Spit-take

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Michael Colton does a spit-take while drinking a Red Bull as John Aboud watches on VH1's Best Week Ever.

A spit-take is a comedic technique in which someone spits a beverage out of his or her mouth when he or she reacts to a statement during a take. In a spit-take, the reaction is usually one of surprise. Danny Thomas is sometimes credited with popularizing its use in comedy.

1 In film and television
2 In Radio
3 On Stage
4 In Print Media

[edit] In film and television

Gene Wilder performs 2 different types of spit-takes in Young Frankenstein and Blazing Saddles.
Another popular spit-take can be seen in the Alan Arkin and Peter Falk film Big Trouble.

- Also features in "Intolerable Cruelty" with George Clooney executing a danny thomas spit take.

In the Futurama episode "Fry and the Slurm Factory", when Fry finds out what the popular soft-drink Slurm is made out of, he spit-takes, then continues to drink only to spit-take again twice. Bender also has a spit-take in the episode "Bender Gets Made" in which, after he sees that his gangster co-workers have intentions of hijacking the Planet Express ship, has an enormous "oil" spit take which goes on for a very long period of time, the view shifting between Bender himself and the Planet Express ship repeatedly as a constant stream of the oil he was drinking continues to fly from his mouth.
In The Simpsons episode "The Computer Wore Menace Shoes", when Homer sees the price of a computer he plans to buy is $5,000, he stops, takes a sip of his coffee, looks at the pricetag again, and spit-takes.
In The Rescuers Down Under, Wilbur takes a sip of soda before Miss Bianca tells him that she and Bernard have to leave for Australia tonight, and he responds by spit-taking on Bernard.
A double spit-take can be seen in Serving Sara and is performed by Matthew Perry.
In the Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip episode "B-12", some of the comedy actors of the show-within-a-show are shown engaged in a spit-take contest backstage, which later inspires Matt, (also played by Matthew Perry), to write a last-minute spit-take sketch to fill in for one which had to be cut.
Michael J. Fox spit-takes whiskey all over the steering wheel of his car in Back to the Future when he sees his future mother lighting up a cigarette. This scene was also included as an outtake in the special edition DVD when stagehands substituted actual whiskey in the prop flask, causing Fox to spit-take for real.
Spit-takes with coffee was a running gag in The Fairly OddParents episode "Pipe Down!". (Whenever a meteor was mentioned, Chet Ubetcha, the scientist, and/or Cosmo took a sip of coffee and spit it out at the nearest thing, or person.)
In an Our Gang Short, Lucky Corner, Buckwheat has mistakenly brought a bag of starch instead of sugar to sweeten the lemonade. Leonard, the mean kid down the street, has stolen the lemonade, and at least one of Leonard's customers does a spit-take when tasting the ill-prepared drink.

[edit] In Radio

DJ's Mark and Lard frequently used Spits-takes as part of their Radio show. Accompanied with the catchphrase "I was having a drink then".

[edit] On Stage

In Bob Martin's musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone, a piece of business between Mrs. Tottendale (Georgia Engel) and her butler Underling (Edward Hibbert) involving "ice water" as a codeword for vodka results in Mrs. Tottendale asking for ice water and repeatedly being served the vodka. Each time Engel spit-takes the drink right at Hibbert's face, with the line, "That was pure vodka, you poop!"

[edit] In Print Media

In an Archie comic, Reggie schemes to get Archie in trouble with Moose by paying Jughead to put a picture of Archie in Midge's house, on her piano. Jughead complains that Reggie's payment isn't enough; anyway, Reggie greets Moose in the Chok'lit Shoppe and says, "I hear Midge isn't your girlfdiend anymore!" Moose reacts with a violent spit-take. (As it turns out, Jughead used Reggie's picture instead, and Moose sees it; one can guess what happens next.)
In a Jack Chick tract, a teenage kid has been converted by a Chick evangelist who met him at a bench in a park, and later that day attends a party he'd been invited to beforehand. When one of his friends exclaims "[curse words omitted] This is a great party!", the kid says, "I wish you wouldn't use the name of my Lord that way! It's sacreligious!", another kid at the table does a loud spit-take.