The Beginning
Never Ends

A review of the Firesign Theatre
in Seattle 5/2/99
by Cat Simril

The Firelads mine their mythic past to create a new show. Their voices ever-tuned as musical instruments, to the possibility of playing with each other, with their own possibilities and whatever new possibilities of euphony that arise.

   Always interesting to see them re-invent their old lines for new realities, but with the same devotion to obscurity, retooled for new settings: the Lathe of Fireheaven, ever turning.

   It's inspiring to see them. Now it's full speed ahead, with the latest Fireproduct, updated as frequently as the station changes its format. But far more than on the album, Bebop steps out and comments on what's going down - talking to the physical audience in the theater as if we were his fictional listeners on the radio. This makes for some very good theater.

   Austin on stage is able to expand the philosophy and the humanity of his character as well as provoke the audience into a deeper dialogue with what they're hearing.

   There's such a large body of firework it's easy for them to assemble new pieces to pour into a new river, if you can dig it.

   Surrealism never goes out of style, or anywhere else. Ernie Kovacs lives on. Without a doubt they have Enthusiasm. We can edit it all together later.

   A whole evening built upon Norwegian wood, from those Beatles of comedy. The lads have found it again, within themselves, within those well tuned echoes, and boldly, gaily, ebulliently they dance off into the unknown.