In a scheme to get Krusty's autograph, Bart sends him a check. When Krusty's offshore holding corporation endorses the check, his illegal tax shelter is exposed. In despair after the government auctions off his possessions, Krusty fakes his own death.
Bart's tax evasion scheme delivers 58 jokes at 2.83-per-minute pace, anchored by dark subversion.
Directed by Jim Reardon · Written by Bob Kushell, John Swartzwelder
WAR
58.9
Wins Above Replacement
“Bart The Fink” ranks #60 of 226 The Simpsons episodes on the Humor Index, scoring 83.2 — Elite. The episode packs 58 scored jokes at 2.8 per minute, averaging 7.1 on craft and 6.9 on impact, with Krusty landing the most laughs. Every joke is ranked below with its individual craft and impact scores.
Get weekly comedy rankings
Join comedy fans getting new analyses, score drops, and the funniest moments each week. Free, no spam.
Top Jokes
Krusty: Can't even be buried with dignity due to shared grave
Krusty Dark/Subversive Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Homer: Well, son, Krusty's in a better place now. He's up in heaven with all the other great comedians.
Bart: Really, Dad? Who else is up there?
Homer: Oh, you know... Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and... uh... Al Capone and Mussolini.
Homer Dark/Subversive Absurdist Bank Manager: I can't discuss Mr. Simpson's account due to privacy regulations, not that he owes us $50,000, which I definitely shouldn't have mentioned, or that his credit score is in the double digits, forget I said that, or that he tried to open a Swiss account under the name 'Mr. Burns' Illegitimate Son,' please disregard that last part entirely.
Sideshow Mel: Krusty was a man of many vices. Alcohol, gambling, and loose women consumed him. But in death, we can take solace in knowing that his liver finally gets a break.
Bart: Krusty, you gotta come back to showbiz. People miss you!
Krusty: Nah, kid. I'm done. Show business chewed me up and spit me out.
Bart: But Krusty, you're a legend! You could do anything you want.
Krusty: Anything? Kid, I can't even get a job at the car wash. But some guy who can juggle gets his own talk show.
Bart: That's crazy!
Krusty: Welcome to America, boy. Where a washed-up clown means nothing, but a guy who can do backflips is basically royalty.
Bart Observational Irony/Sarcasm All Jokes — 58 analyzed
Show all ↓ Hide ↑ Marge: Wait, you're telling me the house is haunted?
Lawyer: Oh yes, that's standard in the property deed. Most estates have some form of supernatural activity. Nothing to worry about, Mrs. Simpson. It's all perfectly legal.
Marge: But... ghosts?
Lawyer: Ghosts, poltergeists, occasionally a vengeful spirit or two. It's all boilerplate stuff. I'd be more concerned if the house *wasn't* haunted. That would be unusual.
Lawyer: I'm afraid most of the estate goes to Ann Landers.
Lawyer: Oh, I'm sorry. Force of habit. She's been dead for fifteen years.
Lawyer Character Comedy Awkward Silence Homer: 100 tacos?! Why didn't you say so?!
Homer Character Comedy Absurdist Marge: Homer, you can't just spend a hundred dollars on tacos! That's wasteful and irresponsible.
Homer: But Marge, a man's gotta eat!
Lisa: Mom, Dad, PBS needs our pledge to keep educational programming on the air.
Marge: Well, Lisa, I suppose there's no difference between throwing away money on a hundred tacos and throwing it away on public television.
Marge Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Homer: Why does the bank have to be where the taco place was? I don't want your stupid bank! I want tacos!
Bank Teller: Sir, this is a financial institution.
Homer: Yeah, yeah, whatever. Can you at least make it a taco?
Homer Callback Character Comedy Callback Marge: You should trust your money to professionals.
Bank Employee: That's right, ma'am.
Marge: They know what they're doing.
Bank Employee: Absolutely. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go bang on this tire with a stick.
Marge: See? Very professional.
Bank Employee: Wow, saving money is thrilling!
Bart: Yeah, man, I'm on the edge of my seat.
Bart Irony/Sarcasm Character Comedy Lisa: With compound interest, my savings will grow exponentially!
Homer: That's great, sweetie. How much extra will you have?
Lisa: Well, after calculating the interest rate over five years... five cents.
Homer: Five cents? That's it?
Lisa: Actually, when you account for inflation, it's more like a nickel.
Lisa Observational Character Comedy Bart: Whoa! Check out these free check designs! I'm gonna pick the one with the historical disaster so I can flip through it like a flip-book!
Bart Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Bart: Pay to the order of... one penny.
Bart: One penny and zero cents.
Bart Wordplay/Pun Absurdist Lisa: Oh my God, a million dollars!
Lisa: Wait, it's post-dated 8,000 years in the future.
Lisa: Well, I suppose that's still worth something.
Mr. Burns: Why, this check is only for one penny! What kind of father are you, Simpson?
Homer: Well, Mr. Burns, I...
Mr. Burns: One penny! Do you know what I could buy with one penny? Absolutely nothing! Well, perhaps a gumball, if I'm lucky. But the point is, Simpson, this is an insult to my financial acumen!
Bart: Wow, look at this. A check signed by the toughest bully in school.
Bart: His real name is... Butz? Nelson Butz?
Bart Character Comedy Observational ★ Rewatch Bart: Hey Krusty, sign this for me!
Krusty: Sure kid, here ya go.
Bart: Wait a minute... 'Offshore accounts in the Cayman Islands'? 'Shell corporations'? This isn't a signature!
Krusty: Oops, wrong piece of paper!
Bart Setup/Punchline Observational Bank Manager: I can't discuss Mr. Simpson's account due to privacy regulations, not that he owes us $50,000, which I definitely shouldn't have mentioned, or that his credit score is in the double digits, forget I said that, or that he tried to open a Swiss account under the name 'Mr. Burns' Illegitimate Son,' please disregard that last part entirely.
Bank Manager: Well, I suppose I could blame the weather for this security breach, but that would be irresponsible. Unlike my actual job performance.
Kent Brockman: We have breaking news on tax avoision.
Kent Brockman: That's right, avoision. Not evasion, avoision.
Lisa: Bart, you shouldn't beat yourself up about this.
Bart: I'm not worried about that. I'm worried about the physical beating I'll get from the guys at school.
Bart Dark/Subversive Character Comedy Lawyer: Mr. the Clown, due to the lawsuit, we'll need to garnish your wages.
Krusty: Garnish my wages? With what, a little parsley?
Krusty: Alright, we're gonna do the classic pie-in-the-face gag!
Krusty: But due to budget cuts, I don't have any pie.
Krusty: So I'm just gonna stand here and pretend to throw it.
Krusty: And you just gotta use your imagination... or go sit in that corner over there.
Krusty Visual Gag Cringe/Discomfort Homer: I'll have a Burger with... what are these names?
Krusty: We renamed everything! The Whopper is now the 'Whopper Deduction,' the fries are 'Fried Returns,' and the shake is a 'Milkshake-down by the IRS.'
Homer: Why would you do that?
Krusty: I'm being audited, pal! Figured if the government's gonna take my money, at least the customers should understand the pain!
Homer Wordplay/Pun Observational ★ Rewatch Homer Simpson: I'll have a burger, fries, and a shake.
Krusty Burger Employee: That'll be $8.95, plus tax.
Homer Simpson: Tax? On a burger?
Krusty Burger Employee: Sir, you'll need to fill out Form 1040, get it notarized, and file it in triplicate before we can process your order.
Homer Simpson: But I just want to eat!
Krusty Burger Employee: And I just work here. Next!
Marge: Well, Homer, I've lost $47,000 at the slots this month alone.
Marge Character Comedy Reaction Beat ★ Rewatch Krusty: Can't even be buried with dignity due to shared grave
Krusty Dark/Subversive Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Ned Flanders: Well, I was hoping to buy that lot and turn it into a Christian bookstore, but somebody outbid me.
Auctioneer: Sold to the gentleman in the back for $50,000!
Ned Flanders: Diddly-darn it! I guess the Lord works in mysterious ways.
Krusty: Wait, wait, wait! You're auctioning off my entire pornography collection?!
Auctioneer: That's what the paperwork says, sir.
Krusty: But I'm emotionally attached to those magazines! Some of them I've had since I was a teenager!
Krusty Character Comedy Dark/Subversive Auctioneer: Lot 47: Krusty the Clown's bed. Do I hear opening bid of $50?
Moe: I'll take it!
Auctioneer: Sold to the man in the audience!
Moe: Zzzzzzz...
Auctioneer: And now, lot 47: a Learjet, formerly owned by Krusty the Clown. It's the Enola Gay... I mean, the 'A-Nola Gay'!
Krusty: Hey hey!
Krusty: So I'm flying with Dean Martin, see, and we hit some turbulence. Dean's grabbing the armrests, I'm spilling my drink all over him. The stewardess is trying to calm us down, and Dean starts singing 'That's Amore' to calm his nerves. I join in, we're harmonizing, the whole plane's clapping. It was beautiful!
Krusty: Turns out, we'd been doing the whole bit by accident. We didn't even know we were recreating the song. Dean says to me, 'Krusty, that's the most beautiful thing I've ever sung with a clown.' I says, 'Dean, the feeling's mutual.'
Krusty Callback Meta/Self-Referential ★ Rewatch Selma: A foot bath? My suitcase?
Selma: Well, I suppose it does have good leather...
Selma: Ahhhh, that's nice.
Selma Absurdist Character Comedy Bart: You know, when God closes a door, he opens a window.
Krusty: Yeah, and your mother's a real window, if you know what I mean!
Krusty Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Krusty: I used to have a penthouse, a yacht, three ex-wives on the payroll. Now look at me! I'm shopping at a discount grocery store, buying generic cereal, and the cashier just asked me if I had coupons. Coupons! Me! Krusty the Clown! Then she said, 'Sir, you need to step aside, you're blocking the expired dairy section.' Expired dairy! So I said, 'Listen, kid, I've been milking laughs from this city for forty years, so don't you dare talk to me about expired anything!' And she said, 'Whatever, boomer.'
Krusty Escalation Character Comedy Krusty: You know, it's tough being a celebrity. Nobody respects us anymore. We work hard, we entertain people, and what do we get? No respect!
Krusty: I'm telling you, if I was a plumber or an electrician, I'd be living in a mansion with a private jet and a yacht. But me? I'm struggling to make ends meet on a measly few million a year!
Krusty Observational Irony/Sarcasm Krusty: I used to be somebody! I had it all - the fame, the fortune, the respect. Now look at me. You know what really gets me? I got a citation on the bus yesterday for not having exact change. ME! Krusty the Clown! I used to own a network!
Krusty Character Comedy Cringe/Discomfort Skinner: Well, this has been quite the evening. Shall we...
Agnes: SEYMOUR! I need you to come home at once! My stories are on!
Chalmers: Skinner! Why aren't you at home grading papers? There's been a complaint about the cafeteria meatloaf!
Skinner: Mother? Superintendent Chalmers? What are you both doing here?
Agnes: Don't you take that tone with me, young man!
Chalmers: Seymour, this is highly irregular.
Skinner: I wish something would happen right now to get me out of this awkward situation.
Barney: SKINNER!
Skinner Meta/Self-Referential Setup/Punchline ★ Rewatch Chief Wiggum: Alright, break it up, break it up. Nothing to see here, folks. Move along.
Chief Wiggum: Well, what are you waiting for? Get a good look! This is the best thing that's happened all week!
Homer: Well, son, Krusty's in a better place now. He's up in heaven with all the other great comedians.
Bart: Really, Dad? Who else is up there?
Homer: Oh, you know... Lucille Ball, Bob Hope, and... uh... Al Capone and Mussolini.
Homer Dark/Subversive Absurdist Homer: There, there, son. Krusty's in a better place now. He's up in heaven with all the other greats. Lincoln, Kennedy, Babe Ruth...
Bart: Dad, those guys aren't in heaven.
Homer: Oh yeah, that's right. Well, he's down there with Hitler, Stalin, and Bud Fox.
Homer Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Troy McClure: You may remember me from such films as 'Gladiator' and 'Escape from the Planet of the Apes.' But I'm here today as a professional mourner. You see, I've made a speciality out of crying at funerals. I even cried at my own mother's funeral... and I hardly knew her.
Sideshow Mel: Krusty was a man of many vices. Alcohol, gambling, and loose women consumed him. But in death, we can take solace in knowing that his liver finally gets a break.
Troy McClure: You may remember me from such funeral films as 'Permanent Waving: A Life Cut Short' and 'The Mane Event.' I'm here to announce the shivah schedule.
Troy McClure: We'll have the regular family mourning from 2 to 5 PM. But for those of you who prefer a more... adult atmosphere, we're hosting an adults-only mourning session from 8 PM onwards, featuring off-color jokes, crude humor, and stories better left untold.
News Anchor: In a surprising turn of events, a significant minority of voters wanted the death stamp.
Homer: Now son, death is a natural part of life. We all go eventually. But don't worry, it's nothing to be scared of.
Bart: Really, Dad? That actually helps.
Homer: Of course it does. Now, you better get to bed, or I'll kill you.
Bart: Dad!
Homer: What? I'm just saying, get to bed or you're dead meat.
Homer Dark/Subversive Absurdist ★ Rewatch Marge: Bart, you must have imagined it. Krusty died three years ago.
Bart: Mom, I'm telling you, I saw him at the Kwik-E-Mart!
Marge: That was probably just someone who looked like him. The mind plays tricks, especially on children.
Bart: It WAS Krusty! He talked to me!
Marge: Well, perhaps it was a very lifelike cardboard cutout. Or maybe you were having a vivid daydream. Your father does that all the time.
Marge: Sometimes when you lose someone, your mind plays tricks on you. You see them everywhere.
Homer: Like when I thought I saw Elvis at the Kwik-E-Mart?
Marge: Exactly. It's grief, Homer. Your subconscious is trying to process the loss.
Homer: So that's why I've been crying every time I see a photo of Gerald Ford?
Marge Character Comedy Absurdist ★ Rewatch Dr. Hibbert: Now, what you tell me is strictly confidential. I don't discuss my patients with anyone.
Dr. Hibbert: Well, except Jasper, but he's practically family. Say, Jasper, remember that time Old Man Jenkins came in here thinking he had only six months to live?
Jasper: Hehehehe, yeah!
Old Man: Wait, what? Six months?!
Dr. Hibbert: Oh no, no, no—that was years ago. You're fine now!
Old Man: Years?! I'm still here!
Sea Captain: Ahoy! Have ye seen Krusty the Clown? He was supposed to meet me here on the docks.
Homer: Krusty? I think I saw him over there doing some kind of... dance?
Sea Captain: Dance? Shiver me timbers, that scallywag owes me money! I'll have a word with him!
Sea Captain: Hold on... that ain't Krusty. That's just some fella flailin' about like a fish out of water. Worst dancin' I ever seen!
Sea Captain: Ahoy! A twenty dollar bill! That be the going rate for me sea shanty.
Sea Captain: Wait a minute... this be a one dollar bill! Arrr, ye cheap landlubber!
Sea Captain: Now I'll have to sing the extended version!
Sea Captain: Arrr, that scurvy dog Handsome Pete be gettin' paid handsomely to dance! But blow me down, if we don't overpay the bilge rat, he'll have to suffer through more of his own performin'!
Lisa: It's Krusty! I'd recognize that liver spot shaped like New Jersey anywhere.
Lisa Absurdist Visual Gag ★ Rewatch Bart: Why don't we just kill him?
Bart Dark/Subversive Deadpan/Understatement Krusty: Who needs human company? I got my GPS!
Krusty: Turn left ahead. Turn left ahead. Why you breaking my chops?
Krusty Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Krusty: I'm happy with my simple life. No fancy gadgets, no computers, just me and my cigar.
Krusty: Who needs the internet?! Who needs email?! It's all garbage! Garbage!
Krusty: But... nobody calls me anymore.
Krusty Character Comedy Irony/Sarcasm Bart: Krusty, you gotta come back to showbiz. People miss you!
Krusty: Nah, kid. I'm done. Show business chewed me up and spit me out.
Bart: But Krusty, you're a legend! You could do anything you want.
Krusty: Anything? Kid, I can't even get a job at the car wash. But some guy who can juggle gets his own talk show.
Bart: That's crazy!
Krusty: Welcome to America, boy. Where a washed-up clown means nothing, but a guy who can do backflips is basically royalty.
Bart Observational Irony/Sarcasm Krusty: Tax problems? Hey, I've got a solution - I'll fake my death again and collect the insurance money!
Krusty Dark/Subversive Callback ★ Rewatch Callback Unknown: Mysterious shushing sound
Top Episodes — The Simpsons
