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This article is from the Firesign Theatre: Lexicon FAQ, by Niles D. Ritter ritter@earthlink.net with numerous contributions by others.

Firesign Theatre Lexicon [T]

TAJUNGA: Yet another mis-pronounced LA street name in {NICK DANGER}.
Tujunga canyon is a bit north of Pasadena, and the FT used to perform
there.

TESLACLE'S DEVIANT: "Who goes in, must come out". This is a corollary
to {FUDD'S LAW}, and is referred to in the {BOZO} play,and also in
{HEMLOCK STONES}, Giant {RAT} of Sumatra play, where Stones chases the
{ELECTRICIAN} into the bathroom, and continues to search, claiming,
"what goes in must come out! Fudd's Law!" First enunciated by
Tom Teslacle ( a reference to Nikolai Tesla) to Dick {BEDDOES}. See
also {NANCY}.

TIREBITER: The last name of George Leroy Tirebiter, another
incarnation of P, the {EVERYMAN} in the FT's play {DWARF}. Also the
name of the {YOLK}'S neighbors in the {NICK DANGER} video. The original
George Tirebiter was a dog. In the liner notes for the Dwarf CD,
Phil Austin writes:

The dog, the immortal George Tirebiter, was the doughty unofficial
mascot of USC (Univ. South. Calif.) athletic teams in earlier
times, renowned for his devotion to attacking the spinning wheels
of large American automobiles....

The five ages of George Leroy Tirebiter are these:

-Tirebiter the Child, called Porge or Porgie.
[###Porgie and Mudhead is verbal play on "Archie and Jughead"].

-Tirebiter the College Student, called
George Tirebiter Camden N200-R. [###that's his last name]

-Tirebiter the Soldier, called Lt. Tirebiter.

-Tirebiter the Actor, Called Dave Casman. [###play on {OSSMAN}]

-Tirebiter the Old Man, called George Leroy Tirebiter.

It should also be mentioned that a sixth incarnation of Tirebiter,
named George Matetsky, actually encounters his alter-ego {NICK DANGER},
an Early Bird Theatre presentation of a movie whose title starts with
"Luck". George Matetsky was the real name of "The Mad Bomber" -- a real-
life enraged weirdo in the 50's who used to blow things up and send
ranting messages about his dislike for Pres. Eisenhower.

David Ossman remarked in a interview once that George Tirebiter,
the dog, used to walk past his house every day when he lived near
USC, that he much later met the fellow who named the dog, and was able
to explain how that dog's name had become a good part of his career...

This is quoted from the LA Times, "Only in L.A" column, at the bottom of
page B2, Wed Nov 10, 1993:

"...True, USC did boast an unofficial mascot named George Tirebiter
for a few glorious years in the 1940s and 1950s..
Tirebiter, a scraggly mutt who wandered onto campus after his owner
died, grew to be beloved for his nasty temper, which often manifested
itself in chases after automobiles.
So treasured was Tirebiter that miscreants from a rival school once
captured him and shaved the letters "UCLA" into his coat. Alas, the
hound tried to chew on one too many Firestones [tires] and was run over
in 1950.
The school newspaper eulogized: `Gone to heaven, where he will have
cushion rides for breakfast, white sidewalls for lunch, and cold rubber
recaps for dinner.'

TORTURING: "Not to be Torturing Me!" Said by HIDEO {GUMP}, Jr., who
played {YOUNG GUY}, Motor Detective. He was being tortured because
"decision-making factor absent from brain", following a terrible brain-
washing session in radio prison, at the hands of {BRADSHAW} !

TWO PLACES: "How Can You Be in Two Places At Once, when you're not
Anywhere At All?" The record album containg the {EVERYMAN} story of
{BABE}, and also the {NICK DANGER} episode, "Cut Em Off at the Past!"

 

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