History Main / DumbAndDrummer

* Pierce, from ''ComicStrip/{{Zits}}''. Unworldly, soft-hearted when it comes to living creatures, and lacking impulse control-yes. He's definitely not stupid, though,and the trope rarely if ever is mentioned in the strip.

* ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'': Ringo's clearly not as bright as his bandmates, but he seems more of a CloudCuckooLander than anything. [[spoiler: In the end his quick thinking is what frees Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from their imprisonment, which surprises everyone.]]

* ''Literature/TheDivineComedy'' associates drums with idiocy, as [[https://books.google.com/books/about/Musical_imagery_in_the_Mastro_Adamo_epis.html?id=mZ6XAQAACAAJ identified by Amilcare Iannucci.]] The dull counterfeiter Master Adam may have a disproportioned body that looks like a lute, but when hit, his dropsies make the sound of a drum that expose his lower class, brutish nature, and idiocy to all fooled by his self-excusing lies.

* Averted by Music/{{Rush}}'s drummer Neil Peart, who is incredibly technical in his playing, writes the band's lyrics, has authored several books, and is outright stated by both of his bandmates to "have a bigger brain than [they] do." He has even augmented his kit with instruments such as tubular bells, gongs, bell trees, and crotales. Did we mention he's incredibly technical in his playing? And definitely the most serious-minded of the group. His bandmates' antics on stage were an effort to get him to crack a smile (and they did once succeed with a roadie dressed in a chicken suit cooking a rotisserie chicken).

** Meg probably wasn't terribly keen on being in a band to begin with. Jack noted that part of why the group broke up was because she had no passion for it; for example, Jack would be over the moon about something they just did in the studio and Meg would more or less shrug in indifference & move on to the next objective. Obviously, she was never one for the rockstar lifestyle, but it's hard to tell how much of her disenchantment with the White Stripes was due to the criticism she received or just not really feeling the band lifestyle in general at some point.

* Kevin from ''Webcomic/{{Rhapsodies}}'' is essentially a amalgamation of every drummer joke you ever heard. Though he's more oblivious than stupid.

* Averted by Music/{{Rush}}'s drummer Neil Peart, who is incredibly technical in his playing, writes the band's lyrics, has authored several books, and is outright stated by both of his bandmates to "have a bigger brain than [they] do." He has even augmented his kit with instruments such as tubular bells, gongs, bell trees, and crotales. Did we mention he's incredibly technical in his playing?

* Lias "Cliff" Bluestone from ''Discworld/SoulMusic'' is a rather simple-minded [[AllTrollsAreDifferent troll]] who's frequently described as "one of nature's drummers".

* Ash from ''ImInTheBand'' is considered a GeniusDitz...at best. At worst, he's a moron.

* Brad Paisley's "Kung Pao Buckaroo Holiday," running down the list of holiday songs identifying [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad who they'd offend]]:

* Averted by {{Rush}}'s drummer Neil Peart, who is incredibly technical in his playing, writes the band's lyrics, has authored several books, and is outright stated by both of his bandmates to "have a bigger brain than [they] do." He has even augmented his kit with instruments such as tubular bells, gongs, bell trees, and crotales. Did we mention he's incredibly technical in his playing?

* Also averted by Yanic Bercier, former drummer for Canadian death metal band Quo Vadis. He holds a [=PhD=] in Physics from [=McGill University=].

* Glenn Fricker, owner of Spectre Media Group and longtime heavy metal record producer, hands drummer jokes out like they're candy - both in the studio and on his YouTube channel. As with his [[NobodyLovesTheBassist hatred of bass players]], he often plays this straight but will [[DiscussedTrope sometimes take the time to explain why he feels this way about drummers]], noting that as with bass players there ''are'' good drummers out there to whom this trope doesn't apply and with whom he has enjoyed working. Unlike with bass players, who usually can't play at all, drummers often ''can'' play. The problems with drummers tend to be that they can't keep a good beat, they're unable to keep their affairs outside the studio straight (e.g. Phil Rudd of {{Music/ACDC}}), and they tend to whine & complain when the producer insists on arranging drums, cymbals, & microphones in such a way as to get the optimal sound, seeing it as too much work and too different from how they normally play to the point that they can't play their kit this way at all.

* In Scary Larry, the band's drummer is [[Main/FrankensteinsMonster Frank]], who is the biggest and by far the dumbest member of the group.

--> ''"If you're not smart enough to play a real instrument, they give you two sticks, put you in the back, and call you a drummer."''

* Averted in ''Film/Whiplash'', where the potential for drummers to be great musicians in their own right is treated completely seriously, and much of the focus of the film is on the endless practice, discipline and physical pain required to become genuinely good at drums as opposed to simply keeping the beat.

* Averted in ''[[Literature/BigendBooks Zero History]]'' by WilliamGibson: Heidi Hyde is a former drummer, but it doesn't seem to have caused any lasting mental handicap.

[[folder: Film ]]

* The movie ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' does too, but to a lesser extent. Ringo's clearly not as bright as his bandmates, but he seems more of a CloudCuckooLander than anything. [[spoiler: In the end his quick thinking is what frees Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from their imprisonment, which surprises everyone.]]
-->'''George:''' Ringo, I take back all I said. You're a genius.
-->'''Paul:''' Sheer genius!
-->'''Ringo:''' I know, I know, I know.

[[AC:{{Anime}} and {{Manga}}]]
* ''Manga/KOn'' has Ritsu Tainaka. As the Light Music Club's drummer, she isn't particularly stupid, just lazy and forgetful. Although the reason she plays the drums is because she thinks playing the guitar or keyboard is too complicated and would frustrate her.

[[AC:Comics]]

[[AC:Film]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]
* Averted in ''[[Literature/BigendBooks Zero History]]'' by WilliamGibson: Heidi Hyde is a former drummer, but it doesn't seem to have caused any lasting mental handicap.

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:Music]]

[[AC:New Media]]

[[AC:{{Theatre}}]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WebAnimation]]

[[AC:WebComics]]

[[AC:WebOriginal]]

[[AC: WesternAnimation]]

[[AC:Jokes and Anecdotes]]

* The movie YellowSubmarine does too, but to a lesser extent. Ringo's clearly not as bright as his bandmates, but he seems more of a CloudCuckooLander than anything. [[spoiler: In the end his quick thinking is what frees Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band from their imprisonment, which surprises everyone.]]

* In the WebAnimation/StrongBadMe "best thing", the drummer of Limozeen was made the FatComicRelief in their [[OneEpisodeWonder short-lived]] BandToon "[[ShowWithinAShow Limozeen: But They're In Space]]!"

* In the [[WebAnimation/HomestarRunner Strong Bad E-mail]] "best thing", the drummer of Limozeen was made the [[FatIdiot fat, dumb]] PluckyComicRelief in their [[OneEpisodeWonder short-lived]] BandToon "[[ShowWithinAShow Limozeen: But They're In Space]]!"
-->'''Mary Palaroncini:''' How come they made me fat and have orange hair?\\
'''Larry Palaroncini:''' Because you're the comic relief!

* Meg White of Music/TheWhiteStripes has had to put up with so much criticism of her drumming style, it's no wonder she retired from music altogether when the band broke up in 2011. Criticisms range from her keeping [[ThreeChordsAndTheTruth a simple, unimaginative beat]] to [[DreadfulMusician not being able to play in time at all]]. Bandmate & ex-husband Jack White ardently defended her style, believing that most of the backlash was due to mere sexism and crediting her with being the most important element of the band's garage punk sound, while world-class drummer Brandon Khoo [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oQsKRyihEA beautifully demonstrated the true value of her playing]], [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome even using Ringo Starr as an example]]. Meg wasn't always able to ignore her detractors, saying that it really did get to her sometimes but the rest of the time she could blow it off since she realized her own worth to the band and how vital she was to their sound.
** Meg probably wasn't terribly keen on being in a band to begin with. Jack noted in retrospect that part of why the group broke up was because she had no passion for it; for example, the two had polar opposite reactions to some of their accomplishments. Jack would be over the moon about something they just did in the studio and Meg would more or less shrug in indifference & move on to the next objective. Obviously, she was never one for the rockstar lifestyle, but it's hard to tell how much of her disenchantment with the White Stripes was due to the criticism she received or just not really feeling the band lifestyle in general at some point.

* Chapter 15 in the autobiography of famously intelligent/subdued/DeadpanSnarker ProgressiveRock drummer BillBruford is titled, "What Do You Call A Guy Who Hangs Out With Musicians?".

* Averted by {{Rush}}'s drummer Neil Peart, who is incredibly technical in his playing, writes the band's lyrics, has authored several books, and is outright stated by both of his bandmates to "have a bigger brain than [they] do."

* When Music/PhilCollins joined the early incarnation of {{Music/Genesis}}, although certainly intelligent[[note]]For his audition with the band, he learned the drum parts by listening to other drummers audition; he had never heard them before. And this was while swimming in Peter Gabriel's pool.[[/note]], he found himself falling into this role, playing comic relief to diffuse tensions between the often sarcastic and pissy boarding school graduates that made up the rest of the band.

* While DaveGrohl averts this, he stated that when {{Music/Nirvana}} was in Australia getting a visa to travel to New Zealand, the consultate wrote "musician" on both KurtCobain and Krist Novoselic's documents, but "drummer" on his.

* In the UsefulNotes/SegaSaturn game ''[[VideoGame/MrBones Mr. Bones]]'', the penultimate stage has the title character, a [[SkeletalMusician Skeletal Blues Musician]], take on a skeletal undead army of darkness by telling jokes. Some of them naturally fall into this trope.

* Pierce, from ''{{Zits}}''. Unworldly, soft-hearted when it comes to living creatures, and lacking impulse control-yes. He's definitely not stupid, though,and the trope rarely if ever is mentioned in the strip.