DAVID
OSSMAN'S HOW TIME FLYS
“How Time Flys” is probably the most unknown (among neophytes, anyway)
title in the Firesign catalog. Curious, especially, as it was the
first solo release from one of the four (Proctor & Bergman’s
“TV Or Not TV” followed shortly after). The plot is simple: Mark
Time, having devoted many years of his life to a recently-completed
mission, comes back to a very changed Earth, where there is no hero-worship
to greet him. Everyone seems to be more interested in the acquisition
of the “Memory Loops” from the mission than in Mark, himself, who
must keep them from falling into the wrong hands.
While barely containing any “hard laughs,” this release has a subtle
charm all it’s own. This is not to say it isn’t amusing - it is
very, in some parts. But, the record comes off as much more a piece
of “radio theatre” than a “comedy album.” This is, in part, to it’s
very straightforward and self-contained plot. For the time period
it was released in, it’s sense of story was far stronger than anything
else the group or the others working solo were tackling (this was
changed with the subsequent release of “The Giant Rat Of Sumatra”).
Each Firesign doesn’t play dozens of characters - Ossman plays one
(Mark Time, though he does issue a few random voices here and there),
the others play two each (Austin is Manny & William Gazachorn,
Bergman is Mr. Motion & Progresso Sweetheart, and Proctor is
Tweeny & Shortstop). The respect for the written word (many
of the lines are positively prosaic) doesn’t allow much room for
improvisation - no riffs, ad libs, or bon-mots pepper this record’s
landscape.
The record says a lot about the “dispensible hero” (esp. astronauts)
and much humor comes from Mark’s disappointment at having no human
being there to help him re-adjust to life back on the ground. Jim
and Nellie Houseafire’s (Jim being played by comic great Harry Shearer
from “Saturday Night Live,” “Spinal Tap,” and “The Simpsons”) “The
Years In Your Ears” is simply an amazing, funny mini-analysis of
the about 50 years crammed into about 5 minutes. I remember this
record being nearly impeneratable when I was young - listening again
recently raised my respect for it to some degree. The text of the
piece contains so many great, evocative lines, it takes quite a
while to sift through them all. “How Time Flys” demands your full
attention, which may be why less patient listeners have little knowledge
of it.
-- Phil Buchbinder |
