# Is there a name for this comedy trope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894 "2025-08-09T22:20:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![f.coli](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eada6e/32.png) [@f.coli](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/f.coli)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894/1 "2025-08-09T22:20:42Z")
Let me give you some examples of what I have in mind: The Coneheads Aliens with very obvious differences to earthlings are stranded on our planet. They quickly become part of the community, and none of their neighbors, coworkers, etc. seem to notice that their heads have a 10 inch dome above their eyebrows. The Life of Bryan A Roman centurion brings several troops to search the house of a Jewish rebel leader. The rebels, who are in the middle of a meeting plotting their next move, all hide in various ways that do not conceal them in the slightest. The troops rush in, but are unable to find anything suspicious, except for a spoon. The Three Stooges The Stooges are being sought by some dangerous thugs, but are cornered in someone’s apartment. One of them “hides” by putting a lampshade over his head. The pursuers come in and are totally oblivious to the man standing next to them wearing a lampshade. A yank on his tie will even turn a light on under the lampshade. I think that “Lampshading” would fit as a name for this trope, but TV Tropes gave that term a different definition. Is there a specific name for this old but still funny gag? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2025, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894/2 "2025-08-09T22:24:29Z")
I think TV Tropes has it as Failed A Spot Check (giving, as a specific example, the bit in LIFE OF BRIAN). > **[Live-Action Films - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FailedASpotCheck/LiveActionFilms)** > > Being distracted from the utterly conspicuous in live-action movies. Used a lot in comedies like Hot Shots! and The Naked Gun, where there's always something bizarre happening in the background and the deadpan main characters just ignore it … ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894/3 "2025-08-10T00:19:24Z")
I think the one you’re looking for, at least for Coneheads, is this: > **[Paper-Thin Disguise - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PaperThinDisguise)** > > A disguise that is so "thin" that the audience can immediately recognize who the person behind the "mask" actually is. Note that this doesn't require an actual mask; the character may have merely styled their hair differently, added glasses, or … ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894/4 "2025-08-10T00:27:43Z")
Maybe Paper-Thin Disguise > **[Paper-Thin Disguise - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PaperThinDisguise)** > > A disguise that is so "thin" that the audience can immediately recognize who the person behind the "mask" actually is. Note that this doesn't require an actual mask; the character may have merely styled their hair differently, added glasses, or … Edit, Ninja’d, by 8 minutes because discourse was showing a giant blank spot there instead of ParallelLines’ post. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894/5 "2025-08-10T00:32:36Z")
It’s okay @Joey_P - it happens to us all! I came back to say that in Monty Python in general, most cops and authority figures are prone to the following trope: > **[Incompetence, Inc. - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/IncompetenceInc)** > > Many people have jobs, because people need money to pay their bills, clothe themselves, keep a roof over their heads, and put food on their tables. Some of the companies that offer these jobs are fun, while others... aren't. And then there are … See the guards for the prince saved from the tower in Holy Grail, the marching up and down the square sketch, those same Roman centurion and troops. No it’s not 100% universal for their works, but it’s really darn common. And true in plenty of other works as well! Though it’s often subverted, where some low level drone in such or in an evil organization is the equivalent of the Evil Overlord needing to run his plot past an average 12 year old to make sure it’s not hopelessly stupid. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2025, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-name-for-this-comedy-trope/1021894/6 "2025-08-10T00:46:09Z")
For incompetent cops in particular, there’s this trope: > **[Police Are Useless - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PoliceAreUseless)** > > Whenever someone in film or on TV reports a murder, or a monster, or a stalker or whatever, the police come as close to ignoring them as procedure (and the local captain) will allow. And that's if the report is from a respected professional; if … And for incompetent guards, there’s this one: > **[The Guards Must Be Crazy - TV Tropes](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheGuardsMustBeCrazy)** > > Being a guard for an Evil Overlord is a low-status, low-pay, high-risk job in an unsafe workplace, with very little long term job security (but they normally have a brilliant pension plan). So it's hardly surprising that most applicants aren't …