by Matthew Cobb
Seems like Jerry is about to go off on an emu kick on WEIT, and why not – they are weird and show us how dinosaurs can behave. But for those of us of a certain age and from certain parts of the world, there’s only one Emu, a particularly aggressive bird that accompanied British comedian Rod Hull. Hull apparently grew to hate his sidekick, who was certainly a pretty annoying animal. Here for your morning delectation are some videos of Rod Hull and Emu, including Emu’s famous appearance on the UK talkshow, Parkinson. We knew how to enjoy ourselves back then. Hull died in 1999. Emu now works with his son.
He was a comedian to the end: he died falling off the roof whilst trying to install a satellite dish.
Is that really comic?
He was adjusting reception on his own TV aerial during a televised football match, fell off & smashed through a greenhouse ~ his whole life was one pointless stunt. It’s the definition of comedy & comedians isn’t it?
Compared to, say, Elvis – yes.
According to Mel Brooks, yes
http://video.pbs.org/video/2364997004/
There’ll always be an Emu.
Gotta love us Aussies!!!! 🐨
Thank you, thank you, thank you for that reminder of happier times!
Brilliant!
OK so we know it’s all being done by Rod Hull, but it’s hard to believe that Emu doesn’t have a malevolent will of its own.
Like having “alien hand”.
A veterinary Dr Strangelove, perhaps.
Moa! Moa emus!
+1
That was great. I LOL’d with tears!
Matthew thanks for putting these vids up here. I laughed so much.
And it led me to another brilliant bit of entertainment, entirely unrelated to emus but rather a ventriloquist, Ray Alan with “Lord Charles”. I thought I’d seen it all but this fellow is amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Zn3M-WMzM
+1!
I watched it a second time… the brilliance of it is astounding.
Arthur Worsley was another brilliant ventroliquist, with a very strange act.
He never spoke and the dummy just ridiculed him mercilessly.
Very weird…
Each performing artist has his/her own style, that’s for sure! I remember Worsley from the TV of my youth. Never thought much about the style of it until now.
I do remember reading the novel “Magic” (became a movie w/Anthony Hopkins)by Wm. Goldman and was blown away at the darkness of it. Of course the interplay with ventriloquists and their puppets keeps amateur psychologists very busy ; )
The worst ventriloquist has to have been Peter Brough who worked a dummy called Archie Andrews.
He was a very name in the days of radio but unfortunately the advent of TV exposed his technical limitations (i.e. his lips moved constantly)
At one stage his radio show was getting > 15m listeners and he did introduce some fine comedians such as Tony Hancock & Eric Sykes so it wasn’t all a bad.
“Everyone who agrees with this comment please raise your hand.”
A ventriloquist on the radio is sort of an oxymoron. It’s hard to see how it would work.
I must admit, Rod Hull and Emu are new to me.
That veterinarian sketch is especially timely; Baihu just had his annual physical yesterday (which he passed with flying colors).
b&
One hopes that Baihu was rather better behaved…
Oh, absolutely. When Dr. Bastek brought him back after getting blood and urine samples (and, believe me, you do not want to know how urine samples are collected from cats), she even commented on how he was tense at first, and then melted in her arms once he realized that, not only was he not going to escape, but she wasn’t going to eat him, either.
b&