From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prop used in stand-up comedy
Rubber chicken in the back of a truck
A
rubber chicken
is a
prop
used 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.
[
citation needed
]
Description
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edit
]
A rubber chicken is sometimes used as a prop in clown acts
A
rubber
chicken is an imitation plucked fowl made in a
latex
injection mold. Modern day rubber chickens usually have some sort of squeaking device similar to one found in a
rubber duck
, allowing the chicken to squeak or scream when squeezed.
Origins
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]
The origin of the rubber chicken is obscure, but it is possibly based on the use of inflated
pig bladders
attached to sticks and used as props or mock weapons by
jesters
in the days before the development of
plastic
and latex. Chicken corpses were readily available; therefore jesters could employ them as variations of
slapsticks
.
[1]
One account attributes the first use of a prop chicken to John Holmberg, the Swedish
blackface
clown of the early 1900s.
[
citation needed
]
Similarly British performer
Joseph Grimaldi
would perform with his pockets full of fake food to mock the gluttony reportedly prevalent among the upper classes at the time.
[2]
However this predates the
vulcanization of rubber
.
A claim that the symbol originated during the
French Revolution
, with soldiers hanging a chicken from their
muskets
for luck, is printed on the tag of rubber chickens manufactured by
Archie McPhee
.
[
citation needed
]
Food and speechmaking
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]
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. Often, pre-cooked chicken is held at serving temperature for some time and then dressed with a sauce as it is served. Consequently, the meat may be 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
.
[3]
References
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]