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How Can You Be In Two Places At Once When You're Not Anywhere At All? Firesign Theatre

Audio CD (July 18, 1995)

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beitzel8@aol.com from Jacksonburg, Ohio , September 4, 1998 Political comedy / satire at its best I have been a Firesign Theatre fan since, well, it's hard to believe, the late '60s. This is their finest work! There are wackier recordings, stranger characters, but the material on "How can you be in two places at once..." is still funny and relevant 30-years after its release. This recording contains one of the most famous Firesign characters, Nick Danger. While the story of his search for lost love is engaging, it's those frequent references to obscure literature and pop culture that have caused me to wear-out two copies of this album. I'm ordering the CD today.

Yamato_Bill@yahoo.com from American in Japan , August 10, 1998 I want more! Okay...I have all the albums...worn and scratched... When the telephone call is made (side 1) to order a pizza, note the needle's location in the grooves. Turn album over and re-set the needle in the same relative location. Bo-ing!!! Nick Danger gets a wrong-number phone call ordering pizza! Uh..I guess you can't turn over a CD. Hmmmmmmm. Buy it anyway.

yohannon@rotunda.com from Palo Alto, CA , July 3, 1998 Dense Comedy for the Careful Listener Firesign Theaters artistry is entirely based on audio recording. While originally released on LP records (you know, those funny black disks Grandpa has in the attic), the recording techniques and tricks employed by this comedy troupe were WAY ahead of its time. Thus, like Alan Parsons engineering efforts on Pink Floyds "Dark Side of the Moon", even Firesigns earlier efforts translate to CD gloriously. Whereas in college I was forced to don earphones and listen repeatedly to catch all of the nuances in the famous "Ralph Spoilsport Motors" opening (where nearly half a dozen satires are going at once) they shine forth from the digital remastering as if you were hearing it the first time. The entire piece is stunning in it's complexity: Everything from california freeways, altered states of consciousness (with a quick side trip into Alice in Wonderland), US military aggression, and television are crammed together with James Joycian allusions that give the listener new insights almost every time the record...excuse me, the CD...is played. The group even gives Mr. Joyce a nod with a direct quote from the ending of "Ulysesses" to end the piece (with a seamless segue from a reprise of Ralph Spoilsport selling drugs instead of used cars to leave you with the feeling that the CD case was somehow...coated...with something potent :-) Firesign Theater is NOT for everyone. If you enjoy inside jokes flavored with the not-so-obvious, are fairly literate and like to mess with your friends minds, pick up this CD. Monty Python fans will find the pacing familiar, and often fans of one are fans of the other. If you like it, another masterpiece would be "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers". If you'd like to start with something lighter, try "Everything You Know Is Wrong" or "In the Next World, You're On Your Own". Be forewarned... you may find yourself quoting some of the more bizarre phrases (running gags that span several CD's!) without realizing it.