Search - Firesign Theatre :: Anythynge You Want To: Shakespeare's Lost Comedie

One of their best

12/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although this album is not in the same psychedelic media-centric vein as their more famous and popular works, it is equally brilliant and well worth the repeated listenings you'll require to catch all the jokes. This is a very deft Shakespeare parody that (as all the Firesign's best work) operates on many levels simultaneously, mixing anachronistic references, political and cultural criticism, and muliti-level puns and wordplay to form a dense work that is also very fast-paced. Obviously, some familiarity with Shakespeare will help (Hamlet, Lear, and The Tempest seem to be the main references, but my Shakespeare is a bit rusty), but I believe the work is quite accessible to those with only a general acquaintance with the Shakespearean style (and you've probably already picked up that much from popular culture). This piece was refined over many years (an early version appeared in 1972 on "Not Insane" but this version comes from 1982) and truly represents the Firesign Theatre at their best.One quibble is that the cover art is not as nice as the old Rhino LP which had some wonderful woodcut-style illustrations of the story.For a live version of this piece (with the "old" ending) check out the "Radio Now" live 2-disc set."

Shakespeare Spoof Somewhat Short of Genius

Chris Ward | Costa Rica | 01/24/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"As a slavish devotee of all things Firesign, I'd grade this as a fun but not completely successful project. For those intimately acquainted with Shakespeare's classics, this send-up (ostensibly a "lost" Shakespeare play) is a very sly dig at the language and narrative tropes of Hamlet, King Lear, The Tempest, etc. And lovers of puns will plotz: the Four or Five Crazee Guys sometimes go on for a whole minute on one awful pun-riddled theme, wringing every groan out of the joke.



Is this on a level with their best work? Does it come close to "Don't Crush That Dwarf" or "Everything You Know Is Wrong" or "Bozos" or even "In The Next World, You're On Your Own"? Well, no. In fact, I much prefer the chunks of "Anythynge" they recorded 'way back in the 70s that appear on the album "Not Insane" with a live audience. The spontanaeity of that performance puts the rather dry and formal approach on this version in the shade. But: for real Firesign fans, this is a must-have. I've got the cassette version, which may still be available from other sources for much less money than the used CD version offered here."