During training to be a Census Enumerator, it came up that few people had heard of, much less were familiar with, The Firesign Theatre. Unacceptable.

I put together a sampler of comedy. My initial goal was to use only pre-1970 spoken comedy (roughly FT era) but bent the rules for Shockwave Radio Theater, Steven Wright, and a few new recordings of old comics. Mostly, these are classic routines and songs. I could, of course, only use stuff from my own collection. I don't have a lot of Bill Cosby or George Carlin on CD. Heck, I don't have a lot of older FT; the cuts are from their Best Of Compilation, and I have their most recent CDs.

Behind the cut are 84 mp3s. What comedy would you want today's Young Whippersnappers to know of?

Thalia's Retreat: Timeless Comedy for Whippersnappers

The Further Adventures Of Nick Danger The Firesign Theatre 28:07
"High School Madness!" The Firesign Theatre 6:48
The Breaking Of The President The Firesign Theatre 6:17
Side One Monty Python 25:22
Side Two Monty Python 20:02
You're Riding The Shockwave pt. 1 Shockwave Radio Theater 28:58
You're Riding The Shockwave pt. 2 Shockwave Radio Theater 28:37
When The Chips Are Down Shockwave Radio Theater 9:40
Computer Dating Stiller & Meara 6:13
The 2000 Year Old Man Mel Brooks Carl Reiner 7:03
Broken Back Burns & Allen 2:22
Phonetic Punctuation Borge, Victor 5:52
The Nazz Lord Buckley 9:54
Gettysburg Address Lord Buckley 5:14
Live Steven Wright 48:08
Confessions Of 349-18-5171 Ken Nordine 7:25
The Sound Museum Ken Nordine 7:12
Faces In The Jazzamatazz Ken Nordine 4:44
Shticks Of One And Half A Dozen Of The Other Allan Sherman 5:44
Hail To Thee, Fat Person Allan Sherman 1:42
Take My Wife Henny Youngman 2:02
Doctor, Doctor Henny Youngman 3:04
Family Favorites Henny Youngman 2:12
The Jewish Hit Parade And My Violin Favorites Henny Youngman 4:37
Tom Dooley The Smothers Brothers 4:47
Chocolate The Smothers Brothers 2:51
Crabs Walk Sideways The Smothers Brothers 5:10
Mediocre Fred The Smothers Brothers 1:46
Take My Wife, Please Steinberg, David 5:05
Guess Who's Comin' To Dinner (Or Movies) Steinberg, David 6:16
Remember Pat Boone Steinberg, David 4:00
Billy The Mountain Frank Zappa & The Mothers Of Invention 24:47
Santa Claus/Jo Jo Jo (The Birth Of Jose) Bill Dana 1:16
The Broadway Writer Bill Dana 2:28
The Centerfold Bill Dana 3:55
The Submarine Officer Bill Dana 3:32
Welcome To The Yosemite National Tree Bill Dana 2:25
The Astronaut Bill Dana 5:53
Football Bill Cosby 2:31
Bill's Marriage Bill Cosby 2:09
Track And Field High Jump Bill Cosby 5:35
Burns & Schreiber / Performance Of Nov 24, 1968 Various Artists 7:11
George Carlin / Performance Of Feb 28, 1971 Various Artists 6:10
In Heaven There Is No Beer Clean Living 2:28
Elements Lehrer, Tom 1:55
Pollution Lehrer, Tom 2:03
The Vatican Rag Tom Lehrer 2:14
Alma Tom Lehrer 5:27
Smut Tom Lehrer 3:15
The Masochism Tango Tom Lehrer 3:30
Clementine Tom Lehrer 4:41
William Tell Overture Spike Jones 3:25
Farandole In The Hall Of The Mountain King Spike Jones 3:08
Cocktails for Two Spike Jones City Slickers 3:00
Der Fuehrer's Face Spike Jones 2:35
Shaving Cream Benny Bell 2:44
Tip-Toe Thru' the Tulips With Me Tiny Tim 1:52
Fast Food Stevens & Grdnic 2:23
'Cause I'm A Blonde Brown, Julie 2:15
Bulbous Bouffant The Vestibules 4:16
Ti Kwan Leep / Boot To The Head The Frantics 6:08
Marvin, I Love You Marvin The Paranoid Android 3:55
Poisoning Pigeons in the Park Tom Lehrer 2:09
Hooray for Captain Spaulding Groucho Marx 3:11
Star Trekkin' The Firm 3:37
Wet Dream Kip Addotta 5:10
Fish Heads Barnes & Barnes 2:27
The Purple People Eater Sheb Wooley 2:16
Dead Puppies Ogden Edsl 2:15
They're Coming to Take Me Away, Ha-Haaa! Napoleon XIV 2:11
The Intro and the Outro Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 3:05
Kama Sutra Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 0:41
Hunting Tigers Out in “Indiah” Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 3:07
Rockaliser Baby Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 3:30
I’m the Urban Spaceman Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 2:25
Big Shot Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band 3:29
Black Strap Molasses Durante, Jimmy with Groucho Marx, Danny Kaye and Jane Wyman 2:38
Inka Dinka Doo Durante, Jimmy 2:53
Start Each Day With A Song Durante, Jimmy with Eddie Jackson 3:14
John and Marsha Stan Freberg 2:31
St George and the Dragonet Stan Freberg 3:24
The yellow rose of Texas Stan Freberg 3:25
Banana boat Stan Freberg 3:30
Green Christmas Stan Freberg 6:53