The Firesign Theatre 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 appearing on Radio Free Oz, which later moved to KRLA 1110 AM and then KMET FM, through February 1969. They produced fifteen record albums and a 45 rpm single under contract to Columbia Records from 1967 through 1976, and had three nationally syndicated radio programs: The Firesign Theatre Radio Hour Hour [sic] in 1970 on KPPC-FM; 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.
Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers is the Firesign Theatre's third comedy album, released by Columbia Records in July 1970. In 1983, The New Rolling Stone Record Guide called it "the greatest comedy album ever made". It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1972 by the World Science Fiction Society. In 2005, the US Library of Congress added the album to the National Recording Registry and called the Firesign Theatre "the Beatles of comedy."
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. In addition to standard stereo formats, the album was released as a Quadraphonic LP and Quadraphonic 8-Track. It was nominated for a Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1972 by the World Science Fiction Society.
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.
David Ossman is an American writer and comedian, best known as a member of the Firesign Theatre and screenwriter of such films as Zachariah.
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 the Gods and claimed psychic Uri Geller, which achieved wide public attention by that time.
The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra is the seventh comedy album released by the Firesign Theatre and released in January 1974 by Columbia Records.
James William Guercio 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 & Tears. He has worked briefly in the motion picture industry as a producer and director. In the mid 1970s, Guercio managed the Beach Boys and was a member of their backing band.
In the Next World, You're on Your Own was the last comedy album recorded by the Firesign Theatre for Columbia Records. It was released in October 1975.
Dear Friends was a live radio program performed by the Firesign Theatre on KPFK radio in Los Angeles. Twenty-one episodes aired between September 16, 1970 and February 17, 1971. These programs were recorded and later edited into one-hour shows distributed on 12" LPs for national syndication. In January 1972, the group released a Dear Friends double album, a compilation of what they considered to be the best segments from the radio program. The original broadcasts were released in 2010 on the group's Duke of Madness Motors DVD compilation. Another album distilled from the Duke of Madness Motors set, Dope Humor of the Seventies, which also collected material from the Dear Friends radio shows, was released in 2020.
Dear Friends is the Firesign Theatre's fifth album to be released on Columbia Records. It is a compilation album, collecting the Firesigns' choice of the best comedy sketches from their nationally syndicated radio program produced from September 1970 to February 1971.
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 before a live audience. The full title is listed on the spine of the record album as Not Insane or Anything You Want To. The abbreviated title Not Insane appears on the front of the album cover, while Or Anything You Want To appears on the back cover. It is usually referred to simply as Not Insane.
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 which Papoon is nominated as the candidate of the "Natural Surrealist Party". The album is a compilation of material originally released in the film and the 1972 album Not Insane or Anything You Want To, plus material from 1976 and 1980. The first and last tracks contain interviews of Phillip Proctor and Peter Bergman done by Steve Marshall, broadcast on NPR both before and after the 1972 United States presidential election. These interviews were released on a promotional recording, A Firesign Chat with Papoon, by Columbia Records in November 1972.
TV or Not TV is the debut album by the comedy duo Proctor and Bergman. It was originally released in 1973 by Columbia Records.
Just Folks... A Firesign Chat is a 1977 comedy album by the Firesign Theatre. The material is based on previously unreleased material from their 1970–1972 radio shows Dear Friends and Let's Eat!. It was the only record the group made under a new contract with Butterfly Records, after the cancellation of their ten-year Columbia Records contract.
Nick Danger: The Case of the Missing Shoe is an EP by the Firesign Theatre. It was released in 1979 by Rhino Records.
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 album were recorded live in front of an audience while some of the songs and much of the linking material was recorded in the studio. Cover artwork was done by Phil Hartman.
Radio Now Live is a 2001 comedy album by the Firesign Theatre, recorded from a live performance on a 1999 West Coast tour. Its main concept is based on material from Firesign's studio album Give Me Immortality or Give Me Death, but also contains material based on older albums How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All; Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers; I Think We're All Bozos on This Bus; and Anythynge You Want To.
What This Country Needs is the second comedy album by the duo Proctor and Bergman of the Firesign Theatre. It was originally released in September 1975 on Columbia Records, and was among the Firesign Theatre's last Columbia albums, along with In the Next World, You're on Your Own and Forward Into The Past. It was recorded from a live performance at The Bottom Line which contained material adapted or re-used from their 1973 studio album TV or Not TV, plus several new sketches.
Back From the Shadows was the twenty-fifth anniversary reunion tour of the comedy group the Firesign Theatre, performed at twenty cities across the United States in 1993. A live video CD recording of three performances was released as the group's nineteenth album in 1994 by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab.
