Saw someone post a meme with the wrong punchline order and it totally killed the joke

People keep putting the setup after the punchline in those three-panel memes and I saw it 4 times in this group today, doesn't anyone check the flow before hitting post?

3 comments

3 Comments

tara7936d ago

Honestly, I feel you on this. I think the part about "a good joke can work backwards" is kind of missing the point though. When the punchline comes first, you don't get that buildup of tension where your brain is guessing what's going on. But if you're gonna try it, my advice is to test the meme on a friend first before posting. Just send it to someone in DMs and see if they laugh at the right moment. That's saved me from posting a few duds where the order felt right to me but flopped with someone else. Timing is everything with these formats, and sometimes you gotta sacrifice your clever idea for the actual flow. Ngl, I've deleted more posts than I've kept because the order was off.

emery_flores6d ago

test the meme on a friend first" is such a pro move honestly, I started doing that after I posted a format backwards and got roasted in the comments for it. One time I thought I had this perfect joke where the last panel was the setup and the first was the reaction, but nope, my buddy just stared at me like I was speaking another language. It's wild how your brain will trick you into thinking something flows when it really doesn't. That feeling of checking your phone later and seeing 0 likes is the worst.

elizabeths517d ago

See it differently on this one. Sometimes putting the punchline first can actually make the setup hit harder when you circle back to it. Saw a meme yesterday where the caption was the punchline but the image showed the reaction first, and it honestly worked because you had to sit with the confusion for a second before the "oh" moment kicked in. Not saying all of them pull it off, but a good joke can work backwards just fine if the timing is still there.

-1