Bojangles

Now I’m sure if you’re hip enough to understand the jokes passed around on The Big Bang Theory, you’re no stranger to Internet memes, either. Yes, all those cats.

I’ve brought up memes before, for general use, but just in the past week a new strain captivated all my attention.

It’s finally happened. The Internet has found “Bazinga.”

But I’ll channel my inner prolonging-Ted Mosby a second: before I can explain “Beezinga” and “Bojangles,” I have to explain the “Parody comic.”

Parody comics are fan-made works, intentionally messy and contrived MS-Paint productions that scrutinize the dialogue between their subjects. In this case, Sheldon, Sheldon and Penny, Raj and Penny, or, to bring this full-circle, Sheldon Cooper’s famous and favorite tag-line, “Bazinga!”

Fans and Stans discovered quickly they could reinvent “Bazinga,” just as the screenwriters coined the term on their own. The best fun comes from finding wacky B-syllables and creating ridiculous combinations for these new demonstrations. They go hand-in-hand with the nature of memes; i.e., furiously lacking in spelling and punctuation, on purpose.
In Comic Sans, no less!

The parodies originally stemmed from common fan criticisms of the show, but the actual comics quickly went viral for their chuckle-worthy pixel-prints and watered-down copies of the original humor. The silly fun gained notable ground on all manner of social media websites, from Facebook to Twitter to Tumblr. “Know Your Meme,” a website dedicated to meme-research, said,

“…Parodies of the term “Bazinga” did not begin appearing on 4chan until December 25th, in a thread on the TV (Television and Film) board. After the first poster asked why people did not enjoy The Big Bang Theory, the first four responses consisted of nonsense words “bazoopie,” “bazonkers,” “cowabazunga” and “bazopple.” “

These threads aren’t exactly naysayer “bazingas,” but they contribute, perhaps, insight into the world of the nerd, “shamed.”

The Best of Bazinga

I’ve been keeping a secret from you all…one I’m shocked I could conceal for so long. The truth is: I’m actually not a huge Big Bang Theory fan. It’s not that funny.

…BazingaokayIactuallylovetheshow.

All opportunities for a terrible joke aside, more gut-splitting Big Bang Theory moments often come from the science-and-comedic relief, Dr. Sheldon Cooper. And then, when they do, they usually feature the tag line “Bazinga!” Some of you casual fans or curious readers might be curious about “Bazinga’s,” and how one uses a “Bazinga.”

The truth is—the actual truth is—we just don’t know. Sheldon uses the phrase to mean “just kidding!” He might say, “I deeply respect archeological research…bazinga,” or, “A Ph.D in Literature does make you a doctor…bazinga!”

The majority of my own attempts slosh compared to what Dr. Cooper cranks out on a regular basis; let’s look at some of the stronger highlights:

“I’ve always wanted to go to a gothic nightclub. Bazinga.”

-- Sheldon while commenting on Howard’s attire and another of his attempts to impress an eclectic girl.

“Your shoes are delightful…where did you get them? Bazinga—I don’t care.”

-- This seems to be another comment to Howard’s intriguing fashion choices. I’m noticing a trend here.

Or, my personal favorite:

“You can try, but you’ll never catch me. Bazinga…bazinga…bazinga!”

-- Breaking this one down, Sheldon, in an overworked craze of research, breaks into a kid’s arcade and commandeers the ball pit. When Leonard descends to “drag him out,” Sheldon says the following, and jumps around the ball pit a la whack-a-mole, crying “bazinga” each time he surfaces. I really can’t make these up on my own.

To create just a little more “dig” to his quips, Sheldon lastly points out the ineptitude of the listener for not catching him in a more obvious joke: “And you don’t ever see my practical jokes coming, do you?”

Well…do you?