History Main / BananaInTheTailpipe

* ''{{Columbo}}'' did this with a potato.

* Not in the game itself, but in a ''DiddyKongRacing'' promo video from ''Nintendo Power'', at one point the host mentions someone stuffed a bag of acorns into the tailpipe of Krunch's car, with Conker being the primary suspect.

You've got someone on your tail. Could be a cop, [[TheBully the local bully]], or a ''very'' persistent [[AllDevouringBlackHoleLoanSharks loan shark]]. You could try to slow them down by shoving a banana (or a potato, or similar size-filling object) in the tailpipe or muffler of their car. That way, you could give yourself time to escape and have a good laugh at the victim's expense as their car sputters and churns and fails to go anywhere. If the script calls for it, the car might even [[EveryCarIsAPinto explode]].

** Parodied in the "Trial of the Century" episode of ''ClerksTheAnimatedSeries'' Judge Reinhold (the actor, acting as the courtroom judge) is lured away from Dante's trial by Axel Foley, who "needs (his) help!" - and they spend the evening stuffing bananas in people's tailpipes and watching them stall, but the fun ends when the local grocer reveals that he's run out of bananas. Then Judge Reinhold wakes up ("No! Axel! Come back!").

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** Again in "Into the Wild Green Yonder" when the Feministas sabotage a sweeper by pouring sugar in the fuel tank and shoving an organic potato in the tailpipe.

And [[FreudWasRight stop snickering]], already!!

* There was an episode of the ''LittleLulu'' anime where Wilbur's butler was replaced by a [[DrillSergeantNasty stricter butler]] who anticipated all of the tricks that Lulu and the others were going to pull on him. Finally, they come up with a plan to work together to get rid of the mean butler. One of the tricks involved Tubby stuffing a handkerchief in the tailpipe of the limosine, and when the mean butler checked the tailpipe, the handkerchief came loose and he wound up with a face full of smoke from the tailpipe.

** The same was used much earlier in an episode of ''{{Ironside}}''.

* This trope also occurred in an episode of ''DiagnosisMurder'', this time with a wad of cash.

* Happened in ''MrBean'' when the eponymous character hits a golf ball into a car's tailpipe, causing it to churn and sputter for several seconds before shooting the ball out at high speed.

'''Examples:'''

* There was an episode of the {{Little Lulu}} anime where Wilbur's butler was replaced by a [[{{Drill Sergeant Nasty}} more stricter butler]] who anticipated all of the tricks that Lulu and the others were going to pull on him. Finally, they come up with a plan to work together to get rid of the mean butler. One of the tricks involved Tubby stuffing a handkerchief in the tailpipe of the limosine, and when the mean butler checked the tailpipe, the handkerchief came loose and he wound up with a face full of smoke from the tailpipe.

* In the live-action version of ''[[OneHundredAndOneDalmatians 101 Dalmatians]]'', raccoons put a large nut in the tailpipe of the bad guys' truck. The pressure does shoot the nut out eventually - when the bad guy is examining the tail pipe.

* ''Billy the Cat'' used it too.

* In the live-action version of ''101 Dalmatians'', raccoons put a large nut in the tailpipe of the bad guys' truck. The pressure does shoot the nut out eventually - when the bad guy is examining the tail pipe.

* Happened in Eastenders, with a potato. A man put it in his enemy's car's tailpipe and sniggered as the car sputtered. He stopped laughing when the pressure ejected the potato into his shop window.

* Averted in favour of the more realistic option in, of all things, {{Glee}}, when Mercedes stuffs tater tots up the exhaust pipe of Sue Sylvester's Le Car and does several thousand dollars' worth of damage.
* Happened in MrBean when the eponymous character hits a golf ball into a car's tailpipe, causing it to churn and sputter for several seconds before shooting the ball out at high speed.

* In the Spider-Man game for Playstation, you have to close several smokestacks with covers, to cause an effect "like a banana in a tailpipe". In the sillier What If? mode, the tops of the covers actually have bananas on them.

* In ''{{Arthur}}'', the family car was disabled by a rattle (the toy) in the tailpipe. The family only figured it out after Arthur called CarTalk.

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* This troper has seen advertisements in the past for locking caps that fit over tailpipes to disable them. No idea if they actually work, though.

*** Something similar actually happens in [[Discworld/NightWatch Night Watch]]. Except instead of a horse it's an ox. And instead of a banana it's a handfull if fresh ginger. and stead of making the animal [[HilarityEnsues stop moving]]...

* In the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "The Honking", Leela plans to kill the were-car by shoving a silver potato in its tailpipe. Only it doesn't have one, "thanks to Ed Begley Jr.'s electic motor, the most evil propulsion system ever conceived!"