Stacy Memes: The Origin

My wife makes me laugh.  Not just a chuckle "because you're making an effort to be funny" laugh, but a legitimate, laugh out-loud, bust a gut laugh.  She does this in one of two ways:

1. One-liners
2. Facial Expressions

These giggle catalysts usually come at moments when I least expect it (delivery, aspiring stand-up comedians, it's all in the delivery).  For a while, I've been trying to think of a way to combine my wife's two hilarious talents, and then it hit me - memes.

If you've perused the internet long enough, you're probably familiar with the meme - a picture that by itself conveys a tone, but then it is labeled with some kind of witty text. Many of the meme images on the internet have become such recognized staples, they are recycled over and over again on blogs and social media with different text: Willy Wonka leaning on his arm coupled with a condesending quip, Grumpy Cat and his cynical obsersavtions, or the Dos Equis "Most Interesting Man in the World" with a realistically depressing "but when I do" statement.

All of this has inspired me to start what I hope to be a recurring segment on The Full Court Press - Stacy Memes (her maiden name is Weems, so it practically rhymes!).  This would also be a good time to give a tutorial on how to build a successful meme, which I will outline in the steps below:

The Template

Every successful meme has a base template picture.  As mentioned above, this picture needs to convey a certain tone.  This enables your witty pun to resonate quicker with the reader.  A couple notes to the aspiring photographer: 

1. Know your orientation.  In this case, we're focused on one person, so the portrait orientation would be more appropriate.  There are other memes out there that use the landscape, but those are generally capturing a wider scene
2. Normally you would want a relatively tight frame on a headshot/portrait.  However, remember that with the meme, there will be text, so you want to leave ample headroom for the set-up line and space below for the punchline.

Stacy and I did a photo shoot to capture some of her priceless facial expressions.  Here's what we came up with:

The disapproving look

The surprised look

The sarcastic/condescending look

The Joke

One time I said something to my wife, and she gave me a puzzled look.  I told her "It was only a joke,"  to which she aptly replied, "That's not a joke, jokes make me laugh!"  

The scene I just described would actually be the perfect formula for a meme, but it also serves as an example of what not to do with your meme - misplace the joke.  Remember, the base picture captures a feeling or mood, so the text should match.  A furrowed brow is probably not the best setting for an exclamatory phrase.  

After our little photo shoot, I took the pictures and added captions to Photoshop.  A quick editing tip: for your meme text, use Impact Bold with a black stroke.

Here's what we came up with (remember, these are things she has actually said to me in conversation):

And thus begins Stacy Memes.  I want to thank my wife for being such a good sport about all this.  Not many women (and even some men) would be so willing to have their picture and quotes plastered all over the interwebs to get a cheap laugh.  But then again, I'm a lucky guy.

And speaking of my little wife, she has a blog of her own coming soon... so stay tuned!  And if you're not following us on Twitter, what are you waiting for? @stavidfrisco