Poultry Slam
September 2, 2009
Episode 3: the ORIGINAL poultry slam.
Two David Sedaris episodes in a row oh my! So apparently Chicken Man was a really popular radio show back in the day, and Ira seems amazed that he was able to have the FIRST NEW EPISODE SINCE 1969 (he mentioned that at least 1383943290 times).
The first story was…amazing. It started off by saying that every form of poultry is called fish in this family. Why would they call that fish you may wonder? Because they have a stuffed duck named Duki, and he would be offended. Duki is this hand puppet that the younger sister, Ashley, would use to tease the older one, Danielle. It is said that Duki is very snide, confident and sarcastic (nothing like his owner). The two sisters when they were younger wouldn’t speak, basically, unless through Duki. I feel like this makes the family sound crazy, but its such an endearing story. They still have Duki, and the older sister actually calls the younger one just to speak with him. It a cute story. But I can’t even fathom calling my brother to talk to a puppet? Its hard to discern if this family is close. I mean it seems like it, but it’s like they’re relationships are dependent on Duki. It was cute, don’t get me wrong, but it just really made me thankful for the great family I have.
The second act was about a family that worked on a turkey farm, and this was their main source of income. The two little girls worked on the farm to help their dad. Somehow the turkeys got out, and they had to stay up all night herding them. Then it started raining, and somehow they ended up in a huge turkey pile. Where none of them will leave, and they’ll suffocate before leaving the pile. In short, turkeys are dumb, and I felt terrible for the family that had to keep them from killing themselves.
wah. more poetry.
The best way to tell if fried chicken is done? By the sound says Verda Mae Grosvenor. They test her, and she pretty much gets it right! Her daughters come on and complain that their mother won’t share her recipies. Verda says that she’ll give them to them, but have ingredients like “a dash of salt”. You have to learn things for yourself she says, and I can’t agree more.
David Sedaris hunts at the NYC flea market, and finds a turkeys head attached to a leg. Ends up paying too much, but left feeling everyone else was the sucker for passing up a deal.
Chicken man. Surprisingly funny and cute. I really loved it. It was about him trying to find a desk job. It’s really the subtle comments and jokes that made that story for me.
Overall episode highly recommended. I’ll link this one even! p.s. it’s still our radio playhouse. countdown to name change!
http://www.thisamericanlife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?sched=588
