>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>And to really institute some thread drift: On the Groucho Marx show, when a contestant said the "secret word", they won $200 and a duck (looking very much like Groucho) dropped down on a string from above. The question is, "What was the significance of the duck?"
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Hooo.. You got me on that one. Don't have a clue...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>As Craig mentioned, there was the film "Duck Soup". But there's also an exchange between Groucho and Chico. Ask, "Why a duck?"
>>>>>
>>>>>Okay, I'll ask...why a duck?
>>>>
>>>>In the exchange, Chico says, "Why a duck? Why not a chicken?" (It'll help to think in the way Chico spoke in the films.)
>>>
>>>I think the original exchange started when a question was brought up about a viaduct. Which is basically a bridge over something. So groucho would say viaduct. Chico would respond 'Why a Duck'... And so it went.
>>
>>Exactly, Bret! I think Groucho was giving directions or something to Chico.
>>
>>Groucho: "...when you come to a viaduct..."
>>Chico: "Why a duck?"
>>Groucho: "Right, when you come to a viaduct..."
>>Chico: "No, why a duck? Why not a chicken?"
>
>Any one needing a college course on comedy should listen to the Marx brothers.

Along with the collected works of William (Whitey) Claude Dunkenfield.:-)

>They were great and they influenced a ton of people over the years. Just look at all of Alan Alda's stick in Mash. Mostly stole from Groucho.

And Alda often did a Groucho routine. BTW, and by way of information, the word is "shtick". It comes from the Yiddish "shtik" and means an entertainment routine.