Saturday, June 20, 2015

Remembering Phil Austin (1941-2015)

A founding member of The Firesign Theater, Phil Austin passed away this week.  I had the good fortune to work with another member of the group, David Ossman, directly in the 1980s, and this particular radio production, "Down Under Danger," gave me the rare opportunity to work with Phil, albeit in the background and in post-production.  The 30 minute program was intended as a pilot series for his long-established character, Nick Danger, but sadly never made it much beyond this particular episode.   If you listen in to The Prairie Home Companion's "Guy Noir" you're getting as close as it can get these days, in heavy gentleness, to this astonishing collection of patter, one-liners, and surreal plot lines.

It runs 30 minutes and is connected with random images of the group and their many amazing recorded productions.  The world seems less humorous at his passing, but his work still brings a smile.  Enjoy.

The youtube link is:  https://youtu.be/8ObHj1o_TtI

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