Page 49 - 72_11PDF_Searchable

to the Future Fair. So it’s a funny thing to envision, because it doesn’t really start with the guy who’s asking, “What is my
future?” The secret of it is at the very end he says, “I sec you are a sailor,” and then it goes off into a thing about the sea. Well,
that’s the way a fortune teller works- especially a theatrical fortune teller, as they all are in a sense. It ’ s just artists - they ’re all
^
like that. “Look into the ball - buy this painting.” That’s just what it is. And Bamic’s kind of a dog, a pleasant uy, and he can ’ t
—
remember anything. Just a nice dude that would come and watch a play. That artist audience relationship. Clenvs not a bad guy
because he’s a fake; he’s just making a living doing what all the actors and artists and musicians do when they get into show
business. His thing is looking at a person and saying, “Ah, I see you arc a sailor,” and then making a world out of it. He must have
said to Bamie, “I see you are a boro,” and then tells a story about that Rule American figure that keeps cropping up. Who he is in
the future. But still a very pleasant guy.The all American tourist. Peter ’ s always insisted when talking to people that we re very
’
much for bozos. We don’t think bozos are creeps. We think bozos are a pleasant projection of the future. Instead of being faceless
THX 1138 robots, they’re just nice dumb bozos, that you already know, because the future is already here. It’s just going to be
—
the same people- You just think a minute and say, “Allright, I can write a science fiction story about you. I can tell you the
future.” Because the guy telling the story - the artist knows that there is no future. That you’re dealing with a cat and getting
his dollar away from him. You’re telling wonderful stories about the future or the past and our glorious ancestors, and the guy
keeps giving you dollars. It’s harder to say, “Look what’s going on around you right now,” because the guy will get confused and
say “This isn’t a very good show. Tell us one about the future. Tell us one about the past.” Somehow that ’ s the relationship
between trying to tell things to people and how it’s done.

P.B.: WHEN WE FIRST STARTED WE THOUGHT WE WERE THE BEATLES, BECAUSE THEY WERE THE BEST AROUND.
P.A.: Bozos is a fraternal organization - Brotherhood of Zips and Others — and Barnie is their Chairman;obviously an important
guy. [Obviously it’s a communist brotherhood.]
D.O.: We 've got a letter here guyt This came to us from a land far far away . . . ”Well hi I’m 23 and / never thought I ' d be writing
a fan letter in my life, but here ' s one. I’ve been in Nam for 17 months now, and about seven months ago a friend received your
last album from the World There's always been a group of five heads who get together at night and relax. We listen to some hard
stuff, and then when we’re really stoned -
’
P.A.: Call the President! They’re not shooting it, they re listening to it!
D.O.: / thought this would bring you to certain revelations.’’And then, you Ve got to believe me," he goes on, " when 1 say it has
changed our lifestyles here in Nam. We have it memorized, and yell out phrases from it, and use some for replies to straights, and
sometimes even run through a skit between a couple of guys. Needless to say, no-one knows why we’re laughing, or what we’re
talking about, because nothing’s funny. Some of the lifers have even picked it up and are using it unknowingly. I figured that the
ultimate would be this situation: You’re at a party and you’re mixing with folks and every once in a while you slip in a word or a
phrase from the album ’ ’ -
P.P.: Eat it raw!
P.B.: HA! HA! PRETTY INTELLECTUAL OVER THERE CARSON!
P.A.: Third record!-
D.O.: " Well, as you can see, nobody picked it up, so eventually l got so desperate that l asked if anyone had ever heard of the
Firesign Theatre. Some had, so I tried turning people on to you. You don’t get much out of your albums the first few times, so /
wasn V able to get much of a response. / think I’ll have to get a new set of friends. Well, I brought all of your albums back to Nam,
and they ' o.k , but they just don V come across like DonV Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers. Which brings up a point. We
re
had that album about two months before figuring out what it meant. One night one guy is fust hit with the revelation after
studying the cover for a half hour. Fantastic. Well, so long. Thanks for the enjoyment you Ve given us. Signed, last of the original
five. ”
PA.: [On “Le Trcnte- Huite Cunegonde”]:
The pilot of the plane is Marshall McLuhan, because the plane is named Anola McLuhan. And it’s dropping the excess books on
Nigeria - the niggers- Nigeria. Which is what Nigeria means: land of black people. There’s no other explanation. Dropping books
on the black people; that’s what it comes down to. So 1 figured that the woman who says, “It’ ll kill your father,” and forces her
46 cftccn