History Main / AsideComment

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

%% [[folder: Comics Strips ]]

[[folder: Fan Works ]]

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]

* [[Creator/TheMarxBrothers Groucho Marx]], on occasion.
-->'''Groucho''': ''(as Chico begins a piano solo)'' ''I've got to stay here-- but there's no reason why you folks shouldn't go out into the lobby until this thing blows over."

* ''Film/UndercoverBrother''.

--->'''Undercover Brother:''' Nothing relaxes a brother after a hard day of going undercover like a little piece of the cookie.
--->'''Sistah Girl:''' My cookie would break you in half.
--->'''Undercover Brother:''' Maybe, but that would be some long division. [looks at the camera] Long.
** While Undercover Brother is at a golf course
--->'''Sistah Girl:''' This is strictly an observational mission. We are not authorized to take action.
--->'''Undercover Brother:''' Well, observe this. [looks at the camera] Action is what Undercover Brother's all about.

--->'''White She Devil:''' Oh, Undercover Brother, you're too much man for me.
--->'''Undercover Brother:''' Baby... [looks at the camera] sometimes I'm too much man for my own damn self.

* ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020''

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]

[[folder: Radio ]]

[[folder: Tabletop Games ]]
* An important part of the Shakespearean RPG ''[[{{TabletopGame/Forsooth}} Forsooth!]]'', where each character gets one Aside and one Soliloquy.

[[folder: Theatre ]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

-->'''Sonic''': "I'll just stick with "aliens" if that's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pVHJeIUWOI okay with everybody."]]

-->'''Varric''': "Hawke said sarcastically."
-->'''Hawke''': You know, I hate it when you do that.
-->'''Varric''': "Hawke muttered in an angry aside to the dwarf..."

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* One of the many popular gags in WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes. One of the better examples is in "WesternAnimation/DripAlongDaffy" where WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck pulls this when confronting Nasty Canasta:
-->'''Daffy''': "Hankerin' for trouble, eh? Well, I would like...''(aside)'' I would like? I would like a trip to Europe...''(back)'' I would like to introduce myself!"

-->'''Dan Backslide''': "Dear, rich Dora Standpipe, ''HOW I LOVE HER''!...[--father's money--]."

-->'''Tom''': [''to stuffed and mounted moose head''] "Unhand her, Dan Backslide!" [''to Dick and Larry''] "Unhand her, Dan Backslide!" [''to Dan Backslide, [[PhraseCatcher coward-bully-cad-and-thief]], [[TheCavalryArrivesLate passed out on the floor]]'') "[[RuleOfThree Unhand her, Dan Backslide!]]" [''aside''] "[[LampshadeHanging Hey, we're getting in a rut]]."

** In "The Lost Treasure Of Griffonstone", Pinkie manages to convince a grudging Gilda to go help Rainbow Dash who's stuck down a deep canyon -- Gilda claims this doesn't make them friends again. Pinkie duly notes it to Gilda, then waits for her to walk by before turning to the audience and gleefully saying, "Except it doooooes!"
* Raphael did this a lot in ''WesternAnimation/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1987''. This was lampshaded in the crossover special WesternAnimation/TurtlesForever when Hun called him out on it: "Why do you keep doing that? Who are you talking to?! ''There's no one there!''"

* ''WesternAnimation/SuperFriends''

-->'''Wendy:''' Marvin, we've got to reach the Super Friends!
-->'''Marvin:''' Sure. Any idea how?
-->'''Wendy:''' Uh uh. [Looks at the camera and the audience] Do you?

* DangerMouse does this in "Penfold B.F." As he's in flight in his Mark III car and talking to Colonel K via his videophone:
-->'''DM:''' Just a second, Colonel, while I put the car into a bank...(''veering slightly to the right'')
-->'''Colonel K:''' Don't try it, DM!
-->'''DM:''' Why not?
-->'''Colonel K:''' You'll never get it through the doors!
-->'''DM:''' (''to us, quietly'') Good grief , I don't know why I bother.
* ''WesternAnimation/{{Birdman}}''

-->'''Dr. Kiroff''': He's destroyed my metal men [turns to face the camera] but there's more than one way to catch a bird!

-->'''Doctor Shado''': It's Birdman, all right. He's finally arrived. [Turns and looks at the audience] At long last!

-->'''Reducto'': With this Reduction Machine I will soon have this country, [turns to face the camera] perhaps the entire world at my mercy!
* In ''WesternAnimation/TheNewScoobyDooMovies'' episode "The Ghostly Creep From The Deep" with the Harlem Globetrotters, Meadowlark tricks Curly into volunteering being the first watch while everybody else gets some sleep. As Curly marches, he turns to us and says "Sometimes I wish Meadowlark would learn to keep my big mouth shut!"

* ''WesternAnimation/FantasticVoyage''

-->'''Erica Lane''': [Sees an image of Busby Birdwell, which disappears] It's just another memory. [turns to face the audience] But a recent one! [turns away again] That means I must be nearing the wound!

-->'''Erica Lane''': [Turns and looks at the camera]] Lisette may be all washed up, but we're high and dry!
* ''WesternAnimation/SpaceGhost''

-->'''Space Ghost''': He forgot his own creation, the Cyclo Terror, was in there. Things have a strange way of evening up, [looks at the camera] especially for poor misguided creatures like Cyclo.

-->Zorgat: They have seen the empty cruiser. Step two of my plan is working.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins'' episode ''Give and Let Give'', Zidgel looks straight at the camera and asks if he mentioned that he was on a peaceful mission.
** In ''Oh, Mercy!'', the Gator King asks the audience if he knows his Bible.

* ''Film/BirdsOfPrey2020''. After Harley defeats several opponents who are trying to kill or capture her, she climbs a rope up to the second story of a building. She looks at the audience and says, as a CharacterNarrator, "Fine. It was dumb luck. But still..." and then says (out loud) "That felt pretty great."

[[folder: Film ]]

[[folder: Newspaper Comics ]]
* A lot of the punchlines in ''ComicStrip/AndyCapp''.
* ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes make the occasional comment to the audience.
* ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}. All the time.
* ComicStrip/FoxTrot did this in the earliest strips.
[[/folder]]

* ''Anime/DragonBallZ'' usually keeps its fourth wall unbroken, but late in the series Gohan abruptly looks at the camera and explains why Krillin suddenly has hair.
* ''Manga/{{Bleach}}''

One of the mildest forms of BreakingTheFourthWall; often seen in [[SlidingScaleOfFourthWallHardness works where the Wall is otherwise quite solid]] and it would seem odd for the characters really to acknowledge it. It's even possible for an Aside Comment to leave the Fourth Wall entirely intact if characters are interpreted as talking to themselves (see ThinkingOutLoud) or to an imaginary audience. This type is sometimes done in a quiet voice (called ''sotto voce'') to indicate that other characters cannot overhear what is said. Usually, the interpretation is left open unless there are other kinds of BreakingTheFourthWall going on; it would be odd, to say the least, to comment on the matter if the Fourth Wall ''is'' solid, after all.

* UsefulNotes/AcademyAward-winner ''[[Literature/TheHistoryOfTomJonesAFoundling Tom Jones]]'' does this repeatedly. One time, when Tom is being chased by a jealous husband, he looks into the camera and shouts "Help!". Towards the end of the film, instead of just showing a crucial plot point unfold, one of the supporting characters turns to the camera and narrates the scene.

* ''Film/YoungFrankenstein''. When his attempt to re-animate the dead body apparently fails, Dr. Frankenstein makes a speech about how "science...teaches us to accept our failures as well as our successes with quiet dignity and grace." A few moments later he goes into a rage and tries to strangle the dead body. As Inga and Igor restrain him, Igor turns to the camera and sarcastically says "Quiet dignity and grace."

* ''Film/TopSecret''. While the protagonists are in the "Der Pizza Haus" Nigel accuses Nick Rivers of being Mel Tormé, and therefore a traitor. To prove he isn't, Nick sings and dances to the tune "Straighten Out the Rug". After he finishes one of the Resistance members turns to the camera and says "This is not Mel Tormé!"

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/ThreeTwoOnePenguins 3-2-1 Penguins!]]'' episode ''Give and Let Give'', Zidgel looks straight at the camera and asks if he mentioned that he was on a peaceful mission.

* {{Deadpool}} is very guilty of this, and in [[FourthWallObserver his case]] there's little doubt as to whether he would really talk to the audience.

* ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' was created by veterans of the American version of ''Series/{{The Office|US}}'', and includes the same "talking head" segments that both the British and American versions of that show used. However, unlike both versions of ''The Office'', there's never any reference to a [[{{Mockumentary}} documentary being filmed]] and the crew filming the talking heads never impacts the action. In practice the talking heads function very much like Aside Comments.

* The tv version of ''{{Lovejoy}}'' would have Lovejoy do this in a vaguely Shakespearean way, delivering either his internal snark, or a bit of trivia about the antique, as a way of showing how his thought processes worked.

-->'''Daffy''': "Nasty Canasta, eh? Well I'd like...*aside* I'd like? I'd like a trip to Europe...*back* I'd like to introduce myself!"

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'': In a singular example in this otherwise-serious series, Doctor [=McCoy=] looks directly into the camera at the end of "Journey to Babel" and happily declares, "I finally got the last word."
* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' did this a few time. One notable example is at the start of the fifth season when Jazz comes to visit, complaining about why he's the last to know Will's back from Philadelphia before asking who's playing the mother that season. A boy comes out to tell it's the same actor confusing Jazz who he is. Will reveals it's Nikki who was last seen as a baby in the previous season. While Jazz looks on bewildered, Will looks to the camera and makes a "growth spurt" motion.

* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' did this a few time. One notable example is at the start of the fifth season when Jazz comes to visit, complaining about why he's the last to know Will's back from Philadelphia before asking who's playing the mother that season. A boy comes out to tell it's the same actor confusing Jazz who he is. Will reveals it's Nikki who was last seen as a baby in the previous season. While Jazz looks on confused, Will looks to the camera and makes a "growth spurt" motion.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'': The animals used as part of the BambooTechnology are likely to do this.

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

* ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance''
** When Torg is being ''very'' slow on the uptake: [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/19980521 "He'll figure it out any moment now folks!"]] (Unless you count "folks" as a direct acknowledgement of the fourth wall. It seems to refer to the audience, but it's left vague.)
** When Torg's trying to do some serious angst after the comic's first bout of CerebusSyndrome: [[http://www.sluggy.com/comics/archives/daily/19981017 "There are some things in life more important than gags."]]

[[/folder]]

* Mel Brooks seems fond of this trope. In "The Producers" accountant Gene Wilder starts having a mental breakdown. Zero Mostel looks to the camera and says "This man should be in a straightjacket."

* [[TheMarxBrothers Groucho Marx]], on occasion.