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Serious Work, Comedic Scene

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Everyone loves comedy, but when a work is primarily comedic in nature, a humorous scene is par for the course. When a work is generally dramatic, it makes the funny moments seem that much funnier. This can sometimes result in Mood Whiplash. It might be a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment, especially if it relies on Surreal Humor.

The inverse of Comedic Work, Serious Scene.

Examples should be moments of intentional comedy. Narm doesn't count.

Also compare Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene and Bathos.

Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Anime & Manga 
  • A Silent Voice: This a mainly serious manga (and anime movie) about Shouya's attempts to redeem himself after he bullied a deaf girl named Shouko. That said, there is one moment of Black Comedy; when his mother Miyako hears that he's a Death Seeker, she becomes pissed and threatens to burn a check that he was planning on using to pay for Shouko's broken hearing aids. Shouya promises not to commit suicide, which placates Miyako, so she starts to put the check down, only for it to be set alight by the lit match anyway.
  • Bloom Into You is largely a romantic drama in the Yuri Genre, especially given that Touko Nanami, one of the main characters, actively hates herself (not for Gayngst reasons, though they don't exactly help), and Yuu doesn't believe herself capable of romantic love. There are, however, lighthearted moments. In one chapter, Touko stops by Yuu's family's bookstore. She buys a lesbian romance novel with explicit scenes. Yuu assumes that Touko is doing this to Troll her. That is, until the next day, when Touko is profusely and sincerely apologizing, revealing she just wanted to see Yuu, and had no idea what it was she'd bought until she got home and read it.
  • My-HiME: A Deconstruction of the Magical Girl genre, where the magical creatures aren't cute and cuddly, the heroines' magical powers are inherently deadly, and defeat means the instant death of the person you love the most. That isn't to say it's without it's humorous moments.
    • Episode 1: Mai pegs Yuuichi as a pervert after he pays a little too much attention to how her wet t-shirt clings to her boobs.
    • Episode 4: Natsuki is forced into Going Commando after an Orphan steals her panties. She runs into Takeda just in time for a Dramatic Wind to make that public knowledge.
    • Episode 6: Midori makes her grand entrance as a HiME by demonstrating that she's Wrong Genre Savvy, believing that she's in a Sentai show.
    • Episode 7: Mai and Natsuki witness Mikoto try and pick up a guy, prompting a very concerned, confused Mai to shake Natsuki and ask what's going on. Then they witness Nao following, and Mai pushes down on Natsuki's head to get a better view, to the latter's visible irritation. Then a drunken Midori gets involved and barfs on Nao's shoes.
    • Episode 10: Shizuru, she of tea ceremonies and kimonos, invokes the "five second rule" after her team drops their cake on the ground.
    • Episode 26: The Big Bad has been defeated. Reito is free of the Demonic Possession. The others are Back from the Dead. But Mikoto was wounded saving Mai. She weakly tells everyone she loves them, then closes her eyes. Everyone begins to cry...until Mikoto's stomach growls. Mai lifts her head to show Mikoto's Wing Ding Eyes. She proclaims that she's starving and a goner. Natsuki responds with a Flat "What".
  • Otherside Picnic: This is a series based on a good deal of Creepypasta, with frequent journeys into a parallel world fraught with dangers and a suggestion of a strange consciousness that seems to operate on Blue-and-Orange Morality. It also has:
    • A scene were Sorawo wakes up in her hotel to find a very naked Toriko in bed next to her. She even wonders What Did I Do Last Night?.
    • Sorawo's classmate, Akari, has been plagued by Ninja Cats. She turns the truth revealing Magic Eye she'd acquired from the Otherside on the cats, silently hoping "please don't look like cats." They look like cats.
    • After Toriko saves Sorawo from immolating herself at the behest of the mysterious "Red Person", Sorawo vomits from a combination of the kerosene fumes she's doused in and stress. She asks Toriko to slap her. Toriko opts for a Big Damn Kiss, instead. When asked what it was like, Toriko cheerfully states, "It tasted like puke!"
  • Space Battleship Yamato 2199:
    • The Earth is being bombarded from space by an alien race with superior technology. The human race is on the verge of extinction. One ship, the last Earth vessel, is tasked with going to the distant planet of Iscandar to retrieve a technology that can undo the damage. Pretty grim. Did we mention the scene where Yuki Mori and Susumu Kodai display their Belligerent Sexual Tension by arguing over who gets to fly the recon plane on an open channel that the entire bridge crew can hear?
    • Gamilas pilot Melda Deitz has been assigned to the Yamato as a liaison. She and Akira Yamamoto are down in the ship's galley, grabbing a bite to eat, alongside Yurisha of Iscandar. Akira orders Magellan Parfaits for them all, and Melda expresses serious concerns about whether or not it's edible. A bit of teasing from Akira and insistence from Yurisha that it's good force Melda to try a bite...at which point she declares that ice cream just might be the most wonderful thing in the universe.
  • Steins;Gate: A serious work about time travel and a secret organization that may become a world power in the future, it is not without its humorous moments.
    • An early episode has Okabe wax philosophic about Ruka's effeminate qualities, before reminding himself after each one that Ruka...is a dude.
    • Before sending Okabe back in time, Kurisu gives him something of a trust password for her past self so he can convince her of the veracity of his statements. "I want a fork" (which is net lingo at the time for a romantic partner). Past Kurisu, upon being told this, says future her is in for an asskicking.
    • Okabe agrees to Faris's terms of competing in a Rai-Net tournament in order to be privvy to information. He then promptly surrenders, pointing out that the requirements were for him to participate, not to win.
    • Okabe's attempts to talk "street" are so cringingly bad as to be hysterical.

    Comic Books 
  • Infinity Warps: Soldier Supreme is a mostly serious story, but it has its humorous moments. When M.O.R.D.OC. has his cult attempt to summon Satan from Hell, their incantation ends up summoning Soldier Supreme instead. One of the cultists quickly mistakes the intruder for her dark lord.
    Female Cultist (Erin): Wow. Satan is more handsome than I would have guessed.
    Male Cultist (Ryan): Really, Erin?
    Erin: Satan would want me to have these lustful feelings, Ryan.
  • When the Wind Blows: This is a dark comic book (and movie) about a couple slowly succumbing to radiation poisoning, but there are a few moments of Black Comedy sprinkled into it, such as Hilda complaining that her cake will be ruined during the bombing, and when Jim mistakes the smell of what is implied to be charred corpses for the neighbors cooking roast pork.
  • Wolverine: Wolverine (1988) is typically a very serious, and often grim story with more than a few grisly moments to it. But that's not to say that it's without humor.
    • The Big Crunch story arc (#51-53) starts with Logan picking up a woman at a local bar. Jubilee follows him and finds him at a motel...and is shocked to find Jean Grey coming out of the motel room. She returns to the Westchester mansion, dejected, until she sees Jean Grey jogging around the mansion, doing her morning workout. Jubilee is ecstatic, embracing Jean, realizing that whoever Logan was with it was someone she could "punch in the nose". note 
    • The Savage Land story arc (#69-71) has Wolverine, Rogue, and Jubilee go to the Savage Land to investigate rumors of Magneto being there. Separated from the others, Jubilee runs afoul of some native tribes in the Savage Land, and manages to best them in combat. When Logan meets up with her again on the Blackbird, he's informed that the people of the tribe mistook her for a boy and tried to betroth her to one of their princesses.

    Fan Works 
  • Elementary My Dear Natsuki is a My-HiME AU that puts the characters into the setting of Sherlock Holmes with Shizuru in the role of Great Detective, while Natsuki maintains much of her backstory, being orphaned at an early age when her mother was murdered. It's largely a very serious work. There are a few lighthearted moments, however:
    • In one story, since Shizuru can't convince Natsuki to stop smoking, she takes it up herself, selecting a blend of shag that "made 'ship's' seem like a breath of fresh air", stating "if you can't beat them, join them." Natsuki immediately vows to quit and throws out her cigarette case. Shizuru's reply? "Oh, thank God!"
    • Nagi has just been arrested for murder by the Malaproper prone Haruka Armitage. She tells him that he's "an arse", and Yukino corrects her, saying "That's 'assassin', Haruka." To which Haruka replies, "Actually, I meant that last one."
    • Shizuru has just returned after being believed to be dead, and she and Natsuki return to 221B Baker St. where they consummate their relationship. They discover that Mrs. Hudson (who is Midori Suguira in all but name) had been up to deliver tea and had left a note: "It's about time!"
  • Inter Nos: An epic drama serving as a Roman Empire AU to My-HiME, it's often almost deadly serious. War, death, and invasion are common themes, and Natsuki loses a leg to amputation in the story. There are, however, comedic moments.
    • In one early chapter, Natsuki, who is Shizuru's bodyguard, mind, initiates a snowball fight with Shizuru.
    • Shizuru is trying to learn to use Natsuki's daos, and nearly brains herself with the weight on the end of the chain, only to find Natsuki laughing at her.
    • Nao tricks Natsuki into casual swearing by telling her "Verpa" meant "small rodent", when it's actually the Latin equivalent of "prick" (and not in the verb sense).
    • Shizuru is reading a letter from home where her rival, Haruka, had gone off on a fellow senator and known pedarast, for illegally tapping a water main. It was filled with Accidental Innuendos about not sticking his pipe where it didn't belong, and finding somewhere to pay for it. Natsuki and Shizuru were literally rolling on the floor laughing as they read it.
    • After a literally heated battle at a town that essentially was the center for the enemy nation's iron works, where Shizuru had tricked the enemy into dumping molten lead against their perimeter walls which were made of limestone, Shizuru orders kettles of vinegar poured on the heated rock to cause it to give way, breaching the wall. Shizuru, when the battle is over, explains that she learned the trick from Hannible, and said it was something in the vinegar's sourness that made it work. Natsuki then asks if that meant that throwing Nao against the wall would have had the same effect, causing all the Himean soldiers who knew Nao to burst out laughing, though Shizuru notes that Nao's temperment is better suited to starting fires, not putting them out.

    Films — Animation 
  • The Last Unicorn: A unicorn leaves her forest, setting out to find the rest of her kind, pursuing vague rumors of a Red Bull, a nightmarish beast that was reputed to have driven all the others from the ends of the Earth. Before the film is over, she is turned human, confronts the Bull, and the terrible King Haggard, and falls in love, only to lose that love when she becomes a Unicorn again. But lest anyone think the film is entirely grim:
    • Schmendrick the Magician accidentally brings a tree to life trying to free himself from ropes, and finds himself nearly crushed to death by bark covered Marshmallow Hell.
    • After Molly Grue joins the group, and Schmendrick tries to forbid it, she has to inform him that they're going the wrong way.
    • After Prince Lir has cut himself peeling potatoes for the third time, Molly Grue suggests he cut away from himself, not towards.
  • The Secret of NIMH: A mother mouse is trying to find a way to save her pneumonia-ridden son and the rest of her family before the farmer's plow comes and destroys their home. There are moments of magic, epic sword fights, betrayal, and murder. There's also:
    • Jeremy the Crow, voiced by Dom De Luise, a comic-relief character who fancies himself a lady's man, but is actually just a bumbling mess who manages to get himself captured in his own yarn collection twice in the film, once when he meets Mrs. Brisby and once when he was captured by her children and Auntie Shrew.
    • Justin, one of the titular rats, displays a subtle and clever sense of humor when they walk into the council room to hear Jenner ranting.
      Jenner: The Thorn Valley Plan is the aspiration of idiots and dreamers! We... [notices Justin and Mr. Ages] heh-heh-heh, we were just talking about you.
      Justin: That's refreshing, Jenner. Usually you're screaming about us.
  • Watership Down: An epic work about a group of rabbits that involves death, prophetic visions, lapine folklore and mythology, and a war with a totalitarian regime. No, seriously. It is most definitely not for younger audiences. It also features a scene where the survivors of the Sandleford Warren help an injured seagull named Kehaar, and then guide him into realizing that there are only males at the warren.
    Kehaar: You stupid bunnies! You got no mates! Vere are mates? VERE ARE CHICKS?

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Army of the Dead is a mostly-serious Heist movie set in Zombie-infested Las Vegas, but there are a few moments that are Played for Laughs.
    • The opening credits sequence features numerous moments of Black Comedy, such as the song lyrics "Watch out, Elvis!" playing over a shot of a zombified Elvis impersonator being crushed by the replica Eiffel Tower.
    • Dieter is the cause of many instances of this trope, especially his interactions with Vanderohe.
  • Baby Driver: Most of the film is a serious action crime drama. There's a major comedic scene in the second bank robbery, however. One of the hired criminals misunderstands an order to purchase Michael Myers masks and instead brings a bunch of Mike Myers masks. This leads to heated argument that reveals, among other things, that the guy thinks that Jason Voorhees is the killer in Halloween. It takes a turn right back to dramatic when it's later revealed that Doc had the robber killed for his incompetence.
  • This lighthearted exchange from the otherwise serious Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice.
    Batman: It's okay. I'm a friend of your son.
    Martha Kent: I figured. The cape?
  • Carrie is mostly a very moody, grim, and ominous movie, except for the scene where Tommy and his friends are shopping for prom outfits. Tommy points out that to his friend that none of the tuxedos they're considering look good on him. The movie fast-forwards through their argument, and reveals that Tommy's friend settled on a tuxedo-print T-shirt.
  • Halloween is a serious horror movie, but it has some comedic moments to break the tension.
    • The scene in which Vicky is babysitting Julian has several humorous lines from the latter, whose actor was allowed to improvise much of his dialogue.
      Julian: I hear you telling your friends to come over here and you're gonna smoke some weed.
      Vicky: No, no.
      Julian: That alakazam?
      Vicky: Julian, I'm talking about like, a... you know, like a magic trick. Abracadabra!
      Julian: I know you're talking about smoking weed. Don't lie to me. That's against the rules, I'm telling my mom.
      Vicky: Well, I'm gonna tell your mom about your browser history.
      Julian: You better not.
    • Later, there's a short scene that sees two officers talking about what they brought for dinner that offers some genuine laughs.
  • I Know Who Killed Me is a psychological horror film, but it has one scene that's Played for Laughs. When Dakota has sex with Audrey's boyfriend, her mother can been seen in the kitchen desperately trying to distract herself from the moaning.
  • Marvel Cinematic Universe:
  • The Punisher is a serious and dramatic comic-book adaptation. However, there's a humorous moment near the end of the film when Frank tells his neighbor Joan that he's leaving to continue his work. He suggests that she read her newspaper everyday, and when she asks which section, he says the obituaries.
  • The Texas Chain Saw Massacre has some subtle black comedy eagle-eyed viewers often notice, like in the climax when Grandpa, who is said to be the best at killing, fails multiple times to hit Sally in the head with a hammer.
  • Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet has Mercutio dressed in drag at the party scene, along with Tybalt roaring. The rest of the film is as serious as the original play, albeit set in a modern era.
  • X is a mostly serious horror movie with several moment of dark comedy, such as Pearl firing a shotgun and getting blasted out the open door behind her by the recoil.

    Literature 
  • Spice and Wolf: A series with gripping drama focused on medieval economics and the goals and desires of a traveling merchant and the wolf-girl quasi-deity that he inadvertently picks up on his travels. However, there are more than a few humorous moments.
    • In their very first meeting, Holo, the aforementioned wolf-girl, is angry at Lawrence for wielding a knife against her...until she realizes that he's not from the village, and is therefore not an "ungrateful beast". She cheerfully tells him to wield away. She also Trolls him by pretending to be meek and timid after he yells, only to then smirk at him trying to walk back his stern attitude.
    • The pair take refuge in a church due to the rain. Holo is clearly having a field day toying with the fact that she, being a wolf, is a Shameless Fanservice Girl, not at all concerned with her human form being sans apparel, but is fully aware of the effect that it has on Lawrence as they're wringing out their wet clothes.
    • Holo doesn't get to have all the fun; after they've safely smuggled in the gold, Holo demands to know whether Lawrence called her name, or that of shepherdess Norah Arendt during the crisis. Lawrence sees Norah approaching, and Holo is grinning evilly. Then Lawrence notices the clock, pauses a few seconds, then shouts a name as the church bells drown him out. Holo is infuriated, and starts pounding on his chest, while Lawrence clearly grins and makes an "I can't hear you" gesture to her.

    Live-Action TV 
  • CSI: NY: The more-serious-than-usual episode, "Indelible", is a tribute to those lost in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. As the main characters experience memories of that fateful day, they deal with the case of a shooting in a bar. A much-needed light moment arises when Flack and Jo choose between questioning two witnesses, friends named Mike White, who is Black and goes by the nickname "Black Mike", and Mike Black, who is White and goes by "White Mike", except they just call each other "Mike".
    Jo: [thinks a moment] I'll take Black Mike.
    Flack: And I'll take Mike Black. [Jo gives him a questioning look and he grins] It's right. Trust me.
  • Star Trek:

    Video Games 
  • Final Fantasy XV: The game overall is very serious and grim with a Bittersweet Ending at best that includes stuff such as demonic transformations, human experimentation, Heroic Sacrifices, war and more. The cutscene right after the opening? The main character and his buddies having to push their broken car while grumbling all the way about it.
    Noctis: Gladio, do me a favour.
    Gladio: What?
    Noctis: Push this thing yourself.
    Gladio: You want me to push it by myself!?
    Prompto: You won't even notice if we just let go...
    Gladio: Prompto, don't even think about it.
    Ignis: [sitting in the driver's seat] Save your breath for pushing...

    Western Animation 

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