It's Just This Little Chromium Switch Here

Duke of Madness Motors on Dangerous Minds

2011-03-19T07:00:00.000-07:00

Peter Bergman and official Firesign archivist Taylor Jessen
talked about Duke of Madness Motors on Dangerous Minds:

http://www.dangerousminds.net/comments/firesign_theatre_duke_of_madness_motors/

Radio Free Oz podcasts now available!

2010-05-03T16:11:00.000-07:00

Podcasts and RSS feed now available for Peter Bergman's Radio Free Oz. First show is Earth Day! from April 22nd.

Chromium Switch :: The Firesign Theatre Magazine

2010-03-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

Fresh off the digital press, get your very own genuine handsome simulfax copy of "It's Just This Little Chromium Switch Here." Issue #2 features Firesign's David Ossman and wife Judith Walcutt, MST3K creator Joel Hodgson, radio legend Shadoe Stevens, Dear Friend Glen Banks, Peter Bergman's Radio Free Oz, reviews from Whidbey Island and much more.

The Firesign Theatre to perform at The Theatre On The Square in Tacoma

2010-01-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

The Firesign Theatre, comedy’s legendary quartet, will appear at The Theatre On The Square in Tacoma, Washington, on Sunday, January 24th at 3:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Details here...

The Firesign Theatre to perform at the Kirkland Performance Center

2010-01-15T16:37:00.000-08:00

The Firesign Theatre, comedy’s legendary quartet, will appear at the Kirkland Performance Center in Kirkland, Washington, January 22 and 23, 2010 at 7:30 p.m. Details here...

"Chromium Switch" The Firesign Theatre E-Magazine

2009-12-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

Tom Gedwillo and Phil Fountain are pleased to announce an exclusive Firesign publication. Featuring interviews, photos, letters to the editor, cartoons, and news. A four-issue (1 year) subscription is just $20, or choose single issue ($5) or newsletter ($3). New subscribers will be automatically entered in a drawing for autographed Firesign Theatre items. Premiere issue #1 features interviews with Phil Proctor and William Stout, excerpts from "the Edgar Letters," and special content you'll only find in "Chromium Switch."

Travels with Porgie, Pt. II

2009-10-12T16:31:00.000-07:00

Chromium Switch correspondent/cartoonist Phil Fountain offers Part 2 of his April 2009 experience in Monterey, "Travels with Porgie - Stalking The Firesign Theatre," complete with illustrations and photos. This is in celebration of their upcoming shows "Forward into the Past (4 Nights in Hollywood)" at the Barnsdall Gallery Theatre, Oct. 14 to 17.

fireheads.org - Now Online

2009-08-15T10:37:00.000-07:00

The launch of Tom Gedwillo's latest Firesign Theatre project - fireheads.org - featuring discussion forums, chat room, and full search feature. A new place for all "Facebook Fireheads"

Firesign in Concert - October '09

2009-07-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

The Firesign Theatre will be performing LIVE in Hollywood at the historic Barnsdall Gallery Theater....Wednesday, October 14 through Saturday, October 17, at 8pm. Ticket information is available here.

Travels with Porgie

2009-06-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

TFT aficionado, Firehead and Chromium Switch correspondent/cartoonist Phil Fountain writes of his weekend in Monterey with the amusing and insightful "Travels with Porgie" - the first of 2 parts.

Monterey Concert

2009-05-02T09:59:00.000-07:00

The Firesign Theatre had an outstanding performance on April 24, 2009 at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, California, celebrating Nick Danger's 40th birthday! Thanks to Phil Fountain for the photo at Chromium Switch. Also check out Bob Hardy's website with Monterey pictures, and photos from my Firesign group at Facebook.

New Philbert Cartoon, #5 In A Series

2009-04-04T08:07:00.001-07:00

To whet your appetite for the April 24th Firesign show, here's a brand new Philbert cartoon, exclusively for Chromium Switch.

WikiRococo

2009-03-01T06:11:00.000-08:00

Announcing the first collaborative encyclopedia about The Firesign Theatre: WikiRococo. This has a simpler interface than Wikipedia, but uses the same principle of public editing and discussion. It's a "work in progress" and will depend on the input of Firesign fans and friends. Please register at this site and check out the many categories available for editing. Read the "Users Help" section and test your formatting in The Sandbox.

Facebook Firesign

2009-02-13T05:29:00.001-08:00

Most of us are aware of the rapid growth of Facebook. I knew there were some privacy issues, and wasn't sure how to utilize the site. Within a week I reassessed my perception and can now say that Facebook is more than you'd ever think it would be. It's a great networking tool, and I've found many new Firesign Theatre "Dear Friends" to add to my growing list. There are several Firesign groups at Facebook you can check out: Lovers of Firesign Theater, Don't crush that dwarf, hand me the pliers! and one just for Chromium Switch. Please have a look when you can and re-energize your Firesign Theatre soul!

New Philbert Cartoon, #4 In A Series

2009-01-31T07:49:00.001-08:00

Here's Phil Fountain's newest Firesign cartoon, exclusively for Chromium Switch. This time it's a ride on the "Bozo Bus" with a touch of some current TFT events.

From David Ossman

2009-01-29T20:23:00.001-08:00

Dear Friends, may I suggest the creation of a WikiFirepedia, which would assemble a general concordance of definitions, cross references, influences and the like, along the lines of "The Simple English Schoolboy's Decoding Manual" of Mark Aicklin (tho, for heaven's sake, in a more legible format). this could begin with a simple dictionary of proper nouns - I think I have a ready list of all character, place and commercial names we've used. I would love to have ideas come in from all over, adding to the definitions. (Does any/everyone know, for example, that the line "Loostner's for the Smile of Beauty and Fantastics for the Smile of Success" from the close of Danger is a direct parody of the Ipana/Sal Hepatica ad in Mr. District Attorney or that "Half-Cast Woman" is a Noel Coward Favorite?) Well, I'm posting this, so what's next? Ossman

"Box of Danger" - A Review by Phil Fountain

2009-01-25T06:13:00.000-08:00

Starting with his recollection of L.A. radio in the 60's, and continuing through the genesis of Radio Free Oz, Firesign cartoonist Phil Fountain writes about the Box of Danger collection.

Beat The Reaper

2009-01-13T03:39:00.001-08:00

Firesign's continuing insinuation into American culture continues with the title of the new work of literary fiction, "Beat The Reaper," reviewed in the San Francisco Chronicle this morning. (Forwarded from Mr. P)

Department of Redundancy

2009-01-11T09:40:00.000-08:00

Forwarded from a friend of Phil Proctor:

This morning watching NFL today before the Eagles-Giants game, Joe Buck says "well I don't want to sound like I'm from the Department of Redundancy department"

He probably doesn't even know where that came from!

The Firesign Theatre will be performing LIVE...

2008-12-12T16:25:00.001-08:00

...on April 24, 2009 at the Golden State Theatre in Monterey, California, celebrating Nick Danger's 40th birthday!

Tickets can be purchased on-line here, or by phone:http://goldenstatetheatre.com/shows/042408_firesign/042408_firesign.html

Show dates: Friday, April 24, 2009Show times: 8pmTickets: $35, $55, $75Phone Orders (831) 372-3800, Wed-Sat, 2pm-6pm;Live Box Office: Wed-Sat, 2pm-6pm;

ORCHESTRA LEVEL:$75 - Front Orchestra (Rows A-L)$55 - Mid/Rear Orchestra (Rows M-W)
BALCONY LEVEL:$55 - Front Balcony (Rows BB-FF)$35 - Upper Balcony (Rows GG-RR)Reserved seating. All ticket sales are final.

A Murder Mystery Double Bill (Ossman)

2008-11-26T21:20:00.000-08:00

A new CD release is now available containing the assiduous, mysterious, and often miraculous collab work of David Ossman and Firesignbro Philip Proctor for the International Mystery Writer's Festival – Discovering New Mysteries. The first release in a possible series, A Murder Mystery Double Bill features two short stories adapted and directed by Ossman, "It Burns Me Up" by Ray Bradbury and "My Gal Sunday" by Mary Higgins Clark. Proctor plays the host and sets the tone with his direction of the walla chorus. Other cast members include Gary Sandy, Melinda Peterson, Richard Fish, Amy Walker, and, in fact, a full 25-person repertory cast, who performed in ten different scripts, four shows in rotation per day, for ten days straight, last June. Talk about your marathon run!

Firezine Digital Issues

2008-11-25T04:04:00.000-08:00

The final phase of the Firesign Theatre archival repository is completed. You can now view full-color PDFs of Firezine, issues 1 through 7. Thanks again to Fred for his assistance.

Print Edition archives

2008-11-22T08:17:00.000-08:00

You can now view scans in PDF of my original Firemail and Chromium Switch print editions.

The Firezine Archives

2008-11-21T06:28:00.000-08:00

After months of planning and design, Chromium Switch is pleased to announce the launch of The Firezine Archives, a comprehensive collection of graphics from Fred Wiebel's library. These are sorted into folders, such as "Recordings" and "Books." When you register you'll be able to access unique features, including "Lightbox," where you collect your favorites and download them later, in a single compressed file. Many thanks to Fred for his collaboration with Switch on this project.

New Philbert Cartoon (#3 in a series)

2008-11-18T04:25:00.000-08:00

Introducing installment #3 of Phil Fountain's Phiresign Phunnies, wherein everything you know is wrong....

Some New Proctor Photos

2008-11-09T05:39:00.000-08:00

In the 'Media' section, I've added some Phil Proctor pix to the Firesign Theatre Photo Gallery

New Philbert Cartoon

2008-11-09T05:37:00.000-08:00

Introducing the second installment of Phil Fountain's Phiresign Phunnies, this time with a nod to the new Danger box set.

Philbert's Phunnies

2008-10-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Now available, exclusively at Chromium Switch, the first in a series of Firesign Theatre cartoons by Phil Fountain. Find the link in the "News You Can Use" section.

Another "Chromium Switch" Blog

2008-10-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

My website "Chromium Switch" has its own Blog feature. Just click on "Blog" from the top navigation bar.

a Firesign Theatre introduction

2005-03-13T03:06:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Niles Ritter's fabulous FIRESIGN FAQ for this excerpt:

A group of four gifted improvisational comedians and satirists, perhaps best known for several record albums they produced in the 1970s. These were famous for their depth of interaction among the characters, their range of literary allusion and references to popular culture, history and science, and the incomparable surreal quality of their pacing. Different listeners would each find different significance in the work and make different connections between themes within them. Much of their work anticipated developments in video, interactive media, computer technology and virtual reality by some 20 years.

Their initial work began on radio in Los Angeles in the mid 60's, but their James-Joycean style of dramatic satire quickly expanded to include phonograph recordings, live stage productions, movies,
books, and one of the first interactive video productions produced.
More than one fan has noted the complexity of their recordings, which derived from their use of dense layering of sound tracks, as well as their ingenious use of puns, metaphor, and other literary allusions. The FT wove intricate stories which flowed, not so much like a river, but like a rapidly evolving organism, projecting pseudopods out this way, and then that. And yet the stories always seemed to maintain its own internal logic.

None of this begins to do them any justice: we encourage you to buy one of their CDs (or old phonos) and hear for yourself. This is in fact, about the only way to really understand what the Firesign Theatre was and IS about! We're not insane!

Phil Proctor adds the following regarding their comedic influences:

Mr NOISE asked about influences on us -- Well, they would be -- including but not limited, too, Bob & Ray (who's CLASSIC B&R volume 4 actually include selections I gave to Larry Josephson
from my private NYC collection), Stan the man Freberg, Ernie Kovacs, Steve Allen, Olsen & Johnson, old radio, new radio, anything on television, Spike Jones, Ish Kabibble, the Amish,
Laurel&Hardy, silent comedies, cartoons, Blooper records, The Great Crepitation Contest, Johnathan and Darlene Edwards, the Goons and any English comedians living or still living, the writings of Ogden Nash and Robert Benchley, folk comedians Herb Shriner and George Goeble (sp), Charlie Weaver and uncle Dave, the Marxist Bros, Harold Lloyd, anybody who ever made a comedy album -- my god, the list could go on forever. After all, if you're into comedy, you can never get enough of it!

1.1.1) The Four or Five Crazy Guys:

Name -- Aliases, roles
-----------------------------------
Philip Austin -- Nick Danger, Hemlock Stones, etc,

Philip Proctor -- Clem, Ralph Spoilsport, the Poop, etc

David Ossman -- Porgie, Catherwood, etc

Peter Bergman -- Babe, Mudhead, Nancy...

We should also acknowledge the oft-ignored but ubiquitous female
members:

Annalee Austin -- Operator in "Don't crush that Dwarf"

Tiny Ossman -- Announcerettes in "Bozos"

Laura Quinn -- Hawkmoth in "Eat or Be Eaten"

Others appearing in FT productions include Diane Davisson, Rodger Bumpass, Jerry Houser, Christie Houser, Susan Tanner, Cyrus Faryar, and casts of thousands.

A series of quotes from the {BBOP} book:

Philip Austin:
-------------

"I always wanted to be a part of something. Annalee and I used to secretly, separately, dream of rock and roll bands. I hadn't even *thought* yet that rock and roll could save me.

"So I was in Hollywood in 1966, starving on all levels. I got a job in a radio station because I could always do that with my voice -- could make you believe that I was committed to the words coming out of my mouth. I mistakenly believed, therefore that I was an Actor. I'm not. I'm a musician. Interesting that it was the *sounds* of the words that got to me the most. The Firesign Theatre was the vehicle that allowed me to make that discovery.

"The Firesign Theatre is a *Technique*.

"These were the people who faced me across the microphones on the radio and this is what I think of them:

"David Ossman is the first I met. The two of us are not what you'd think of right off as comedians. I was producing all these plays by dead authors -- acting, directing; got David to act, looked at the
amazing books of poetry that he'd produced -- as if he had hand-printed every page. We had wonderful conversations about the Indians. Hopi.

"Peter Bergman was the Voice that Wouldn't Die. What a talker! The Champ. I engineered _Radio Free Oz_ and appeared in a variety of stoned disguises. (This was fun. Not like acting, which is not real to me, therefore not fun.) Unlike most performers, Peter becomes *more* candid when he performs. Set him in front of a microphone and you have an angel. With most people, it's the opposite.

"Philip Proctor *is* an actor. He is also not exactly a comedian. He is not so much trying to make you laugh as he is trying to explain something to you. I have always been his friend because I admire that so much. He can go places I can't. He was a friend of Peter's who was "funny". God, ain't dat de trufe!

"So there we were, *four friends*. You see, we had no ambitions. It was a pure jam and the instrument we each played was verbal glibness or *radio*. We still continue that first conversation. This book, those recordings, are records of that conversation, a minute-book of the meeting.

"Quickly, Ambition walked in the door. I thought we were good. I'd heard some pretty fast, funny cats in my time, but these three were as good as Spike Milligan. We started hanging out with each other, gave up our jobs, found more and more ways to earn livings using each other. I got my Globe Theatre, Phil P. got a Movie Company, David got a Great Work of Literature and Peter got the Forever Radio Show.

"RECORDS ARE RECORDS (recordings of something). THEY ARE MEANT TO INCLUDE YOU IN OUR CONVERSATION.

"Yes, we take it seriously. Read [in the Big Book of Plays] Hideo Gump Sr.'s intro to each script. Laughter and Dancing, Singing and Love. We love the Firesign Theatre. How do you get along with people? What do you have to show for it? Our work is, to me, my answer to those
questions.

"What does it mean?

"1. The Firesign Theatre writes communally. Every word goes through four heads for approval. We therefore write very slowly. Our energy level is intense. Grown men leave the room when we fight with each other. Nothing is sacred.

"2. Therefore, there are considerable areas of chance (*chance*) in ur work since no overall motive is possible. All communal endeavors learn one thing, I think. *Only real things can be agreed upon*. The future is not real, therefore *motives* cannot be agreed upon. *Chance
becomes the motive*.

"What do we mean? We mean whatever's happening. ?Que paso, hombre?

*Our records are records of what happened to us during the period
we made them.

*Our records are a continuous story that will last as long as our
friendship.

*May we be friends forever.

--Phil Austin (Signature)

Philip Proctor:

" I was born in a trunk in the Princess Theatre, Pocatello, Idaho. No, I was born in Goshen, Indiana. I really have spent some time analyzing it. I grew up in an essentially schizophrenic existence. I was schooled on the East Coast, because I moved there when I was five. I went to Riverdale Country School and Yale University, but during my formative years of growth -- the pubic years -- I grew up in Goshen, Indiana, with my grand parents and my neighborhood friends. Radio and comic books had a lot to do with my youth. The comic books supplied the visual element. I finally became a professional actor after college. Acting led me to The Firesign Theatre because I found New York theatre to be dumb and limited. Silly. I wanted to create my own theatre.

--Philip Proctor (Signature)

David Ossman:

"I'm a writer, a poet, which is to say I always did that. My life was totally in my head, and I wrote about it. I developed a historical sense of things and then I went into radio. Because that's what I
always wanted to do.It was one of those childhood fantasies like growing up to be a fireman. I wanted to be a radio announcer, and in 1959 I became a radio announcer. I did that for quite a while. I worked in New York at WBAI for two years and then went back to the West Coast and worked for KPFK for four years. They laid everybody off, including me, so I got a job in television, which I hated, so I dropped out of that. The Firesign Theatre appeared at the same time.

--David Ossman (Signature)

Peter Bergman:

"I owe everything I do tho my normal childhood. I had a very unrepressed childhood and I lived in the Midwest, and there were very few things to amuse myself, except softball, so I would do routines to
myself, like "Why Isn't Everybody Happy?" was one of my routines, so they kept me indoors a lot. A kid named Bruce Berger and I opened up a parking lot one night in an empty lot across from an Emporium show. We made $50 wearing Cleveland Indians baseball caps, yelling, "*Park and
Lock it! Not Responsible!*"

"My honest idea of The Firesign Theatre is four artists getting together and grouping to create some new art form, some multi-art that comes our of all four of their minds. It's an interesting choice, and that's one of the things that fascinates me. It's not a loss of identity, really. It's more a gaining of a double identity. I'm Peter Bergman and I'm one-quarter of The Firesign Theatre. And when I have
those two things together, in harmony, one feeds off the other.

--Peter Bergman (A very Floral Signature)