History Main / CringeComedy

** Perhaps the most extreme example is the scene from "[[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS4E24EquestriaGames Equestria Games]]" where Spike interrupts a medal ceremony to insist on singing the winning team's anthem. Only after Shining Armor announces this to the crowd does Spike realize that Cloudsdale (not Ponyville) won the gold for that particular event. Spike doesn't know any of the words to Cloudsdale's anthem. As he ad-libs, the camera cuts multiple times to the audience, who are just as embarrassed as Spike is. One unicorn even yanks his top hat down to cover his entire head.

* ''Film/ForgettingSarahMarshall'' as it is a raunchy comedy produced by JuddApatow has many moments that happen to the male lead. Like the scene where he finds out his girlfriend is breaking up with him and to makes things worse he is naked. The dialogue in the film also counts like all the things that come out of Aldous Snow"s mouth like the dinner scene.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', despite providing the page quote, averts this in the end. The party discussed turns out to be one big SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} in the end.

** In "The Gi", Gumball and Darwin wear their karate uniforms to school and get soundly mocked by their peers (the duo's nickname is the "Karate Weiners") when they start doing low-grade karate in front of everyone, much to their obliviousness. Nicole is the "cringe-ee" here, as she keeps trying to discourage them without outright saying they're making fools of themselves. At the end Gumball gets a hard dose of reality when he realizes what's really going on, which is a little sad (although the episode ends on a SugarWiki/{{Heartwarming Moment|s}} right afterwards).

German, the [[UsefulNotes/GermanLanguage language]] that brought you [[ComedicSociopathy "Schadenfreude"]], has developed the term "Fremdschämen" ("vicarious shame/embarrassment") to cover this phenomenon.

* ''Website/KnowYourMeme'' has a meme and [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cringeworthy/photos image gallery]] called "Cringeworthy" that collected various instances of embarrassing and stupid things, but the addition of new images was locked after people started using it for Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike (by adding images that were only the logo of things they disliked) and spamming the gallery with several parodies of other images (of note are the many, many parodies of a poor drawing of WebOriginal/TheRake saying "Time to killed people!" and of some Franchise/{{Sonic}} {{Original Character}}s called Jake and Maribelle. While the original images ''were'' cringeworthy, the parodies were not)

* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'', though whether or not it's funny or just plain offensive is based entirely around one's point of view. A good example is the CutawayGag "[[Literature/HortonHearsAWho Horton Hears Domestic Violence In The Next Apartment And Doesn't Call 911]]."

* ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether''. You can count the amount of jokes that aren't RefugeInAudacity, blatantly racist or [[NauseaFuel related to bodily functions]] on one hand. The entire show is incredibly divisive because depending on who you ask it is either hilarious or it's just a typical AllAdultAnimationIsSouthPark-style adult comedy that relies way too much on trying to be offensive on purpose and [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot completely fails to take advantage of its interesting premise]].

* Pretty much any sex comedy, slapstick comedy, disaster flick, slasher film, [[WartsAndAll biopic about a scandalous figure]], or anything with a ZanyScheme that isn't [[OscarBait gunning for an award of some kind]] is going to stoop to this trope.

%%** ''Series/ParksAndRecreation'' (a similar show by the creators of the U.S. version)

* ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm'' uses this as the primary source of humor. One of the milder examples is when main character [[UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist Larry David]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MFebZlUJ7E attempts to get out of jury duty]].

* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' had this in nearly every episode.

* Most episodes of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' run on this trope, often due to the SnowballLie or MistakenForIndex exploding out of proportion, and the characters continuously digging themselves deeper.

* ''Website/KnowYourMeme'' has a meme and [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/cringeworthy/photos image gallery]] called "Cringeworthy" that collected various instances of embarrassing and stupid things, but the addition of new images was locked after people started using it for Administrivia/ComplainingAboutShowsYouDontLike (by adding images that were only the logo of things they disliked) and spamming the gallery with several parodies of other images (of note are the many, many parodies of a poor drawing of WebOriginal/TheRake saying "Time to killed people!" and of some Franchise/{{Sonic}} OriginalCharacters called Jake and Maribelle. While the original images ''were'' cringeworthy, the parodies were not)

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** Peter B. Parker has his moments too, especially when facing the local Mary Jane and babbling like a fool while pretending to be a waiter. It's also cringy in-universe for Spider-Gwen.

* ''Film/AFewBestMen'' has David invite his three best friends to Australia for his wedding. A combination of bad luck, personality traits, and drugs leads to them doing everything from delivering a racist tirade about Australia's history as a penal colony as the best man speech, sending a huge flower ball rolling through the service, crushing the guests and tables below it, luring a violent drug dealer onto the premises where he proceeds to shoot up the location, and stealing the bride's father's lucky sheep and dressing it up in lingerie.

%%* ''Series/CurbYourEnthusiasm''

** In ''[[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyEquestriaGirlsRainbowRocks Rainbow Rocks]]'', The Humane Five and Twilight attempting to defeat the Dazzlings with a ByThePowerOfGrayskull move is one of the most embarrassing moments for the main characters in either universe.

** Especially in the beginning, with most of Miles's interactions at his new school, which can be summed up with "How much can the Morales kid humiliate himself in front of his schoolmates?" Starting with his father bringing him to school in a police car and forcing his son to say "I love you..." before the other students.
** This gets worse when Miles's superpowers are starting to awaken, and he blames it at first on puberty... out loud. The cringe factor only goes up when talking to Gwen (who manages to embarrass herself in turn with a poorly chosen, obviously fake name), and Miles's PowerIncontinence leads to a StickySituation between the two, in front of the whole school.
** Peter B. Parker has his moments too, especially when facing the local Mary Jane and babbling like a fool while pretending to be a waiter. It's even cringy in-universe for Spider-Gwen.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Fanfic/ThePartyIncidentAndOtherEmbarrassingAnecdotes starts with the main character crashing a party and, when asked by Sans how she knows Papyrus, tells him that she's dating [[ActuallyIAmHim his brother]]. It goes downhill from there.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSpongebobSquarepantsMovie'': The movie begins with Spongebob exuberantly thanking Mr. Krabs in front of an enormous crowd for making him the manager of the new Krusty Krab, entirely oblivious to the fact that Mr. Krabs named "Squidward" and there's a giant poster of Squidward's face unrolling behind them.

%%* ''WebVideo/Mega64'' has this in most of the public video game imitations.
%%* ''WebVideo/TheGuild''
* While ''Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses'' doesn't usually have this, WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick's first "Thanks For The Feedback" -- where she goes on a date with the Critic -- is horrifying in awkwardness.
* Daxflame's videos tend to evoke cringing in viewers through his recounts of awkward social interactions and his total obliviousness to his own social insensitivities.
* ''Webvideo/TheSwagLifeOfJustinYargenschmargol'' full stop. It's the whole point of its creation.

* WebVideo/GameGrumps can delve into this when talking about Dan's past, especially [[NoSocialSkills dating]].
* Any of Website/Vat19's videos involving Confection Perfection are examples of this.

* ''Many'' a Website/{{YouTube}}r has done a "'Try Not to Cringe' Challenge" video, in which he/she tries to not react to cringe-worthy video clips that are usually sent in by their subscribers. The humor largely comes from their reactions, which usually end up with a lot of cringing or worse.
-->'''Mini Ladd:''' I'M UNCOMFORTABLLLLLLLE!

Often this is mollified by the characters being [[ComicallyMissingThePoint oblivious to the embarrassment]] they should be feeling. Sometimes though, all the characters are acutely aware of their humiliation, which can make it so much worse (which is how DiggingYourselfDeeper works when the attempts to improve the situation just cause further awkwardness). Or worse yet, there's a single {{audience surrogate}} character who realizes how humiliated everyone should be feeling, while everyone else remains oblivious.

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* Episodes 7 and 8 of ''Anime/Persona4TheAnimation''

* A episode of ''Series/{{House}}'' had Chase making a YourMom joke to Foreman as a [[{{EpicFail}} witty comeback]]. Some fans couldn't even watch the ensuing train wreck.

* ''Many'' a {{Website/YouTube}}r has done a "'Try Not to Cringe' Challenge" video, in which he/she tries to not react to cringe-worthy video clips that are usually sent in by their subscribers. The humor largely comes from their reactions, which usually end up with a lot of cringing or worse.

* Most of Creator/DonHertzfeldt's works are [[BlackComedy dark comedies]], or [[SurrealHumor surreal]] [[{{Dramedy}} dramedies]]. One film, however, is "Lily and Jim", telling the story of a blind date from the perspective of both people. It is complete CringeComedy.

* TheSwagLifeOfJustinYargenschmargol full stop. It's the whole point of its creation.

* The outrageously funny scene where Principal Skinner treats Superintendent Chalmers to dinner in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode [["Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield 22 Short Films About Springfield"]].

* The outrageously funny scene where Principal Skinner treats Superintendent Chalmers to dinner in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' episode [["Recap/TheSimpsonsS7E2122ShortFilmsAboutSpringfield22 Short Films About Springfield"]].

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%%[[folder: Literature ]]

* The outrageously funny scene where Principal Skinner treats Superintendent Chalmers to dinner in ''TheSimpsons'' episode "22 Short Films About Springfield".

* ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks'' has a goodly amount of this. Some of the situations the characters find themselves in include: [[ImpossiblyTackyClothes showing up to school in a leisure suit]], [[NakedPeopleAreFunny streaking through the school]], getting egged on Halloween [[EtTuBrute by your own sister]], [[InfantImmortality running over the shy Jesus freak's dog]], getting "drunk" and emotionally wrecked on [[FakeHigh non-alcoholic beer]] and [[BadNewsInAGoodWay getting dumped by proxy by your girlfriend's mom]]. And [[SlapstickKnowsNoGender nobody is spared.]]

* In ''LightNovel/OverLord'', Ainz is repeatedly put in situations where a normal person would welcome spontaneous combustion, thanks to his inability to show shame. It's entirely possible to read the series as a comedy in which a bumbling moron accidentally takes over the world, slaughtering anyone in his path largely by accident.

* In ''Manga/Hinamatsuri'', after Ikaruga finally decides to take Hina back home, Hina and Nitta have a heartfelt goodbye. But after Nitta leaves Hina reveals to Ikaruga that she no longer has her travel bead; without it an esper can't survive travel through space/time. Hina runs home to tell Nitta the great news only to run into him having a solo party about no longer having Hina. The home life becomes awkward for a while.

%% ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.

* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'', despite providing the page quote, averts this in the end. The party discussed turns out to be one big HeartwarmingMoment in the end.

** In "The Gi", Gumball and Darwin wear their karate uniforms to school and get soundly mocked by their peers (the duo's nickname is the "Karate Weiners") when they start doing low-grade karate in front of everyone, much to their obliviousness. Nicole is the "cringe-ee" here, as she keeps trying to discourage them without outright saying they're making fools of themselves. At the end Gumball gets a hard dose of reality when he realizes what's really going on, which is a little sad (although the episode ends on a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming right afterwards).

* God help you if your name is [[Film/SpiderMan2 Spider-Man]] and a failure to produce web sends you into an elevator in full costume.

%%* ''Series/TheOfficeUK / Series/TheOfficeUS''

%%* ''Colin's Sandwich'' is an earlier example, where the embarrassment came partly from Colin's horrible bad luck and partly from his reactions to it which invariably made things worse.

%%* ''Series/MrBean'', both the series and the movies. Creator/RowanAtkinson often uses this trope.

%%* ''Series/TheComeback'', Lisa Kudrow's short-lived Creator/{{HBO}} SitCom.

%%* While not necessarily a comedy, ''Series/TwinPeaks'' sometimes dives into this during the show's more awkward moments.
%%* An episode of ''Series/{{Community}}'' when Creator/JackBlack tries to join the study group. His usual antics lend this to his scenes.
%%* ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' had this in nearly every episode.
%%* ''Series/NewGirl'' uses this trope a few times in the PilotEpisode.
%%* ''Series/{{Trollied}}'' has a bit of this, most notably Julie's job interview.
%%* An iron stomach is required to get through an episode of ''Series/TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob'' without looking away in embarrassment.

%%* A fair share of the humour in ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' is this.

%%* ''Series/ModernFamily'' definitely has its cringe-inducing moments, although it's not built around that type of humor exclusively.

%%* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' has always done a lot of this, but season four ramps it UpToEleven.