Man Laughing in the Dark

About

Man Laughing in the Dark refers to a viral video of a Black man laughing in a pitch-black room, such that only his eyes and teeth appear when he laughs. The video was used as an exploitable meme and sometimes as jumpscare material.

Origin

Prior to April 12th, 2015, an unknown user uploaded to the internet a video of a Black man laughing in a room with the lights out. On April 12th, 2015, YouTube^[1] user VineDirector reposted it and received more than 2 million views in seven years (shown below, left). On November 16th, 2016, YouTube^[2] user K'Joor uploaded a greenscreen version. The video received more than 668,000 views in six years (shown below, right).

Spread

Over the following years, the video became popular as an exploitable meme template. For example, on May 11th, 2019, YouTube^[3] user Cring3y uploaded an edited clip from 2019 film IT Chapter Two that received more than 600,000 views in three years (shown below, left). On January 8th, 2021, YouTube^[4] user Bee Dude uploaded 18 variations of the meme, receiving more than 21 million views in one year (shown below, right).

The video was also used in jumpscare-based prank videos. For example, on December 15th, 2020, YouTube^[5] user hidingyak uploaded a jumpscare prank on Omegle. The video received more than 768,000 views in two years (shown below, left). On December 14th, 2020, YouTube^[6] user Borzah uploaded a similar prank but used his face instead. The video received more than 364,000 views in two years (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References