WAVELAND RADIO PLAYHOUSE
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I still admire Firesign’s gift for calling up complicated, imaginary worlds through words and sound effects alone. No one has ever equalled them. Joe Frank’s self-indulgent, self- consciously experimental radio show “Work in Progress” (broadcast on WBEZ on Sunday nights) comes close. But his work doesn’t so much stretch the medium of radio as simply translate to the box populi elements of performance art: minimalism, postmodern irony, and story telling.
Locally, Waveland Radio Playhouse, which performs live comedy revues disguised as live radio broadcasts, tries to follow in Firesign Theatre’s footsteps. This trio of talented comedians–Jim Garner, Dan Shea, and P.J. Byrnes–have the makings of a good act, an act that would probably be better if they didn’t follow quite so closely in Firesign’s footsteps.
