Left to right: Phil Proctor, Peter Bergman, Phil Austin, and David Ossman in 2001

The Firesign Theatre is a comedy troupe consisting of Phil Austin, Peter Bergman, David Ossman, and Philip Proctor. The troupe began as live radio performers in Los Angeles, California on radio stations KPPC and KPFK during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Image File history File links Firesign_Theatre. ... Image File history File links Firesign_Theatre. ... Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... Phil Austin (often Philip) (born April 6, 1941 in Denver, Colorado) is a member of The Firesign Theatre. ... Peter Bergman (born November 29, 1939, in Cleveland, Ohio) is a founding member of The Firesign Theatre. ... David Ossman (born December 6, 1936 in Santa Monica, California) is the oldest member of The Firesign Theatre. ... Philip Proctor (often Phil) (born July 28, 1940 in Goshen, Indiana) is a member of The Firesign Theatre. ... The City of Los Angeles (from Spanish; Los Ángeles) is the second-largest city in the United States in terms of population, as well as one of the worlds most important economic, cultural, and entertainment centers. ... KPPC was a Pasadena, California FM radio station best known during the period 1967–1971, when it was one of the leading underground radio stations in the United States, presenting a freeform mixture of experimental and historical music with countercultural ideas that were not commonly broadcast in North America. ... KPFK (90. ... The 1960s decade refers to the years from 1960 to 1969, inclusive. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979, inclusive. ...

The name is an astrological reference: The members consist of an Aries (Austin), a Leo (Proctor), and two Sagittarians (Bergman and Ossman). The name also is intended as a pun on "Fireside Theatre," a popular radio show from the nineteen-thirties.

Called "The Beatles of Comedy" by their admirers, the Firesign Theatre specialize in audio recordings, having had relatively little presence in stage performance, television or movies. Over the course of their career, they have sold more audio recordings in total than any other comedy act. Their first four albums in particular are considered classics of recorded comedy. (Each of those four albums features a different one of the four members in a leading role.) The Beatles were a British rock group from Liverpool, England. ...

While their free-flowing, stream of consciousness style has the feel of improvisational comedy and may derive from improvisational processes, most of it actually is tightly scripted and memorized (a situation not unlike that of Britain's Monty Python troupe, to whom Firesign are often compared). They have employed a writing method that demands the consent of all four members before a line can be included. Much of their work has been copyrighted under the name "4 or 5 Crazee Guys," reflecting their collective sentiment that there is a "fifth guy in the room" who actually is doing all the writing. In psychology and philosophy stream of consciousness, introduced by William James, is the set of constantly changing inner thoughts and sensations which an individual has while conscious, used as a synonym for stream of thought. ... Improvisational comedy (also called improv or impro) is comedy that is performed with a little to no predetermination of subject matter and structure. ... The Monty Python troupe in 1970. ...

Because of their complexity, Firesign recordings tend to become funnier with repeated listenings as new jokes are revealed, and their high production values provide an additional layer of aesthetic pleasure that endears them to audiophiles. Similarly, Firesign Theatre productions take place in a satirical world with many subtle and oblique references to mass culture which fans enjoy decoding. See A Firesign Theatre lexicon for the perplexed.

The title tracks of their first two albums, and all of the next two, were published in script form as The Firesign Theatre's Big Book of Plays.

The group cowrote the screenplay to the offbeat comedy Western Zachariah, released in 1971. The Western is an American genre in literature and film. ... 1971 (MCMLXXI) is a common year starting on Friday (click for link to calendar). ...

During the mid-1970s, the group more or less split in half: Firesign productions continued, but Proctor and Bergman also performed as a duo, and Austin and Ossman worked individually and together in a few stage shows and most notably the in writing and production of In the Next World, You're on Your Own. In the mid-1980s, Ossman temporarily left the group to produce shows for National Public Radio. Proctor and Bergman are the comedians Philip Proctor and Peter Bergman, two of the four members of The Firesign Theatre. ... NPR logo NPR redirects here. ...

Their recordings through 1975 were originally released by Columbia Records and may be currently available from Rhino Records. Columbia Records is the oldest continually used brand name in recorded sound, dating back to 1888. ... Rhino Entertainment is a specialty record label originally known for releasing retrospectives of famous comedy performers, including Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, and Spike Jones. ...

Discography

• Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him (1968)
• How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All (1969)
• Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers (1970)
• I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus (1971)
• Dear Friends (1972)
• Not Insane (1972)
• How Time Flys (1973) (a "solo" album written and presented by Ossman, but with all members performing, among others)
• The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra (1974)
• Everything You Know Is Wrong (1974)
• Roller Maidens From Outer Space (1974) (a "solo" album written and presented by Austin, with other members performing)
• In the Next World, You're on Your Own (1975) (credited only to Austin and Ossman as writers, but performed by all)
• Just Folks . . . A Firesign Chat (1977)
• Anythynge You Want To (1977)
• The Case of the Missing Shoe (1979)
• Fighting Clowns (1980)
• Lawyer's Hospital (1982)
• The Three Faces of Al (1984) (without Ossman)
• Eat Or Be Eaten (1985) (without Ossman)
• Pink Hotel Burns Down (1998)
• Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death (1998)
• Boom Dot Bust (1999)
• RadioNow Live! (2001)
• Bride of Firesign (2001)
• Papoon For President (2002)
• All Things Firesign (2003)

Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him was the first comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre. ... How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When Youre Not Anywhere at All was the second comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre. ... Dont Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers is a comedy recording made by The Firesign Theatre in 1970. ... I Think Were All Bozos on This Bus is a comedy recording made by The Firesign Theatre in 1971. ... The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra is a comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre and released in early 1974 on Columbia Records. ... Everything You Know Is Wrong is the name of a Firesign Theatre comedy album from 1974. ... In the Next World, Youre on Your Own was the last comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records, released in 1975. ... Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death is a comedy album by The Firesign Theatre that was released in 1998 on Rhino Records. ... Boom Dot Bust is a comedy album recorded by The Firesign Theatre and released in 1999 on Rhino Records. ... All Things Firesign is a compilation CD released in 2003 by Artemis Records. ...

External links

• The Firesign Theatre
• Firesign Theatre FAQs
• Chromium Switch, The Original Fanzine