Saturday, August 20, 2011

The FIRESIGN THEATRE "There's A Seeker Born Every Minute"

DUKE OF MADNESS MOTORS (The Complete “Dear Friends” Radio Era 1970-1972)
          A few months back, when I started this blog, I made the comment that with all the great stuff coming out, we pretty much have paradise on earth pop culture – wise. When I made that comment I wasn’t even aware that February saw the release of “Duke of Madness Motors” a 100 page book and MP3 CD containing a whopping 88 hours of improvised radio comedy by the legendary comedy team The Firesign Theatre.
           To hear it, you would never know that it was improvised – their delivery is so fast & slick, and their content so elaborate it’s almost impossible to imagine people coming up with this stuff entirely off the top of their heads. Well, they didn’t come up with ALL the material off the top of their heads. The team brought in pre-written original pieces, and “found objects” –  communist propaganda, poorly translated technical manuals, children’s homework essays, bizarre old print ads and magazine articles – anything that would sound absurdist, or surrealistically poetic in this context. They are so unbelievably good at improv, you never hear an “um” or “er”, or someone killing time while trying to formulate a witty response when he’s put on the spot.
            I imagine them as being hard to listen to on the radio because their flow of verbiage is so unrelenting and elaborate. Luckily the booklet includes a detailed summary of each show. Each general “gist” of conversation is titled and listed in order, so by following it, the listener becomes more attuned to the general thrust of the show. (In other words, the summaries create the illusion that the shows are linear and more followable.)  
            What’s also amazing is that, with few exceptions, these shows were never recorded by the stations or by the Firesign guys. Amazingly, the vast majority of these shows exist only because fans recorded them off the radio at home and maintained the tapes for 40 years. Now that’s an amazing degree of fan devotion.  
            I haven’t gotten anywhere near listening to everything yet, but so far my favorite episode is “Live at the Basilica of the Blessed Gaffe”. It’s one of the few episodes performed in front of a live audience. I can’t imagine that the audience, expecting to see a comedy team, could have anticipated the content they would hear that amazing night. There are five or six comedic bits spread throughout, but the rest of the 90 minute show drifts in and out of poignant, thought provoking, deeply dramatic material, in a psychedelic sound college that only the Firesigns could have created. Even though they were easiest to market as a comedy team, the Firesigns truly were about providing their audience with a THEATRICAL experience. The fact that the show was performed in a church, deepens its impact – not that it is sacrilegious to perform comedy in a church, but because, as Neil Innes sang, “Oh, tell me what could be, more holy than absurdity?”
          The booklet is great too. It contains a 13 page essay, interviews with The Firesigns, their engineer and producer. It includes reproductions of many of the “found items” that are quoted, and reproductions of various promo materials. Best of all are Phillip Proctor’s amazingly beautiful, darkly satirical photo collages.
           As great as it is, this mammoth collection is probably not the best place for the novice listener to discover The Firesign Theatre. The best are their official albums. They are multi-track recorded and feature scripts full of clever layers of meaning and elliptical plot points which reveal themselves only after repeated listens.
My personal recommendations:
EVERYTHING YOU KNOW IS WRONG
               The FT album that’s most coherent on the first listen. Several years ahead of its time, it’s a wicked parody of New Age stupidity. Space aliens invade Earth, Bear Whiz beer is brewed, suburbanites throw nude trailer home parties, and daredevil Rebus Canebus jumps his motorcycle into the center of the hollow earth. “There’s a seeker born every minute!”
DON’T CRUSH THAT DWARF, HAND ME THE PLIARS
               It’s universally acknowledged as their masterpiece, although it’s also their most challenging work. A young college student of the future spends a sleepless (probably stoned) night viewing himself on TV in various guises (star of Andy Hardy / Henry Aldrich style b-comedies, war films, court dramas and countless insane / inane  commercials). He emerges from the experience transformed into an elderly film comedian with phone messages pouring in from the likes of W.C. Fields, The Marx Brothers and Laurel & Hardy. The call of a passing ice cream truck proves irresistible, and our elderly hero chases after it, magically transforming himself into a little boy as the album fades out.
HOW CAN YOU BE IN TWO PLACES AT ONCE, WHEN YOU’RE NOT ANYWHERE AT ALL?
               This one sports the famous Marx & Lennon (Groucho & John) album cover …yes… On side one, Ralph Spoilsport sells an auto that literally embodies the American Dream …yes… Elfin creatures recite dirty jokes from Junior High …yes… W.C. Fields waxes eloquent bullshit about the Egyption de-vine-a-tise…yes… our hero Misterandmissusjohnsmithfromanytownusa checks into a hotel only to find himself in a doubletalk pageant of American patriotism…yes… Ralph Spoilsport is transformed and transfigured into Molly Bloom from James Joyces’ Ulysses …yes…
               Side Two is the Firesign’s most famous skit – the hilarious radio noir parody “The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye”.


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