The Firesign Theatre's Big Book of Plays

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The Firesign Theatre's Big Book Of Plays
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Author The Firesign Theatre
Cover artist Virginia Clive-Smith
Subject radio drama, play scripts, sketch comedy
Publisher Straight Arrow Books
Publication date
1972
Media type Paperback
Pages 144
ISBN 978-0-87932-028-7
OCLC 482617
Followed by ' The Firesign Theatre's Big Mystery Joke Book'

The Firesign Theatre's Big Book Of Plays is a collection of transcriptions written by The Firesign Theatre for the title tracks of each of their first four albums. The book also contains some introductory material that is serious as well a few pieces that parody introductory material. Photos of the group—childhood photos, casual snapshots, and full-costume publicity shots vaguely related to the written material—are included. The book concludes with "Lt. Bradshaw's Secret Indentity [sic] Roster" which indicates which member of the group performs each major role. Some of the material from the group's first four albums that was not included in this collection can be found in the 1974 book, The Firesign Theatre's Big Mystery Joke Book . A later printing of the "Big Book of Plays" (circa 1980) has a bright yellow cover, with different cover illustrations than the original shown here.

Transcription in the linguistic sense is the systematic representation of language in written form. The source can either be utterances or preexisting text in another writing system.

The Firesign Theatre

The Firesign Theatre was an American surreal comedy group who first performed live on November 17, 1966 on the Los Angeles radio program Radio Free Oz, first on station KPFK FM, then on KRLA 1110 AM, then on KMET FM through February 1969. They produced fourteen record albums and a 45 rpm single under contract to Columbia Records from 1968 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 through 2012, occasionally taking sabbaticals during which they wrote or performed solo or in smaller groups.

Album collection of recorded music, words, sounds

An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album; this format evolved after 1948 into single vinyl LP records played at ​33 13 rpm. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have mostly focused on CD and MP3 formats. The audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s.

Table of Contents

<i>Waiting for the Electrician or Someone Like Him</i> 1968 studio album by The Firesign Theater

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.

<i>How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When Youre Not Anywhere at All</i> 1969 studio album by The Firesign Theatre

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.

<i>Dont Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers</i> 1970 studio album by The Firesign Theatre

Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers is the Firesign Theatre's third comedy recording for Columbia Records, released in July 1970. In 1983, The New Rolling Stone Record Guide called it "the greatest comedy album ever made".

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<i>Everything You Know Is Wrong</i> 1974 studio album by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>The Tale of the Giant Rat of Sumatra</i> 1974 studio album by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>The Firesign Theatres Box of Danger</i> 2008 box set by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>In the Next World, Youre on Your Own</i> 1975 studio album by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>Not Insane or Anything You Want To</i> 1972 live album by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>Papoon for President</i> 2002 compilation album by The Firesign Theatre

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.

<i>Forward Into the Past</i> 1976 compilation album by The Firesign Theatre

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.

<i>Just Folks... A Firesign Chat</i> 1977 studio album by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>Nick Danger: The Case of the Missing Shoe</i> 1979 EP by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>Fighting Clowns</i> 1980 live album by The Firesign Theatre

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<i>Radio Now Live</i> 2001 live album by The Firesign Theatre

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.

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<i>What This Country Needs</i> (Proctor and Bergman album) album by Proctor and Bergman

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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 eye. Danger stories involve stereotypical film noir situations, including mistaken identity, betrayal, and femmes fatales. Danger originally appears on the 1969 album How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All, and is reprised in the 1979 Nick Danger: The Case of the Missing Shoe, 1984 The Three Faces of Al, and 2001 The Bride of Firesign.

"He’s based on the [Dashiell] Hammett Sam Spade character, but as I got more into writing him over the years, he’s become much more like [Philip] Marlowe. I love [Raymond] Chandler’s writing.”

<i>Back From the Shadows: The Firesign Theatres 25th Anniversary Reunion Tour</i>

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.