What Is 'Mr. Birchum' And Why Are People Shipping Him With 'Karponzi'? The Viral Memes Explained

Conservative media company The Daily Wire has teamed up with comedian Adam Carolla to bring audiences the new anti-woke animated series Mr. Birchum. So far, reviews are not all that great, but that hasn't stopped the show from going viral on social media. Now, artists over on X / Twitter have decided to take the show's title character and ship him with the character Karponzi, Birchum's polar opposite in many regards. Here's why.

What Is 'Mr. Birchum?'

Mr. Birchum is the first animated series from The Daily Wire, a conservative media company helmed by conservative commentator Ben Shapiro. The company recently released their own streaming service, DailyWire+, where they've released a growing selection of shows and specials. One of their most recent shows is Mr. Birchum, an adult animated show from the mind of comedian Adam Carolla.

The show, which is based on a character from Crank Yankers and was purportedly pitched to and rejected by Fox way back in 2011, is about a high school woodshop teacher named Mr. Birchum, his fellow teachers and his family. The show's comedy is largely based around conservative social commentary and is advertised as being offensive and "anti-woke."

Why Are People Shipping Mr. Birchum With Karponzi?

Mr. Birchum's title character, Mr. Birchum, is presented as a masculine, conservative manly-man. Then there's Karponzi, another faculty member at the school who is portrayed as a stereotypical woke liberal and social justice warrior. The characters are meant to be polar opposites.

Despite this, in late May 2024, artists on sites like X and Tumblr decided to take the characters and ship them with spicy fan art. In the last half of May, numerous art pieces depicting the two characters in a romantic relationship have popped up on social media, essentially taking a character who might not exactly respect the LGBTQ+ community (Mr. Birchum) into unexpected territory for the sake of comedy.

For the full history of Mr. Birchum, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.