Episode 64: Rubber Chickens and Whoopee Cushions
Comedian Bill Hicks once said, “It’s always funny until someone gets hurt. Then it’s just hilarious.”
He also said, “There’s nothing funnier than a podcast with two guys in a bar, except me…and pretty much every other comedian I know.”
Well, in the spirit of the first sentiment, we’re going to discuss two items that promised hours of fun, found in the pages of comic books for, literally, decades.
Today we’re pitting two more family favorites against one another: the familiar sound of the whoopee cushion against the familiar sight of the rubber chicken.
Belly up to the bar and pick your poison. We’re all about to learn a thing or two…
E X T R A S :
(Top to bottom): A modern-day rubber chicken, the comedian Joseph Grimaldi as “Joey the Clown,” and a shot from the Rubber Chicken Museum in Seattle.
Rubber Chicken
Rubber chicken history (Wikipedia)
“Why the Rubber Chicken?” (“Modern Farmer” article)
“Chickens Fly at the Iowa State Fair” (ABC News)
(Top to bottom): A typical whoopee cushion, a throwback ad you may have seen in comics, the original whoopee cushion with the oddball child illustration, a t-shirt for the band The Black Keys
Whoopee Cushion
History and background (Wikipedia article, New York Times article, “Relic Record” article)
“Road to Morocco” whoopee cushion clip (YouTube)
General Novelty History
“Fun Delivered: World's Foremost Experts on Whoopee Cushions and Silly Putty Tell All” (Collector’s Weekly article)
Cover and spread from Mail-Order Mysteries by Kirk Demarias