The comedy world has lost one of it’s finest and most under appreciated talent yesterday with the passing of Peter Berman of The Firesign Theatre.

I’ve been a fan since I was 17 and found the group though The Rolling Stone Record Guide, a book which rated FT’s album Forward Into The Past as a 5 star record. I discovered the 5-star rated Brian Eno’s Another Green World through this book as well. At that time in my life I would buy almost any album rated 5 stars.

Once I listened to the complex, multi-layered comedy of the group the first time, I asked myself “what’s so funny about this?” But then I listened again. And again. And again. As the layers revealed themselves to me I found it impossible to not find something funny that I missed on the last listen.

Soon I could recite the 20 minute “The Adventures Of Nick Danger, Third Eye” in all the characters ‘ voices from memory.

I never got to see them live, but their comedy will always make me laugh out loud at the incredible wordplay, references, and mental images of the characters which they mastered over their 40-plus years as a performing troupe.

Peter is the first of the “Four (or Five)Funny Guys” to pass. The chair is now missing a leg that can never be replaced.

I’ll miss you, Pete.