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1If something is played for laughs, it means it is being used with the intention to be comedic. It is often a [[TheParody parody]] of the instances where said device or {{trope}} is used seriously. Sometimes involves LampshadeHanging on a particular {{trope}}.
2
3Contrast PlayedForDrama and PlayedForHorror; sometimes, the [[CanonicalListOfSubtleTropeDistinctions only difference]] between one {{trope}} and another is that one is [[TitleDrop played for laughs]], while the other is played for drama.
4
5Can sometimes result in it becoming HarsherInHindsight down the line. And of course, can result more immediately in DudeNotFunny. Also compare BlackComedy. Not to be confused with ParodiedTrope (when that trope isn't played straight).
6
7'''Important:''' A CompleteMonster's heinous actions can ''never'' be played for laughs, since one of the requirements for the character to qualify is their crimes must be taken seriously by the narrative. Even if the character does realistically dark things, if they are still treated as jokes in the narrative, then they can't be taken seriously by the audience. A LaughablyEvil villain can still be one, but their actions must be PlayedForHorror and taken seriously.
8
9----
10!!Examples:
11
12[[foldercontrol]]
13
14[[folder:Advertisements]]
15* BallroomBlitz is turned humorous in a SuperBowlSpecial ad [[https://youtu.be/E6JjyRhfjOE celebrating 100 years]] of the [[UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball National Football League]]. It starts with a stodgy, dignified celebration with tuxedo-wearing players listening to the commissioner's speech while a ''huge'' cake, topped with a golden football, is wheeled in. The cake comes just out of reach of Marshawn Lynch, a (now retired) running back known for his SweetTooth. Lynch makes a grab for the cake, causing the football to tumble to the floor. This sets off a Pavlovian reaction among the current and former players who immediately make a dive for it. A crazed and very messy pick up game of football follows with {{Shout Out}}s to everything from Tom Brady's collection of Super Bowl rings to Peyton Manning's tendency for injuries to an improbable catch known as the "Immaculate reception." Meanwhile the three old men from the 1972 Dolphins (the only undefeated team in Super Bowl history) are [[PassThePopcorn sipping champagne and laughing at the show]].
16[[/folder]]
17
18[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
19* Most of the middle of Ep. 4 in ''VisualNovel/UminekoWhenTheyCry'' is Beatrice having fun making the story play out as much as a cheesy kids' action anime as possible. EleventhHourSuperPower, OutOfCharacterMoment, InterfaceScrew, you name it. [[spoiler:After everyone stops acting it becomes obvious in hindsight.]]
20* We have [[AllMenArePerverts uncontrolled lechery]], [[WouldHitAGirl fathers beating their daughters]], bipolar childhood friends with murderous grudges, [[KillItWithFire a pyromaniac baby]], a mother who wishes her son was never born, wanton property destruction, and alien invasions. This is ''Manga/UruseiYatsura'', and all of the above is ''hilarious.''
21* ''Manga/MariaNoDanzai'' does this with NightmareFace with the birth of Kiritaka. When he saw how exhausted Mari was he tried to tell his son he should sleep now (which of course is impossible to tell to a newborn), Kiritaka continues to cry even more when he saw the scary face of his father.
22* Try ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'''s Aquatransexual with [[spoiler:a mother who thinks he should be manly or [[{{Seppuku}} face the sword]],]] ''way'' too many Fiancées, [[IKnowKungFaux rivals who practice]] all kinds of [[MartialArtsAndCrafts ridiculous martial arts]], a DirtyOldMan FairWeatherMentor who will stop at nothing [[FelonyMisdemeanor to get him into a bra]], [[WeirdnessMagnet and all sorts of other random stuff happening in his neighborhood.]]
23* Despite occasional MoodWhiplash, ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' is this for world history.
24* In ''Anime/MazingerZ'', Kouji's sexism and [[BelligerentSexualTension the fights between him and Sayaka]] nearly always are PlayedForLaughs.
25* In general, [[HaremGenre Harem]] shows such as ''Manga/LoveHina'', ''Literature/InfiniteStratos'', and ''Literature/BakaAndTestSummonTheBeasts'' utilize this trope anytime a female character is [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale shown beating on a male character.]]
26* ''Anime/AngelBeats'' plays DeathIsCheap entirely for laughs. All sorts of hideous types of death elected at best a response of "See ya later." and so do many AmusingInjuries. It's also surprisingly non-sexist about it, though it does keep most of the female "deaths" relatively non-violent or off-screen, compared to the males.
27[[/folder]]
28
29[[folder:Comic Books]]
30* TrainingFromHell is played for humor in Volume 2 of ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim''. Before Scott goes to fight Lucas Lee, he studies up on his moves by watching his movies, and Wallace orders him to do push-ups on the floor, all while Wallace himself sits in an armchair playing video games.
31* ''ComicBook/XMen'':
32** OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement is played for laughs in ''Professor Xavier and the X-Men'' #5, with a pair of random mercenaries' dialogue before the X-Men show up.
33-->'''Mercenary A:''' I ''hate'' this! I'm a trained mercenary! I know 64 ways to kill a guy with a spoon and I'm stuck guarding an electric generator.\
34'''Mercenary B:''' D'you mean you can kill a guy who ''has'' a spoon -- or that you can kill a guy with your own personal spoon?\
35''[Three pages later, after Iceman has dropped a huge slab of ice on them...]''\
36'''Mercenary A:''' Must... reach... spoon.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Fan Works]]
40* In ''Fanfic/CurseOfTheDualshock'', most examples of BreakingTheFourthWall are this trope.
41* In ''Fanfic/EquestriaAHistoryRevealed'', the entire concept of the fic is played for laughs, as a parody of the professionalism expected from a historical essay.
42** Most of the LemonyNarrator's logic and pride are played for laughs. However, as the story continues, it seems as though even certain elements of Equestrian history are naturally funny as well, and as such, invoke this trope too.
43* ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers'' fanfic ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11886910/1/Gankona-Unnachgiebig-Unità Gankona, Unnachgiebig, Unità]]'': Germany and Japan hysterically bowing and begging for forgiveness after repeatedly [[AccidentalPervert tugging and yanking]] on Italy's curl is this.
44* ''Fanfic/TheMLPLoops'' plays more than one SuperpoweredEvilSide for humor. In canon, Luna went DrunkOnTheDarkSide, rebelled against her sister Celestia, and was banished to the moon for a thousand years. Whenever a Looper ascends to alicorn for the first time, soon after there will be a "sisters loop" where the new alicorn takes the place of Luna, with Twilight taking the place of Celestia. No matter how hard they try, the first time they experience such a loop the new alicorn will go DrunkWithPower and have to be banished to the moon. Of course, this being Equestria, a lot of these dark sides are [[PokeThePoodle more than a little silly]]. Examples include "Hard Truth" (Applejack becomes obsessed with the entire country growing apples), "Danger Dash" (Rainbow Dash performs more and more pranks), "Party Pink" (Pinkie Pie won't stop throwing parties), "Flying Hatred" (Fluttershy suffers dangerous mood swings due to a curse), and "The Fashionista" (Rarity invades griffin lands in an attempt to open up more markets for her dresses).
45-->'''Twilight:''' Congratulations on joining the alicorn club, it helps if you've thought of your evil self beforehand.
46[[/folder]]
47
48[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
49* ''WesternAnimation/{{Hercules}}'': The film mostly makes fun of the mythology.
50* UnreliableVoiceover is played for humor in ''WesternAnimation/MeetTheRobinsons''. When Bowler Hat Guy is [[MrExposition ranting to a captured Lewis]] about [[MotiveRant why he has a grudge against him]], he says several things that flatly contradicts what is seen on the screen. For instance, he claims that everybody at school hated him after we see a couple of kids being friendly to him and inviting him to hang out, and that he and the evil robotic hat Doris retreated to their "[[SupervillainLair villainous lair]]" to make their EvilPlan - while the actual footage shows them going to an [[SugarBowl adorable kiddy restaurant]].
51* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansTroubleInTokyo'': What Raven and Beast Boy are doing reflects a type of comedy that Japan has called Manzai, where there is a serious straight and an irreverent idiot (BokeAndTsukkomiRoutine), only it's in an American parody and mockery of the original Japanese Manzai.
52* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' plays InformedAttractiveness for laughs. Devon seems incredibly ordinary, even burnt out and scruffy, but Mei's friends are obsessed with his supposed "hotness". Mei herself [[WhatDoesSheSeeInHim doesn't get what her friends see in him]], until she finds herself fantasizing about him as well. Priya more or less admits that the reason they like him is because he's ''there'', while legendary hotties like 4*Town are much harder to come by.
53[[/folder]]
54
55[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
56* ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'' features a teenage boy meeting his young mother through TimeTravel and her rather forwardly [[ParentalIncest coming on to him]], which it plays mostly for laughs. Thankfully, she sees him more like a brother before things go too far.
57* ''Film/BetterOffDead'' plays CompetitionCouponMadness for laughs, where Lane's younger brother cuts the coupons out of every box in the house, ''before'' using up the contents, leading to a RunningGag of characters pulling boxes out of the kitchen cupboards only for everything to spill out. Among the prizes he wins are a fully functional RayGun, [[TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior a book on how to pick up "trashy women",]] and [[spoiler: a construction kit for an actual working space shuttle, which he uses to fly off into space at the end of the movie.]]
58* ''Film/CasinoRoyale1967'' plays its [[spoiler:EverybodyDiesEnding]] for laughs, by immediately following it with a [[spoiler: FluffyCloudHeaven Ending.]]
59* The most famous example is probably ''[[Film/DrStrangelove Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb]]'' and how it plays TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt as a farcical BlackComedy.
60* ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack''. Han and Chewie's attempts to repair the ''Falcon'' provide some comedy in an otherwise very serious movie. They may be great pilots, but they are mediocre mechanics at best. This includes an onscreen DIYDisaster where Han tells Chewie to power up a system that Han just repaired, and it proceeds to blow up in Han's face, causing him to frantically shout for Chewie to turn it off.
61* ''Film/FourLions'', a farcical black comedy about five Muslim suicide bombers and their ultimately successful quest to blow themselves and other people up in the most pointless ways possible.
62* A BigRedButton is played for humor in ''Film/MightyMorphinPowerRangersTheMovie''. The HumongousMecha has a Big Red Button behind a pane of glass that must be broken, with a sign that says "For Emergency Use Only." Turns out it causes the mecha to [[GroinAttack knee an opponent in the groin]].
63* ''Film/PainAndGain'' is a film about one of the grisliest crime sprees in the history of the city of Miami. You wouldn't expect such a film to be a comedy until you realize that the main characters' incompetence at crime is what drives the film's plot.
64* ''Film/ToBeOrNotToBe'' features Jack Benny and Carole Lombard in her last film. It's a comedy about Hitler's invasion of Poland.
65[[/folder]]
66
67[[folder:Literature]]
68* ''Literature/BewareOfChicken'' is a light-hearted, comedic {{Deconstruction}} of [[SpiritCultivationGenre Wuxia and Xianxia novels]], [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]] [[PowerFantasy Power Fantasies]], and [[SlowLifeFantasy Slow Life Fantasies]]. What if someone transported into a fantastic world with incredible powers decided they'd rather not get involved, and instead tried to find the most remote, isolated place possible to start a farm? And what if the farm animals start treating things as seriously as the normal protagonists of this kind of story?
69* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' novels are often heavy on these in general and sometimes entirely based on this {{trope}}. Or umm, these {{trope}}s.
70* ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' plays a CrapsackWorld for laughs but mostly glosses over it.
71* An UnreliableVoiceover is used comically in ''Literature/TrickyBusiness''. The news station is trying to make out the storm hitting Miami as the Big One, but fail miserably, like when the reporter is telling the camera that people should stay out of the water as two dude jog up behind her, wave at the camera, and then go for a swim. The storm did cause a few deaths, however... but they were all from the news station.
72[[/folder]]
73
74[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
75* ''Series/TheAddamsFamily'' plays a NightmarishNursery for humor with Wednesday and Pugsley's play room, which features torture racks, guillotines, an electric chair, and other gruesome decorations. This being the Addamses, this is all seen as quite normal and the children have great fun with their macabre toys. Other people visiting the house not so much...
76* ''Series/AngieTribeca'', as a parody of police procedurals, lives on this trope.
77* ''Series/ABitOfFryAndLaurie''
78** PrivatelyOwnedSociety is used for comedy in the sketch "The Privatization of the Police Force". They won't do anything about your stolen car unless you purchase a plan.
79** DisappearedDad is played for laughs in one sketch. The duo play two very dense, inept detectives who break into the wrong house looking for a man. After confronting the woman who lives there they demand to see her husband, but she's not married. It transpires the only male there is her infant son (played by Hugh Laurie's real son). They are comically unable to grasp the idea that you can have a child without a husband, while the woman explains the father was "a sailor", and apparently is not around.
80* ''Series/{{Blackadder}}'', particularly ''[[UsefulNotes/WorldWarI Blackadder Goes Forth]]'', likewise (except in [[TearJerker the finale]]).
81* ''Series/{{Community}}'':
82** The BlackWidow trope gets played for comedy. During the [[SeriousBusiness absurdly serious paintball game]] in "Modern Warfare," [[spoiler:Jeff and Britta]] have sex. She immediately turns on him (though they get interrupted before she can "kill" him) so that she can win the game. She insists that she didn't sleep with him to kill him, she slept with him, and now, unrelated, she is going to kill him. He notes that it's suspicious how skilled she is at putting on her panties with one hand while holding a gun in the other.
83* A Season 1 episode of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'' which detailed Barney's Start of Darkness. All played for laughs, ending with an IgnoredEpiphany for the cherry on top.
84* AmbiguousSyntax is used for a joke in an episode of ''Series/TheMentalist''. Rigsby, whose girlfriend is pregnant with his child at the time, ends up in an elevator with a crying baby.
85-->'''Van Pelt:''' That'll be you soon.\
86'''Rigsby:''' No, no. I can cry much louder than that.
87* Forgetful Jones from ''Series/SesameStreet'' is played purely for comedic value (and has [[ForgetfulJones a trope named for him]]). He hasn't been seen in new episodes that much since the 90s, likely because of research about Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease (and some of those kids being taken care of by grandparents with those afflictions) coming in. His puppeteer's death in 1992 probably also factored into his disappearance.
88* Much of the humor in ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' comes from jokes that imply [[BlackComedy mental instability, death, parental abandonment]], etc.
89[[/folder]]
90
91[[folder:Music]]
92* The Music/NinjaSexParty's song "Welcome to my Parents' House" is a comedic take on the BasementDweller trope. A still-at-home Danny tries to make his parents' house sound like the sickest crash pad ever to his date. (Free pizza rolls! Can you believe it?) Interestingly, in the music video, his date is only briefly surprised, then just rolls with it.
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Video Games]]
96* ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' Black Whirlwind would be utterly AxCrazy if he weren't so funny about it.
97* HK-47 in ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' is the same, especially as he's open about it.
98* In ''VideoGame/DragonAgeII'', Isabela's attachment issues and nymphomania are played for laughs unless Hawke pursues a romance with her.
99* The relationship tester in ''VideoGame/FireEmblemAwakening'', done by [[DirtyOldMan Old Hubba]] and available in the extras menu, comes with a warning that it is completely random, played for laughs, and should not be taken seriously, most likely to avoid massive backlash from the fanboys and fangirls when Old Hubba gives a bad fortune and sinks their favorite ship or proposes... [[CrackPairing interesting alternatives.]]
100* Pretty much ''everything'' in ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'' is played for laughs, starting with the absurdly blatant NationalStereotypes and working down from there: the Soviet Bloc as violent-minded but easily duped brutes, the NATO nations as selfish jerks with more money and technology than sense, and the Japanese as resurgent imperialists obsessed with honor and advancement over practicality or usefulness. On paper, this can come off as rather insensitive or even offensive, until the game starts and a PowerArmor-wearing [[Film/BatmanAndRobin Mr. Freeze knockoff]] gets into a MexicanStandoff with a LaserBlade-wielding [[Franchise/StarWars Imperial Stormtrooper knockoff]] and [[BearsAreBadNews a literal bear]], all while Creator/TimCurry, Creator/GeorgeTakei, and Creator/JKSimmons simultaneously compete to [[ChewingTheScenery consume the most set dressing during cutscenes]]. Yes, ItMakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext; this game is like that.
101[[/folder]]
102
103[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
104* Games Workshop once released a list via ''Magazine/WhiteDwarf'' depicting the Movie Marines, or essentially allowing you to play Space Marines at fluff power levels. The fact that you could buy every Marine in the list a StuntDouble makes it pretty clear the thing was written with tongue firmly in cheek (the Movie Marines were PurposefullyOverpowered, and explicitly only to be used in friendly games).
105[[/folder]]
106
107[[folder:Theatre]]
108* ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' does this with [[ManEatingPlant man-eating]] PlantAliens and sadistic dentists.
109* ''Theatre/TheMikado'' does this with all manner of bloodthirstiness, despite being a light romantic comedy, including, for example, a song ("The Criminal Cried as He Dropped Him Down") in which the chorus goes:
110-->As the sabre true
111-->Cut cleanly through
112-->His cervical vertebrae
113-->His vertebrae!
114* Depending on your interpretation (not to mention the director's), ''Theatre/TitusAndronicus'' might be played this way, with murder, genocide, rape, infidelity and cannibalism PlayedForLaughs.
115[[/folder]]
116
117[[folder:Webcomics]]
118* Webcomic/CthulhuSlippers does this with the end of the world, horrible deaths, BlackMagic and pretty much the entire Franchise/CthulhuMythos.
119* Webcomic/PennyArcade plays both Tycho and Gabe's psychotic moments for laughs, even if death and destruction follows.
120* ''Webcomic/SexyLosers'': AshesToCrashes is used as part of a (very {{N|otSafeForWork}}SFW) joke. [[spoiler:The nymphomaniac mother kills her son's girlfriend via sexual exhaustion. She attends the funeral. The urn the girlfriend's ashes are in is vaguely phallic. The mother tries using it as a dildo, and it breaks... She complains about that being the ''second'' time that's happened...]]
121[[/folder]]
122
123[[folder:Web Original]]
124* The blog ''Cut!'' is [[Franchise/TheSlenderManMythos Slender Man]] PlayedForLaughs. At one point, [[TookALevelInDumbass Slendy himself actually bumps into a clear glass door before slinking off in embarrassment.]]
125* ''Website/SCPFoundation''
126** The subject of [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1171 SCP-1171]] plays FantasticRacism for humor. It's a StarfishAlien from another dimension, who has the personality of a white trash bigot.
127-->'''SCP-1171''': "DON'T GET ME WRONG, I'M NOT RACIST OR ANYTHING. [[SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX SOME OF MY BEST FRIENDS ARE HUMAN]]. BUT IF THEY'RE AS GOOD AS US, WHY DO THEY NEED SKIN? AM I RIGHT?"
128* The [=MurderMen=] of the ''Podcast/ThrillingAdventureHour'' are basically a combination of zombies and serial killers. Their attempts to [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment MurderMan and ManMurder people]] are usually hysterical instead of horrifying.
129[[/folder]]
130
131[[folder:Web Video]]
132* WebVideo/DannyGonzalez
133** SuspiciouslySpecificDenial is played for humor in "The Weird Side of Amazon 2". Danny comes across a hoodie that repeatedly reminds the customer that the hoodie is made of cotton. He responds to it with an exaggerated portrayal of the manufacturer getting more and more nervous and insistent about what the hoodie is made of and that they know what cotton is, accompanied with a slow zoom-in on his face. Then he says:
134--> ''It's made of cotton, alright? And not my own hair. I did not use my own hair to make these hoodies, it's made of breathable cotton.''
135** UsurpingSanta is used for BlackComedy in "[[https://youtu.be/eSFhd-CGIWU I'm Gonna Kill Santa Claus]]". Danny cheerfully plots to KillAndReplace Santa just for the cool perks of being Santa, like riding his sleigh, and forcing the elves to make toys.
136* ''WebVideo/TheGuild''
137** Zaboo's StalkerWithACrush behavior would be horrifically creepy in RealLife, but on the show it's over-the-top funny (to everyone except Codex, the target of his affections, but even she stops being creeped out and is instead mostly just annoyed by it).
138** Likewise, Clara's extreme ParentalNeglect is portrayed as an amusing part of her wacky personality.
139* BadBadActing is played for laughs all the time in ''WebVideo/ThirdRateGamer''. His idea of "looking irate" equals puffing his cheeks full of air.
140--> Well fine! I don't need you, I'll just do this review by my... *looks at script* self!
141* The infamous [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Te7QAsH6w "Yelling At Cats"]] [[WebVideo video]] is ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin.
142[[/folder]]
143
144[[folder:Western Animation]]
145* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'' does this to the old chestnut of an alien coming to infiltrate society. Even the {{Nightmare Fuel}}ed "Dark Harvest" gets some BlackComedy out of OrganTheft by having Zim replace the other students' organs with increasingly bizarre random objects.
146* In the season 1 finale of ''WesternAnimation/TheOwlHouse'', Luz and King get themselves purposefully arrested for [[PokeThePoodle stepping on "Don't step on the grass" grass.]]
147* The infamous Lucy-pulling-the-football-away-from-Charlie-Brown gag in the ''Franchise/{{Peanuts}}'' series.
148* ''WesternAnimation/KaBlam'': Billy from "The Off-Beats", The RunningGag in the series usually involved Billy saying something that would get Tina mad, and then the Populars would throw him out of the group, causing Billy to crash into something.
149* A ''WesternAnimation/RobotChicken'' {{Franchise/Alien}} sketch entails an individual Xenomorph's acid melting through multiple floors, resulting in it fallling through several stories before hitting the pavment, exaggerating HollywoodAcid.
150* ''WesternAnimation/SolarOpposites'' plays NarratorAllAlong for laughs in the intro. As if it wasn't obvious by the time the intro happens Korvo is the one narrating. He even lampshades it just before the CouchGag.
151-->'''Korvo:''' We crashed on Earth, stranding us, on an already overpopulated planet. That's right, I've been talking this whole time! I'm the one holding the Pupa. My name's Korvo. This is-this is my show. I just dropped the Pupa. Do you see me?
152* ''WesternAnimation/SonicBoom'':
153** WishUponAShootingStar is played for humor when a meteor shower falls in the town and destroys everything, and Amy remembers a particular fun fact about meteors.
154-->'''Amy:''' Meteors are shooting stars! We shouldn't be running, we should be making wishes! [[AllGirlsLikePonies I wish for a pony.]]\
155'''Sonic:''' And I wish you'd take cover. ''(grabs her by the wrist and runs for cover)''\
156'''Amy:''' How come ''your'' wish came true?
157* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' in the episode "Fear Itself". Beast Boy, [[GenreSavvy being an aficionado of horror movies]], spends most of the episode (until he's caught) [[LampshadeHanging telling everyone]] not to [[LetsSplitUpGang split up]] as the monster ''always'' gets his targets easier that way, and that he, the funny guy, will inevitably be taken first. He ends up being right. [[spoiler:Of course he does; the monster chasing them is being conjured by Raven's unconscious overflowing powers, and her subconscious is working off the ideas Beast Boy is feeding it]]
158[[/folder]]

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