History Film / TheKingOfComedy

* CaptainObvious: After Rupert turns on the TV at Rita's bar and stands next to it as his clip from the comedy show is aired, one of the bar patrons (played by Martin Scorsese's brother Charles) observes "Hey, he's the guy from television" as Rupert is taken away by law enforcement.

* SmallNameBigEgo: Rupert Pupkin, who never tires of correcting people when they [[AccidentalMisnaming get his name wrong]]. When flipping through his autograph book with Rita, he speaks critically of each the comedians in there as if he's a peer (Woody Allen, he believes, is a close friend), and she finds out he wrote his ''own'' name in there as well, acting like it'll be worth something someday.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/TaxiDriver''. Both are about lonely, mentally disturbed protagonists, the difference being one is a drama, the other is a comedy. They both star the same actor in the leading role and have similarly ambiguous endings.

** Members of Music/TheClash are seen walking around Times Square. Comic pianist Creator/VictorBorge and Dr. Joyce Brothers turn up in Rupert's fantasy of marrying Rita on Jerry's show. And Tony Randall fills in for Jerry while the latter is being held hostage.

-->'''Rupert''': I figure it this way: better to be a king for a night than schmuck for a lifetime.

-->'''Rupert''': Hey, it's better to be a king for a day than stay a schmuck for a lifetime.

* BittersweetEnding: From a meta standpoint, at least. A closing montage reveals that Rupert's dream of stardom actually seems to come true -- after serving a two-year suspended sentence at a mental institution, he publishes his autobiography (which becomes a bestseller and is planned to be turned into a "major motion picture") and acquires a manager/agent with more offers in the pipeline -- but at the cost of having played hell with Langford's and several other people's lives. And that's assuming the whole thing isn't just another of Rupert's [[FantasySequence insane fantasies playing out]].

* BrilliantButLazy: "Brilliant" may be a bit of a stretch, but Rupert shows a surprising amount of cunning and intelligence despite his detachment from reality. His comedy routine isn't half bad and it's enough to suggest that Rupert would have had the potential to be a successful comedian or comedy writer if he'd followed Jerry Langford's blunt, but honest, advice to put in the time and effort needed to hone his craft.

* BrilliantButLazy: "Brilliant" may be a bit of a stretch, but Rupert shows a surprising amount of cunning and intelligence despite his detachment from reality. His comedy routine isn't half bad and it's enough to suggest that Rupert would have had the potential to be a successful comedian if he'd followed Jerry Langford's blunt, but honest, advice to put in the time and effort needed to hone his craft.

* DarkChick: Masha is Rupert's partner in crime and is ''far'' more of an unhinged and violent stalker than Rupert (being the one to actually suggest violence) and in many ways the mastermind behind their scheme.

Random trivia: the film was the first from Creator/RegencyEnterprises, and was distributed theatrically by future part-owner Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox. It is the only film from the Embassy International era that Regency outright owns worldwide, and one of three (the others being ''Film/{{Brazil}}'' and ''Film/{{Legend}}'') to which Regency has full international rights.

* DarkChick: Masha is Rupert's partner in crime and is ''far'' more unhinged, violent, and stalker-y than Rupert (being the one to actually suggest violence) and in many ways the mastermind behind their scheme.

** Rupert shows up uninvited to Jerry's house, and keeps telling himself that Jerry is just joking around when he repeatedly tells him to leave and threatens to call the police.
** Masha seems to really think that Jerry, who's tied up with masking tape and unable to escape, is genuinely aroused by her undressing and throwing herself at him (not to mention her bad singing).

* IRejectYourReality: The mental gymnastics Rupert and Masha jump through to think they have a shot at befriending Jerry are staggering.

* CelebrityParadox: Rupert has a cardboard cutout of Creator/LizaMinnelli in his basement. She previously starred opposite De Niro in Scorsese's ''Film/NewYorkNewYork''.

* LighterAndSofter: Compared to Scorsese's other films.

* BasementDweller: Rupert Pupkin has converted his mother's basement into a makeshift talk show set with life-size cutouts of his favorites and good sound equipment to recreate and project himself into the life he wants. Rupert's life is that of a stereotypical nerdy, underemployed, celebrity-obsessed loser who lives in a world of fantasy while mooching off his mother.

* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Rupert isn't so much interested in being a comedian as he is in becoming a celebrity. He admits to his studio audience that he kidnapped and threatened Jerry Langford because "it's better to be a king for a day than stay a schmuck for a lifetime."

* LoonyFan: Rupert is one of these as well as a PsychopathicManchild. Masha may be even more unhinged.

* ImagineSpot: Various imagine spots as Rupert has daydreams about success and fame and appearing on Jerry's show. In these imaginary conversations, in the first one Jerry is Rupert's mentor, in the second one they are equal colleagues, with his idol asking him to take over his show, and in the third one, he helps Rupert marry the girl of his dreams on live TV.

* LoserProtagonist: Rupert, however, he deserved most of the misfortunes due to him being a PsychopathicManchild and LoonyFan who harasses Jerry and his co-workers.

* NoLoveForTheWicked: Played with. Rupert does fantasize about marrying Rita, but this seems more about the status of having a pretty girl around for show than any actual romantic or sexual interest in her or anybody else. Notably, Rupert doesn't accept Rita's (grudging) offer to come up to her apartment after their date, nor do sexual conquests of any kind figure into his very active fantasy world.

* AmbiguousDisorder: Rupert and Masha are both very socially awkward and seem not to understand when others are tactfully rejecting them.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/TaxiDriver''. Both are about lonely, mentally disturbed protagonists, the difference being one is a drama, the other is a comedy. They even have ambiguous endings.

* VillainProtagonist: Though he's not actually malicious and usually oblivious of his bad behavior, Rupert is ultimately a selfish man who will resort to criminal activity in order to get a chance at fame.