# Vomit scenes in movies and tv; funny or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 10, 2015, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460 "2015-08-10T16:34:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/41 "2015-08-12T12:44:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > At least she didn’t choke on someone else’s vomit. > > I first saw “This Is Spinal Tap” in a crowded theater with a couple hundred other people who also didn’t know that scene was in the movie, only that a drummer had died “in a manner too revolting to relate” per the newspaper’s reviewer. > > BTW, Scotland Yard still doesn’t have any way to identify whose vomit it was. You can’t get DNA from stomach contents. :o I remember the joke, as far as them talking about it but I have no recollection at all of anything being shown. I \*thought \*I saw an unedited version via rental, but even so, they don’t seem to edit that kind of stuff out for tv. Have I somehow blocked it from my memory (because if I have that ability I have a lot of catching up to do)? The _Caddyshack_ and _Seinfeld_ episodes are perfect examples of how a vomitcentric scene can be humorous and I was going to mention them in my OP. Graphically showing the act is just repulsive (to me) and negates any humor aspect. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/42 "2015-08-12T17:31:06Z")
_Animal House_ did it right. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/43 "2015-08-12T17:49:50Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I remember the joke, as far as them talking about it but I have no recollection at all of anything being shown. I \*thought \*I saw an unedited version via rental, but even so, they don’t seem to edit that kind of stuff out for tv. Have I somehow blocked it from my memory (because if I have that ability I have a lot of catching up to do)? > > The _Caddyshack_ and _Seinfeld_ episodes are perfect examples of how a vomitcentric scene can be humorous and I was going to mention them in my OP. Graphically showing the act is just repulsive (to me) and negates any humor aspect. There are no vomit scenes in TISP. They just talk about it. It was a couple years after Bon Scott and John Bonham died from choking on drunken vomit within literally days of each other. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/44 "2015-08-12T18:46:38Z")
I always used to laugh when SNL did the obvious tube-in-the-arm for a vomiting bit. On the other hand, vomiting onscreen where an actor has something in his or her mouth always seems fakey to me. It looks like someone just has something in the mouth as opposed to vomit getting forcefully ejected from the stomach. That tends to take me out of the story a bit. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/45 "2015-08-12T18:52:01Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I always used to laugh when SNL did the obvious tube-in-the-arm for a vomiting bit. > > On the other hand, vomiting onscreen where an actor has something in his or her mouth always seems fakey to me. It looks like someone just has something in the mouth as opposed to vomit getting forcefully ejected from the stomach. That tends to take me out of the story a bit. I must say, that while I don’t run out of the room or cover my eyes, I’ve never looked closely enough to determine if it’s realistic looking:dubious: For that matter, how does one tell the difference? Just how many people \*have \*you witnessed tossing their cookies IRL, \*\*IGlad \*\*? :eek:😛 ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/46 "2015-08-12T19:00:38Z")
Well it’s not a daily occurrence for me but I vividly remember when I was sick this past winter and threw up a few times. My vomit seems different from an actor spitting soup out of the mouth and making “ugh blah” noises. Maybe it’s the POV. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/47 "2015-08-12T19:19:25Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > There are no vomit scenes in TISP. They just talk about it. > > It was a couple years after Bon Scott and John Bonham died from choking on drunken vomit within literally days of each other. I vaguely remember a comedian doing a bit about a conversation amongst different musicians who’d suffered untimely, drug related deaths and one saying to the others “at least I didn’t choke on my own vomit” though I can’t immediately recall which one that might be. Seems to me the second part of the joke was a reference to Michael Hutchence and his death (allegedly) by autoerotic asphyxiation. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/48 "2015-08-12T22:43:54Z")
I was pleased to find that _Pitch Perfect 2_ had NO vomit-based humor, as I was a bit concerned the filmmakers would feel obligated to try to top the original in that regard. There is a brief “toilet humor” scene that involves the lack of toilet paper during a camping trip, but the character relieving herself is off-screen so while I didn’t find this particularly entertaining it didn’t disgust me either. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/49 "2015-08-13T12:38:08Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I was pleased to find that _Pitch Perfect 2_ had NO vomit-based humor, as I was a bit concerned the filmmakers would feel obligated to try to top the original in that regard. There is a brief “toilet humor” scene that involves the lack of toilet paper during a camping trip, but the character relieving herself is off-screen so while I didn’t find this particularly entertaining it didn’t disgust me either. This is good to know; I had the same concerns. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/50 "2015-08-13T16:02:05Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I must say, that while I don’t run out of the room or cover my eyes, I’ve never looked closely enough to determine if it’s realistic looking:dubious: For that matter, how does one tell the difference? Just how many people \*have \*you witnessed tossing their cookies IRL, \*\*IGlad \*\*? :eek:😛 Well, for starters, your stomach can hold a lot more than your mouth. On top of that, there’s a…how shall we say…a propulsive nature to most vomiting that isn’t communicated by someone spitting food out of their mouth. That is one of the things that _The Meaning of Life_ gets fairly right in their vomit scene, even if his stomach would be empty after the first heave-ho. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/51 "2015-08-13T18:01:51Z")
I think part of the humor of these scenes is the sheer ludicrousness of the situations that leads to the upchucking. The ipecac scene in Family Guy is probably my all-time favorite in terms of just unbridled belly laughs (especially the capper, when Lois comes in carrying a pot of soup and asks “Who wants chowder?”, which triggers a mass upheaval (so to speak)). Another vomit scene which I really shouldn’t find funny but still do is the infamous hardware store sketch from Jackass 2 (I won’t spoil it since it’s extremely NSFW), but suffice to say the vomiting (done by one of the cameramen) is only the third grossest part of that sketch, and triggered by something very VERY unbelievable. Even by the standards of Johnny Knoxville and company. [I never said my tastes were highbrow.] ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/52 "2015-08-13T18:12:53Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > I think part of the humor of these scenes is the sheer ludicrousness of the situations that leads to the upchucking. The ipecac scene in Family Guy is probably my all-time favorite in terms of just unbridled belly laughs (especially the capper, when Lois comes in carrying a pot of soup and asks “Who wants chowder?”, which triggers a mass upheaval (so to speak)). > > Another vomit scene which I really shouldn’t find funny but still do is the infamous hardware store sketch from Jackass 2 (I won’t spoil it since it’s extremely NSFW), but \*\*suffice to say the vomiting (done by one of the cameramen) is only the third grossest part \*\*of that sketch, and triggered by something very VERY unbelievable. Even by the standards of Johnny Knoxville and company. [I never said my tastes were highbrow.] You make a statement like that and then don’t 'splain? I don’t want to watch a clip of it, just a basic description, because to me, there \*is \*nothing grosser than people throwing up. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/53 "2015-08-13T22:59:16Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Thank you! I probably still won’t see it but at least it gives me an idea why people think it’s so funny. So, it’s not really the puking guy but John Cleese’s reaction. I think Mr Creosote is also funny - he’s the over-the-top incredibly rich guy who almost sees it as his right to eat until he pukes - with no concern re other patrons (eg the cleaning lady). It’s the basic joke ‘If you have money, you can get away with anything, and poor people will still fawn all over you in the hope of earning some of your cash’. It’s just taken to a (Pythonic) extreme. ---
**Author:** ![wombattver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b77776/32.png) [@wombattver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wombattver)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/54 "2015-08-15T21:31:48Z")
Not a bit funny to me. Not in “Meaning of Life” not in “Bridesmaids.” Just doesn’t work for me. The only slightly funny vomiting I can remember seeing was in “Parenthood” when Steve Martin, the dad, gets thrown up on by his little girl. That only works because my kids have done that to me more than once. Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![jrbor76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9e8a1a/32.png) [@jrbor76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jrbor76)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/55 "2015-08-16T14:37:59Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > You make a statement like that and then don’t 'splain? I don’t want to watch a clip of it, just a basic description, because to me, there \*is \*nothing grosser than people throwing up. Well, **WOOKINPANUB** , I’m in a good mood today so I’ll share. But be forewarned, you asked for it. (FYI, this was from the original Jackass movie, not the second one.) Dave England went into a hardware store, to the plumbing section, sat down on one of the display model commodes, dropped trou, and let nature take its course. Right in the middle of the sales floor. Or at least that’s how it was _supposed_ to go. Apparently there was some kind of delay setting the sketch up, they had to wait for the store to open or something. So the whole crew is sitting around waiting in a van, and Dave must have been a little too ready for the camera to roll. …Yep, he #2’d his drawers, right there in the van. Everybody fled outside (you know a stunt’s bad when it has that effect), and that’s when the cameraman heaved. I think just the sheer absurdity of cutting to that guy tossing his cookies is what I found… well, not necessarily funny, but I remember laughing as sort of a reflex. Or maybe I was young and stupid and really thought it was funny at the time. For the record, they did do the stunt successfully in the store later on. The store owner’s reaction was… well, pretty much what you’d expect. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2015, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/56 "2015-08-16T15:54:31Z")
While I don’t find vomiting onscreen funny, usually it’s at least tolerable. But upon seeing this thread title, I immediately flashed onto _The Witches of Eastwick,_ which I doubt I’d even thought about since leaving the theater back in 1987. It contained a scene in which Cher and her cronies vomited deluges of cherries for about five minutes straight. Yeah, that was a bit much, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/57 "2015-08-17T03:01:19Z")
I can’t believe no one has mentioned the vomit scene in Problem Child 2. I could never look at a Tilt A Whirl the same afterwards. That was a classic scene. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460/58 "2015-08-17T12:21:58Z")
> [@jrbor76](#): > > Well, **WOOKINPANUB** , I’m in a good mood today so I’ll share. But be forewarned, you asked for it. (FYI, this was from the original Jackass movie, not the second one.) > > Dave England went into a hardware store, to the plumbing section, sat down on one of the display model commodes, dropped trou, and let nature take its course. Right in the middle of the sales floor. > Or at least that’s how it was _supposed_ to go. Apparently there was some kind of delay setting the sketch up, they had to wait for the store to open or something. So the whole crew is sitting around waiting in a van, and Dave must have been a little too ready for the camera to roll. …Yep, he #2’d his drawers, right there in the van. > Everybody fled outside (you know a stunt’s bad when it has that effect), and that’s when the cameraman heaved. I think just the sheer absurdity of cutting to that guy tossing his cookies is what I found… well, not necessarily funny, but I remember laughing as sort of a reflex. Or maybe I was young and stupid and really thought it was funny at the time. > > For the record, they did do the stunt successfully in the store later on. The store owner’s reaction was… well, pretty much what you’d expect. Thanks ( I think?). Interesting that you think that part is worse, but everybody’s gross out meter tends to vary. I hadn’t thought about _The Witches of Eastwick_ until I saw **Hopeful Crow’s** post. IIRC, it was Cher and co. who cast a spell on Veronica Cartwright and she was puking cherries all over Jack Nicholson ( I think). Oddly enough, that scene doesn’t bother me for some reason. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vomit-scenes-in-movies-and-tv-funny-or-not/727460.md?page=2)