Radio Drama Revival: The Silver Tongued Devil by Roger Gregg

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Drama RevivalThe Silver Tongued Devil, a Crazy Dog Audio Theatre production penned by the mighty Roger Gregg, has just been podcast on Radio Drama Revival Episode 294. Host Fred Greenhalgh, a protege of Gregg’s, describes it this way:

This saucy mockumentary tries to uncover a surprising Irish poetry sensation… while lampooning Irish culture, academia, mass hysteria, and maybe even a jab at poetry itself (aren’t all poets rich and sexy?

I first heard about The Silver Tongued Devil back in 2005 when it was reviewed as a segment of Gregg’s Diabolic Playhouse |READ OUR REVIEW|. Then, Scott described it as “an absolute treasure for fans of audio drama.”When I got the chance to hear it I completely concurred. Over the years since I posted about it’s twice more, HERE and HERE.

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre - The Silver Tongued Devil by Roger GreggHere’s Scott’s description from 2005:

This entire piece is done like a radio documentary, NPR-style, complete with interviews of average people about the “Silver Tongued Devil”. The actors who did these segments were perfect! If I had listened to this on the radio without knowing that Crazy Dog had done it, I’d have thought it was news. Who is the “Silver Tongued Devil”? He’s an incredibly famous poet from Cork who has the god-like ability to make people swoon with his words. Again, the piece is multi-layered, achieving both hilarity and poignancy.”

|MP3|

Podcast feed: http://feeds2.feedburner.com/RadioDramaRevival

Posted by Jesse Willis

The SFFaudio Podcast #003

Podcast

The SFFaudio PodcastGenerally, this is our third podcast. Furthermore, it is a podcast of deep functionality. It’s universal really. Long story short, we talked about stuff. Join us in our secret society [book readers] where I (Jesse) say things like: Dune shot Science Fiction in the head.” and “Why I don’t like Science Fiction movies anymore.” and “You don’t name a king Augustus.” and “I hope the Earth explodes.”

In other words, the podcast’s length is commensurate with a function of your desire to listen to it.

Topics discussed include:

Crazy Dog Audio Theatre, The Zombies Of Dr. Krell, Roger Gregg, The Sonic Society, Radio Drama Revival, Whipping Star, Frank Herbert, Tantor Media, Dune, The Road To Dune, Children Of Dune, Brian Herbert, Kevin J. Anderson, MP3 to iPod Audiobook Converter, iTunes 8.0, zombies, StarShipSofa, SFSignal.com, Ian McDonald, The River Of Gods, Lawrence Block, Donald E. Westlake, Stephen King, John Scalzi, Old Man’s War, Anathem, Neal Stephenson, Snow Crash, BBC Audiobooks America, Hard Case Crime, Ed McBain, The Lies Of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch, Dragon Page: Cover To Cover, Roger Zelazny, Locus, The Dead Man’s Brother, Robert McGinnis, Glen Orbik, Behind The Black Mask: Mystery Writers Revealed, Christa Faust, Money Shot, public libraries, secret societies, Podiobooks.com, Evo Terra, The Book Of The New Sun, Gene Wolfe, Grifter’s Game, Random House Audio, The Colorado Kid, Aural Noir, Sunshine, 28 Days Later, I, Robot, I Am Legend, 2001: A Space Odyssey, 2010: The Year We Make Contact, Fortress Draconis (a book with a king named Augustus), Robert Capa, John Searle, Brian Cox (physicist), IMDB.com

Posted by Jesse Willis

Radio Drama Revival: The Salmon Of Blackpool Spawning Greatness

SFFaudio Online Audio

Radio Drama RevivalRadio Drama Revival, has now completed podcasting another Crazy Dog Audio Theatre program in its entirety. This program aired on RTE Radio back in August.

The absolutely flooring The Salmon Of Blackpool is a four episode tale of a Hollywood screenwriter and his self-destructive subject. It is a magical achievement – on par with Infidel. The artistry and artists that created Salmon worked together to conjure what can only be described as transformative audio. Absent are any trappings of the fantastic – but what the program reveals is an unfettered drama capped by an unrelenting moral horror. Salmon explores that noir interzone between life’s meaning and life itself. In a final irony Salmon turns its own harsh gaze upon itself, there are no laughs, no remittances, no washing away of the melancholy – simply, the tale, and its central figures, grab ahold of what little ethic they can in an uncaring sea of human selfishness. Salmon won’t make you happy, it will instead shatter illusions and drain you and with its honesty. The Salmon Of Blackpool is what makes radio drama truly a great art form.

The Salmon Of Blackpool
By Roger Gregg; Performed by a full cast
4 MP3s -Approx. 100 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Part 1 |MP3| Part 2 |MP3| Part 3 |MP3| Part 4 |MP3|

And be sure to listen for next week’s show, which will include an interview with Roger Gregg.

Subscribe to the Radio Drama Revival feed via this url:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/RadioDramaRevival

Posted by Jesse Willis

Recent Arrivals

Science Fiction Audiobook Recent Arrivals

Science Fiction Audiobook - Inhumanity Quest by T. Ray GordonInhumanity Quest
By T. Ray Gordon; Read by Richard Sellers
1 CD – 72 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Apex Audio Theatre
Published: 2005
UPC: 701376151425
Described as: “[An] audio book audio drama/science fiction/adventure. In the distant future a war for the survival of humanity rages. The enemy is powerful and ruthless and will stop at nothing to ensure mankinds extermination.”

Horror Audiobook - Jeffrey Combs Read H.P. Lovecraft's Herbert West Re-AnimatorJeffrey Combs Read H.P. Lovecraft’s Herbert West Re-Animator
By H.P. Lovecraft; Read by Jeffrey Combs
1 CD – 72 Minutes [ABRIDGED]
Publisher: Beyond-Books.com
Published: 1999
UPC: 619981033428
Described as: “‘The Herbert West-Reanimator’ serial was six gruesome tales inspired by Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, and was a group of stories Lovecraft considered to be his ‘poorest work – stuff done to order for a vulgar magazine, and written down to the herd’s level.’ Contrary to Lovecraft’s opinion of his own work, Re-animator is a very enjoyable macabre tale filled with suspense and dread.”

Audiobook - Infidel by Roger GreggInfidel
By Roger Gregg; Performed by a Full Cast
2 CDs – 72 Minutes [RADIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Crazy Dog Audio Theatre
Published: 2006
UPC: 69232098568
Described as: “Infidel takes place in the early 13th century during the Fifth Crusade. In the context of the factual history of the Crusade, Infidel tells the fictional story of brothers Hugh and Philip of Beauvais, and Omar, the youngest son of the sultan and to whom Hugh becomes a tutor and unlikely friend.” *Given the historical setting this may not strictly fit into the fantasy category but Crazy Dog does audio drama right. It should be fun.

Danse Macabre - An Anita Lake, Vampire Hunter NovelDanse Macabre – An Anita Lake, Vampire Hunter Novel
By Laurell K. Hamilton; Read by Cynthia Holloway
18 CDs – Approx. 21 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1596008687
Described as: “These days, Anita Blake is less interested in vampire politics than in an ancient, ordinary dread she shares with women down the ages: she may be pregnant. And, if she is, whether the father is a vampire, a werewolf, or someone else entirely, he knows perfectly well that being a Federal Marshal known for raising the dead and being a vampire executioner, is no way to bring up a baby. “

Armageddon's Children by Terry BrooksArmageddon’s Children
By Terry Brooks; Read by Dick Hill
12 CDs – Approx. 14 Hours [UNABRIDGED]
Publisher: Brilliance Audio
Published: 2006
ISBN: 1423322568
Described as: “[A] gripping chronicle of a once-familiar world now spun shockingly out of control, in which an extraordinary few struggle to salvage hope in the face of terrifying chaos. Logan Tom is doomed to remember the past and determined to rescue the future. Far behind him lies a boyhood cut violently short by his family’s slaughter, when the forces of madness and hate swept our world after decadent excesses led to civilization’s downfall. Somewhere ahead of him rests the only chance to beat back the minions of evil that are systematically killing and enslaving the last remnants of humanity. Navigating the scarred and poisoned landscape that once was America and guided by a powerful talisman, Logan has sworn an oath to seek out a remarkable being born of magic, possessed of untold abilities, and destined to lead the final fight against darkness.”

The Sonic Society is RABID after a bite of Crazy Dog’s The Silver Tounged Devil

Online Audio

The Sonic SocietyThe latest Sonic Society podcast includes one of Crazy Dog Audio Theatre‘s Diabolic Playhouse segments that was originally broadcast on RTÉ (Ireland National Radio). We’ve recently been debating the difference in quality between professional and amateur audio drama. Check out this show to see the professionals as The Sonic Society is presenting…
The Silver Tounged DevilThe Silver Tongued Devil
A documentary of poetry, pretension, and possession.

We reviewed this show and the rest of the Diabolic Playhouse series in early 2005, this is what Scott wrote about “The Silver Tongued Devil”: “This entire piece is done like a radio documentary, NPR-style, complete with interviews of average people about the ‘Silver Tongued Devil’. The actors who did these segments were perfect! If I had listened to this on the radio without knowing that Crazy Dog had done it, I’d have thought it was news. Who is the ‘Silver Tongued Devil’? He’s an incredibly famous poet from Cork who has the god-like ability to make people swoon with his words. Again, the piece is multi-layered, achieving both hilarity and poignancy.”

Review of The Last Harbinger by Roger Gregg

Fantasy Audio Drama - The Last Harbinger by Roger GreggThe Last Harbinger
By Roger Gregg; Performed by a Full Cast
2 CDs – 130 Minutes [AUDIO DRAMA]
Publisher: Crazy Dog Audio Theatre
Published: 2005
Themes: / Fantasy / Satire / Government / The Press / Environment /

First of all, Crazy Dog Audio Theatre’s productions are not to be missed. They produced the hilarious Big, Big Space, a farce in the mold of Star Trek and other science fiction television shows. If you haven’t heard it, it’ll make you laugh out loud. And previous to The Last Harbinger was the amazing Diabolic Playhouse, a collection of dramas both funny and satirical. And now, The Last Harbinger, which is the finest production to date from Crazy Dog, and that is saying quite a bit.

The Last Harbinger is a story told in five episodes, all of which are included here. Roger Gregg, who wrote, produced, and directed, shines a bright light on our own world as he tells this story of the doomed people of Moloch. There are leaders that can’t speak without a teleprompter, newspeople more concerned about their own appearance than news, and citizens that should be angry but aren’t. Into this world, a messenger is sent to tell all of Moloch that they are doomed unless they change, and, since change is not an easy route, the harbinger is met with resistance. The story is dark, but not without humor.

I can’t say enough about this production. The satire is biting. The dialogue is crisp and extremely well acted. The sound couldn’t be better – I was immersed in Gregg’s world from the moment I gave it my full attention, and it wouldn’t let go. Roger Gregg and Crazy Dog Audio Theatre are the setting the highest of standards for fantastic audio drama.

The Last Harbinger is available for download at Audioville, or you can purchase the gorgeously packaged double CD at ZBS.

Posted by Scott D. Danielson