Search - Firesign Theatre :: Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers!

"Hey, mister! I got a nickel! Wait for me.... wait for me...

Annie Van Auken | Planet Earth | 10/22/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This most perfect of all Firesign Theatre albums has greatly gained in poignancy for me as I travel through later middle age. The centerpiece of our story is an elderly man, George Leroy Tirebiter, who sits awake late at night, an insomniac impatiently spinning through the TV dial. Every so often George comes upon movies he appeared in decades earlier: Peorgie and Mudhead in "High School Madness" and a Korean War picture. At the very end of the album, after another long, exhausting night, a wrung-out Tirebiter gets a "wake-up" call from his answering service. The lady informs him that he has several messages from Stan Laurel, Babe Hardy, Mr. Roach and HONK! HONK! ("he wouldn't leave his name"). Tirebiter remembers them all and brightens considerably. Suddenly he hears the chimes of an ice cream truck off in the distance and George excitedly tells the answering service that he has to go, because "they NEVER come up in the hills!" Georgie chases after the ice cream man, nickel in hand, and at fadeout he magically transforms into a little boy.



As a teen, back in 1970, I listened to all that and enjoyed the circularity of the ending-- the album starts and finishes with the same chimes. Now that I'm considerably older, I appreciate the larger theme of a contemplative backward look at one's life, the hope of regeneration and dreams of a second chance at carefree childhood. It is perhaps this last thing more than any other that fuels our passion for nostalgia and the fond recollection of the good old days.





On the Theatre's followup to "Dwarf," I THINK WE'RE ALL BOZOS ON THIS BUS, we go on another brilliantly bizarre trip, this time accompanied by a Clem Clone, a computer program that sounds like "Tricky Dick," and an ancient crystal ball reader ("I see... you are... a sailor...")"

Save $8.00 - Buy the two cuts seperately.

W. B. Ingalls | San Diego, CA | 03/23/2010

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't pay $9.99 for the mp3 version of this album. Instead, buy the two cuts for $0.99 each. That's a savings of $8.01."