History Main / TableclothYank

A white tablecloth. A beautiful placesetting (bonus points for a vase of fresh flowers). Our Hero takes one corner of the cloth, and with a single pull whips the tablecloth off the table without disturbing the placesetting.

This trick is a good, showy way to demonstrate that a character is a stage magician. It demonstrates that the character knows physics -- the dishes and glasses are held in place by inertia.

When this trick fails, sending china, silver and glass everywhere, it's even more showy.

* Done successfully by Applebloom in the WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic episode, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E12CallOfTheCutie "Call of the Cutie".]] She wasn't really trying, she just needed the tablecloth.

* Done successfully by Applebloom in the MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic episode, [[Recap/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagicS1E12CallOfTheCutie "Call of the Cutie".]] She wasn't really trying, she just needed the tablecloth.

* ''{{Ghostbusters}}'' had the comedy version. Venkman tries to whip a table cloth from under a set table and succeeds in sending every item on the table ''except'' the centerpiece crashing to the floor.

* One of the games in ''VideoGame/{{WarioWare}}: Smooth Moves'' is exactly this.

* Bender in the ''{{Futurama}}'' episode "Bender Gets Made": This is a double subversion, in that Bender succeeds in performing this trick, but his success was really a failure, since he meant to single-subvert the trope by just pulling everything off the table.
* In the ''BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'' episode "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?", Robin knocks a thug standing on a table off his feet by pulling out the tablecloth. "I love that trick, but I can never make it work."

* Benny Hill from ''TheBennyHillShow'' has done Tablecloth Yank quite a few times and has sometimes succeeded and sometimes failed. In one of the episodes, he also did an inversion of a classic Tablecloth Yank.

* Done successfully by [[HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas The Grinch]] when trying to retrieve a tablecloth... only to immediately run back to the table and knock everything over himself. The table included.

* A famous scene in the beginning of ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}''.

* The LiteralMusicVideo of Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" makes fun of the trope.

* Done successfully by [[HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas The Grinch]] when trying to retrieve a tablecloth... only to immediately run back to the table and knock everything over himself.

* One of the games in ''WarioWare: Smooth Moves'' is exactly this.

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:{{Manga}} and {{Anime}}]]
* A famous scene in the beginning of ''{{Kuroshitsuji}}''.
* Asuna does this in ''MahouSenseiNegima''.

[[AC:{{Music}}]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]

[[AC:WesternAnimation]]

This trick is a good, showy way to demonstrate that a character is a stage magician. It also works to demonstrate that the character knows physics -- it works because the dishes and glasses are held in place by inertia.

* Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart" makes fun of the trope in the literal version.

-->'''Tigger'': Ha, ha, thought they were all gonna crash, didn't ya? ''[slams the door and the dishes all shatter]''

Examples:

[[AC:Film]]
* {{Ghostbusters}} had the comedy version. Venkman tries to whip a table cloth from under a set table and succeeds in sending every item on the table EXCEPT the centerpiece crashing to the floor.
--->Venkman: And the flowers are still standing!

[[AC:Literature]]
* Death does this in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'', in which it's a PhlebotinumAnalogy for what the History Monks do -- the table is still laid, but the tablecloth can now be reused. Susan points out that the salt's fallen over and the tablecloth is stained, and Death replies [[AC:Yes. As metaphors go it is rather good, don't you think?]]

[[AC:Live Action TV]]

* Captain Awesome did this on {{Chuck}}.
* TimeWarp did both versions, showing you the secret to achieving both.
* Benny Hill from ''TheBennyHillShow'' has done Tablecloth Yank quite a few times and has both succeeded and failed. In one of the episodes he also did an inversion of a classic Tablecloth Yank.

[[AC:Manga and Anime]]
* A famous scene in the beginning of Kuroshitsuji.
* Asuna does this in MahouSenseiNegima

[[AC:Music]]
* Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart". Made fun of in the literal version.

[[AC:Video Games]]
* One of the games in WarioWare: Smooth Moves is exactly this.

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* Bender in the {{Futurama}} episode "Bender Gets Made" (double-subversion, in that Bender succeeds in performing this trick, but his success was really a failure, since he meant to single-subvert the trope by just pulling everything off the table.)
* In the BatmanTheAnimatedSeries episode "If You're So Smart, Why Aren't You Rich?" Robin knocks a thug standing on a table off his feet by pulling out the tablecloth. "I love that trick, but I can never make it work."

* Benny Hill from ''TheBennyHillShow'' has done Tablecloth Yank and have both succeeded and failed. In one of the episodes he also did an inversion of a classic Tablecloth Yank.