Funny / In the Heights

The stage show

• The origin of Usnavi's name.
  "It was engraved on a passing ship the day your family came/Your father said 'Usnavi! That's what we'll name the baby!'"
  "It really said US Navy, but hey/I worked with what they gave me, okay?"
• Vanessa pouring her heart out to Usnavi is interrupted by Usnavi struggling to open a champagne bottle. "How do you get this gold shit off?"
• Usnavi is incredibly awkward at the club, thanks mostly to his Cannot Spit It Out tendencies towards Vanessa. Let's just say when he says he doesn't get out much...it shows.
• Vanessa asks Sonny if Usnavi dances, and Sonny snarks, "Like a drunk Chita Rivera."
• Sonny teases that Benny stole Nina from him, because "She was my babysitter first!"
• Benny and Usnavi's first interactions. What makes it side-splitting is the absolutely unapologetically cheerful way Usnavi delivers that second line.
  "I'm the #1 earner, the fastest learner, my boss can't keep me on the damn back burner!"
  "Yes he can!"
• Usnavi in "In The Heights" when he gives directions on how to get to Washington Heights, especially when Lin-Manuel Miranda directs the "test ya later" line at an audience member.
  "You must be thinkin'
  "I'm up shit's creek
  I never been north of ninety-
  sixth street!"
  Well you must take the A Train
  Even farther than Harlem
  To northern Manhattan and maintain
  Get off at 181st, and take the escalator
  I hope you're writing this
  Down, I'm gonna test ya later"
  • In the 5th anniversary reunion concert, Lin briefly does Jefferson's dance from "What'd I Miss?"...while Daveed Diggs is one of the backup vocalists two rows behind him.
• Several lines in "96,000," especially "Yo yo yo yo yo: I'm sorry, is that an answer? Shut up, go home, and pull your damn pants up!"
  • This line is made funnier by the fact that that's precisely how Usnavi introduces himself a few songs later, in "Carnaval del Barrio". And in the club, when he takes a moment to pull Graffiti Pete's low-riding pants the rest of the way down.
  • Or Usnavi's response to Vanessa's remark that she'd get out of the neighborhood if she won the money: "Damn, we only jokin'. Stay broke, then."
• In the club, Vanessa leaves Usnavi to dance with other guys in what is strongly hinted to be an Operation: Jealousy. Usnavi decides two can play at that game and decides to chat up a hot girl at the bar. Being Usnavi, he runs at the mouth for several measures before panicking and begging her to say something:
  Hot Girl:^*The soundtrack's booklet reveals her as Yolanda, whom Daniela had previously claimed went to bed with Usnavi. No hablo ingles.
  Usnavi: Yes!
• The minute the power goes out in the club, the entire theater is pitch black. Cue all the actors on stage pulling out cell phones for light.
• Daniela & Carla's gossip from "In the Heights" when they walk into Usnavi's bodega
  Daniela: "She screams, 'Who's in there with you, Julio?' Grabs a bat and kicks in the door! He's in bed with Jose from the liquor store!"
  Carla & Usnavi: "No me diga!"
• In fact, the entire song "No Me Diga" where Daniela & Carla try to solicit gossip from Vanessa and Nina. Especially this exchange:
  Daniela: They say he's got quite a big *pretends to knock*...taxi.
  Nina, Vanessa and Daniela: No me diga..
  Carla: I don't think I know what you mean.
  Daniela: Carla! He's packing a stretch limousine!
  Carla: As long as he keeps it clean. ^context Carla thinks they mean an actual car.
  Nina, Vanessa and Daniela: Ay dios mio... ^Translation Oh my God...
  • In the same song, Daniela says she's heard a rumor that Usnavi had sex with a girl named Yolanda. Vanessa reacts negatively to this and claims Daniela is joking. In the recorded version, Daniela admits that she just wanted to see how Vanessa would react. In performance, she asks Vanessa if she expects Usnavi to wait forever for her.
• In "Finale" when Graffiti Pete lifts the grate to show his mural, after a beat of silence:
  Graffiti Pete: He hates it.
  Sonny: He's forming an artistic opinion.
• The song "Piragua", which implies a rivalry with the unseen Mr. Softee ice cream man, and the reprise, where he expresses glee that the truck has broken down, meaning that his business will double, "I told you I run this town!"
  • In some stagings, Piragua Guy holds up a wrench for "and Mr. Softee's truck has broken down", implying he's responsible for said breakdown.
• Graffiti Pete's sale's pitch for his T-shirt.
  Graffiti Pete: What up? Buy my t-shirt.
  Usnavi: That's your sales pitch? Get the hell out of here.
• "It Won't Be Long Now"—Vanessa slyly brushes off the guys that drool over her as she goes to the corner store. Then they start crowding her, and Usnavi literally has to beat them off of her. In the original staging, he does this by threatening them with a price gun.
• At the Tony Awards in 2019, James Corden, Anthony Ramos, and Christopher Jackson launched into a snippet of 96,000. Ramos raps the line about Trump, while Jackson just lets out a hilariously frustrated groan.

The movie

• As Usnavi raps about his average day in the bodega during "In The Heights", it briefly turns into a rapid-fire montage of different days and items being sold, each with Sonny involved in a different Funny Background Event. His smug expression while holding an armful of condoms during the "Ya wanna box of condoms? What kind?" bit takes the cake.
• Usnavi's nonchalant reaction to Graffiti Pete shoplifting because Sonny went out to greet a newly-returned Nina.
  Usnavi: My man, who's watching the store?
  • As Sonny runs to catch Pete, Usnavi yells after them:
  Usnavi: That's on your tab, bro! Both of y'all!
• While Kevin's on hold with Stanford University, the waiting music is an instrumental snippet of "You'll Be Back" from Hamilton.
• "No Me Diga" is as hilarious as usual, with the entire salon gathering around while the hairstylists spill the tea. Even the store's mannequin heads turn to get in on the gossip, making creaky noises as they do!
• Usnavi makes a bunch of faces at Vanessa through a glass door to cheer her up. He presses his lips, expecting a kiss from her when she gets closer... only to comment that there's a stain on his shirt.
• In the show, Sonny’s snarking about “My cousin over there with his tongue hanging out,” is metaphorical for Usnavi’s inability to ask Vanessa out. In the movie, Usnavi actually has his tongue sticking out of his mouth as he tries to clean the smudge on his shirt. Vanessa promptly gives him a Tide stain pen.
• The Piraguero butting heads with the Mister Softee man during "Piragua". That cheeky ass grin on the latter's face is priceless, as is his attempt to shoo the Piraguero away with a handful of sprinkles. The fact that they're played by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Christopher Jackson makes the scene so much funnier, especially for fans of Miranda's work.
  • When the Piragua Guy boards a bus and does an almost-homage to Singing in the Rain with a metal pole, some passengers look hilariously bewildered.
• While Nina and Benny are doing their gravity-defying Dance of Romance across the apartment complex's walls during "When The Sun Goes Down", they briefly dance on the dining-room window of a family eating dinner. Their son (who's facing the window) notices them- and he's so confused by what he's seeing that he puts his fork down and just sits there, jaw hanging open with half-chewed food, trying his hardest to process what the hell is going on.
  • And despite the fact that Nina and Benny are both making enough noise to draw the attention of his parents and sister, they keep on eating and passing plates, oblivious to the reality-bending physics happening right outside their window.
• As Usnavi takes his redecorated bodega in, Sonny and Graffiti Pete bicker in the background about the crab Sonny drew in the corner.
• After the audience has gone through Usnavi's captivating rollercoaster of a story, it's hilarious Mood Whiplash for the children listening to it (as part of the Framing Device) to complain that he's been talking for too long and they want to go in the water.
• During the Carnaval, Carla is seen glaring in the background as Daniela is dancing with a guy, and she pointedly interrupts the dance with her question for Dani.
• In a bit of meta humor, Lin-Manuel Miranda recounts in this interview how his Remake Cameo was the result of Jon M. Chu and Quiara Alegría Hudes dropping not-so-subtle hints about wanting him to play Piragua Guy. Eventually they said they would cut the song "Piragua" unless he played the role, which finally made him relent.
• After Daniela gets a bingo during the blackout, Carla pouts, exclaims that she quits, and pretends to throw stuff around.
• In The Stinger, the Piraguero hurriedly slapping a “Special 2.25” price tag over the previous 1.25.