Dr. Firesign's Follies

by David Ossman

David Ossman has been contributing to popular culture since he chronicled Beat-era poets on his New York radio show, "The Sullen Art", in 1960. He himself became a Boomer-era icon on The Firesign Theatre's classic albums, Waiting For The Electrician or Someone Like Him, and as Porgie Tirebiter on Don't Crush that Dwarf, and Hand Me The Pliers.

Ossman has played Carnegie Hall, voiced an elderly ant for Pixar, gigged with John Cage, portrayed Mark Twain, E. E. Cummings and Catherwood The Butler. He was an early FM broadcaster and contributor to underground media, later a prize-winning producer for NPR, a playwright and performer for the BBC, three-time Grammy nominee, and co-creator of the Mark Time Awards for Science Fiction Audio. Ossman and his wife Judith Walcutt share a Lifetime Achievement "Angie" Award given at the 2007 International Mystery Writers Festival.

Dr. Firesign's Follies combines Ossman's insights on the Art of Radio and the creation of Firesign's audio oeuvre with his scandal-filled account of a tumultuous year as Surrealist Party candidate for U.S. Vice President. Included in the Follies program are many of Ossman's favorite comedy characters - George Tirebiter, Ben Bland, Peggy Koolzip, Beat St. Jack, Maxwell Morgan and Mark Time - appearing in the scripts that made them infamous.