Firesign before Python

Before I first heard Monty Python on WBCN in Boston in 1971-72, the station played records by the comedy troupe The Firesign Theatre. Founding member Peter Bergman has died. In The Further Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye, Bergman played Lt. Bradshaw, as heard in this audio clip.

http://youtu.be/Ouuq5J7lSuY

The first three Firesign Theatre albums are my favorites. They’re smart, savvy, carefully crafted, intricate, subversive, and for myself Nick Danger led to an interest in what is now called Old Time Radio. For someone of my generation, the Firesign Theatre records hold up well to repeated listenings, and they evoke a great deal of nostalgia. There was that time in college, in a dorm room that was not mine, listening to Don’t Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers, and… uh… well, never mind about that.

“… and there’s hamburger all over the highway in Mystic, Connecticut…”