July 24th, 1966: Live and On The Air, it's KPFK-FM with the distinguished voices of Phil and David and Philip and Peter. "Radio Free Oz" seeded the public awareness and cultural impact of The Firesign Theatre that has continued for over 40 years. The experience is there in the recordings of Waiting For the Electrician, Don't Crush That Dwarf, Boom Dot Bust, or Box of Danger. Call it parody, improvisation, satire or "stream of consciousness." It fits all these and more; the language of surreal imagination and intellect. Austin, Ossman, Proctor and Bergman -- can't imagine a world without them!
Who Am Us, Anyway?
The original Chromium Switch newsletter for fans of The Firesign Theatre existed from 1972 to 1975. Also known as FIREMAIL, the list readership increased after being mentioned on the liner notes of The Giant Rat of Sumatra
Newsletter Archives
One of my earliest goals when creating the 'chromiumswitch' domain was to include scans of the original Chromium Switch newsletter from the 1970's. Those issues are available here.
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.
The complete collection of Four-Alarm FIRESIGNal is now online. In the 1980's and 1990's, Elayne Riggs published this informative and insightful periodical.
Philbert's Phunnies
Now available, exclusively at Chromium Switch, the continuing series of Firesign Theatre cartoons by Phil Fountain.
"...Shout Factory has done a superb job in offering this material with very clean sound and an excellent presentation with intro essays by the various characters associated with Danger in one form or another, including Danger himself, Rocky Rococo, and others. If you are heretofore unacquainted with Nick Danger and interested in humor, in particular classy subversive humor that spoofs everything associated with American culture, you have no idea how much this is for you. Those well versed in both the Firesigns and Danger are already smiling at the thought of such a document."
~Thom Jurek, AMG
July/August 2010
Podcast/RSS now available for Peter Bergman's Radio Free Oz. Bergman and the newly formed Firesign Theatre launched RFOz on Los Angeles radio in 1966. The show set the trend for what would become known as "underground radio." This new Internet-based version began in the Spring of 2010. News updates on RFOz are available on Facebook and Twitter.
Chromium Switch The Firesign Theatre Magazine, is an exclusive publication featuring interviews, photos, letters to the editor, and many more Firesign related articles. Our 2nd issue features interviews with The Ossmans, Shadoe Stevens, and Joel Hodgson; news on Peter Bergman's "Radio Free Oz" and much more. Only $5.00 for the single issue download, available here. STILL AVAILABLE FOR FREE DOWNLOAD IS THE PREMIERE ISSUE FEATURING INTERVIEWS WITH PHIL PROCTOR AND WILLIAM STOUT. So line up, sign up, and re-enlist today at "It's Just This Little Chromium Switch Here."
The Firesign Theatre will continue their run of live performances in 2010 at small venues: Oregon - June 11, 12 in Portland; June 13 in Eugene; June 25 in Ashland. California - June 26 in Redding; October 8 in San Rafael; October 9 in Monterey; October 21, 22, 23 in Los Angeles. These are not firm dates; ticket information and show details will be updated on the Facebook fan page for Firesign.
The Firesign Theatre performed at The Whidbey Island Center for the Arts on January 8th and 9th, 2010. The legendary quartet continued their Pacific NW tour with shows at The Kirkland Performance Center on Jan. 23 and at The Theatre On The Square in Tacoma on Jan. 24.
On August 24, 2001, the Firesign Theatre filmed a stage show at CBS studios in Los Angeles for a PBS special titled "Weirdly Cool". The special was shown on many PBS stations that December. "Chromium Switch" correspondent/cartoonist Phil Fountain recently obtained Phil Proctor's original script from this show. It includes Phil's handwritten annotations and is autographed on page 1 by all four members of Firesign. [The entire script is not publicly available at this time.] Thank you Philbert for sharing this bit o' Bozo history.
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.
The Firesign Theatre had a successful 4-night run in Hollywood (October 2009) at the historic Barnsdall Gallery Theater. Positive reviews and comments everywhere. Thanks to Paul Pomes for these concert photos.
Available for the first time, official Chromium Switch T-shirts, exclusively by Phil 'Philbert' Fountain.
Phil Proctor was the guest narrator for "The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote: Words and Music From the Time of Cervantes." Locations included Whittier (Calif.) College, Northwestern University, University of Richmond, and the 92nd Street Y, New York City. Music by The Los Angeles Guitar Quartet.
Just launched, a full-featured online discussion forum for The Firesign Theatre: fireheads.org...Exclusive content for Firesign fans!
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. Included in this PDF are illustrations and photos exclusively for Fireheads.
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! Check out Bob Hardy's website with Monterey pictures, and photos from my Firesign group at Facebook.
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 there and check out the many categories available for editing. Read the "Users Help" section and test your formatting in The Sandbox.
News Archive --- Link to Firesign Articles from Previous Months
