History Main / KafkaKomedy

* ''OfficeSpace'' and several other sources of office humor have been described as Kafkaesque.
** ''OfficeSpace'' combines playing it straight with an inversion. When Peter makes at least a token effort, nobody pays attention to him and his life is a nightmare. When he flips out and starts pointedly goofing off and telling the layoff consultants what he's doing, they not only respect him, they ''recommend him for promotion''.

* BusterKeaton's 1922 two-reeler "Film/{{Cops}}" takes this trope UpToEleven -- the protagonist's attempt to earn an honest buck ultimately leads to his being chased by what appears to be ''the entire LAPD.''

* ''SayonaraZetsubouSensei'' - An interesting... Variation, of sorts, of this trope can be found in the anime, where eternally pessimistic teacher Itoshiki Nozomu's attempts at, [[ChewingTheScenery in the most dramatic way possible]], explaining what is currently [[DrivenToSuicide driving him to commit suicide]], as well as explaining why it is doing so, usually goes rather well for him... That is, until [[ThePollyanna impossibly optimistic]], [[StepfordSmiler or whatever it is]] [[BewareTheNiceOnes she really is]], Fuura Kafuka, ([[MeaningfulName notice anything about that name?]]) decides to explain her pov, and/or put her spin, on things, at which point reality becomes unhinged and comes tumbling down in a chaotic mess with the accuracy of a precision strike and one single target: Itoshiki Nozomu.

* The protagonist of ''The Tenant'' (in both the Roland Topor novel and the Roman Polanski film) is mercilessly tormented by his neighbors to comedic effect.

* In the Coen brothers' ''BartonFink'', the title character moves to Hollywood to write for "the pictures," and experiences various hostile circumstances.
** This is practically a defining feature of most, if not all, of Creator/TheCoenBrothers films. TheBigLebowski, especially. All The Dude ever wanted was his rug back.
*** At least until 2009's ''Film/ASeriousMan'', when poor Larry Gopnik would make even The Dude feel sorry for him.

* Some of the plotlines in ''{{Extras}}''.

* ''YouSuckAtPhotoshop''. Donny is not a very nice person at all, though it's clear a lot of his unpleasantness is an act for his web show, but his attempts to be decent usually create much more pain for him than his dreadful behaviour. By the end of the series, due to misunderstandings and bad coincidences, everyone he knows has vowed to kill him, including his online friend [=sn4tchbucl3r=] and his girlfriend, who until that point were the only people who cared for him at all.

* Some (actually, most) episodes of ''[[RockosModernLife Rocko's Modern Life]]'' exemplify this. Rocko is a kind-hearted, well-meaning individual who constantly gets beat-up, screwed over, and cheated. Of course, even his temper has its limits.

* ''TheMachinist'' is pretty much one part KafkaKomedy, two parts Creator/FyodorDostoevsky drama.
* The 1962 film of ''The Trial'' is, [[WordOfGod according to director]] OrsonWelles, a literal example. He found it to be extremely funny, and considered it one of his best works.
* The beginning of the film ''AngerManagement'' is a prime example of this; the more Adam tries to apologize for his mistakes the more everyone gets upset. [[spoiler: Deconstructed in the end, since nearly all of these circumstances are revealed to be an act to test his character, except the guy with a taser, [[BadMoodAsAnExcuse who was just in a bad mood]].]]

* ''Literature/{{Fame}}'' by DanielKehlmann is a pure KafkaKomedy.

* Much of the comedy in ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is of this form, applied to Shinji: no matter how well-meaning or responsible he's being, the world will punish him for it, usually via Asuka or Gendou. The show seems to imply that it's somehow his own fault for being such an avoidant ExtremeDoormat.
** From the right point of view, the entire show is a massive one of these, but an almost absolute lack of WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief is required.
** The entire point of setting up the comedy, though, is that at the beginning with the lighter episodes, his misery is played for laughs and things resolve themselves at the end of the episode, resulting in Shinji experiencing character growth and development despite the bad things happening to him. Then, of course, all of this is turned on its head and deconstructed when the tragedy has serious repercussions and suddenly the underlying sinister plot threads surrounding [=NERV=] crack the audience over the head with the sheer misery and torture of the characters, leaving them with a [[HeroicBSOD headache]] and [[MoodWhiplash sprained neck]].

* ''{{Nichijou}}''. [[SerialEscalation So, so much]]. Yuuko may be the designated ButtMonkey but it's easier to count the characters who don't apocalyptically fail than those who do ''on a regular basis''.

* Utilized lightly in early arcs of ''CardcaptorSakura'', after accidentally freeing the Clow Cards, Sakura is dragged into retrieving them by their guardian. Her position often has her earning the unwanted scorn or rivalry of several figures related to the cards in some manner or getting into trouble or embarrassment for problems the cards cause as she tries to collect them. Deconstructed as pretty much all these cases gradually develop positively for her in the end, largely because the cast ultimately discovers it's ''impossible'' [[FriendToAllLivingThings to hate her]].
* LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya won't let Kyon get away with nuthin'. Koizumi has a part, too: when Kyon was going a tad crazy over being told that Koizumi is an esper, he "woke up" to being in the diner to which Haruhi had dragged them all. And being punished by Haruhi. Because he was sleeping.

* Leslie Knope in Parks and Recreation; she loves her town but often misses the mark on what they want. For instance, she nixes a new fast food restaurant, only to find out later in the season that many citizens of Pawnee were upset by this move.

* Much of ''{{Peanuts}}'' was one big Kafka Komedy devoted to tormenting Charlie Brown, but even more so in the TV specials.
** Also for ''{{Garfield}}'''s Jon Arbuckle. The only good thing that's ever happened to him is hooking up with Liz after years of rejection, but other than that he's an extreme ChewToy.

* ''YouSuckAtPhotoshop''. Donny is not a very nice person at all, but his attempts to be decent usually create much more pain for him than his dreadful behaviour. By the end of the series, due to misunderstandings and bad coincidences, everyone he knows has vowed to kill him, including his online friend [=sn4tchbucl3r=] and his girlfriend, who until that point were the only people who cared for him at all.

* Some episodes of ''[[RockosModernLife Rocko's Modern Life]]'' exemplify this. Rocko is a kind-hearted, well-meaning individual who constantly gets beat-up, screwed over, and cheated. Of course, even his temper has its limits.

* Plankton and Squidward from ''SpongebobSquarepants'' have been unintentional examples of this ever since TheMovie.

* ''Series/ThirtyRock'' inverts this trope with Tracy Jordan after earns respect from his peers for making a really artistic film but doesn't want it. He tries to act like a JerkAss in order to go back to being in comedy TV but everyone mistakes his awfulness for humility, clever artistic commentary, and bravery.

* In TheManInTheWhiteSuit, Sidney Stratton only wants to make people's lives better by inventing a fabric that repels dirt and is strong enough to last for an entire lifetime. Then the mill owners realize the fabric would bankrupt them... then the cotton pickers... then the factory unions... even his kindly old landlord, who does laundry for a little extra money, hates him.

*** At least until 2009, when poor [[ASeriousMan Larry Gopnik]] would make even The Dude feel sorry for him.

* ''Manga/ItsNotMyFaultImNotPopular''. Poor poor Tomoko.

* The works of Creator/FranzKafka are [[MindScrew maddening]], [[NightmareFuel nightmarish]], and deeply depressing. Kafka's friends recorded that he used to roar with laughter when he read them his writings.

* Much of the comedy in ''NeonGenesisEvangelion'' is of this form, applied to Shinji: no matter how well-meaning or responsible he's being, the world will punish him for it, usually via Asuka or Gendou. The show seems to imply that it's somehow his own fault for being such an avoidant ExtremeDoormat.

* Usually this is averted on ''{{Spliced}}'', but it tends to turn into one whenever [[TheChewToy Fuzzy]] shows up.