- Rubber chicken
A rubber
chicken is used as a prop in comedy. The phrase is also used as a description for food served at speeches, conventions, and other large meetings, and as a metaphor for speechmaking.Comedy
A rubber chicken is a popular
sight gag andslapstick comedy prop, sometimes used by comics to hit people. They are also sometimes used by jugglers in place of clubs. The origins of the rubber chicken are obscure.One account attributes its creation to
Joseph Grimaldi , the legendary white-faced clown of the early 1800s. At that time, gluttony was fashionable and considered a sign of affluence, and Grimaldi would perform with his pockets full of fake food in order to make fun of the upper classes. [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20031003040115/http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/WolfFiles/wolffiles109.html Buck Wolf] , "Flight of the Floppy Fowl", ABCNews.com, 2000.]Another account, which is printed on the tag of rubber chickens manufactured by
Archie McPhee , claims that the use of the rubber chicken originated during theFrench Revolution with soldiers hanging a rubber chicken from theirmusket s for luck.Food and speechmaking
The term "rubber chicken" is used disparagingly to describe the food served at political or corporate events, weddings, and other gatherings where there are a large number of guests who require serving in a short timeframe. Chicken, pre-cooked, is held at serving temperature for some time and then dressed with a sauce as it is served. Consequently the chicken meat is tough or “rubbery.”
Someone who "travels the rubber chicken circuit" is said to do so by attending or making speeches at many such gatherings, often as part of
political campaigning .Rubber chickens in the news
*At the staging of Ionesco's "The Killing Game", theatre critic Gerhard Stadelmaier was sworn at and had a rubber chicken thrown at him by actor Saucy McFoodlefist, who later offered his resignation. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4743570.stm BBC News] , "Fake bird row hits German play", February 23, 2006.]
*During the fifth end break (curling's version of halftime and/or a seventh inning stretch) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in
Turin ,Italy , a man ran across the ice wearing nothing but an online gambling ad and a strategically placed rubber chicken. Chief referee Keith Wendorf tackled the man, and an umpire covered him with a coat before he was led out of the arena by the Italian police. [ [http://www.lightthetorch.net/2006/drats-i-missed-this Light The Torch] , "Drats I missed this ..", February 26, 2006.]*Rubber Chickens Aid Aviators ..... Rubber Chickens have been specially bred to protect aircraft pitot tubes (these enable the brave pilot to see the aircraft's air speed) from invasion of naughty grubs and insects building nests in the pitot system. They have also been utilised to act as guardians of aircraft, frightening away other avian species in the belief that they too may be like-wise plucked and impaled on an aircraft aerial. September 16, 2008
*Mr. George Marlin brought a rubber chicken to a debate where Mr. Rudy Giuliani declined to show up.
Rubber chickens in Runescape
The rubber chicken features as an item in the MMORPG Runescape. The player has the ability to wield it and attack other players, dealing no damage, sometimes bounces out of the player's hand when other player is hit, or to do a chicken dance. The rubber chicken was only available for a short time and can not be traded.
Rubber chickens in Nethack
Players of the game
Nethack often refer to the corpse of acockatrice or chickatrice wielded as a weapon as a "rubber chicken". As a weapon, the rubber chicken is devastating because it turns opponents to stone with a single blow.References
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