User reviews

I was 18 years old, when I watched this new movie in the theater of my community college. I had already loved The Firesign Theater, from their comedy lp's. Loved the movie, too.

...watch this flick.

I'm an old fan of The Firesign Theatre; I turned on to them at the time they released the LP "Don't Crush...". There's no getting around it; they were the *real* "head humor" of the time. They really were part of the "us" generation, they saw things with great clarity and epitomize the view that comedy can rise to the level of prophesy.

And, by prophesy, I simply mean being the one-eyed person in the land of the blind. But prophesy has a reputation for prescience because it's the folks who can see the present clearly that can also see where things are headed. So, for example, there's one plank in the Surrealist Light People's Party platform which is prophetic: "One Man, One Channel". In 1972, among people unaware of the ARPA/DARPA funding that started forming the Internet, this just sounded delightfully loony. But it was truly a harbinger of things to come.

And of course, there's just that simple sense that when people pop the tops off their heads and just let it come out with minimal filtering, there can be gems... and, IMHO, they shine out and amaze in this flick.

The material from this period also went into their LP, "Not Insane", which put a lot of the old fans off. Myself, it felt like a divine garage sale. There were just too many wonderfully loopy moments.

So, if you have a chance to see it--you can watch it in its entirety via Google video--give it a shot. It may not be yr personal cup o' tea, but if you don't try, you'll never know. And, even if it's not funny to you, it may be curious to watch as a kind of choice period artifact. It truly is a wonderful slice of the 60's/early-70's counterculture.

The material is not their best, and the audio recording is worse (not helped by this being one of Firesign's loudest and most frantic pieces.) Still, this short film of the 4 or 5 manages to capture at least some of what their live performances must be like, and even attempts, with some success, a visual mix that matches the density of the audio and conceptual montage. The Firesign Theatre are excellent performers as well as brilliant writers, and this all-too-short tape displays that well. It's a shame that they never managed to film some of their more focused early pieces.

I personally, being a huge fan of my mentor's the Firesign Theatre loved this film. Rarely seen on film, these for or five crazy guys do a great job in a live version of "Waiting for the Count of Monty Christo ( or someone like him ) The other sketches scattered into the film is just icing on the cake. The music that was preformed live was also great. I recommend this to all old Firesign Theatre fans as well as new ones. Remember to vote Papoon for president in 2020. Riddled into the movie throughout is a campaign to elect George Papoon for president. Phil Proctor, Pete Bergman, David Ossman and Phil Austin as well as Tiny Ossman and Annalee Austin make this film come together for us. It is a rare treat and I would see it again if I could find it. It is most likely floating around in space looking for its social value. It is pure fun so go for it.

OK, so you know where I'm coming from, I an a paleo-Firesign Fan. Meaning that I adored and still listen to the first four albums, and all the newly discovered radio shows from that era, up to the time this movie was made. So you're not going to hear any criticism of Firesign itself from me - at least, not of that period.

The original uncut audio tape of this live show is floating around the Internet, and is absolutely essential to understanding the piece, because (rant alert) the film itself is basically unwatchable because of the EXTREMELY bad editing and student-film-level production. Whether they were trying to shorten it drastically, or be creative, or whatever, it really, really doesn't work. Punch lines are left out, continuity purposely hacked to pieces, and whole sections of this extremely funny show are simply not there, while other questionable sections (Phil Austin singing) are left in. The overall effect is amateurish in the extreme.

So, it's basically good for seeing video of SOME of the highlights of the show, but the feeling you're left with is wanting to slap the director and editor. It's a real shame, because this is the Firesign Theatre at their best, right before they let personal differences destroy their vibe forever. If you're a Firesign fan, this is a must-own tape, but DON'T use this to acquaint others with the group - it's so hacked to pieces as to be impossible to follow. What a shame they didn't have access to a more professional film crew.

This film is the only existing record of the Firesign Theatre performing live. It's not one of their best pieces of material (most of it would appear on the album "Not Insane/Anything You Want To), but the performance is lively and it is certainly a great time capsule. Plus, the Firesign Theatre is possibly the greatest unsung comedy troupe of the last 30 years, and it's great to have this film around as a memento of their golden years in the late '60s/early '70s. Plus, some of the lines here are inexplicably hilarious.