"I can hold up the cup and the milk and the cake!
I can hold up these books! And the fish on a rake!
I can hold the toy ship and a little toy man!
And look! With my tail I can hold a red fan!
I can fan with the fan as I hop on the ball!
But that is not all. Oh no. That is not all..."
I can hold up these books! And the fish on a rake!
I can hold the toy ship and a little toy man!
And look! With my tail I can hold a red fan!
I can fan with the fan as I hop on the ball!
But that is not all. Oh no. That is not all..."
— The Cat In The Hat, Dr. Seuss’ The Cat in the Hat
One of the most classic comedic gags you would see in media is a character who is holding many items at once. It allows tension to build as the characters may struggle to hold all the items as they try to avert any potential accident. The setup may occur in several ways:
- The character has an occupation that requires them to hold many items up at once (e.g. A waiter holding dishes, a librarian holding books, a mover holding objects to move).
- The character is intentionally trying to hold many items in order to entertain others.
- A rival character may be tossing items for whatever reason, and the character is forced to catch or hold the items.
- The character refuses to use a receptacle to carry the items, such as a shopping bag or suitcase, or did not have one available.
This often leads to several comedic moments such as the characters trying to hold items with other body parts other than their hands, and sometimes a comedic expression on their face as they hold more and more items. It often leads to the climax of this gag, where:
- For whatever reason, the character is unable to hold onto the items and they end up falling onto the floor.
- The accumulated weight of the objects give in and either crush the character or make them fall.
- The numerous objects are blocking the character's vision and cause them to trip over something.
- In a form of Anti-Humor, the character is able to hold the objects and not let them fall.
Subtrope of Slapstick. Overlaps with Cartoon Juggling and Juggling Dangerously as they are also a way for a character to deal with handling many items; the difference is that this trope relies heavily on holding items. May overlap with Human Pack Mule during traveling. Compare Carrying a Cake when it's one just one item and only needed for delivering.May lead to Dramatic Drop, if the holder drops all the items at once, if they are shocked or surprised. May also involve Styrofoam Rocks, if the items should be far too heavy to carry. Compare Too Many Phones Gag, which sometimes involves a character struggling to hold several telephone receivers. One possible outcome of Dish Dash, when a successful one leaves the dasher carrying an improbably large amount of dishes in improbable ways (e.g. with some balanced on their toe).
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger: Shogo manages to fill up a cargo ship with useful items to use with his Manacraft ability in an effort to be Crazy-Prepared before leaving the Gold Saucer. While he insists that he painstakingly picked everything by hand, he purchased enough items to stock a store, more than he could ever carry with him. He spends the next panels whining about how heavy everything is after trying and failing to lift a few of his crates of supplies before the ship captain recommends he find some local storage services in Heian.
Shogo: Damn it. Why does it have to take up so much space!!? And weigh a ton!!! Ten potions is over two kilos!!! I wanna carry 99 of these! WAAAAAAAAH!
Comic Strips
- Blondie: When Blondie goes on a shopping binge, poor Dagwood is left holding a towering cluster of purchases. One Sunday strip has Blondie return home, leading her husband along. It's not until she begins unpacking the poor man that Blondie realizes the husband she brought home isn't Dagwood. The man takes it well, stating that his wife would make him carry more packages.
- In one strip of Calvin and Hobbes, Hobbes is holding a single water balloon when Calvin walks up with arms full of them, claiming to have superiority in armaments and is thus assured of victory. Hobbes responds by simply tossing his balloon to Calvin, who can't hold all of them and gets drenched by the combined arsenal.
Film – Animated
- The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad: In The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Brom Bones tries to impress Katrina by carrying her groceries home for her, but Ichabod, in his attempts to one-up Brom, causes him to fumble the goods.
- Cinderella (1950):
- While the mice go get a breakfast of corn from Cinderella, Gus gets more than his fair share and tries to carry a tall stack of kernels, resulting in him not noticing that Lucifer is sneaking up on him.
- While serving breakfast to her stepmother and stepsisters, Cinderella carries two trays in her hands while balancing the third on her head.
- While the stepsisters scramble to get dressed before the Grand Duke arrives with the glass slipper, they pile their laundry into Cinderella's hands until it obscures her vision. Cinderella, who just realized that she man she danced with the night before was actually the Prince, is too lovestruck to notice until she's told to get moving.
- Fantasia 2000: In the "Rhapsody in Blue" segment, Henpecked Husband John is accompanying his wife as she shops for stuff for her pet dog. She hands item after item to John, which pile up on top of him until they collapse in a heap around his feet.
- Horton Hears a Who! (2008): When all 97 of Mayor McDodd's daughters ask for a glass of water at bedtime, he struggles with carrying all 97 glasses on only two plates, both at once.
- Pinocchio (1940): Soon after Pinocchio has come to life, Gepetto dances about in excitement, and loads his arms full of toys from the shelves. When he sees that Pinocchio has set fire to his finger from the candle flame, he drops all the toys in horror, rushing about to find some water to put out the fire.
- The Princess and the Frog: During the "Down In New Orleans" number, to illustrate how busy Tiana's job is, Tiana has to stack dishes of food on her head and for foot when Buford gives them to her.
Film – Live-Action
- The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland: When Elmo is chasing after his blanket, which is being carried by Telly on roller skates, he accidentally bumps into Ruthie, making her drop her plates she was carrying, and then Cookie Monster, making him drop the plate of cookies he was carrying.
- By The Sea: Downplayed, as the items are small. When most of the characters go swimming in the sea, they give their watches to one lady to look after, who straps them all on her own wrist. Later, the lady paddles in the sea, and dips her hand into the water, with all the watches.
- The Cat in the Hat (2003): At the climax of his musical number, the Cat pulls off a similar balancing act to the book, albeit with fewer objects. Instead of losing his balance, he foolishly takes a sip of the milk, which triggers his lactose intolerance and causes him to let out a violent burp. He still manages to keep hold of all the objects, except the fish, who's sent flying out of his bowl.
You can juggle work and play, but you gotta know the way!You can keep afloat a wish, like the way I do this fish!You can be a happy fella! Someone throw me that umbrella!And that rake! That cake!
- It's a Wonderful Life: When Harry is leaving for the school dance, he's carrying three pies - one in each of his hands, and one on top of his head - and George cannot resist commenting:
George: Anybody got a match?
Harry: Very funny, very funny. - The Jerk: One Overly Long Gag is that when Navin breaks up with Marie and storms out of the house, he tells her he doesn't need her or anything else... except this ashtray... and this paddle game... and this remote control... and this matchbook... as he leaves the house, he's struggling to carry all the random objects he decided he can't live without.
- Mary Poppins: During the "run on the bank" scene, two bankers carrying vast chests of money crash into each other, spilling the money everywhere.
Jokes
- A teacher says, "If I had six oranges in one hand, and nine in the other, what would I have?" One of the students replies, "Big hands!"
Literature
- Dr. Seuss:
- The Cat in the Hat: The titular feline attempts to entertain the kids by holding their pet fish and several household items while standing on a ball, before he trips and causes everything to fall, messing up the house.
- One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish: The girl asks the reader if they've ever walked with ten cats on their head, and she's drawn walking along with a plank on her head, balancing ten cats.
- In Ten Apples Up On Top, three characters each balance ten apples atop their heads and try to do tricks without them falling, while someone else tries to make them fall using a mop.
- Elephant & Piggie: In the story "I Broke My Trunk", Gerald has broke his trunk and Piggie asks how it happened. Gerald tells the story of how he held two hippos, a rhino, and a piano on his trunk. Piggie assumes the weight of who and what he held causes his trunk, but Gerald says that he was able to hold everything, and the reason why he broke his trunk was that he tripped while running over to tell Piggie what he did.
- Mr. Men: When Mr Grumpy goes shopping, a Running Gag is that every time he is rude to somebody, Mr Tickle tickles him, which makes him drop all his shopping. When he is pictured arriving back home, his arms are very laden as he is not using a shopping bag. He is then rude to Mr Happy, with the predictable result of being tickled and dropping his shopping.
- Pyramids: Teppic, the young Pharaoh of Djelibeybi (a Fantasy Counterpart Culture of Ancient Egypt), is fitted out for his first court appearance by Dios the High Priest, which includes making him carry a ludicrous number of symbolism-laden regalia, even having to curl single fingers around some to hold them. The scene ends with Dios bringing him a head of cabbage.
Live-Action TV
- Fawlty Towers: In "Communication Problems", Polly tells Manuel to fetch some toilet paper for room twenty-two. Just as Mrs Richards demands "send my paper up immediately", Manuel appears carrying a vast stack of toilet rolls, having understood that twenty-two were needed.
- Grange Hill: In the 1980 series, the timid teacher Miss Mooney sometimes loads her arms with an impossibly large number of books, right up to her nose, because she will not buy a briefcase, and ends up dropping the books at least once.
- House of Anubis: In one episode, Fabian is returning from school while carrying a large stack of books. Because his hands are full, he tries to close the door with his foot, inevitably losing balance and spilling the pile. As it happens, this is the thing that finally makes him take a look at the hallway grandfather clock and realize that it's connected to one of the clue, because he drops everything right in front of it.
- Sesame Street:
- One series of number-related skits always end on a man saying, "[number] [confection]s!" while struggling to carry said amount of that confection all at once and then falling over.
- In Christmas Eve on Sesame Street during the'' I Hate Christmas
" number Bob has just left Mr. Hooper's store carrying a pile of Christmas presents. Oscar pops up and takes a package from the middle, upsetting the balance so Bob drops them (and we hear the sound of broken glass, to boot).
Video Games
- Bayonetta 2: In the intro cutscene Bayonetta makes Enzo, the series' Butt-Monkey, assist her in a pre-Christmas shopping spree by encumbering him with several shopping bags hanging off both of his arms and making him lug around a pile of presents in his hands, intermittently adding even more to the stack. Enzo divides his time between complaining, trying to balance the vision-obstructing pile of presents, stumbling into people, and loredumping for the benefit of the audience.
- Feed The King requires building a large stack of cakes. The chef is able to hold them, but has a strained facial look with a twitching eye once the cake is ready to eat.
- Henry Stickmin series: In Fleeing the Complex, Henry pickpockets one of the guards for all of his valuables. Unfortunately, he is encumbered by the weight of all of the stolen goods and it crushes Henry.
Did you really need all that?No loot left behind!
Webcomics
- Strange Planet: One comic has a being struggle to carry several grocery bags to their door.
"But a second journey woul-""There cannot be a second journey. I need the thrill of efficiency."
Websites
- Neopets: The objective of the game Wicked Wocky Wobble is to control Wallace the Wocky and make him catch numerous items as they fall from a tree, balancing them in a tall stack. If he falls and drops the stack, the game is over.
- The Onion: Mocking the physical comedy in Jackie Chan films, The Onion once ran the headline "Jackie Chan attacked while holding World's Most Expensive Cake."
Western Animation
- Looney Tunes:
- In the Bugs Bunny cartoon "Little Red Riding Rabbit", the finale has Bugs force the The Big Bad Wolf to hold many household items while standing over some burning coal, with the intention of the weight giving in and the lupine to suffer burns. He then swaps Red in for the wolf because she's just that annoying.
- In "Wild Wife", a housewife goes shopping and comes out holding a huge pile of packages, so high she has to take out one of the boxes in the middle to be able to see.
- The Loud House: In "A Star is Scorned", Lori is weighed down with all the luggage of her little sisters Lola and Lily, who are going to star in some commercials together. The advertising people ask if she's their assistant, and she jokes, "No, I'm their a-sister."
- Mickey Mouse Works: In the cartoon "Donald's Dinner Date", Goofy serves as the waiter for Donald Duck and Daisy. At the end of the cartoon, Goofy struggles to hold all of the plates that Donald ate off of, leading to gags where he runs around the restaurant (and even hops on a ball and rides a bike) to prevent the dishes from falling.
- Tex Avery MGM Cartoons: In the short Rock-a-Bye Bear, the rival dog tries to throw many objects such as plates and vases onto the floor to wake the titular bear, and Spike has to catch the items with his hands and feet to stop him.
- Tom and Jerry:
- Puss Gets the Boot: At the end of the cartoon, Jerry is attempting to throw several plates onto the floor with Tom being forced to catch them. Jerry then kicks Tom, causing all of the plates Tom held to come crashing down.
- The Midnight Snack: While Jerry is trying to carry the cheese, Tom stacks other items onto it to torment Jerry, before tricking him to walk onto a rolling pin and cause everything to fall.
- Quiet Please! (1945) has a pernicious Jerry Mouse fling light bulbs around the living room, aiming for the noise they'd make to awaken a sleeping bulldog, whereupon he'd clobber Tom for making a racket. Tom Cat is somehow able to catch all the bulbs, about twenty-some of them. Jerry then inserts Tom's tail into a power outlet, which causes great pain to Tom, and makes the bulbs glow. Nevertheless, Tom drops none of them.
- Woody Woodpecker: In the short "Chili Con Corny", Woody is carrying a large stack of clean dishes to put them away, struggling to balance them. He later slips on some soap, causing him to drop all the dishes.
Real Life
- In some collegiate sports, like baseball and softball, when a player is called in for a postgame interview, their teammates will often hand off their equipment for the player to hold, resulting in hilarious hijinks.