History Main / DangerouslyCloseShave

* A humorous scene early in the film adaption of ''Film/{{Scaramouche}}'', where Andre sends out his lawyer's barber and proceeds to interrogate the lawyer as to the identity of the man who pays his stipend. By shaving him.

* In Disney's version of ''Disney/PeterPan'', Smee (through a complicated [[{{Slapstick}} series of misunderstandings]]) mistakenly believes he's accidentally cut off Captain Hook's head while shaving him.

* In the second campaign of WebVideo/CriticalRole, Yasha gives Caleb a shave with her five-and-a-half foot long greatsword at two points. The first time actually goes pretty well. The second...not so much.

** In the novel ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', Samuel Vimes invokes this as an excuse to shave himself -- he claims he's had too many people try to kill him to be comfortable with anyone holding a blade near his throat. The real reason is that having [[RagsToRiches grown up in the gutter]], he resents [[BlueBlood the aristocracy]] and hates having servants wait on him.
** In ''Discworld/{{Jingo}}'', Vimes reflects on the case of Sweeney Jones, the Barber of Gleam Street, who was cutting his customers' throats. Although, unlike his Roundword namesake, not on purpose.
** Invoked in ''Discworld/MonstrousRegiment'' two different ways:

* On ''VideoGame/DiscworldMUD'', there is an NPC who is a ShoutOut to ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd,'' and even warns you beforehand that he'll slit your throat when you get a shave from him. But hey, dying this way gets you an achievement and a percentage of another achievement ''and'' [[ImAHumanitarian creates pies that]] [[IAteWhat taste like you]].

* A humorous scene early in the film adaption of ''Film/{{Scaramouche}}'', where Andre sends out his lawyer's barber and proceeds to interrogate the lawyer as to the identity of the man who pays his stipend. [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments By shaving him.]]

-->'''Smee:''' Oh dear! [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments I've never shaved him this close before]]!

'''Sweeney Todd:''' Yes sir.\\

** In the novel ''Discworld/FeetOfClay'', Samuel Vimes invokes this as an excuse to shave himself--he claims he's had too many people try to kill him to be comfortable with anyone holding a blade near his throat. The real reason is that, having [[RagsToRiches grown up in the gutter]], he resents [[BlueBlood the aristocracy]] and hates having servants wait on him.

*** When SweetPollyOliver Polly Perks is given the task of shaving Lieutenant Blouse--under the impression that, as a chap, she has a rough idea what she's doing--the Lieutenant asks her if she thinks she could kill a man. She stares at the razor in her hand, and says she thinks she probably could.

* The original ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd'' story was ''The String of Pearls'', published in the 1840s. In that version, Todd did in his customers by opening a trapdoor under the chair, and only employed this trope if the fall into the cellar didn't kill them outright.

* In ''Series/{{Flash Gordon|2007}}'', Ming was nicked when being shaved mainly because he couldn't sit still. As punishment for the nick he cuts off the guilty barber's finger. They don't call this guy "The Merciless" for nothing.

* [[Music/LouReed]]'s song "Harry's Circumcision" is about a man who, while shaving, realises that he's turning into his parents... and promptly [[BodyHorror starts cutting up his face]], ending by slashing his own throat.

* [[Music/VelvetUnderground Lou Reed]]'s song "Harry's Circumcision" is about a man who, while shaving, realises that he's turning into his parents... and promptly [[BodyHorror starts cutting up his face]], ending by slashing his own throat.

* The quintessential embodiment of this trope is of course ''Theatre/SweeneyToddTheDemonBarberOfFleetStreet'', who murdered his customers and handed their bodies off to his partner Mrs. Lovett to be baked into meat pies. His ultimate goal being to kill [[spoiler: Judge Turpin who banished Todd on false charges, raped his wife in Todd's absence, and taken his daughter under his own wings. He ultimately succeeds in the end with this trope being the method. The current page's picture depicts him killing a customer in the movie rendition of the story]].

* Averted in ''Series/GameOfThrones''. To demonstrate to his father that he has [[MindRape broken Theon Greyjoy completely]], [[TortureTechnician Ramsay Snow]] has Theon give him a close shave, while taunting his captive.
* Likewise in ''Series/{{Westworld}}'', the [[EvilWearsBlack Man in Black]] has [[ThreeLawsCompliant android host Dolores]] shave him with his own Bowie knife.

* ''Series/GameOfThrones'': Ramsay invokes the trope to demonstrate how harmless Reek is by submitting to a shave while taunting him with terrible news.

* In an [[http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/picture/upload/image/books/Sherlock_Holmes.pdf early draft]] of ''Film/SherlockHolmes'', Dredger (who wound up a silly French thug) was a razor-wielding psychopath who [[HoistByHisOwnPetard impaled himself on his own razor]] near the end. Holmes and Watson agree to never touch a razor again.

* This is in the backstory of Garrett (formerly "George the Fiend") from ''Literature/BetsyTheVampireQueen''--he was an actor who was supposed to play Tarzan, but when the movie was canceled (in favor of ''GoneWithTheWind''), the producer took him to the barber for a haircut and shave. The producer was the vampire Nostro, and he had the barber slit Garrett's throat so he could drink.

* In ''WesternAnimation/ACloseShave'', the villainous dog Preston ends up in an automatic sheep-shearing machine, where he is given the titular "close shave". [[spoiler:It only serves to rip off his fur and reveal him to be a robot.]]

* The original SweeneyTodd story was ''The String of Pearls'', published in the 1840s. In that version, Todd did in his customers by opening a trapdoor under the chair, and only employed this trope if the fall into the cellar didn't kill them outright.

* In ''Literature/{{Dodger}}'', Dodger goes to get a shave from SweeneyTodd. Although he survives the experience (and becomes a hero in the process), the peelers find a cellar full of the corpses of earlier customers who were not so lucky.

* On ''VideoGame/DiscworldMUD'', there is an NPC who is a ShoutOut to SweeneyTodd, and even warns you beforehand that he'll slit your throat when you get a shave from him. But hey, dying this way gets you an achievement and a percentage of another achievement ''and'' [[ImAHumanitarian creates pies that]] [[IAteWhat taste like you]].

* In ''VideoGame/BrainDead13'', if Lance chooses the "shave" (which is rather odd, since he doesn't have any facial hair), Vivi will spray him with green shaving cream, and she will use this SinisterScythe to try and [[OffWithHisHead kill him in this dangerous way]], a la SweeneyTodd.

* In recognition of this trope, in ''Literature/TheMalloreon'' Belgarath criticized Kal Zakath for [[RichInDollarsPoorInSense allowing a barber to shave him when he lived in constant danger of assassination]].

[[folder:Anime & Manga]]

Until relatively recently, hairy pseudo-apes like you and I had two options when it came to dealing with unkempt hair; either you just hacked it short, or you took an AbsurdlySharpBlade and scraped your skin--possibly ''off.'' Thus evolved the barber's art; honing, stropping and wielding those wicked-looking straight razors to dispose of unseemly hair ''without'' getting blood all over a customer's shirt.

[[RealityIsUnrealistic Judging from movies]], this was only ''slightly'' less dangerous than doing it oneself. Every so often, that straight razor would end up [[SlashedThroat slicing the customer's throat]].

See CutHimselfShaving and ThereWillBeToiletPaper.

* [[http://nedroid.com/2011/04/beartato-and-reginald-in-a-close-shave/ This]] ''Webcomic/Nedroid'' comic has Reginald doing it to himself.

* [[http://nedroid.com/2011/04/beartato-and-reginald-in-a-close-shave/ This]] Nedroid comic has Reginald doing it to himself.