| Pages in topic: < [1 2] | Ressource : "The old Same place" by Firesign Theater Thread poster: marlene Le Duc (X)
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Kay-Viktor Stegemann wrote:
Maybe the "old Same place" means a place where the Sames lived (a family named "Same"). At least then it would remotely be like a joke.
Well, they're just messing about with language, as they do the whole time, but the place he then goes to is called the Same Mansion.
It's hard to see how you can describe a house as looking like one on an audio recording, but perhaps that's the surreal point.
Bear in mind nobody will get the reference other than Americans over the age of 60. Why not suggest to the author that you miss it out?
| | | | marlene Le Duc (X)
France
Local time: 21:21
English to French
TOPIC STARTER
Would you (if you had the same thing in your pair of language) write a Footnote, explaining this is a sketch from the 60's ?
I wrote a post yesterday on LinkedIn, and a 40 years old american woman told me that she remembers very well this text.
In France, we do have some comics plays that remain in the collective memory, for example sometime you will heard "and 3 days later, the duck was still alive" it's a reference to a sketch call "Duck hunt" which was writte ... See more Would you (if you had the same thing in your pair of language) write a Footnote, explaining this is a sketch from the 60's ?
I wrote a post yesterday on LinkedIn, and a 40 years old american woman told me that she remembers very well this text.
In France, we do have some comics plays that remain in the collective memory, for example sometime you will heard "and 3 days later, the duck was still alive" it's a reference to a sketch call "Duck hunt" which was writte in 1950.
About the joke, I finally get an explaination, which remains in "You can’t be in two places at once when you’re not anywhere at all."; which is even print under the title of the records. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | What I would do? | Aug 12, 2021 |
marlene Le Duc wrote:
Would you (if you had the same thing in your pair of language) write a Footnote, explaining this is a sketch from the 60's ?
No. If it's significant, I would speak to the author about it. If it's not significant, I would miss it out.
I see our job as helping the reader, not being faithful to the original. YMMV.
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Ice Scream wrote:
I see our job as helping the reader, not being faithful to the original. YMMV.
as a mix of the two, if at all possible... 
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Jessica Noyes 
United States
Local time: 15:21
Member
Spanish to English
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| The actual script is in a box below the audio screen, on the left. | Aug 12, 2021 |
Kai-Viktor is right about this being a pun between "same old place", and "old Same place" with Same being the name of the family that owns the mansion.
The Fire Sign Theatre programs had at least one pun and/or obscure cultural reference per line, and although I think they're hilarious, they are not very accessible to those who were never steeped in North American social phenomena up to and including the '70s, when they came out. Those familiar with historic British humor would compare them more or less to the Goon Show of the '60s, and the later Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Their name itself is a joky reference to "Fireside Theatre", a.k.a. Jane Wyman Presents, an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. The term "fire sign" refers to the astrology craze of the seventies, when people identified different signs of the Zodiac as earth, air, fire, and water signs (three each). So this name tells the listener that the radio program is going to be, as someone mentioned in the comments above, surreal.
Skilled speakers and users of English who are baffled by this sort of humor needn't feel left out. My own dear, but literal-minded husband, U.S. born and bred, "gets" almost none of the jokes, and thinks that this type of thing is absurd.
| | | | Gerard de Noord
France
Local time: 21:21
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
| This is why I keep paying my membership | Aug 12, 2021 |
Jessica Noyes wrote:
Kai-Viktor is right about this being a pun between "same old place", and "old Same place" with Same being the name of the family that owns the mansion.
The Fire Sign Theatre programs had at least one pun and/or obscure cultural reference per line, and although I think they're hilarious, they are not very accessible to those who were never steeped in North American social phenomena up to and including the '70s, when they came out. Those familiar with historic British humor would compare them more or less to the Goon Show of the '60s, and the later Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Their name itself is a joky reference to "Fireside Theatre", a.k.a. Jane Wyman Presents, an American anthology drama series that ran on NBC from 1949 to 1958, and was the first successful filmed series on American television. The term "fire sign" refers to the astrology craze of the seventies, when people identified different signs of the Zodiac as earth, air, fire, and water signs (three each). So this name tells the listener that the radio program is going to be, as someone mentioned in the comments above, surreal.
Skilled speakers and users of English who are baffled by this sort of humor needn't feel left out. My own dear, but literal-minded husband, U.S. born and bred, "gets" almost none of the jokes, and thinks that this type of thing is absurd.
I am so happy that there are still people on this website who know more than I do.
Gerard
| | | | | Obscure reference indeed... | Aug 13, 2021 |
but if it refers to an old Victorian house called Old same Place, or whatever, mentioned in the "song" The Further Adventures Of Nick Danger by the Firesign Theater (a comedy act, not a band), then the only way you can solve it is to put a footnote. Not the best, but I don't see any alternatives...
| | | | | The Old Same Place word play | Aug 30, 2023 |
Firesign Theater uses word play, irony and double entendre to a significant extent. An example of word play is the radio commercial "Ersatz Brother's Coffee, the real one" (from the album Don't Crush that Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers) - Ersatz meaning 'not real' flips to 'the real one'. In "The Same Old Place", remember Nick drives into a gas station then asks Pop for directions to "the Old Same Place". When looking for a specific home, many people refer to older homes by the original owner "Where'... See more Firesign Theater uses word play, irony and double entendre to a significant extent. An example of word play is the radio commercial "Ersatz Brother's Coffee, the real one" (from the album Don't Crush that Dwarf, Hand Me the Pliers) - Ersatz meaning 'not real' flips to 'the real one'. In "The Same Old Place", remember Nick drives into a gas station then asks Pop for directions to "the Old Same Place". When looking for a specific home, many people refer to older homes by the original owner "Where's the old Smith House?". This is then flipped by Pop to "it's right out back. Here's the key". Before convenience stores, gas stations served as a place to stop to go to bathroom/restroom. For most of those old stations, the bathrooms were in the back of the station, not inside where the station attendant was. Customers had to ask for a key before going back to the bathroom and owners used the key to keep inappropriate things from going on. So, the "Same Place" house or mansion is flipped to a gas station's bathroom. ▲ Collapse
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Tony Keily
Local time: 21:21
Italian to English
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| I think it's a bad reference | Aug 31, 2023 |
In the sketch 'same old place' isn't capitalised, whereas in your reference it is. This actually ruins the joke (which has been explained by other posters). There is no description of the mansion in the sketch, but what's evoked is the typical horror-film hilltop house, the cinematic aspect being underlined by the fact that a prop (cornstarch) is standing in for snow.
Given the imperfect reference, I'd just say something like 'one of those typical old mansions from scary films' and... See more In the sketch 'same old place' isn't capitalised, whereas in your reference it is. This actually ruins the joke (which has been explained by other posters). There is no description of the mansion in the sketch, but what's evoked is the typical horror-film hilltop house, the cinematic aspect being underlined by the fact that a prop (cornstarch) is standing in for snow.
Given the imperfect reference, I'd just say something like 'one of those typical old mansions from scary films' and then okay with the author.
It might also be a good time to start to stop saying 'Anglo-Saxon', specially if it's linked to genetics! ▲ Collapse
| | | | | my post is not about punctuation, use of uppercase/lowercase | Aug 31, 2023 |
The original version of this passage, created by the actual members of the Firesign Theater, was in audio format. Originally broadcast as a radio program and then on records, it did not include punctuation, uppercase/lowercase, grammar, etc., because you can’t listen to punctuation, etc. The uppercase/lowercase version mentioned here was a transcription by someone else, not the members of the Firesign Theater. The transcribed version pales in comparison to the original, audio, version at the v... See more The original version of this passage, created by the actual members of the Firesign Theater, was in audio format. Originally broadcast as a radio program and then on records, it did not include punctuation, uppercase/lowercase, grammar, etc., because you can’t listen to punctuation, etc. The uppercase/lowercase version mentioned here was a transcription by someone else, not the members of the Firesign Theater. The transcribed version pales in comparison to the original, audio, version at the very least because it is not truly authentic. The fans of the Firesign Theater find the audio skits compelling because it was so engaging every time we listened to it. That relates directly to the purpose of my post, that the Firesign Theater were masters of wordplay, irony, and double entendre, rhetorical devices, and nothing to do with uppercase/lowercase transcription. The discussion about what the “joke” is might have some relevance to issues of transcription, created by someone else, but not about how FT uses wordplay, irony and double entendre. The first example given, for instance (“Ersatz Brother’s Coffee, the real one”) was about word play, not uppercase/lowercase, punctuation, etc. The same is so with the “Same Place” post. ▲ Collapse
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