Laughing champs and chicken rescues: 5 fun stories to distract you from the news
Need a break from pandemic headlines? As It Happens has you covered with these interviews from our archives
In these extremely trying times, everyone needs to give themselves a little mental break from the overwhelming pandemic news.
That's why CBC Radio's As It Happens has been digging into our archives to find our silliest interviews from simpler times.
From the glorious resurrection of Boo Boo the chicken, to the two college students who swapped legwear in a moment of need, here are five interviews to distract you from the relentless headlines.
A professional giggler
Most people on a plane (remember being on a plane?) probably hope their fellow passengers are quiet — so they can take a nap or maybe relax. But that's not what travellers got back in April 2013 on a flight leaving San Diego.
On board was Julie Ostrow, who had just become the first-ever American Laughing Champion.
Sitting in her middle-seat on a full flight as she was waiting to take off, Ostrow spoke with As It Happens host Carol Off about her new title and gave some samples of her award-winning guffaws.
"In case you're wondering, there are people looking back at me from their plane seats … I got some laughter from 9A," she said. "That guy is still sleeping. That's pretty impressive."
Ostrow did a snort laugh, an Alabama knee-slapper and diabolical laugh for As It Happens listeners — all of which were part of the competition.
"I've had a ball, I've had a hoot and a half walking through the airport in San Diego and people asking me what [the trophy] was for," she said. "Just mentioning that I won this laughing competition, that makes people laugh and smile. It's fantastic."
The fist-pumping champion
In 2012, a radio producer from Austin, Texas, accomplished a feat few ever dared — or maybe ever bothered — to attempt.
Ray Slater pumped his fist up and down for 17 hours and 15 minutes. Topless. And he streamed it online.
"Bam. You played sports with that hand. You write love letters with that hand. Now you need to fist pump for 17 hours with that hand," Slater told Off.
Despite being a "bodybuilder by trade," Slater needed to harness the power of his mind to accomplish his goal. The previously-held record of 17 hours had been set just two days before.
"This was just whacked out and it was all in my mind, and you could almost say it was in my heart too, but I knew I could do it," Slater said.
Planning ahead, he had super-glued his fist shut.
"Even though my hand literally felt like a rock and not even something that was attached to my body anymore, it was the smartest decision because then all I had to do was throw my hand in the air and not necessarily concentrate on keeping it in a closed fist," he said.
Saving Boo Boo
When Jackie Calhoun came home to find Boo Boo the chicken floating face down in pond, he vowed to save his feathered friend.
"I picked that chicken up and I said, 'In the name of Jesus, you're gonna live!'" the Arkansas man told guest host Dianne Buckner on Feb. 8, 2006.
Calhoun's attempt to give Boo Boo "the chicken Heimlich" failed. Fortunately, Calhoun's sister Marian Morris, a retired nurse, came to the rescue, performing mouth-to-beak resuscitation.
"I opened its little beak and I blew in its mouth and its eyes popped open," she said with a chuckle.
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The next morning, Calhoun's wife Becky was watching over the bird as it lay barely conscious in a cardboard box.
"I was sitting out there on the front porch and I was reading about Lazarus being raised from the dead," she said. "About that time, that thing squawked and jumped up out of the box."
The family then renamed the chicken "Lazarette."
'Dude, I need your pants'
It was nice out on April 9, 2019, so University of Illinois chemistry major Jake Wolf donned a pair of shorts.
Unfortunately, he hadn't thought his outfit through.
"I realized I made a serious mistake at 7:58, two minutes before my class," he told Off. "I would be thrown out of lab. You can't have any exposed skin at all ... which basically guarantees a drop in [your] letter grade."
Wolf started running home to change, but quickly realized he wouldn't be able to make it in time.
He said he was in "desperation mode" when he saw a fellow student walk into the business school wearing pants.
"It was just this insane thought," Wolf said. "I went up and asked him if I could borrow his pants."
The two were complete strangers.
"Nobody's ever asked if they could use my pants, especially not a stranger," Sam Brown said.
Fortunately, Wolf had found an understanding soul. The pair rushed to a bathroom and swapped legwear.
Asked if he would have done the same were the situation reversed, Wolf admitted he's not sure.
"If somebody came up to me and was like, 'Dude, I need your pants,' I would definitely think no before I thought yes.'"
The world record for sneezing
When former As It Happens host Barbara Frum spoke with Tricia Reay in March 1980, the 12-year-old from the English town of Sutton Coldfield had just broken the Guinness World Record for the longest sneezing fit.
It started as a cold in October 1979. But the sneezes never stopped, and would go on to last for 194 days straight. She spoke to Frum on on Day 156.
"Today, [my schoolmates] wanted my autograph," she said between sneezes.
She said she tried everything — medication, anesthetizing her nose, and undergoing hypnosis, but nothing stopped her from sneezing.
Her sneezing fit wouldn't keep her in the record books for long, though.
In January of 1981, Donna Griffiths would start sneezing and she wouldn't stop for 976 days. Griffiths' record is still listed on the Guinness World Record website today.
Written by Sheena Goodyear, Katie Geleff, Justin Chandler and Alison Broverman.
