Rubber chickens

Does anyone know why rubber chickens are funny? Are they from vaudeville? What joke is a rubber chicken the punchline to?

Maybe the same reason clowns are funny–they just look funny.

This is a WAG, but it was traditional for old-time (pre-20th century) comics to hit each other with animal parts. Inflated pig’s bladders were a hoot all the way back to Roman times.

The rubber chicken may have been a modern response to a request for a more sanitary slapstick prop.

Clowns aren’t funny–clowns are scary.


“It’s my considered opinion you’re all a bunch of sissies!”–Paul’s Grandfather

In case you *need[/] one:
http://www.mcphee.com/products/classic/09511.html

Bob the Random Expert
“If we don’t have the answer, we’ll make one up.”

“There are two kinds of plays by Shakespeare: those in which the use of a rubber chicken is forbidden, and those in which it is mandatory.”

– Paul Barry (the only director in the world to have done all of Shakespeare’s plays professionally)


John W. Kennedy
“Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.”
– Charles Williams