[.ca] How Can You Be In Two Places

it was well worth the money:
I've been a fan of comedy albums for a long time, particularly Monty Python. I had heard about the FST, did some research, and picked this gem up a week ago. This is the easiest to understand of their first four classics (I now have Dwarf and Bozos which I'm still trying to decyfer). The best track on this one is the Nick Danger episode. I am a huge fan of Old Time Radio and can relate to some of the references they make to them. Also, you discover new things about the album as you listen to it (I might have worn my CD out already!). Just pick it up if you haven't already, you won't be disappointed. Oh, and, contrary to popular belief, you don't have to be high to think it's funny as hell. "GOODBYE FRIENDS AND HAPPY MOTORING BACK ON THE FREEWAY WHICH IS ALREADY IN PROGRESS!!!!!!"

Very funny and very quotable:
On 1969's "How Can You Be in Two Places at Once When You're Not Anywhere at All?" the Firesigns really began to hit their stride. The content of this, their sophomore effort, is two side-length tracks encompassing stories involving war, changes, murder, and again, Beatles and Dylan references aplenty. Side One begins with an ad for Ralph Spoilsport Motors, a slick auto salesman who manages to draw our hero, Babe, onto the lot through squealing brakes and honking horns. As Babe checks out his new car, which seems to be loaded with all sorts of amazing features, we hear Ralph in all his incarnations on the radio and the TV (very futuristic car); Babe goes for a spin on the Antelope Freeway, with its close-together mileage markers, sets his climate control, and soon finds himself on an African safari. The antics of those around him ("He's no fun, he fell right over!") culminate with his arrival at The Only Nice Motel in Town and some sort of American history lesson/pageant, at the end of which Babe finds himself inducted into the army and marching off to war. The various twists and turns of this bit have to be heard to be believed. Side Two is the real classic here, though: "The Adventures of Nick Danger, Third Eye." It's a parody of hard-boiled murder-mystery tales from classic '40s radio and film noir, as Nick pursues his old girlfriend, Betty Jo Bialaski (but everyone knew her as Nancy) and the little crook Rocky Rococo ("My nostrils flared at the scent of his perfume: Pyramid Patchouli. There was only one joker in L.A. sensitive enough to wear *that* scent...and I had to find out who he was!") in search of an old tin ring from a Cracker Back jox (you read that right) and Nancy's mysterious husband. On the whole, very funny and quotable, and much more coherent than "Waiting for the Electrician"...and again, long overdue for remastering.

Probably the best comedy album ever!:
True master of freakdom, The Firesign Theatre are still making new material. But I must say that this by far their best. The first track goes through bying a car to renting a hotel room and somehow appearing in the land of the Pharoahs in between. Track two is the great Nick Danger, third eye and is a slam on every hard boiled detective out there. If you haven't heard these guys before, this is the album to get and if you know these guys... why don't you already have this brilliant album?

Multi-layered hillarity:
Like sophisticated radio comedy with layers of dialogue piled on top of each other, you can listen to this album many times and hear jokes you missed previously. Very funny, very fast, good use of vocal impressions. Intelligent comedy, and unlike what the previous writer said, this is not dated. "Nick Danger, Third Eye" parodies detective films noir like "The Maltese Falcon". This album is heaven for the trivia hound.

Groundbreaking in its time, which has come and gone:
We owe much to the Firesign Theater, for their pushing progressive social agenda and redefining entertainment. They stood out in their time (the 1960's), which was very hard to do in view of exceptional competition. Yet, they do not necessarily pass the "classics" test, that is, the reaching out and grabbing of audiences with the current day mindset. Any popular history of America, especially in the chapter covering the 1960's, has to give the Firesign Theater its due. Whether you want to pay for them here and now is more in question.

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