Meme Overview

This meme stems from a 2019 cartoon by Dave Whamond, depicting a visitor at a history museum who remarks that comedy died out in 2021.

Background

The cartoon titled 'This Is Something That Died Out Around 2021' features a man visiting a history museum with his children. He observes a display labeled 'Comedy' and comments that comedy ceased to exist in 2021 due to increased sensitivity and offense taken by audiences. The meme gained traction in December 2020 as users began creating edits using this cartoon.

How It Began

On June 10, 2019, cartoonist Dave Whamond shared the original cartoon depicting a father and his kids in a history museum. The dad's comment about comedy's demise in 2021 due to over-sensitivity did not gain immediate traction until December 22, 2020, when Reddit user crayon-connoisseur02 reposted the image to /r/terriblefacebookmemes, garnering over 10,200 upvotes within two weeks. Shortly after, Twitter user @urinalshitter shared it, achieving over 16,700 retweets and 145,000 likes. The first viral edit was posted on December 23, 2020, by Redditor /r/masonhil on the /r/ComedyNecrophilia subreddit, earning nearly 18,000 upvotes.

Internet Reaction

Following the initial surge in popularity, several edits of the cartoon began circulating on Twitter and /r/ComedyNecrophilia. For instance, on December 24, 2020, Twitter user @InvoxiPlayGames shared an edit that received over 470 retweets and 1,700 likes. On December 28, Redditor dankxenon posted another edit that gained over 8,500 upvotes in just a week. Throughout late December 2020 and early January 2021, the meme continued to evolve and spread across various online platforms.