About

Yeah, This Is Big Brain Time, also known simply as Big Brain Meme, refers to an image of YouTuber Markiplier with his forehead humorously enlarged, captioned "Yeah, it's big brain time." Online, the image has been used in memes, usually in reference to either particularly intelligent or particularly stupid decisions.

Origin

On April 20th, 2019, YouTuber Markiplier uploaded a Baldi's Basics let's play video titled "Baldi's Basics 1 Year Birthday Bash."^[1] In one part of the video, Markiplier manages to hide from Baldi in a classroom and brags about his decision-making, with his head being humorously enlarged via a video effect as if it held a disproportionately big brain.

And he won't know I'm in here! He does not know I'm in here, [the door] did not squee. It did not squee! No squee! So now he doesn't know where I am. I'm not here no more. Yeah, this is big brain time.

Spread

On April 27th, 2019, Redditor Z_2000 posted the earliest known meme based on the joke to /r/memes subreddit, gaining over 10,100 upvotes in three months (shown below).^[2]

The format did not see significant spread until May 31st, 2019, when Redditor ManyFnafb posted a meme based on the template to /r/dankmemes subreddit, where it gained over 12,800 upvotes (shown below, right).^[3] In the following weeks, the format saw a notable spread on Reddit; for example, on June 9th, 2019, Redditor Tommy69K posted a meme which gained over 70,300 upvotes in two months (shown below, right).^[4]

Various Examples

Templates

Search Interest

External References