Gertrude and Heathcliff - Sea Gull characters featured in skits performed by comedian Red Skelton on his comedy variety program THE RED SKELTON SHOW/NBC/CBS/1951-71. A children's book entitled Gertrude  and Heathcliff (Charles Scribners, 1971) was written by comedian Red Skelton. It featured his zany duo of seagulls and a series of silly jokes which could be acted out to the gestures used by his seagull characters Gertrude and Heathcliff. As the book said "to imitate a sea gull you must first believe that you are a seagull...hold your thumbs in your armpits and wiggle your fingers. This gives the illusion that you are flying, and also it's a way to get the audience's attention." Red always gave his birds "Doop-Dee-Doop" voices and silly grimaces when he performed. Here is a sample skit from the book:

Heathcliff:	Tell me Gertie, What's a polygon?
Gertrude:	A polygon is a dead parrot.
Heathcliff:	I heard Peter Rabbit went to the dentist to get a tooth pulled, and they wouldn't give him any Novocain.
Gertrude:	Because Peter Rabbit is an Ether bunny!
	See also  BOOKS - "Kids Are Punny"