History Main / VaudevilleHook

* In extras of ''WesternAnimation/Shrek2'', there's a ''Series/AmericanIdol''-esque singing contest, and [[WesternAnimation/PeterPan Captain Hook]], [[JustForPun while singing "Hooked on a Feeling"]], is [[VisualPun removed from the stage in this manner]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/GarfieldAndFriends'' episode "Much Ado About Lanolin", a RunningGag involves Wade reciting different Shakespeare monologues from plays other than ''Theatre/TamingOfTheShrew'' such as Hamlet's soliloquy and a Caesar. At the end of the episode, he attempts another monologue, only to be closed off by the iris, but he escapes from it and is pulled offscreen by the hook.

* In the music video for "[[Franchise/TheSimpsons Do the Bartman]]", Principal Skinner tries to pull Bart off the stage with one of these, but Bart dodges it.

* In one ''Brother Juniper'' comic the title character uses a candle lighter to hook a small dog that wandered into the church.

Real {{Vaudeville}} shows would DropTheCow on bad or overly long acts with [[HooksAndCrooks "the hook", a curtain hook]] extended from offstage to pull away the performer. Oftentimes by the neck. But in cartoons, you don't even need to be on a stage to get the hook. Any bad performance can get the hook, even if you're performing on top of a fence -- it just reaches out from BehindTheBlack and drags you offscreen. Wearing a red-and-white vertically striped shirt and a straw boater makes you especially susceptible to this, as does dancing while holding a cane. Spending a while dodging the hook, continuing to perform all the while, before eventually getting snared is a common feature.

* In ''[[Comicbook/JusticeLeagueInternational Justice League America]]'' #s 105-106, part of the ''Comicbook/UnderworldUnleashed'' CrisisCrossover, various costumed assassins, under Neron's influence, have decided to undertake their "ultimate hit", and the League has split up to deal with them. Wisecracking alien sidekick the Yazz stops Chiller killing a singer live on stage and, realising they have an audience, launches into an improv routine about how weird Earth is. When Obsidian sends shadow tendrils to teleport the team back together, the one collecting the Yazz takes the form of a vaudeville hook.

* In the new ''Film/TheMuppets'' movie, one of these is used to grab most of the other Muppets during the montage.

* One ''Farley'' strip, when Bruin Hilda was running for mayor of San Francisco, had the beaver sing a campaign song (to the tune of "[[Music/TheBeatles I Saw Her Standing There]]". Hilda is thinking "Get the hook".

[[folder: Stand-Up Comedy]]

[[folder: Comic Books]]

[[folder: Music]]

[[folder: Music videos]]

-->'''Narrator''': After five scintillating years on the air, ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle'' Show is abruptly cancelled.

-->'''Narrator''': After five scintillating years on the air, 'The Rocky and Bullwinkle' Show is abruptly cancelled.

-->'''Narrator''': After five scintillating years on the air, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show is abruptly cancelled.

-->'''Narrator''': Sorry about that, boys.

-->'''Rocky and Bullwinkle''': ''[[OhCrap! CANCELLED!?]]''
-->(''[[YANK!]]'')

[[caption-width-right:312:Even a LargeHam can be [[BondOneLiner cured]].]]

Though he didn't originate it, the hook is forever associated with Howard "Sandman" Sims, a tap dancer who would use the hook on bad acts at the Apollo Theatre.

* ''Series/HappyDays'' At a stage performance, Al gets one of these.

[[folder:Comedy]]
* DragQueen Derrick Barry performed at the ''Haters Roast'' Tour (a touring stand-up show featuring former contestants from ''Series/RupaulsDragRace''), filling in for Creator/WillamBelli. Derrick's set went hilariously off the rails due to being '''extremely''' drunk at the time, causing fellow drag queen Trinity Taylor to grab the ''actual stage hook'' from the back to try to pull her offstage. In true Vaudeville fashion, it doesn't work, leading to Derrick's (extremely embarrassed) boyfriend to try to get her offstage, then finally cutting her mic. You can see the CringeComedy in its full glory [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8acYdlbmigE&t=1s here]].

* Happens to an unfortunate yodeler in ''Film/HowTheGrinchStoleChristmas''

* After [[Characters/BatmanTheJoker The Joker]] wins a round in ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', one of these appears from offscreen to move him away from his opponent, before the next round begins.

* In ''Fiendish Freddy's Big Top O'Fun'', dropping five objects during the juggling act will have a long hook pull the juggler from the spotlight, ending the stage.
* ''VideoGame/TheJackboxPartyPack 6'': In "Joke Boat", if a contestant gets all the votes and earns the "Crushed It" bonus, their opponent will have their avatar hauled off-stage by a hook.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': Zoidberg is doing stand up at the Apollo and gets the hook. He breaks it with his claw, only to have another one whack him in the head and pull him away while he's groggy from the blow.

* Used in one of Hal Roach's ''[[Film/TheLittleRascals Our Gang]]'' comedies, in which one of the mothers tried to drag her boy offstage with the hook... but kept missing him, first popping a couple of stage lights, then badly electrocuting herself when the metal crook got caught in the live socket.