The Meme Theme Party!

Over the last month and a half Stefan and I have had numerous reasons to celebrate accumulate: We have an awesome new home, I had my 100th article published in the Oklahoma Gazette, I had a birthday, and the inaugural run of OKC Improv was a huge success!

So, on Saturday, March 13 starting at 7pm we'll be playing host to our first theme party in 3 years! That's right friends, from the people that gave you:

~ The End of The Planet Parties ~
~ The Pirates Vs. Ninjas Party ~
~ The Dionysian Bacchanalia ~
~ The Viking Raiding Party ~
~ The Pimps & Ho's Party ~
~ The Biblical Party of Religious Proportions ~
~ The Porn Cliche & Revenge of the Porn Cliche Parties ~
~ The Bedding a Legend Party (aka The Bed-Warming Party) ~
~ The Valentine's Day Saint Massacre ~
~ The Lost and Found Party ~


It's not a trap! It's...





~THE MEME THEME PARTY~

What the hell's a meme you may ask? From Wikipedia:

At its most basic, an Internet meme is simply is an inside joke, that a large number of Internet users are in on. An Internet meme may stay the same or may evolve over time, by chance or through commentary, imitations, and parody versions, or even by collecting news accounts about itself. Internet memes have a tendency to evolve and spread extremely quickly, sometimes going in and out of popularity in just days. They are spread organically, voluntarily, and peer to peer, rather than by compulsion, predetermined path, or completely automated means.

For the uninitiated here's a brief history of internet memes courtesy of Super News:

So for this party we want people to come in a costume, as a character, or with some kind of shtick, but it has to somehow relate back to memes, preferably those originating on the intarwebs. It's important to note that if you want to get creative and come up with a concept for memes of the past or the future, by all means, go for it! Furthermore, you don't have to participate in the theme to attend the party, but it'll be more fun for everyone if you do!

Here are some examples of internet memes:

All Your Base Are Belong to Us
Bill O'Reilly Flips Out
David After The Dentist
Dick in a Box
Downfall / Hitler Parodies
Dramatic Chipmunk / Dramatic Prairie Dog
Furries
LOLcats
Mentos and Diet Coke
Misheard Lyrics: Wishmaster
Peanut Butter Jelly Time
Rickroll - My personal favorite example of which is this.
Series of Tubes
This Is Sparta (300)

The best meme resource is The Rocketboom Center for Internet Study's Know Your Meme website. They have an extensive index of memes and video episodes where they explore certain memes and their origins and impact in more detail.

For a nice overview of viral video memes I present the music video for the song Pork & Beans by Weezer.

To learn more about the individual memes in the video go here.

Here's a handy interactive timeline from Dipity. Zoom in or choose list view to see more.

Internet Memes on Dipity.

When choosing a meme, get creative. Don't be afraid to mix and match memes as demonstrated in this Three Keyboard Cat Moon T-Shirt modeled by Stefan.

This is a juxtaposition of two separate popular memes: Keyboard Cat and the Three Wolf Moon T-Shirt.

I'd also encourage you to look into the wonderful world of Photoshop memes (aka cliches) on sites like Something Awful, Fark, or Worth 1000. Of course you can always go straight to the source, 4chan, the seedy underbelly of the internet where most memes are born - but I don't recommend it.

So, we wish you all good luck in your quest to find your meme and look forward to seeing you next weekend. Until then, play me off, Keyboard Cat!