Description

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

Firesign Theatre Lexicon [D]

DCTDHMTP: Don't Crush That {DWARF}, Hand Me the Pliers!.

DOCTOR MEMORY: The big computer that runs everything in the
{FUTURE FAIR}, described in the FT's {BOZO} play. The Doctor was also
mentioned in a poem on the "Dear Friends" album. He is based on an old
SAILON LISP program written for the PDP-10 running the TOPS-10 operating
system.

AhClem repeatedly calls Dr. Memory "Mac" - which far predates the
current Apple computer line; but the MIT AI lab, where the Doctor
program originated, grew out of Project Mac (for Machine Aided
Cognition and/or Multiple Access Computer)

DWARF: "Don't Crush That Dwarf, Hand Me The Pliers": An FT play about
the life of the {EVERYMAN} George {TIREBITER}. The title appears to be
a marijuana reference. "Dwarf" is slang for a marijuana cigarette
which has been almost completely consumed (ie, "roach") and the
"pliers" are pliers or any other device which can be used to hold the
dwarf by the very end in order to consume the rest of the cigarette
("roach clip"). Hence, "don't crush that nearly-consumed marijuana
cigarette, hand me a pair of pliers (so that I can smoke the rest)."
This could also be tied in to Hal Roach, the famous producer of old
silent comedies, who only recently died at the age of 100+. He is given
a brief mention at the end of "Dwarf", when {TIREBITER}'S secretary
indicates that Mr. Roach had left a message, along with Laurel & Hardy,
Harpo Marx ("Honk! Honk!- he would leave his name..") The FT sometimes
refer to a "Hot Roach Studios", which they presumably ran.

The liner notes for the "Dwarf" CD mentions that the original title
for Dwarf was "We'll be Heironymus Bosch in Jest a Minute, but Faust..."
indicating connections between the play and the man who "sold out" to
the devil, as well as the nature of interruptions as a part of life.

{ROCKY ROCOCO}, the nemesis of {NICK DANGER}, is a dwarf:

CATHER: "Nancy, who's that ugly dwarf with his hand in your mouth?"
ROCKY: "Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"

There were also dwarf maples at the {SAME OLD PLACE}.

See also {WORDSWORTH} for a poetic reference.

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