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As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.


Act 1

  • Laurens' indignant "In loco parentis!?" in "My Shot" might count as a vocal Funny Background Event.
  • Burr trying to flirt with Angelica in "The Schuyler Sisters" is pretty hilarious too, as is her response.
    Angelica: Burr, you disgust me.
    Burr: Ah, so you've discussed me
    I'm a trust fund baby, you can trust me.
  • "Farmer Refuted" is an incredibly funny song. It's Hamilton completely trolling Loyalist Samuel Seabury while his friends laugh and goad him on.
    Seabury: I pray the King shows you his mercy.
    Hamilton: Is he in Jersey?
    • It's even funnier live. Seabury is standing on a small pedestal to deliver his speech, and during his verse, Hamilton alternates between trying to get Seabury to come down to talk to him, or trying to climb onto it himself. He eventually succeeds, and stands on the pedestal with Seabury to argue with him — something that clearly doesn't please the latter. Finally, Seabury outright shoves him off.
    • There's also some excellent physical comedy from everyone else; Burr tells Hamilton to back off, so Hamilton sheepishly backs into Lafayette and Mulligan. They proceed to push him right back to the podium, which Hamilton takes as permission to go to town on the poor British messenger.
  • "A Winter's Ball":
    • The song starts out seeming quite serious, with Burr stewing in resentment at Washington hiring Hamilton, and then takes an abrupt turn.
      Now Hamilton's skill with the quill is undeniable,
      But what do we have in common? We're reliable—
      With the LADIES!
    • Hamilton's smug grin as he confirms it's true that Martha Washington "named her feral tomcat after him".
    • Later, when Burr asks Hamilton if he thinks he stands a chance of marrying a Schuyler girl, Hamilton bluntly says it's not a question of "if", it's which.
  • "Helpless":
    • During the performance of the song, Hamilton does a private little victory dance when Philip Schuyler gives him his blessings to marry Eliza, which he quickly ends when he realizes Philip's watching.
    • "Angelica tried to take a bite of me." Eliza's expression suggests that this is news to her.
  • Alexander very clearly intercepts Lafayette and sorta shoos him away from Angelica during "A Winter's Ball" before making his own introduction to her.
  • During "Helpless/Satisfied" Hamilton asks Angelica where she's taking him. When hearing "I'm about to change your life!" he eagerly responds, "Then by all means, lead the way!", clearly hoping for kissing/sex/etc. Angelica... promptly introduces him to her younger sister. Not what he was expecting, but he rolls with it.
  • "Satisfied":
    • In a somewhat meta sense, Angelica's "Peach fuzz/and he can't even grow it" line is funny when you consider that, for the entire musical, Hamilton's face looks like this.
  • Speaking of meta humor, Angelica gushing over Hamilton's good looks in "Satisfied" considering who is playing Hamilton.

  • "Stay Alive":
    • "I'm a general! WHEEE!" Followed by Hamilton's snarky Understatement: "Yeah. He's not the choice I would have gone with."
    • "EVERYONE ATTACK!" "RETREAT!" "...ATTACK!" "RETREAT!"
      • "What are you DOING, Lee?! Get back on your feet!" "But there's so many a' them!" "I'm sorry, is this not your speed?! Hamilton! (Ready, sir!) Have Lafayette take the lead!"

  • This bit from Lee and Laurens' duel, after Laurens shoots Lee.
    Hamilton: Lee, do you yield?
    Burr: (exasperated) You shot him in the side! YES, HE YIELDS!
    Laurens: I'm satisfied!
    Burr: Yo, we gotta clear the field!
    Hamilton: Yo, we won!
    Ensemble: (as Washington enters) HERE COMES THE GENERAL!
    Burr: This should be fun...

  • "Non-Stop":
    • Non-Stop keeps the jokes about Hamilton's unstoppable motor-mouth coming with the Levi Weeks trial.
      Burr Hamilton, sit down!
      Our client Levi Weeks is innocent. Call your first witness.
      That's all you had to say!
      Hamilton Okay! ...One more thing—!
      • Even the Ensemble comment "He's just non-stop!"
    • Hamilton's severely nerdy (and gleeful) aside during "Non-Stop":
      Burr: Hamilton, at the Constitutional Convention—
      Hamilton: I was chosen for the Constitutional Convention!
    • "Bright young man." "Yo, who the F is this?!"
    • Also, Burr's hilariously deadpan response to a rare compliment from Hamilton. It's almost as if he knew Hamilton was buttering him up in order to ask him for a favor.
      Hamilton: Burr, you're a better lawyer than me.
      Burr: ...Okay.
    • And then, his equally deadpan reply to finding out what, exactly, Hamilton wants.
      Hamilton: My client needs a strong defense, you're the solution.
      Burr: Who's your client?
      Hamilton: ...The new U.S. Constitution?
      Burr: No.
      • Hamilton's second line above is equally hilarious — one can almost picture him giving a sheepish smile.
      • That same line has an equally funny interpretation in the live show. Instead of being sheepish, probably realizing how hard of a sell it is, Hamilton presents it with the proudest grin like it's his best idea yet.
    • When Hamilton goes to Burr to pitch the idea of the Federalist Papers, he says "I know I talk too much, I'm abrasive" — almost like John Adams calling himself obnoxious and disliked in 1776.
    • George Washington approaches Hamilton about running the treasury. He clearly has a big speech planned to convince him — and he has him convinced before he even says a word. Hamilton has to interrupt him twice for Washington to get that no, really, Hamilton does not need convincing.

Act 2

  • "What'd I Miss":
    • This exchange between the two Virginians:
    Madison: Where have you been?
    Jefferson: Uh... France?
    • Jefferson breaks out into song and dance as Madison looks on, completely deadpan.
    • Alexander introduces himself to Jefferson, who doesn't take him seriously at all and looks as if thinking, "this guy?"
  • In "Cabinet Battle #1", Hamilton going off the rails with his lines, to the point where the music stops and Washington yells, "Excuse me?!"
    • Jefferson's over-the-top mocking "Aha-ha-ha-ha" after he and Madison point out that Hamilton failed to get the votes for his debt plan.
  • This bit in "Take a Break", when Eliza is trying to persuade Alexander to take some time off.
    Eliza: Angelica, tell this man John Adams spends the summer with his family.
    Alexander: Angelica, tell my wife that John Adams doesn't have a real job, anyway.
    • There's also nine-year-old Phillip's adorable poem/rap for his father, made even better by Eliza beatboxing in the background.
      Phillip: My name is Philip, I am a poet. I wrote this poem just to show it. And I just turned nine, you can write rhymes, but you can't write mine. (Alexander: What!) I practice French and play piano with my mother. (Uh-huh!) I have a sister but I want a little brother. (Okay!) My daddy is trying to start America's bank! Un, deux, trois, quatre, CIIIIIINQ!
      Alexander: BRAVO!
    • The stage direction: [Eliza beatboxes maternally].
  • Alexander's decision to sleep with Maria Reynolds in "Say No to This", takes a funny turn near the end, with the chorus shouting "NO!" while Hamilton is saying "YES!" in quite suggestive tones. It's almost as if they're admonishing him for his poor decision making, and he is blatantly ignoring them so he can get laid.
  • "The Room Where It Happens":
    • This bit at the beginning of the song. It's a cringeworthy yet delicious bit of Dramatic Irony.
      Burr: Did you hear the news about good old General Mercer?
      Hamilton: No.
      Burr: You know Clermont Street?
      Hamilton: Yeah.
      Burr: They renamed it after him. The Mercer legacy is secure.
      Hamilton: Sure.
      Burr: And all he had to do was die.
      Hamilton: That's a lot less work.
      Burr: We oughta give it a try...
      Hamilton: Ha!
      • Even better, Burr and Hamilton's expressions in the live show make it look like, just for a moment, they're seriously considering it.
    • The fact that Jefferson brags about arranging the menu, the venue, and the seating of the dinner. You know, the dinner for three people.
    • Later, to represent Congress being unable to decide where to put the capital, every person on stage yells somewhere different. Lin-Manuel Miranda clarified on Twitter: "I told them 'You can't yell anywhere that isn't in the 13 colonies.' Lord knows if they listened or not." Given you can apparently hear Toronto if you listen for it, they didn't.
  • During Hamilton and Jefferson's second Cabinet Battle, the former sarcastically suggests asking King Louis XVI's severed head if America should honor its treaty with France.
    Hamilton: Should we honor our treaty, King Louis's head?
    (holding his hair to mimic holding up a decapitated head) "Uh, do whatever you want, I'm super dead!"
    • There's also this gem from the beginning of the song.
      Jefferson: When we were on death's door, when we were needy,
      we made a promise, we signed a treaty.
      We needed money and guns and half a chance.
      Who provided those funds? (hands Madison the mic)
      Madison: (mumbles sheepishly) ...France.
    • Which parallels an similarly amusing exchange in "What'd I Miss" (reportedly a Throw It In! from Daveed Diggs):
      Madison: I have been fighting for the South alone — where have you been?
      Jefferson: Uh, France?note 

  • As serious as the context is, Reynolds' letter (especially the Curse Cut Short). Followed by rhyming "cuckold" with "unbuckled".
    Reynolds: Uh-oh! You made the wrong sucka a cuckold,
    so time to pay the piper for the pants you unbuckled!

  • The original staged version of "Washington On Your Side" is also pretty funny largely because Burr and Madison come out of absolute nowhere. When Jefferson is left alone on stage, Burr just charges on and crosses the stage for no discernible reason to begin the song (Jefferson even gets a "wait, where'd you come from" look on his face), with Madison stumbling on and coughing for his entrance of "which I wrote". It's like Miranda couldn't figure out a reason to get them onstage so he just put them there and left it.

  • In "The Adams Administration":
    • Jefferson's celebrating right beforehand, until he finds out Adams called Hamilton a creole bastard when he fired him. His response to the news implies he realises the shit storm that Adams has just called down on himself.
      Jefferson: Say what?
    • Hamilton's response to John Adams, including a Shout-Out to the opening number of fellow Founding Fathers musical 1776.
      Hamilton: SIT DOWN, JOHN, YOU FAT MOTHERFU—**BLEEEEEP**
      • To add to the hilarity, there's a sound of a dropping bomb during Hamilton's response!
      • A video posted on Twitter by Lin-Manuel Miranda reveals that behind that bleep, he's actually saying "fuckstick", which is somehow so much funnier.

  • "The Reynolds Pamphlet" features a truck-load of dark humor:
    • Even if you feel bad for Hamilton, you still have to laugh a little bit when Jefferson "makes it rain" with pamphlets like dollar bills in a rap video while dancing all around Hamilton — he even hands one to the conductor!note 
    • The ensemble is joined by King George III, for some reason, who glides down the stairs while fanning himself with a pamphlet, does an absolutely ridiculous dance, walks over to Hamilton in a way that can only be described as "sassy", throws his pamphlet in the air with a huge grin on his face, and then just walks away. It caps off with a vocal Funny Background Event: he pronounces "pamphlet" as "pam-phleet"!
    • There's something oddly funny about Madison maintaining his formal demeanor throughout the entire number, even as the rest of the ensemble descends into chaos and he himself casually tosses pamphlets into the air.
    • The ensemble itself has an absolute blast during this numbernote :
      • One guy in the back starts prancing around while flapping his arms like wings. Later on (just after King George's dance), the same guy mimes dropping his pants and then pulling them back up.
      • In the overhead shot (while King George is walking towards Hamilton), you can see one of the papers fall onto an ensemble member'snote  face while he does... something.
      • In the same overhead shot, two of the guys do a chest bump in the air.
      • Three of the ensemble men decide to pelvic thrust into the air, the floor, and the stairs, in that order.
      • A womannote  straight up falls to the floor about four feet away from the conductor and starts spasming like she's having an orgasm.
      • Burr and Jefferson don't get off lightly either, both of them seemingly having the time of their life dancing around their ruined adversary. It's very hilarious to pay attention to Burr and watch his formal facade slowly crack until he goes just as crazy as everyone else around him.
      • "NEVER GONNA BE PRESIDENT NOW!!!"
    • All while Hamilton just stands there with the biggest, most annoyed frown on his face.

  • "Blow Us All Away":
    • Alexander and Phillip, on why duels take place in the next state over: "Everything is legal in New Jersey."
      • The tone in which both parties state this sounds very similar to most New Yorkers describing anything involving Jersey today.

  • "The Election of 1800":
    • "And they say I'm a Francophile — at least they know I know where France is!"
    • A large portion of the song amusingly skewers the election process and voters' rationales for liking/not liking a certain candidate.
      "[Burr] seems approachable—"
      "Like you could grab a beer with him!"
    • A little nod to the lack of universal suffrage and the fact that Burr's apparent popularity with the women in the chorus is unlikely to transfer directly into a growth in his constituency:
      "It's 1800 — ladies, tell your husbands: Vote for Burr!"
  • Considering it leads to Hamilton and Burr's famous Duel to the Death, "Your Obedient Servant" is surprisingly funny.
    • Special mention to Hamilton revealing that he's kept an itemized list of every disagreement they've ever had and Burr's reaction.note 
      Hamilton: Even if I said what you think I said, you would have to cite a more specific grievance
      Here's an itemized list of thirty years of disagreements.
      Burr: Sweet Jesus.
    • Even better, the whole song has been staged with the background dancers ferrying the single page letters back and forth between Burr and Hamilton. When he tells Burr about his itemized list they very formally line up and deliver a page of the letter... then another... then another... then another until Burr has the whole, no doubt very detailed, list of disagreements. Sweet Jesus is right. Leslie Odom Jr.'s voice cracks in sheer exasperation in the film.
      • In the live staging, the last letters are brought by Carleigh Bettiol as an ensemble member en pointe (as much as you can in knee high boots) and flapping the letters like she's in Swan Lake. She hands him the penultimate page, waits for a beat, and then she gives the final page with a "Gotcha!" expression.
    • Even better, the whole song jumps between terrifying seriousness and the upbeat tune as they singsong their traditionally polite signatures, giving the whole thing a rather passive-aggressive tone. For the sake of the beat, Hamilton's last name is shortened to "A.Ham".

  • Jefferson in "Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story". It's his resigned, sheepish delivery of the second line after sounding so grandiose and Mount Rushmore in the first that really sells it.
    "His financial system is a work of genius. I couldn't undo it if I tried. (Beat) And I tried."
    • After Eliza sings "I speak out against slavery" you can spot Washington behind her lower his head and look with confusion, almost like he's saying "Wait, what?".
  • Jefferson's presidential victory is soured when he's reminded that Burr, by having come in second to him, will be his vice-president. He decides they have to do something about that arrangement...

Other

  • The workshop version of "Washington On Your Side" has a couple hysterical lines that didn't make it into the final version.
    • "He likes taxes so much — can we enact an asshole tax?" Keep in mind it's James Madison saying this.
    • When spreading rumors about Hamilton: "I hear he's George Washington's illegitimate son!"
    • Topped by, "He wants to abolish slavery!" "...That one's actually true." note 
    • James Madison's delivery of "Which I wrote!" when talking about the Bill of Rights sounds even more irritated than in the finished project.
  • The Cut Song "Congratulations" starts off with this:
    Angelica: (melodically) Alexander~
    Angelica: (deadpan) Congratulations. You have invented a new kind of stupid.


  • All of King George III's songs are bouncy Britpop numbers in which he plays bitter Yandere ex-boyfriend to the American colonies. "Awesome! Wow!"
    • His hilarious, maniacal laugh during "I Know Him".
    • Him trying to wrap his head around the idea that officials like Washington in position of power can step down and be replaced.
      • Becomes a Genius Bonus when you consider that historically, his worsening mental instability led to him being stripped of what authority he had, leaving his son to take over as Prince Regent.
      • His actual view on this was even more striking: "If he does that, he will be the greatest man in the world".
    • He petulantly stomps his foot at the line "I'm so blue", and storms out when they didn't play the final beat of "What Comes Next?".
      • In the live show, when he stomps the light bathing him changed from red to blue.
      • The Chicago show has him let out a girly scream and storm out at the end of the song.
      • In the Australian production "Awesome! Wow!" is done in an impression of Trump.
    • His final thoughts on Washington stepping down, reflecting the thoughts of many Americans at the time.
      King George III: (incredulous) President John Adams...? Good luck!
    • And then he gets a chair and watches as The Adams Administration goes down in flames.
      King George III: They will tear each other into pieces. Jesus Christ, this will be fun!
    • He prances across stage during "The Reynolds Pamphlet" throwing copies of it in air.
    • He comes up with a clever pun on "subject," but then ruins it by ending three more lines with the word with the exact same meaning as the second.
    • In the live show, his use of air quotes when referring to the United States as a country.
      King George III: Are they going to keep on replacing whoever's in charge? If so, who's next? There's nobody else in their "country" who looms quite as large.
    • Another gem from seeing it live: when a random ensemble member playing a messenger steps forward to tell him John Adams will be the next president, they whisper in his ear, only for George to do a Double Take and say, "What?!" The messenger confirms it, and then, both George and the messenger both grin at the audience, clearly thinking, "Oh, this is gonna be good." Then George rudely shoos the messenger off so he can sing.
    • When Burr starts singing "The Adams Administration" he catches sight of George dancing about in his seat and is clearly weirded out, sometimes looking at the audience with a 'you're seeing this too, right?' gesture.
    • After scatting a few times in his first number, he states "Everybody", and scats again, the audience signing along. Usually, this "Everybody" would be loud and full of energy, rousing the audience to join in. But here it's soft, short, and declarative. The King commands you to engage in his sing-along.
    • "'Cause when push comes to shove...I will kill your friends and family to remind you of my love!"
    • In some productions, "You'll Be Back" begins with a letter being read that simply says, "Dear George, it isn't working out. Love, America."

  • "Can we get back to politics?" "...Please?" The Mood Whiplash is further emphasized by Madison visibly pulling himself together for the first several lines.
  • The beginning of "One Last Time", after Hamilton is called into Washington's office.
    Washington: I wanna give you a word of warning.
    Hamilton: Sir, I don't know what you've heard but whatever it is, Jefferson started it.
    • Also, doubling as a Tear Jerker, Hamilton starts to laugh when he hears that Jefferson wants to run for President because there's no way Jefferson will beat Washington. Then Washington announces his retirement, leaving Hamilton to respond, "I'm sorry, what?".
  • The workshop version of the song, "One Last Ride", has one particular glorious line:
    Hamilton: PAY YOUR FUCKING TAXES!
    • Hamilton is so over the top in that song, it's hard to keep a straight face during the song. Even George Washington himself sounds as if he's having trouble doing that.
    • Washington loses his patience with Hamilton's congenital inability to shut up, so he snaps, "Haven't you talked enough?!" Hamilton, predictably, keeps talking.

  • Angelica and Eliza on the topic of Alexander and Eliza's marriage:
    Eliza: Laughing at my sister, cause she wants to form a harem
    Angelica: I'm just sayin', if you really loved me, you would share him!
    Eliza: (snatches Alexander's letter away triumphantly with an "in your dreams" expression) Ha!
    • And believe it or not, this is based on a real line in one of Angelica's letters to Eliza (though it's generally considered to have just been a joke).
      "...for I love him very much and, if you were as generous as the Old Romans, you would lend him to me for a little while."
  • Upon finding out Burr has a girlfriend, Hamilton and his friends urge Burr to bring her to meet them. But there are some complications.
    Burr: She's married.
    Hamilton: I see.
    Burr: She's married to a British officer.
    Hamilton: ...Oh, shit.

  • Alexander and his best friends (Laurens, Mulligan, and Lafayette) during "The Story of Tonight (Reprise)" are hilarious - drunk off their faces at Alexander's wedding, the guys ribbing Alexander and dancing.
    Laurens: Cause if the tomcat can get married... there's hope for our ass after all!
    • Also, Lafayette drawling "you are ze woooorst, Burr," in his thick accent.
    • Ever since the "Hamilfilm but it's just chaos" videos, fans have taken notice of an ensemble member in the back, who takes his jacket off, throws it on the staircase, and then takes a nap while lying on the stairs. Better yet, when the guys exit, Mulligan hits him on the head and wakes him up on his way out.
      • In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, two guys can be seen CARRYING the 'drunk' ensemble member off the stage.
  • The big, burly, foul-mouthed Hercules Mulligan being the flower boy at Alexander's wedding. He's even tearing up while he's scattering petals!
    • Peggy walks down the aisle on Lafayette's arm. When they reach the altar he leans over and whispers something in her ear that causes her to gasp and widen her eyes in shock before smiling at him.
  • Phillip Hamilton is unbelievably smooth even when planning to challenge someone to a duel in "Blow Us All Away", audibly impressing Those Two Girls listed in the libretto as Martha and Dolly. Dolly's response in particular is hilarious.
    Phillip: Well, I'll go visit his box!
    Dolly: God, you're a fox!
    Phillip: And y'all look pretty good in ya' frocks;
    How 'bout when I get back, we all strip down to our socks?
    (Dolly wails)
    • Martha and Dolly were named after Martha Jefferson and Dolly Madison, that's right. Alexander Hamilton's son had a threesome with the wives of Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.

  • While Jefferson's Armor-Piercing Question in "Cabinet Battle #2" is played for drama, it's hard not to find a bit of meta-humor in Jefferson (Daveed Diggs) asking Hamilton if he's forgotten Lafayette (also Daveed Diggs).
  • In a black comedy moment during the sad "Hurricane", the company - and Burr - singing "wait for it wait for it" after Hamilton says he can't seem to die.
  • Hamilton calling Jefferson delusional for rejecting his debt plan.
    Thomas, that was real nice declaration
    Welcome to the present, we're running a real nation
    Would you like to join us? Or stay mellow
    Doing whatever the hell it is you do in Mont-i-cell-o?
    • Hamilton then does a spinning dance to go with that accusation. Even Jefferson smiles and applauds, nodding at the audacity.
    • Combined with his accusation that Jefferson was "getting high with the French" during the war, it gives the mental image of Thomas Jefferson sitting in his fancy mansion smoking weed.
    • Becomes Genius Bonus when you know Jefferson did raise hemp (though probably not for smoking).

  • The workshop version of "Schuyler Defeated" contained this incredibly funny exchange after Eliza and Philip learn of Burr's plans to run against Philip Schuyler:
    Eliza: I gotta go, I gotta find Alexander
    Philip: Let him know we're on his side
    Eliza: No! He'll consider this a personal slander—
    I've gotta stop a homicide!
    Philip: Oh!

  • Washington bluntly telling Burr to leave (right in the middle of his "hire me" speech) once Hamilton comes into the room.
    Hamilton: You wanted to see me?
    Washington: Hamilton, come in, have you met Burr?
    Hamilton: Yes sir,
    Hamilton & Burr: We keep meeting.
    Burr: (attempting to continue) As I was saying, sir, I look forward to seeing your strategy play out-.
    Washington: Burr?
    Burr: Sir?
    Washington: Close the door on your way out.

  • In the second cabinet battle, Jefferson mocks Hamilton's flashy, green outfit, declaring that he "dresses like the pits of fashion". Already funny, but the next time we see Hamilton, he's now wearing darker, more muted colors. It's almost as if Hamilton started to get self conscious about his clothes after Jefferson's burn about them.
    • There's also the fact that Jefferson's costume is more flamboyant than Hamilton's or anyone else's in the whole show. In the original Off Broadway production, Jefferson's outfit was fairly realistic, but once the costume department realized what a grand performance Daveed Diggs was giving, they made sure that the costume was just as extravagant, which means the insult against Hamilton's clothes is now prime Hypocritical Humor.
    • Also slightly amusing is that 'pits of fashion' is a near-spoonerism of the end of the previous linenote :
      I get no satisfaction witnessing his fits of passion
  • As Alexander protests that he'll be back before she knows he's gone, Eliza looks up with an utterly done expression. One gets the impression that she's too well-bred to roll her eyes at her husband's antics.

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