The Old Cart Wrangler’s Saga

A full-blown, full length, fully baked comic monologue

Written & Directed by Brian Price

Performed by David Ossman

We’ve all seen that lone shopping cart sitting on the edge of a parking lot. Who goes and gets it and brings it home? The cart wrangler, of course.

Brimming with easy humor, fantasy, and wisdom, David Ossman—of Firesign Theatre fame—gives the performance of a lifetime in this theatrical full-length monologue backed by a crack Kansas City jazz trio and recorded before a live audience at
The Brick in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on June 6, 2018.

Mixing voice, eclectic jazz, and sound effects, this performance breaks sound-art boundaries and may even break your heart.
Available from Blackstone Audio’s Downpour site.

The book,
The Old Cart Wrangler, The New Silence, and Other Notions, is now available from Lulu, and contains all the text from this audio work, plus many more.
Finalist 2019 Audie Awards
Takes a lot to impress me, but you did it. I can’t think of anyone better than David Ossman to perform this piece. … It is really really good. Like perfect. And in front of a live audience. Oh yeah, and Dwight’s backing was so nice to hear, very fine indeed. … I have to admit, it’s rare I listen to a piece all the way to the end, but you nailed me in the first minute … maybe seconds.
Tom Lopez, ZBS
Parts of this program were released previously on the Loose Wheels and Narrow Necks disc. This performance is entirely new and complete.
The Old Cart Wrangler

Tracks

• Track 1: In three parts: (45:53)
  • Cart 437 or The Long Way Around
  • Cart 437 2.0
  • Cart 437 3.0 Potemkin
• Track 2: Interview with David Ossman and Brian Price. (29:00)

Live Performance

Performed live at The Brick, Kansas City, MO.
June 6, 2018, 9:00 PM.

THE BAND:
Rev. Dwight Frizzell, woodwinds
Julia Thro, guitar
Patrick Alonzo Smith Conway, percussion

SOUND EFFECTS: Tony Brewer
SOUND ENGINEER: Mike Teeler
PRODUCED BY: Judith Walcott & Jerry Stearns
CD COVER DESIGN: Jerry Stearns
This audiobook is a live performance of David Ossman, formerly of The Firesign Theatre, telling the story of the old guy who made it his life's work to collect stray shopping carts and bring them home. The humor comes from the zeal Ossman's character has for his job, which he equates with the cowboys of centuries passed who wrangled stray cows. The three-part monologue is backed by a jazz trio and recorded live at The Brick in Kansas City. The subtle jazzy background with occasional sound effects carries listeners along with the story of an elderly man who takes his last job more seriously than anyone could imagine. The story is sometimes funny, sometimes sad, always intriguing. M.S. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Michael Sangiacomo, Plain Dealer, Ohio

A production of Great Northern Audio Theatre and Otherworld Media

CD Back cover. Photo by Phil Proctor

Back cover photo by Phil Proctor

Original event poster. Design by Jerry Stearns.

Original event poster: The Old Cart Wraingler