' and ''Let's Eat'' radio material. Proctor and Bergman appeared as regulars on a 1977 summer replacement TV series hosted by the
Starland Vocal Band Starland Vocal Band was an American pop band, known for " Afternoon Delight", one of the biggest-selling singles of 1976. Career The group began as Fat City, a husband/wife duo of Bill Danoff and Taffy Nivert. Danoff and Nivert co-wrote the s ...
. Proctor and Bergman gave up their road performances after witnessing the September 4, 1977
Golden Dragon Massacre The Golden Dragon massacre was a gang-related shooting attack that took place on September 4, 1977, inside the Golden Dragon Restaurant at 822 Washington Street in Chinatown, San Francisco, California. The five perpetrators, members of the Joe ...
, and in 1978 released another studio album '' Give Us a Break'', which lampooned radio and television. The Starland Vocal Band also performed short comic radio breaks on this album.
Norman Lear Norman Milton Lear (born July 27, 1922) is an American producer and screenwriter, who has produced, written, created, or developed over 100 shows. Lear is known for many popular 1970s sitcoms, including the multi-award winning ''All in the Famil ...
and
Bud Yorkin Alan David "Bud" Yorkin (February 22, 1926 – August 18, 2015) was an American film and television producer, director, screenwriter, and actor. Biography Yorkin was born in Washington, Pennsylvania, to Jewish parents. He earned a deg ...
's
Tandem Productions Tandem Productions, Inc. (a.k.a. Tandem Enterprises, Inc.) was a film and television production company that was founded in 1958 by television director Bud Yorkin and television writer/producer Norman Lear. History Tandem Productions In the ...
bought the rights to Nick Danger for a TV series to star George Hamilton; and in 1978,
New Line Cinema New Line Cinema is an American film production studio owned by Warner Bros. Discovery and is a film label of Warner Bros. It was founded in 1967 by Robert Shaye as an independent film distribution company; later becoming a film studio after acq ...
began negotiations to make a movie starring
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
. Both projects ended in
development hell Development hell, development purgatory, and development limbo are media and software industry jargon for a project, concept, or idea that remains in development for an especially long time, often moving between different crews, scripts, game engi ...
, and rights to the character reverted to the Firesigns. In December 1978, they began writing five short (2:24) episodes of '' Nick Danger: The Case of the Missing Shoe'' for a possible syndicated daily radio series. When the syndication went unsold, Austin approached
Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
and secured a deal to release the five episodes in 1979 on a 12-minute
extended play An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.
(EP) record. Meanwhile, Proctor and Bergman produced a film, ''
J-Men Forever ''J-Men Forever'', originally titled "The Secret World War", is a 1979 comedy film by Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman of the Firesign Theatre. The film is a pastiche using film clips from Republic serials, re-dubbed with comic dialog to tell a ...
'', using clips from old
Republic Pictures Republic Pictures Corporation (currently held under Melange Pictures, LLC) was an American motion picture production-distribution corporation in operation from 1935 to 1967, that was based in Los Angeles. It had studio facilities in Studio City an ...
movie serial A serial film, film serial (or just serial), movie serial, or chapter play, is a motion picture form popular during the first half of the 20th century, consisting of a series of short subjects exhibited in consecutive order at one theater, gene ...
s with dubbed dialogue, combined with new footage of them as FBI agents tracking down a villain known as "the Lightning Bug" voiced by disk jockey M. G. Kelly. This became popular on the 1980s late-night TV series '' Night Flight''. Austin called Bergman in late 1979 to make peace and reunite the Firesigns. This resulted in a series of shows performed at the Roxy Theatre in Los Angeles: "The Owl and the Octopus Show"; "The Joey Demographico Show"; "Nick Danger: Men in Hats"; and "Welcome to Billville". These included songs with music written by Austin, and were recorded; the live recordings were used to produce their last album of the decade, the 1980 ''
Fighting Clowns ''Fighting Clowns'' is a 1980 album by the Firesign Theatre. It is unique among Firesign Theatre albums because it is primarily made up of songs rather than the group's usual audio theater or sketch comedy pieces. Many of the songs on this albu ...
''. They also produced a show, "Presidents in Hell" (
FDR Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
, Truman,
Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...
, and
Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
), which was not recorded.


Reagan Era

The popularity of the group cooled off after 1980 as the social and political climate of the United States changed with the election of President Ronald Reagan. In 1982, they produced the album '' Lawyer's Hospital'' from a collection of live appearances,
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
(NPR) performances, and the Jack Poet Volkswagen commercials from ''Radio Free Oz''. They also expanded their 1972 Shakespeare parody into a road show, ''Shakespeare's Lost Comedie'' and released it on a 1982 vinyl LP, which required editing down; it was re-released uncut on CD in 2001, retitled ''
Anythynge You Want To ''Anythynge You Want To'' is a 2001 CD release by the Firesign Theatre presenting an uncut version of their 1982 comedy LP album ''Shakespeare's Lost Comedie''. It takes the form of a radio play, under the conceit of being a lost work of Shake ...
''. Ossman left the group in early 1982 to take a producer's job for NPR in Washington DC. The remaining three Firesigns produced a new album in 1984, ''
The Three Faces of Al ''The Three Faces of Al'' is a 1984 comedy album by the group Firesign Theatre. It features the group members reprising their most popular characters from earlier collaborations, notably hard-boiled detective Nick Danger and his nemesis, Lieuten ...
'', with the further adventures of Nick Danger. This received a nomination for the
Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album The Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement in comedy." The award was awarded yearly from 1959 to 1993 and then from 2004 to presen ...
, and was followed in 1985 with the album '' Eat or Be Eaten'', about a character trapped in an interactive video game. In 1988, Austin was signed by John Dryden to produce over 50 short Nick Danger pieces for his radio satire show
The Daily Feed
'. These were published on
cassette tape The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens ...
as ''The Daily Feed Tapes'', and later formed the basis for a 1995 book authored by Austin, ''Tales of the Old Detective and Other Big Fat Lies''. In the summer of 1990, NPR producer Ted Bonnitt called Proctor and asked him if he wanted to contribute some comedy material to Bonnitt's nightly program '' HEAT with John Hockenberry''. Proctor called Bergman, and the duo agreed to write and perform a serial consisting of 13 five-minute episodes, '' Power: Life on the Edge in L.A.''


1990s revival

Following the
1992 United States presidential election The 1992 United States presidential election was the 52nd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 3, 1992. Democratic Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas defeated incumbent Republican President George H. W. Bush, independent ...
, and with Ossman back in the group, the Firesign Theatre reunited in 1993 for a 25th anniversary reunion tour around the US, '' Back From the Shadows'', starting on April 24 in Seattle with an audience of 2,900. The title was taken from a parody of the
Gene Autry Orvon Grover "Gene" Autry (September 29, 1907 – October 2, 1998), nicknamed the Singing Cowboy, was an American singer, songwriter, actor, musician, rodeo performer, and baseball owner who gained fame largely by singing in a crooning s ...
song "
Back in the Saddle Again "Back in the Saddle Again" was the signature song of American cowboy entertainer Gene Autry. It was co-written by Autry with Ray Whitley and first released in 1939. The song was associated with Autry throughout his career and was used as the n ...
", which they wrote for ''I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus''. The tour, consisting of live performances of material adapted from their first four Golden Age albums (''Electrician'', ''Two Places At Once'', ''Dwarf'', and ''Bozos''), was recorded on CD and a DVD video released in 1994. They also released a 1993 greatest hits album, '' Shoes for Industry: The Best of the Firesign Theatre'' containing original material from the first nine albums, ''TV or Not TV'', and ''Roller Maidens From Outer Space''. In 1996, Bergman revived ''Radio Free Oz'' as an
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
-based radio station, www.rfo.net, calling it "the Internet's funny bone." The Firesigns followed this with the 1998 album '' Pink Hotel Burns Down'', a collection of material from two 1967 Magic Mushroom broadcasts, ''Exorcism In Your Daily Life'' and their early Sherlock Holmes parody "By the Light of the Silvery"; two cuts, "The Pink Hotel" and "The Sand Bar" from their video game record that eventually became ''Eat or Be Eaten''; the soap opera "Over the Edge" from Austin and Ossman's 1976 ''Dr. Firesign's Theatre of Mystery'' tour, and several clips from their radio work, including the earliest recorded appearance on ''Radio Free Oz''. The Firesigns satirized the turn-of-the-millennium Y2K scare with the 1998 album '' Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death'', in which they revived some of their classic characters such as used car salesman Ralph Spoilsport (Proctor) from ''How Can You Be In Two Places At Once'', news reporters Harold Hiphugger (Ossman) and Ray Hamberger (Proctor) from ''Everything You Know Is Wrong'', and game-show contestant Caroline Presskey (Proctor) from ''Don't Crush That Dwarf''. This earned them their second Grammy nomination, and they developed it into a "millennium trilogy" with the 1999 ''
Boom Dot Bust ''Boom Dot Bust'' is a comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre and released in 1999 on Rhino Records. It was a follow-up to the highly praised ''Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death'' from the previous year, continuing a brief resurgence of ...
'' and 2001 ''
Bride of Firesign ''Bride of Firesign'' is a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre released in 2001 by Rhino Records. It is the third volume of the Firesign's Millenium Trilogy ''We're Doomed'', following ''Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death ''Give Me Immortali ...
'', which received a third Grammy nomination. ''Boom Dot Bust'' used material from their 1979 Roxy show "Welcome to Billville".


Twenty-first century

They created a live show, ''
Radio Now Live ''Radio Now Live'' is a 2001 comedy album by the Firesign Theatre ( Philip Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, and Philip Proctor), recorded from a live performance on a 1999 West Coast tour. Its main concept is based on material from Firesign's ...
'' in 2001 using characters from ''Give Me Immortality'' and released it on a live album, which also includes updated cuts from ''Anythynge You Want To''. In December 2001, the Firesigns appeared in a 90-minute
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television show '' Weirdly Cool''. This contained live, updated performance material based on ''Waiting for the Electrician'', ''How Can You Be in Two Places...'', and ''Don't Crush That Dwarf''; and included interviews and two Jack Poet Volkswagen commercials. From November 2002 through early 2003, Bergman produced a political satire series ''True Confessions of the Real World'', three times weekly on Pasadena non-commercial KPCC FM. He scripted fake interviews with imaginary "newsmakers". The Firesigns appeared on the
NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...
show ''
All Things Considered ''All Things Considered'' (''ATC'') is the flagship news program on the American network National Public Radio (NPR). It was the first news program on NPR, premiering on May 3, 1971. It is broadcast live on NPR affiliated stations in the United ...
'' on US holidays from July 4 to December 31, 2002; these were compiled on a CD, '' All Things Firesign''. They also appeared for
President's Day Presidents' Day, also called Washington's Birthday at the federal governmental level, is a holiday in the United States celebrated on the third Monday of February to honor all persons who served as presidents of the United States and, since 1879 ...
on February 17, 2003, and
Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...
on March 17, 2003. In 2008, they released a four-CD boxed set ''
The Firesign Theatre's Box of Danger ''The Firesign Theatre's Box of Danger: The Complete Nick Danger Casebook'' is a four-compact disk, CD boxed set of most recorded material by comedy group the Firesign Theatre containing their fictional character Nick Danger, portrayed by Phil Aust ...
'', compiling most material which featured their most famous character,
Nick Danger Nick Danger is a fictional character created by the comedy group The Firesign Theatre, portrayed by Phil Austin. Danger is a parody of the hard-boiled detective, and is often announced as "Nick Danger, Third Eye", a parody of the term '' private ...
, including a
bootleg recording A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. Making and distributing such recordings is known as ''bootlegging''. Recordings may be copied and traded ...
of a 1976 live performance. Their penultimate album was the 2010 '' Duke of Madness Motors: The Complete "Dear Friends" Radio Era'', a combination book and data DVD comprising a complete compilation, totaling over 80 hours, of their 1970s radio shows ''Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour'', ''Dear Friends'', and ''Let's Eat'' (the last two in both original broadcast, and syndication-edited form). Their last live performance as a quartet was on December 10, 2011 in Portland, Oregon. They could claim to be the longest surviving group from the "
classic rock Classic rock is a US radio format which developed from the album-oriented rock (AOR) format in the early 1980s. In the United States, the classic rock format comprises rock music ranging generally from the mid-1960s through the mid 1990s, primar ...
" era to still be intact with the original members (45 years). Bergman died in a Santa Monica hospital on March 9, 2012, from complications involving leukemia. According to Austin, the remaining three Firesigns' April 21, 2012 memorial for Bergman was their last live performance. Austin died in
Fox Island, Washington Fox Island is an island and census-designated place (CDP) in Pierce County, Washington, United States, in Puget Sound. It is located approximately 5 miles (8 km) from Gig Harbor. The island was named Fox by Charles Wilkes during the United S ...
, on June 18, 2015, from complications of cancer. A compilation album distilled from the ''Duke of Madness Motors'' set, ''
Dope Humor of the Seventies ''Dope Humor of the Seventies'' is a compilation album by the Firesign Theatre, released by Stand Up! Records in November 2020. Background A sequel to the '' Dear Friends'' album, it consists of short, highly improvisational sketches distilled f ...
'', was released by
Stand Up! Records Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label." Stand Up! has released more than 20 ...
in November 2020. The title is another Firesign inside joke: it was first used in 1972 for a fictional album hawked by Austin as "Dexter Fogg" in ''Martian Space Party'' (heard on ''Not Insane''). Ossman called ''Dope Humor'' a sort of "dark side" to the ''Dear Friends'' album, since both were compiled from the same source, but the sketches on ''Dope Humor'' had not been constrained by the desire to keep the material radio-friendly, as had been the case for ''Dear Friends''. Proctor called the release a tribute to Austin and Bergman.


Firesign members

Peter Bergman Peter Michael Bergman (born June 11, 1953) is an American actor best known for his portrayals on soap operas, such as Cliff Warner on '' All My Children'' (1979–89) on ABC as well as Jack Abbott on ''The Young and the Restless'' (1989–prese ...
(born under the
fire sign In Western astrology, astrological signs are the twelve 30-degree sectors that make up Earth's 360-degree orbit around the Sun. The signs enumerate from the first day of spring, known as the First Point of Aries, which is the Equinox (celestia ...
Sagittarius in Cleveland, Ohio on November 29, 1939; died March 9, 2012 ) started his radio career on his high school radio system during the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
; he got kicked off the air by the principal when, as a prank, he announced a Communist takeover of the school. He studied economics at Yale (class of 1961) and was managing editor of the university's comedy magazine. In his second graduate year he became a fellow in playwriting. As a member of the
Yale Dramatic Association The Yale Dramatic Association, also known as the "Yale Dramat," is the third oldest college theater company in the United States. Founded in 1901 by undergraduates at Yale University, the Dramat has been producing student theatre in the United ...
, he co-wrote two musical comedies with
Austin Pendleton Austin Campbell Pendleton (born March 27, 1940) is an American actor, playwright, theatre director, and instructor. He is known as a prolific character actor on the stage and screen who has appeared in films including ''Catch-22'' (1970); '' W ...
. Later, he considered attending medical school and helped produce a machine for viewing angiocardiograms and measuring blockage of the arteries of the heart. He had a deep voice and frequently took African-American roles in Firesign Theatre and Proctor and Bergman works.
Philip Proctor Philip Proctor (born 1940) is an American actor, comedian and a member of the Firesign Theatre. He has performed voice-over work for video games, films and television series. Career Of the four members of Firesign Theatre, Proctor has had t ...
(born under the fire sign Leo in
Goshen, Indiana Goshen ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka ...
on July 28, 1940) was a boy soprano in a children's choir and studied acting at Yale. There, he met his future partner Bergman in the Yale Dramatic Association, where he starred in the two musical comedies written by Bergman and Pendleton. He became a professional actor, with a role on the soap opera ''
The Edge of Night ''The Edge of Night'' is an American television mystery crime drama series and soap opera, created by Irving Vendig and produced by Procter & Gamble Productions. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that networ ...
'', before contacting Bergman and joining him on ''Radio Free Oz'' in 1966. Proctor's adult tenor voice enables him to do a convincing female voice without using
falsetto ''Falsetto'' (, ; Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous ed ...
; therefore he usually did most of the female roles in the Firesign Theatre and Proctor and Bergman works, though the other three Firesigns occasionally did female voices. He also has done celebrity voice impersonations on Firesign material, including
W.C. Fields WC or wc may refer to: * Water closet or flush toilet Arts and entertainment * ''W.C.'' (film), an Irish feature film * WC (band), a Polish punk rock band * WC (rapper), a rapper from Los Angeles, California * Westside Connection, former ...
(''Waiting For the Electrician'' and ''How Can You Be In Two Places...''),
Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...
(''Waiting For the Electrician''), and a
Peter Lorre Peter Lorre (; born László Löwenstein, ; June 26, 1904 – March 23, 1964) was a Hungarian and American actor, first in Europe and later in the United States. He began his stage career in Vienna, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, before movin ...
-like voice for the Nick Danger character Rocky Rococo (''Box of Danger''). Proctor has also acted and appeared as a voice actor on many television shows and several feature films.
Phil Austin Philip Baine Austin (April 6, 1941 – June 18, 2015) was an American comedian and writer, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre. Early life and education Austin was born in Denver, Colorado and later grew up in Fresno, California, att ...
(born under the fire sign
Aries Aries may refer to: *Aries (astrology), an astrological sign *Aries (constellation), a constellation of stars in the zodiac Arts, entertainment and media * ''Aries'' (album), by Luis Miguel, 1993 * ''Aries'' (EP), by Alice Chater, 2020 * "Aries" ...
in Denver, Colorado on April 6, 1941; died June 18, 2015), was the youngest Firesign. He attended college but never graduated. He was an accomplished
lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...
ist, and he was responsible for adding much of the music to Firesign works. He also appeared as an actor and voice actor on television. He used his natural, sonorous baritone voice for Nick Danger, but affected a phony Japanese accent for his "Young Guy, Motor Detective"
self-parody A self-parody is a parody of oneself or one's own work. As an artist accomplishes it by imitating their own characteristics, a self-parody is potentially difficult to distinguish from especially characteristic productions. Self-parody may be us ...
of Danger in ''Not Insane'' and a stereotypical, tough-guy voice and accent for the similar hardboiled detective Dick Private in ''Roller Maidens From Outer Space''. He also could do an old-man voice as Doc Technical in the ''Dear Friends'' radio "Mark Time" episode, and he applied his impersonation of
Richard Nixon Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913April 22, 1994) was the 37th president of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as a representative and senator from California and was ...
as presidents in several Firesign and solo works (''Bozos'', ''How Time Flys'', ''Roller Maidens'', and ''Everything You Know Is Wrong''). He also did an
Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...
impersonation singing the news in the ''Roller Maidens'' track "The Bad News".
David Ossman David Ossman (born December 6, 1936 in Santa Monica) is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as '' Zachariah''. Early life Ossman attended Pomona College, where he starr ...
(born under the fire sign Sagittarius in Santa Monica, California on December 6, 1936), the oldest Firesign, is known as the intellectual of the group, and he is known for doing an old-man voice (most famously as Catherwood the butler in the original Nick Danger story, George Tirebiter on ''Don't Crush That Dwarf'' and ''In the Next World You're On Your Own'', and as the elder ant Cornelius in
Disney Pixar Pixar Animation Studios (commonly known as Pixar () and stylized as P I X A R) is an American computer animation studio known for its critically and commercially successful computer animated feature films. It is based in Emeryville, Californi ...
's 1998 ''
A Bug's Life ''A Bug's Life'' is a 1998 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios for Walt Disney Pictures. It was the second feature-length film produced by Pixar. Directed by John Lasseter and co-directed by Andrew Stant ...
''.) He used his natural voice as astronaut Mark Time and newsman Harold Hiphugger. Outside of the Firesign Theatre, he has performed several voices on ''The Tick'' animated TV series and worked extensively as a producer and on-air narrator on
National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other n ...
and several affiliated stations.


Associate Firesigns

Several people have been accorded unofficial "associate Firesign" status over the years, by virtue of performing on several records with the group. Austin's first wife Annalee performed in support of the group on several golden age albums. She is credited as a member of "the St. Louis Aquarium Choraleers" (singing the hymn "Marching to Shibboleth") and as "the Wake-Up Lady" and for birdsong on ''Don't Crush That Dwarf''; as "Mickey" and with keyboard stylings on ''I Think We're All Bozos''; with film footage on the ''Dear Friends'' album; and organ, piano, and vocals on ''Not Insane''. Ossman's first wife Tiny (Tinika) performed as a St. Louis Aquarium Choraleer and as part of the "Ambient's Noyes Choral" (singing the Peorgie and Mudhead theme song) on ''Don't Crush That Dwarf''; as "Ann" on ''I Think We're All Bozos''; as Nurse Angela and news reporter Chiquita Bandana on ''How Time Flys''; and vocals and percussion on ''Not Insane''. She and Ossman co-hosted a Sunday night radio program of pre–World War II music on
KTYD KTYD (99.9 FM, pronounced "K-Tide") is a commercial radio station that is licensed to Santa Barbara, California and serves Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. The station is owned by Rincon Broadcasting and airs a classic rock format. KTYD is t ...
. Austin married his second wife Oona in 1971. She is credited as an anonymous extra in ''I Think We're All Bozos''; was photographed as one of the '' Roller Maidens From Outer Space'' and sang backup vocals for the Austin solo album; and appeared as a Reebus Caneebus groupie in the film version of ''Everything You Know Is Wrong''. She is the model for the blonde
femme fatale A ''femme fatale'' ( or ; ), sometimes called a maneater or vamp, is a stock character of a mysterious, beautiful, and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, often leading them into compromising, deadly traps. She is an archetype of ...
on the cover art of the '' Box of Danger'' CD set, and is credited with performing support functions such as photography and catering on several of the later albums. Proctor's third wife, actress Melinda Peterson, appeared with Proctor and Bergman on their 1990 NPR serial '' Power: Life on the Edge in L.A.''. She also performed on the ''Give Me Immortality ...'', ''Boom Dot Bust'', and ''Bride of Firesign'' albums and supported the group in the ''Radio Now Live'' show.


Timeline

ImageSize = width:800 height:300 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1966 till:31/12/2020 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:Bergman value:blue id:Proctor value:blue id:Austin value:blue id:Ossman value:blue id:Associate value:pink id:Records value:black legend:Records id:Radio value:gray(0.75) legend:Radio id:Films value:gray(0.25) legend:Films id:Live value:gray(0.5) legend:Live Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom ScaleMajor = increment:2 start:1968 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1968 BarData = bar:Bergman text:"Peter Bergman" bar:Proctor text:"Phillip Proctor" bar:Austin text:"Phil Austin" bar:Ossman text:"David Ossman" bar:Annalee text:"Annalee Austin" bar:Tiny text:"Tiny Ossman" bar:Melinda text:"Melinda Peterson" PlotData= width:10 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4) bar:Bergman from:17/11/1966 till:15/07/1985 color:Bergman bar:Bergman from:01/06/1990 till:21/09/1990 color:Bergman bar:Bergman from:01/04/1993 till:09/03/2012 color:Bergman bar:Bergman at:09/03/2012 text:Death bar:Proctor from:17/11/1966 till:15/07/1985 color:Proctor bar:Proctor from:01/06/1990 till:21/09/1990 color:Proctor bar:Proctor from:01/04/1993 till:31/12/2020 color:Proctor bar:Austin from:17/11/1966 till:15/07/1985 color:Austin bar:Austin from:01/04/1993 till:18/06/2015 color:Austin bar:Austin at:18/06/2015 text:Death bar:Ossman from:17/11/1966 till:30/07/1982 color:Ossman bar:Ossman from:01/04/1993 till:31/12/2020 color:Ossman bar:Annalee from:01/01/1970 till:15/10/1972 color:Associate bar:Tiny from:01/01/1970 till:15/10/1972 color:Associate bar:Melinda from:01/06/1990 till:21/09/1990 color:Associate bar:Melinda from:17/11/1997 till:01/06/2001 color:Associate LineData = width:1 at:17/11/1966 color:Radio layer:back # RFO Oz film festival at:01/02/1970 color:Radio layer:back # FST Radio Hour Hour at:08/02/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:15/02/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:22/02/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:08/03/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:15/03/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:22/03/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:29/03/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:05/04/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:12/04/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:19/04/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:26/04/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:03/05/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:17/05/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:24/05/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:31/05/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:07/06/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:14/06/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:21/06/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:28/06/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:05/07/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:12/07/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:09/09/1970 color:Radio layer:back # Dear Friends at:16/09/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:23/09/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:04/10/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:11/10/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:18/10/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:25/10/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:01/11/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:15/11/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:22/11/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:29/11/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:06/12/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:13/12/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:20/12/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:27/12/1970 color:Radio layer:back at:03/01/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:10/01/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:17/01/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:24/01/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:03/02/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:17/02/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:11/11/1971 color:Radio layer:back # Let's Eat! at:18/11/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:09/12/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:16/12/1971 color:Radio layer:back at:06/01/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:13/01/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:20/01/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:27/01/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:03/02/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:10/02/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:17/02/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:24/02/1972 color:Radio layer:back at:30/03/1972 color:Radio layer:back # Martian Space Party at:15/08/1990 color:Radio layer:back width:5 # Proctor & Bergman: POWER (NPR) at:04/01/1997 color:Radio layer:back width:1 # All Things Considered (NPR) at:15/01/1968 color:Records layer:back #Waiting for the Electrician at:15/07/1969 color:Records layer:back #How Can You be ... at:15/07/1970 color:Records layer:back #Don't Crush That Dwarf at:15/08/1971 color:Records layer:back #I Think We're All Bozos at:15/01/1972 color:Records layer:back #Dear Friends at:15/10/1972 color:Records layer:back #Not Insane at:15/01/1974 color:Records layer:back #Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra at:15/10/1974 color:Records layer:back #Everything You Know is Wrong at:15/10/1975 color:Records layer:back #In the Next World You're On Your Own at:15/05/1976 color:Records layer:back #Forward Into the Past at:15/01/1977 color:Records layer:back #Just Folks at:15/07/1979 color:Records layer:back #Nick Danger:Case of the Missing Shoe at:15/07/1980 color:Records layer:back #Fighting Clowns at:15/07/1982 color:Records layer:back #Lawyer's Hospital at:15/07/2001 color:Records layer:back #Anythynge You Want To at:15/07/1984 color:Records layer:back #The Three Faces of Al at:15/07/1985 color:Records layer:back #Eat or Be Eaten at:15/07/1993 color:Records layer:back #Shoes For Industry at:15/07/1994 color:Records layer:back #Back From the Shadows at:15/07/1996 color:Records layer:back #Pink Hotel Burns Down at:15/07/1998 color:Records layer:back #Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death at:15/07/1999 color:Records layer:back #Boom Dot Bust at:15/03/2001 color:Records layer:back #Bride of Firesign at:15/09/2001 color:Records layer:back #Radio Now Live at:15/07/2002 color:Records layer:back #Papoon for President at:15/07/2003 color:Records layer:back #All Things Firesign at:15/07/2008 color:Records layer:back #Box of Danger at:15/07/2010 color:Records layer:back #Duke of Madness Motors at:27/11/2020 color:Records layer:back #Dope Humor of the Seventies


Cultural influence

In 1997, ''
Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' ranked the Firesign Theatre among the "Thirty Greatest Comedy Acts of All Time". In 2005, the US
Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
added '' Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers'' to the
National Recording Registry The National Recording Registry is a list of sound recordings that "are culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States." The registry was established by the National Recording Preservati ...
, and called the group "
the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
of comedy." Comedians
George Carlin George Denis Patrick Carlin (May 12, 1937 – June 22, 2008) was an American comedian, actor, author, and social critic. Regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time, he was dubbed "the dean of countercul ...
,
Robin Williams Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
, and
John Goodman John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the ABC comedy series '' Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he received a Golden Globe Award, an ...
enjoyed the Firesigns' comedy and lent their comments to the 2001
PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
television special ''Weirdly Cool''. Williams referred to Firesign albums as "the audio equivalent of a
Hieronymus Bosch Hieronymus Bosch (, ; born Jheronimus van Aken ;  – 9 August 1516) was a Dutch/Netherlandish painter from Brabant. He is one of the most notable representatives of the Early Netherlandish painting school. His work, generally oil on oa ...
painting." Beatle
John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
was photographed wearing the Firesign's "Not Insane – Papoon for President" campaign button they had made for ''Martian Space Party'' (''Not Insane'' album). Musical satirist
"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American singer, musician, songwriter, record producer, actor and author. He is best known for creating comedy songs that make light of pop culture and often parody specifi ...
paid homage to the Firesigns by giving the title "Everything You Know Is Wrong" to an original song on his 1996 album ''
Bad Hair Day ''Bad Hair Day'' is the ninth studio album by "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on March 12, 1996. It was also Yankovic's last studio album for the Scotti Brothers label before it was purchased by Volcano Records in 1999 and his final studio album ...
''.
Steve Jobs Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
paid homage to the Firesigns' ''I Think We're All Bozos'' album by programming an "
Easter egg Easter eggs, also called Paschal eggs, are eggs that are decorated for the Christian feast of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. As such, Easter eggs are common during the season of Eastertide (Easter season). The oldest tr ...
" in
Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
's
Siri Siri ( ) is a virtual assistant that is part of Apple Inc.'s iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, macOS, tvOS, and audioOS operating systems. It uses voice queries, gesture based control, focus-tracking and a natural-language user interface to answer questio ...
intelligent personal assistant An intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) or intelligent personal assistant (IPA) is a software agent that can perform tasks or services for an individual based on commands or questions. The term "chatbot" is sometimes used to refer to virtual ...
. Siri responds to the prompt "This is worker speaking. Hello" with "Hello Ah-Clem. What function can I perform for you? LOL". On several occurrences of the Association for Consciousness Exploration (ACE)'s Starwood Festival, director Jeff Rosenbaum has organized performances of
Firesign Theatre The Firesign Theatre (also known as the Firesigns) was an American surreal comedy troupe who first appeared on November 17, 1966, in a live performance on the Los Angeles radio program ''Radio Free Oz'' on station KPFK FM. They continued app ...
radio plays performed by organizers and guest speakers of the event under the name "Firesign Clones".


Copyright infringement

In
Madison, Wisconsin Madison is the county seat of Dane County and the capital city of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census the population was 269,840, making it the second-largest city in Wisconsin by population, after Milwaukee, and the 80th-lar ...
in 1974, a pair of University of Illinois students opened the first of a regional chain of pizza restaurants they named "Rocky Rococo" after the Nick Danger character, without any mention of connection to the Firesign Theatre. They hired an artist to design, as their logo, a moustachioed Italian with a white hat and sunglasses, suggested by the White Spy from
Mad Magazine Mad, mad, or MAD may refer to: Geography * Mad (village), a village in the Dunajská Streda District of Slovakia * Mád, a village in Hungary * Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport, by IATA airport code * Mad River (disambiguation), several r ...
, and hired comic actor Jim Pederson to portray this "Rocky Rococo" wearing a white suit. The Firesigns visited the first Rocky Rococo Pizza when on tour in Madison in 1975 and reacted with good humor, joking around with the owners and giving them pictures that said, "To Rocky, from Rocky" which were hung on the wall. But in 1985, by which time the chain had grown to 62 restaurants and the Firesigns had passed their "golden age", they sent the owners a letter claiming ownership of the name. The pizza chain's lawyers found a similar case where an Austin, Texas pizzeria named Conan's ran afoul of the copyright owners, producers of the 1982 film ''
Conan the Barbarian Conan the Barbarian (also known as Conan the Cimmerian) is a fictional sword and sorcery hero who originated in pulp magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, films (including '' Conan the Barbarian'' and '' Conan the Destroyer'') ...
''. Since the creator of the ''Conan the Barbarian'' comic had similarly endorsed the restaurant by drawing Conan on its walls, the suit lost in the
United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (in case citations, 5th Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following federal judicial districts: * Eastern District of Louisiana * M ...
, so the Firesigns settled out of court.


Mark Time awards

Ossman and his second wife Judith Walcutt formed Otherworld Media Productions in 1985 to produce
audio theatre Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...
. They created an annual "Mark Time award" for best radio science fiction, named after Ossman's astronaut character. In 2015, they added three new awards named after Firesign Theatre characters: *Nick Danger prize for best mystery/detective fiction *The Bradshaw prize (after Bergman's cop character) for "service to the field" *The Betty Jo (But Everyone Knew Her as Nancy) prize, judged by Phil Proctor and his wife, for best "multi-gender" vocal performance


Media


Radio

*''Radio Free Oz'' (1966–1969) *''The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour'' (1970) *'' Dear Friends'' (1970–1971) Syndicated *''Let's Eat'' (1971–1972) Syndicated *''
A Firesign Chat with Papoon ''Papoon for President'' is a comedy compilation album released in 2002 by the Firesign Theatre. George Papoon is a fictional US Presidential candidate invented by the group in 1972 for their filmed radio broadcast ''Martian Space Party'', in wh ...
'' (1972 Columbia) *''The Proctor-Bergman Report'' (1977–1978) *''The Cassette Chronicles'' (1980
Rhino Entertainment Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus. History Founded in 1978, Rhino was original ...
) A six-cassette collection of the Firesign Theatre's presidential and campaign commentaries which aired on NPR during the 1980 election season. *
Daily Feed 1988 Newsreel

The Daily Feed
' (1988, DC Audio) A solo cassette by Austin *''A Capital Decade Daily Feed 1989 Newsreel — The Daily Feed'' (1989 DC Audio) A solo cassette by Austin *'' Power: Life on the Edge in L.A.'' (summer 1990) Proctor and Bergman on NPR's ''Heat with John Hockenberry'' *''True Confessions of the Real World'' (November 2001 – 2002) Peter Bergman's commentary and interviews with imaginary "news makers" on KPCC *''All Things Considered'' (July 2002–March 2003) Ten appearances on NPR


Podcast


''Radio Free Oz'' Podcast
(2010–2012)


Albums

*''
Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him ''Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him'' is the first comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in January 1968 by Columbia Records. Synopsis The first side of the original LP presented a trilogy of thre ...
'' (1968,
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
) *''
How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All ''How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All'' is the second comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in July 1969 by Columbia Records. Track listing Side one This side of the vinyl LP ...
'' (1969, Columbia) *'' Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers'' (1970, Columbia) *''
I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus ''I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus'' is the fourth comedy album made by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records, released in August 1971 on standard stereo vinyl LP, and Quadraphonic LP and 8-track tape. It was nominated for a Hugo Award f ...
'' (1971, Columbia) *'' Dear Friends'' (1972, Columbia) *''
Not Insane or Anything You Want To ''Not Insane or Anything You Want To'' is the sixth album released by the Firesign Theatre on Columbia Records. It was released in October 1972 and includes some material that was recorded in the studio as well as some material that was recorded ...
'' (1972, Columbia) *''
The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra ''The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra'' is the seventh comedy album produced by the Firesign Theatre and released in January 1974 by Columbia Records. It is a send-up of a Sherlock Holmes adventure, " The Giant Rat of Sumatra", which was not wri ...
'' (1974, Columbia) *''
Everything You Know Is Wrong ''Everything You Know Is Wrong'' is the eighth comedy album by the Firesign Theatre. Released in October 1974 on Columbia Records, it satirizes UFO conspiracy theories and New Age paranormal beliefs such as Erich von Däniken's ''Chariots of ...
'' (1974, Columbia) *''
In the Next World, You're on Your Own ''In the Next World, You're on Your Own'' is the ninth and last comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records. It was released in October 1975. Track listing Side one #"Police Street" – 21:30 Side two #"We've Lost O ...
'' (1975, Columbia) *''
Forward Into the Past ''Forward Into the Past'' is a 1976 compilation album by the Firesign Theatre. It presents the "Greatest Hits" from their nine Columbia albums and includes two tracks that were previously released only on a single. Track listing Side one #" ...
'' (1976, Columbia) Compilation, includes 1969 singles *'' Just Folks . . . A Firesign Chat'' (1977, Butterfly Records) *'' Nick Danger: The Case of the Missing Shoe'' (1979,
Rhino Records A rhinoceros (; ; ), commonly abbreviated to rhino, is a member of any of the five extant species (or numerous extinct species) of odd-toed ungulates in the family Rhinocerotidae. (It can also refer to a member of any of the extinct species o ...
EP) *''
Fighting Clowns ''Fighting Clowns'' is a 1980 album by the Firesign Theatre. It is unique among Firesign Theatre albums because it is primarily made up of songs rather than the group's usual audio theater or sketch comedy pieces. Many of the songs on this albu ...
'' (1980, Rhino) *'' Lawyer's Hospital'' (1982, Rhino) *''Shakespeare's Lost Comedie'' (1982, Rhino) (re-released 2001 in expanded edition as ''
Anythynge You Want To ''Anythynge You Want To'' is a 2001 CD release by the Firesign Theatre presenting an uncut version of their 1982 comedy LP album ''Shakespeare's Lost Comedie''. It takes the form of a radio play, under the conceit of being a lost work of Shake ...
'') *''
The Three Faces of Al ''The Three Faces of Al'' is a 1984 comedy album by the group Firesign Theatre. It features the group members reprising their most popular characters from earlier collaborations, notably hard-boiled detective Nick Danger and his nemesis, Lieuten ...
'' (1984, Rhino, without David Ossman) *'' Eat or Be Eaten'' (1985,
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
, without David Ossman) *'' Shoes for Industry: The Best of the Firesign Theatre'' (1993, Sony Records) *'' Back From the Shadows: The Firesign Theatre's 25th Anniversary Reunion Tour'' (1994,
Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL or MoFi) is a record label specializing in the production of audiophile issues. The company produces reissued vinyl LP records, compact discs, and Super Audio CDs and other formats. History Recording engineer ...
) *'' Pink Hotel Burns Down'' (1998, LodeStone Media) *'' Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death'' (1998, Rhino) ''We're Doomed'' trilogy *''
Boom Dot Bust ''Boom Dot Bust'' is a comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre and released in 1999 on Rhino Records. It was a follow-up to the highly praised ''Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death'' from the previous year, continuing a brief resurgence of ...
'' (1999, Rhino) ''We're Doomed'' trilogy *''
Bride of Firesign ''Bride of Firesign'' is a comedy album by the Firesign Theatre released in 2001 by Rhino Records. It is the third volume of the Firesign's Millenium Trilogy ''We're Doomed'', following ''Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death ''Give Me Immortali ...
'' (2001, Rhino) ''We're Doomed'' trilogy *''
Radio Now Live ''Radio Now Live'' is a 2001 comedy album by the Firesign Theatre ( Philip Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, and Philip Proctor), recorded from a live performance on a 1999 West Coast tour. Its main concept is based on material from Firesign's ...
'' (2001, Whirlwind Media) *''
Papoon for President ''Papoon for President'' is a comedy compilation album released in 2002 by the Firesign Theatre. George Papoon is a fictional US Presidential candidate invented by the group in 1972 for their filmed radio broadcast ''Martian Space Party'', in wh ...
'' (2002, Laugh.Com) *'' All Things Firesign'' (2003,
Artemis Records Artemis Records was a New York-based independent record label, founded in July 1999 by Danny Goldberg with Daniel Glass as President, and closed in April 2006. The label was acquired by E1 Entertainment. Artemis had a leading share of the U.S. i ...
) *''
The Firesign Theatre's Box of Danger ''The Firesign Theatre's Box of Danger: The Complete Nick Danger Casebook'' is a four-compact disk, CD boxed set of most recorded material by comedy group the Firesign Theatre containing their fictional character Nick Danger, portrayed by Phil Aust ...
'' (2008,
Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...
) *'' Duke of Madness Motors: The Complete "Dear Friends" Radio Era'' (book and data DVD of radio program recordings, over 80 hours) (2010,
Seeland Records Seeland Records is an independent record label created by Negativland in 1979 to release their own recordings. It is a reference to the song "Seeland" by the band Neu!, who also gave Negativland the basis for their name, Sea-Land Corporation, ...
) *''
Dope Humor of the Seventies ''Dope Humor of the Seventies'' is a compilation album by the Firesign Theatre, released by Stand Up! Records in November 2020. Background A sequel to the '' Dear Friends'' album, it consists of short, highly improvisational sketches distilled f ...
'' (
Stand Up! Records Stand Up! Records is an American independent comedy record label founded in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by Grammy-winning producer Dan Schlissel. It has been called "the country's most respected indie comedy label." Stand Up! has released more than 20 ...
, 2020)


Solo albums

*''
TV or Not TV ''TV or Not TV'' is the debut album by the comedy duo Proctor and Bergman. It was originally released in 1973 by Columbia Records. Unlike most Firesign Theatre albums, it included songs ("Communist Love Song" sung by Proctor at the end of side ...
'' (1973, Columbia) Proctor and Bergman *''
How Time Flys ''How Time Flys'' is a comedy album written by David Ossman and featuring the voice talents of all four members of The Firesign Theatre plus several other contributors. It was originally released by Columbia Records in 1973. Character development ...
'' (1973, Columbia) Written and co-directed by Ossman, including all Firesign members plus a cast of guest stars *'' Roller Maidens From Outer Space'' (1974,
Epic Records Epic Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America Sony Corporation of America (SONAM, also known as SCA), is the American arm of the Japanese conglomerate Sony Group ...
) Written and directed by Austin, including all Firesign members plus a cast of extras *'' What This Country Needs'' (1975, Columbia) Proctor and Bergman live, based on material from ''TV or Not TV'' *'' Give Us a Break'' (1978,
Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...
) Proctor and Bergman *''Nick Danger: The Daily Feed Tapes'' (1988-1990, Austin) *''Down Under Danger'' (1994, Sparks Media) a solo cassette by Austin *''David Ossman's Time Capsules'' (1996, Otherworld Media) a solo cassette by Ossman *''George Tirebiter's Radio Follies'' (1997, Twin Cities Radio Theatre Workshop) a solo cassette by Ossman


Films

* '' Zachariah'' (co-written by Firesign Theatre) (92 min., 1971) Comedy
western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...
, inspired by the
Hermann Hesse Hermann Karl Hesse (; 2 July 1877 – 9 August 1962) was a German-Swiss poet, novelist, and painter. His best-known works include ''Demian'', ''Steppenwolf (novel), Steppenwolf'', ''Siddhartha (novel), Siddhartha'', and ''The Glass Bead Game'', ...
novel '' Siddhartha'' * ''Martian Space Party'' (Firesign Theatre with Campoon workers) (27 min., 1972) * ''Love is Hard to Get'' (Peter Bergman) (26 min., 1973) * ''Let's Visit the World of the Future'' (44 min., 1973) based on characters from ''
I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus ''I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus'' is the fourth comedy album made by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records, released in August 1971 on standard stereo vinyl LP, and Quadraphonic LP and 8-track tape. It was nominated for a Hugo Award f ...
'', directed by
Ivan Stang Ivan Stang (born Douglass St. Clair Smith; August 21, 1953) is an American writer, filmmaker and broadcaster, best known as the author and publisher of the first screed of the Church of the SubGenius. He is credited with founding the Church wi ...
* ''Six Dreams'' (Peter Bergman - executive producer, Phil Proctor) (13 min., 1976) * ''
Tunnel Vision Tunnel vision is the loss of peripheral vision with retention of central vision, resulting in a constricted circular tunnel-like field of vision. Causes Tunnel vision can be caused by: Eyeglass users Eyeglass users experience tunnel vision t ...
'' (featuring Phil Proctor) (70 min., 1976) * ''Everything You Know is Wrong'' (40 min., 1978) lip-synch to the album * ''TV or Not TV'' (33 min., 1978) based on the Proctor and Bergman album * '' Americathon'' (86 min., 1979) based on a sketch created by Proctor and Bergman * ''
J-Men Forever ''J-Men Forever'', originally titled "The Secret World War", is a 1979 comedy film by Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman of the Firesign Theatre. The film is a pastiche using film clips from Republic serials, re-dubbed with comic dialog to tell a ...
'' (75 min., 1979) Proctor and Bergman; compilation of Republic Science Fiction serial clips with new dialogue overdubbed * ''The Madhouse of Dr. Fear'' (60 min., 1979) * '' Nick Danger in The Case of the Missing Yolk'' (60 min., 1983) Originally an Interactive Video, Pacific Arts PAVR-527; broadcast on the
USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...
series '' Night Flight'' * ''Eat or be Eaten'' (30 min., 1985) Austin, Bergman, and Proctor, RCA Columbia 60566 * ''Hot Shorts'' (73 min., 1985) Austin, Bergman, and Proctor, RCA Columbia 60435 * ''Back From the Shadows: The Firesign Theatre's 25th Anniversary Reunion Show'' (1994) * ''Firesign Theatre Weirdly Cool DVD Movie'' (2001) * ''Just Folks: Live at the Roxy'' (2018)
S'More Entertainment
live performances (1974-1981)


Books

Straight Arrow Press Straight Arrow Press (Straight Arrow Publishing Co., Inc.) was a publishing company that published the periodical ''Rolling Stone''. They operated a book publishing division in the 1970s in San Francisco, which published authors such as Oscar ...
, ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...
''s book publishing arm, published two books authored by the Firesign Theatre: '' The Firesign Theatre's Big Book of Plays'', and ''The Firesign Theatre's Big Mystery Joke Book''. These feature background information, satirical introductions and
parodic A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its subj ...
histories, as well as transcripts from their first seven albums. *''Exorcism In Your Daily Life: The Psychedelic Firesign Theatre at the Magic Mushroom''. 1967 *''Profiles in Barbecue Sauce: The Psychedelic Firesign Theatre On Stage''. 1970 *'' The Firesign Theatre's Big Book Of Plays''.
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
: Straight Arrow, 1972. *''The Firesign Theatre's Big Mystery Joke Book''.
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
: Straight Arrow, 1974. *''The Apocalypse Papers, a Fiction by The Firesign Theatre''.
Topeka Topeka ( ; Kansa: ; iow, Dópikˀe, script=Latn or ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the seat of Shawnee County. It is along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, in northeast Kansas, in the Central Un ...
: Apocalypse Press, 1976. Limited edition, 500 copies *''George Tirebiter's Radiodaze'' (1989 Sparks Media) a solo cassette by Ossman *''The George Tirebiter Story Chapter 1: Another Christmas Carol'' (1989, Sparks Media) by Ossman *''The George Tirebiter Story Pt.2 Mexican Overdrive / Radiodaze'' (1989 Company One) by Ossman *''The George Tirebiter Story Pt.3 The Ronald Reagan Murder Case'' (1990 Midwest Radio Theatre Workshop) by Ossman *''Tales Of The Old Detective And Other Big Fat Lies'' (1995) by Austin *''The Ronald Reagan Murder Case: A George Tirebiter Mystery'' by Ossman. (Albany: BearManor Media) (2006) *''Dr. Firesign's Follies: Radio, Comedy, Mystery, History'' by Ossman. (Albany: BearManor Media) (2008)


Games

*In 1983
Mattel Mattel, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational toy manufacturing and entertainment company founded in January 1945 and headquartered in El Segundo, California. The company has presence in 35 countries and territories and sells products in more ...
released two
Intellivision The Intellivision is a home video game console released by Mattel, Mattel Electronics in 1979. The name is a portmanteau of "intelligent television". Development began in 1977, the same year as the launch of its main competitor, the Atari 2600. I ...
video games with
Intellivoice The Intellivoice Voice Synthesis Module, commonly abbreviated as Intellivoice, is an adapter for the Intellivision, Mattel's home video game console, that utilizes a voice synthesizer to generate audible speech. The Intellivoice is a large, brow ...
: ''Bomb Squad'', with Proctor as the voice of Frank and Bergman as the voice of Boris; and ''B-17 Bomber'', with Proctor as the voice of the Pilot and Austin as the Bombardier.''Voices''
; Intellivisionlives.com *In 1996, a computer game written by Bergman, ''
Pyst ''Pyst'' (stylised as ''PYST'') is an adventure computer game released in October 1996. It was created as a parody of the highly successful adventure game ''Myst''. ''Pyst'' was written by Peter Bergman, a co-founder of the Firesign Theatre, a ...
'', a parody of the game ''
Myst ''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's character t ...
'', was released by
Parroty Interactive Parroty Interactive was an American video game developer based in Larkspur, California, which acted as a division of publisher Palladium Interactive, Inc. Parroty Interactive created a number of notable parody video games for personal computers ...
.


See also

*
Old time radio The Golden Age of Radio, also known as the old-time radio (OTR) era, was an era of radio in the United States where it was the dominant electronic home entertainment medium. It began with the birth of commercial radio broadcasting in the early ...


References


Further reading

* Marciniak, Vwadek P., ''Politics, Humor and the Counterculture: Laughter in the Age of Decay'' (New York etc., Peter Lang, 2008). * Santoro, Gene. ''Highway 61 Revisited: The Tangled Roots of American Jazz, Blues, Rock & Country Music''. (New York: Oxford University Press) (2004) * Wiebel, Jr, Frederick C. ''Backwards into the Future - The Firesign Theatre''. Albany: BearManor Media, (2005).


External links


Firesign TheatrePhil Austin's Blog of the UnknownPlanet ProctorFiresign Theatre pagesFiresign's podcast episodes on Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Firesign Theatre, The American comedy troupes American radio comedy Surreal comedy radio series Surrealist groups American surrealist artists Columbia Records artists Rhino Records artists 1966 establishments in California Reagan Era