10 Best Recurring Jokes From What We Do in the Shadows

There are few shows as full of humor and chaos as What We Do in the Shadows. Created by Jemaine Clement, this mockumentary series about vampires originated as a single film before evolving into a full series. At the heart of the series is a cast of lovable characters, bridging the gap between monsters and humanity. Their antics have proven endlessly entertaining, worming into the minds and hearts of viewers. This is especially true for the repeating gags, of which there are many. Each new season brought new arcs and new jokes, and much like the cast, they will never get old. The series may be complete now, but it still lives on in our hearts.

What We Do in the Shadows follows a group of vampires and their familiars. Having moved to America decades ago, their original goal was to initiate the process of taking over the country. Somewhere along the way though, they lost that plot and decided to just start hanging out. Like the film before it, the characters in What We Do in the Shadows are followed by documentary crew, a narrative device that you’ll find is baked into a lot of the best recurring jokes.

1) Bat!

One of the best parts about What We Do in the Shadows is that it takes vampiric elements that society has taken for granted and adds a humorous tone to them. For example, when Laszlo Cravensworth (Matt Berry) wants to transform into a bat, he will, without fail, scream “Bat!” into the air before transforming. It’s part of his process, and while the others don’t seem dependent on this method, they don’t hate him doing it. Yes, Laszo does mention the need to scream “Bat!” when training others. It’s a whole thing, and we love it.

2) House Meetings

Vampires love house meetings. At least, some vampires seem to love them. Nandor the Relentless (Kayvan Novak) is one such vampire, and he has made it his duty to ensure that house meetings are a constant in his house. Fans of the show can probably hear Nandor’s high-pitched call in their minds right now, as he repeats “House Meeting!” until his housemates hear and respond to his call.

It goes without saying that Nadja and Laszlo were largely not fans of these house meetings. Collin Robinson (Mark Proksch) seemed to enjoy them, but that’s more of a strike against against them. One might imagine that a vampiric house meeting would be daring, dark, or dastardly. That was not usually the case, with one or two exceptions. Usually, Nandor just needed to remind people to stop leaving their half-eaten food (humans) around the house.

[RELATED: 7 Funniest Lines From What We Do in the Shadows]

3) Colin Robinson’s Need for Dullness

Colin Robinson is not your stereotypical bloodsucking vampire. No, he’s an energy vampire, and thus he lives on the dullness in life. Yeah, he does need to bore the heck out of people to get his energy, but he really loves it. They say if you love your job you never work a day in your life, and Colin Robinson kind of proves it. What makes this gag noteworthy is that Colin is clearly capable of feeding off of anyone, traditional vampires included. He can’t seem to resist feeding off of his vampiric roommates, and their frustration about it may spur him on.

4) Gregor’s Trials and Tribulations

Gregor was introduced early in the first season of What We Do in the Shadows, and it’s safe to say that things did not go well for this character. Once upon a time, in Gregor’s first life, he had a whirlwind romance with Nadja (Natasia Demetriou). He was a knight who was summarily decapitated in battle, ending their liaison. Since then, Nadja has sought Gregor’s soul out, finding him in every life to continue the romance. Or so she claims. She could be finding guys that bear a passing resemblance to Gregor, implanting Gregor’s memory over them, and creating a happy little lie for herself. Only, things don’t seem to end all that happily for Gregor, as she somehow always ends up dead (looking at you, Laszlo).

The latest victim, uh, version of Gregor goes by the name of Jeff. Nadja’s obsession takes her to his window on many occasions, as her love for him returns. This kicks off a series of antics and mayhem, none of which go particularly well for poor Jeff.

5) The Neighborly Sean

While most of the housemates may be vampires (except for our precious Guillermo), there are plenty of humans filling the scenes. No, it’s not always about food. Enter Sean (Anthony Atamanuik), the neighbor. At first, Sean’s appearances were more about reminding viewers of the extent the cast had to go through to keep their secrets. Over time, it evolved into a bit of a running joke, as Sean’s memory gets wiped again, and again, and again.

The memory wiping had only just begun, as the closer he and Laszlo became, the more often Sean’s memory needed to be cleaned up. In one instance, they helped Sean save his marriage while wiping his memory, so it’s not all bad. Except for the part where they probably can’t risk doing it again.

6) Pronouncian Shenanigans

As vampires, the main cast has been around for a very long time. Colin Robinson doesn’t even understand how he was made or why, but that’s a whole different story. Naturally, this crew has some struggles with adapting to the modern world. In particular, Nandor and Laszlo seem to struggle with pronunciation, to an intentionally comedic level. Laszlo often acts poised and sophisticated, all while butchering common turns of phrase. Meanwhile, Nando has his own struggles, including nearly any word that ends with “tion” and “ing.”

7) Guillermo Has a Way of…Accidentally Killing Vampires

Guillermo de la Cruz (Harvey Guillén) is the darling of the series, and anybody who denies this is looking for a fight. But seriously, Guillermo may be one of the few humans to survive the series from beginning to end, but there’s a reason for it. It all begins when Guillermo seemingly kills one very important vampire, by accident, of course. That could have been the end of this joke, but it kept happening. First, as a mistake here and there, but before long, Guillermo was intentionally taking down vampires. He had a good reason for it, but it’s still one of the best running gags of the series.

It all comes down to the blood, as any good vampire story will tell you. Guillermo is the descendent of the infamous Van Helsing, the vampire killer. So, killing vampires runs in the family. This explains all the accidental murders and the ease of the intentional ones.

[RELATED: 10 Best Shows on Tubi You Can Binge in One Week]

8) Nadja Doll

At one point in What We Do in the Shadows, Nadja and the rest decided to summon their human souls as a means of handling unresolved issues. Laszlo’s was fairly easy (if disturbing) to put to rest, while Nadja’s was much more complicated. Ultimately, the two versions of Nadja decided that her human soul would reside in a little Nadja doll. That ended up lasting most of the series, with the doll becoming involved in many comedic and dramatic ways, including offering an excuse for Nadja to literally argue with herself.

9) Laszlo & Nadja’s Inability to Keep a Familiar Alive

Throughout the first few episodes, it becomes very clear that there’s something special about Guillermo. It isn’t just that the audience loves him – it’s because Guillermo is made of harder stuff. Guillermo is Nandor’s familiar, yet he often gets stuck playing the role of familiar for the rest of the household. Largely because Nadja and Laszlo are incapable of keeping another familiar alive. Their familiars have died to everything from poison, fire (a tragic candle accident), becoming a meal for the Barron, you name it. Their last attempt at a familiar, Topher (Haley Joel Osment), got the most screentime, largely because he lasted the longest (which does not mean he lived to tell the tale).

10) The Cursed Witch Skin Hat

The cursed witch hat is arguably the grossest set piece for What We Do in the Shadows, but it’s also probably one of the funniest. It all began sometime in the distant past when Laszlo was given a cursed hat made from a witch’s skin. He was given the hat as a means of cursing him, but for some reason, Laszlo never saw it that way (the magic of the hat?). As such, Laszlo held on to this accursed (and ugly) item for centuries. Unsurprisingly, this causes a lot of strife, beginning with how much Nadja hates the stupid hat.

Nadja’s hatred of the Cursed Witch Skin Hat is only the beginning, as there’s another vampire obsessed with it, for some insane reason. Simon the Devius (Nick Kroll) likewise desperately wants the hat, and he’s willing to do, well, devious things to get it! It becomes a bit of a recurring gag, with bigger and bigger stakes each time Simon tries.

Every episode of What We Do in the Shadows is streaming on Hulu.