The fear Rod Hull was able to inspire in so many adults is hilarious. I love how he gets Emu to do a cheeky look to camera before he attacks, it's those tiny details that elevate this to legendary status.
It's not just Emu's facial expressions...it's the fact that Emu FIDGETS when he's sitting on Rod's lap exactly like a real animal or child would (looking around the room, etc.). This is part of what made Emu seem so very lifelike (and what made Rod an incredibly gifted puppeteer) -- he had it down to a science. It's difficult visually to connect Rod to Emu's nugatory movements because they appear to be unconscious as they would be in real life which makes it seem completely natural.
The way in which Rod Hull was able to imbue Emu with so much personality -- even though Emu never said a word (and never needed to!) -- is incredible and shows you just how gifted a puppeteer he was. The body language he gives to Emu is simply wonderful to watch.
@Bengt Handlebars Exactly...the little side gestures such as when Emu would twitch his head or look out at the audience while Rod was talking, just like a real bird his size probably would. The expression which I loved best of all is when Emu would wrinkle his beak to show that he was annoyed or angry.
Rod Hull's son Toby took over Emu for a while in a tv series on itv in the UK. Rest in peace Rod. You and Emu gave British kids in the 70s happy memories 😅
True! You didn't even KNOW what party J.C. was, except now my sister says watching old clips, she can tell his REPUB bias towards Dems a bit. But he WANTED all kinds of fans, and didn't want to lose half his base, and wanted us to have a break from politics. IF ONLY now........
Some of us still do, but so many want to find fault in everything. It bums me out. I'm in my 50's, and I have some friends who are now under that spell. They used to laugh and enjoy humor as much as I did, but they are driven by being superior to all now. I just hope the people wake up from this at some point.
@@captainkaos754 Yes the mischievious bird Emu is from Australia, Rod Hull found him there in a store cupboard but Rod Hull is English. Born and died in England.
Never seen this before, didnt even know Rod went to America. Fantastic! Another English export for us to be proud of. And Johnny Carson was a brilliant sport for playing along. Thanks for posting
I met Rod Hull and Emu when I was a kid back in the late 70s when they were in panto. He came into the audience and Emu started biting everyone including some poor man 2 seats to my right :D
I just love this. It is so crazy to see a bird attack Johnny. It is not shown here, but at the end of the show, Richard Pryor makes a smart remark to it, and it attacks him too.
I truly miss TV Shows like this. I remember seeing this and the line "who's a pretty Emu" and have remembered it for more than 40 years. They don't make shows like this anymore, they are missed.
They say what you laugh at between the ages of 10 and 12 will still be funny when your 60. Like, Pee Wee Herman Fart Jokes and Nut Shots. Example: kicking Pee Wee Herman in the nuts so hard that he farts!
I've made a puppet from one of the socks on my feet for all 3 of my children. Of all the toys they've had over the years the improv sock got the best reactions. Rod was a master at this for children and adults. RIP.
I found this clip from watching an episode of the Hollywood Graveyard channel. A bit of it was posted while talking about Rodney's grave. He was a terrific puppeteer.
@@johnnyhammer no Parkinson hated it and his,laughter was force. He admits this. He said several times that his attack was much more then what he expected. He did try and be a sport by laughing but he hated it. Plus at the end he looked really pissed of and said " I knew we should not had booked it" as he put his shoe's back on. He was angry big time!!; clarkson loved it but to be fair to Parkinson his attack was much more violent lol Parkinson did see the funny side years,later tho and would laugh about it. He even did a advert with emu years later.
@@donnn-sg4mk Parkinson wanted to be as big as Carson but unlike Carson felt the way to be taken seriously was to be serious. So whereas Carson was confident enough to be 'attacked and ridiculed' by Emu, Parkinson was not. They are light years apart as even being British myself I can see Carson was just so comfortable in the role and at ease with it. Parkinson was not. His 'I can see it was funny' change of heart years later was probably a business move more than honest. It riled him for ages as he thought it made him look silly. Carson did not give a damn about looking silly and so looked great here.
Since Rod Hull used a lot of physical comedy with Emu -- believe it or not, this was actually somewhat tame! -- anyone involved would have needed to rehearse with him (them?) ahead of time just so that everyone knew what to expect.
@@OreadNYC I read somewhere that Johnny liked the spontaneity so he limited his pre-show rehearsals with Emu, but Rod Hull was always on the set beforehand checking it out and making sure how things would go to the last second before his segment began.
@@kali3665 yes that's true.. rod was also told not to attack richerd prior cause he had just come out of hospital.....but he still did!! Richerd was a great sport about it and actually seemed to purposely cause it. Shame it's not on this clip but it is on RU-vid. It happend at end of show.
this....thing...scared...the SHIT outta me as a kid. I totally understood Ventriloquism, just as a kid you SEE his other arm and is like waaaiiit....if BOTH his arms are there....WTF!!??!! lol
Well, in all fairness, Emu *did* wrinkle his beak at Pryor...which at least as often as not was a prelude to a violent attack! (Hull's appearances often became rather rough-and-tumble...)
I remember seeing this live, musta been around 40 years ago. Geeze time sure flies, so cool to have the internet to time travel. It's all magical to me.
Appeared on "The Hudson Brothers Show" (Bill, Brett & Mark) on CBS in August of 1974 for 4 episodes. Then CBS decided to do a Saturday morning series called "The Hudson Brothers Razzle Dazzle Show" for 15 episodes from September 1974 till September of 1975!!
Wholly SHEET! Never HEARD of EMU, and he's a RIOT! Johnny definitely had some fierce-some animals on from time to time, but I think EMU wins the prize. LMAO!
Mr.Carson has more than charm.He's got great rapport AND respect with his guests including the feathered ones.Nobody is as good as him.Letterman would look like a fool compared to him