History Main / PolkaDork

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', accordion playing is one of those things that will attract Lord Vetinari's displeasure, as well as attracting mockery from ordinary Anhk-Morporkians. When The Disc's first Newspaper is set up in ''Discworld/TheTruth'' they cover the Ankh-Morpork folk music group and note:

* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', resident nerd Baljeet has mentioned going to polka lessons.

'''Jon:''' [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments Just before his execution.]]\\

* In ''Film/GroundhogDay'', "Pennsylvania Polka" is playing in Punxsutawney town square on the morning of Groundhog Day. All the locals love it, and Rita's getting into it. When she tells Phil that the locals have been partying like this all night long, he just replies, "They're hicks, Rita."
** [[GroundhogDayLoop And after hearing the said polka for the umpteenth time]], even a kind-hearted viewer might be inclined to agree with Phil.

Not to be confused with an AccordionMan.

* ''Series/{{SCTV}}'' parodied "champagne music" shows such as ''The Music/LawrenceWelk Show'' with a pair of brothers named Yosh and Stan Schmenge (John Candy and Eugene Levy) from the fictional Baltic state of Lutonia who hosted a polka show (the audience consisting of immigrant senior citizens). Their segment occasionally also featured the "Lemon Twins" (there were three of them), a parody of Welk's "Lennon Sisters".

* The Klipwerf Boerorkes, very popular in UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica, are a group of musicians, average age about fifty, who play instrumental versions of Afrikaner music, and whose act inescapably involves a lot of polka music. Sometimes they acheive the double by [[AccordionMan playing it on accordions]]. What can stop it from being unbearably cheesy is that the best of it carries a sort of infectious joy. Try [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6MV4sVWoTmA this]].

* The Reds' driving music in ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'' is a Mexican polka. Given the Reds are the even more inept side in this series whose theme is ArmedFarces, this seems oddly appropriate.

He probably also plays the accordion. Since the accordion, and polka, are often associated with an aged demographic, it's certainly not going to be cool for a young person to admit to enjoying them.[[labelnote:***]]Except for Mexican banda, which is actually what many cool young people listen there.[[/labelnote]]

'''Jon:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Just before his execution.]]\\

** And no, Weird Al is no relation to the famed accordionist and “Polka King” Frank Yankovic, although the two were friends and even played together prior to the latter’s death in 1998.

-->-- '''Jon Arbuckle''' from ''Franchise/{{Garfield}}''

-->'''Gus Polinski:''' I had a few hits a few years ago. That's why I just... "Polka, Polka, Polka"? "Twin Lakes Polka"? "Yamahoozie Polka," a.k.a. "Kiss Me Polka"? "Polka Twist"?''
-->'''Kate [=McCallister=]:''' These are songs?
-->'''Gus Polinski:'''Yeah. Yeah, we... some fairly big hits for us.

-->'''Sacharissa:''' Twenty-six people are mentioned by name.
-->'''De Worde:''' As accordionists?
-->'''Sacharissa:''' Yes.
-->'''De Worde:''' Won't they complain?
-->'''Sacharissa:''' They didn't ''have'' to play the accordion.

-->'''Accord (n)''': Harmony.
-->'''Accordion (n)''': An instrument in harmony with the sentiments of an assassin.

* Garfield's owner Jon Arbuckle from ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' likes polka music and he also plays accordion. He is perennially shown to be about as unhip as someone can be. In one comic, his idea of getting "wild" was shouting "EVERYBODY POLKA!" while putting on an impossibly tacky suit. The series has taken so many [[TakeThat pot shots]] at the accordion that real-life accordion enthusiasts have [[DudeNotFunny actually gotten pissed off]].
--> '''Jon:''' [[http://images.ucomics.com/comics/ga/1999/ga990330.gif I framed a picture of my hero, Cyrillys Damian, inventor of the accordion.]]
--> {{Beat}}
--> '''Jon:''' [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Just before his execution.]]
--> '''Garfield:''' There ''is'' justice in the world.

* Another Weird Al shout out was Wreck-Gar of ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'', where he was treated as a bit of a loser and a simpleton, and his decision to break out an accordion and play a polka for no reason was not taken very well by neighborhood GrumpyOldMan Rachet.

* In Creator/AAPessimal's ''{{Discworld}}'' adventure ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12650047/3/Strandpiel Strandpiel]]'', Assassin Johanna Smith-Rhodes briefly considers mass inhumation when a group of musicians crash the baptismal party for her daughter, armed with accordions, and start playing old [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Vondalaander]] tunes to dance to. But being in a mellow mood, she shrugs and lets them get on with it. [[note]]For the referent in RealLife, see Music, Klipwerf Boerorkes below.[[/note]]

* Music/LawrenceWelk. While wildly popular with the older crowd, his music was considered square and dorky by the younger generation and even by his contemporaries and has often been parodied.

* ''Film/{{Airplane}}'': When the air traffic controllers pull Ted Stryker's record, they realize they're in trouble: it turns out to be an LP of Stryker's favorite polka hits. He looks really dorky in the album's cover picture.

* In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CuiM9Z4yMGg this clip]] of the second California Raisins special, the "hottest new craze" is this combined with DeaderThanDisco.

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

* In Creator/AAPesimal's ''{{Discworld}}'' adventure ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12650047/3/Strandpiel Strandpiel]]'', Assassin Johanna Smith-Rhodes briefly considers mass inhumation when a group of musicians crash the baptismal party for her daughter, armed with accordions, and start playing old [[UsefulNotes/SouthAfrica Vondalaander]] tunes to dance to. But being in a mellow mood, she shrugs and lets them get on with it. [[note]]For the referent in RealLife, see Music, Klipwerf Boerorkes below.[[/note]]

* In ''Film/GroundhogDay'', polka music is playing in Punxsutawney town square on the morning of Groundhog Day. All the locals love it, and Rita's getting into it. When she tells Phil that the locals have been partying like this all night long, he just replies, "They're hicks, Rita."