Get a Load of This Guy Meme
The Get a Load of This Guy meme points at somebody and invites the room to laugh. One caption sets up a person or an opinion, the second lands the mocking aside — smug, secondhand embarrassment aimed outward rather than in.
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Where the Get a Load of This Guy meme comes from
The phrase is older than the image. Know Your Meme dates the first documented online definition to an Urban Dictionary entry submitted on May 3, 2007, glossing it as a way to describe somebody who thinks he has money and is therefore exceptionally witty, jaunty or extravagant. That is the whole joke in one line: the target is not stupid, the target is pleased with himself.
The picture that made it a template comes from Wayne’s World, the Penelope Spheeris film released by Paramount on February 14, 1992, with Mike Myers as Wayne Campbell and Dana Carvey as Garth Algar. In the public-access broadcast running gag, the show cuts to novelty camera angles with captions burned across the bottom of the screen, and one of them reads Get-A-Load-Of-This-Guy Cam while Wayne gestures at Garth. It is a joke about a cheap cable show inventing a camera whose only purpose is to make fun of a friend, which turns out to be an extremely good description of the internet.
As a reaction image the screenshot took off around 2010. The earliest archived instance Know Your Meme records is a 4chan post from August 17, 2010. From there the caption detached from the frame and started riding other faces:
- January 12, 2011 — a Patrick Bateman version from American Psycho posted to 4chan.
- March 31, 2011 — a Ross Geller version, using a promotional photograph of David Schwimmer from Friends, posted to 4chan.
That last one matters, because the Ross Geller photo is the image most meme generators now ship under the name. If you searched for this template and got a low-resolution nineties publicity shot of a man in a blue V-neck sweater doing a thumbs-up, that is why: the carrier image changed, the caption did not. Sources do not agree on a single canonical frame, and honestly there is not one. The phrase is the format; the face is interchangeable.
Know Your Meme also notes a significant resurgence from mid-2025 on TikTok, where picture and sticker comments let people drop a celebrity or cartoon face plus the catchphrase directly under someone else’s video. That revival is why the format does not currently read as a fossil the way most 2011 image macros do.
What it means and when to use it
The meme is a nudge to a third party. You are not arguing with the person in the caption — you are turning to the audience and raising an eyebrow at them. That gives it a very specific tone: amused contempt, delivered sideways, usually aimed at somebody who is being slightly too proud of something small. Buying the expensive olive oil. Owning a label maker. Having read the whole email.
It works best when the target is doing something mildly, harmlessly superior, and it collapses the moment the target has actually done something wrong. Real wrongdoing needs a different meme. This one runs on pettiness.
| Works | Falls flat |
|---|---|
| Mocking small self-satisfaction — someone bragging about their water intake | Mocking genuine harm; the format is too light to carry it |
| Self-deprecation, where you are the guy being loaded up | Punching at a named private individual who cannot answer back |
| Reacting to a screenshot of an opinion nobody asked for | Reacting to a sincere question; it reads as bullying |
| Affectionate ribbing between friends, which is the original Wayne and Garth dynamic | Sincere praise — the frame is incapable of meaning it |
| A setup specific enough to picture in one second | Vague setups like when someone is annoying |
One structural note: the second box almost never needs to contain the phrase itself. The template already says it. The funniest versions use box two for a fresh insult that implies the phrase — the comptroller has arrived, sommelier of beans over here — and let the image do the pointing.
Captions that work
Two boxes. Box one is the crime, box two is the aside to the audience. Keep box one concrete and box two short.
- officeHe brought his own keyboard to the office Get a load of this guy
- foodOrdered a medium at a place with a size chart on the wall Sir, this is a competition
- filmSays he does not need subtitles on The comprehension king has spoken
- techActually read the terms of service before agreeing Legal department in the building
- drivingUses the turn signal in an empty parking lot Officer, this one follows the rules
- friendsPulled out a calculator to split the bar tab The comptroller has arrived
- relatableGoing to bed early on a Friday Everybody clap for the responsible one
- moneyRented the movie instead of finding it somewhere free Get a load of this guy paying for things
- coffeeAsked the barista about the tasting notes Sommelier of beans over here
- moneyKeeps every receipt in a labelled envelope Get a load of the paper trail
- relatableAnswers the phone when it rings He takes calls. In this economy.
- relatableBrought a reusable bag without being reminded Captain Planet showed up to Aldi
Variants and close relatives
| Variant | Source | How it differs |
|---|---|---|
| Wayne’s World frame | Wayne’s World, 1992 | The original. Reads as affectionate ribbing between friends. |
| Ross Geller version | Promotional photo of David Schwimmer, Friends; posted as a variant March 31, 2011 | The most widely generated version today. The nineties studio-photo look adds its own irony. |
| Patrick Bateman version | American Psycho; posted as a variant January 12, 2011 | Colder. Used when the mockery is meant to feel menacing rather than warm. |
| Sticker-comment versions | TikTok, mid-2025 onward | Dropped as an image comment under someone else’s video, so the target is a real post, not a caption. |
| Pointing Leonardo DiCaprio | Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, 2019 | Recognition rather than mockery — points at a thing, not a person. |
Common mistakes
Repeating the phrase in both boxes. If box one already says get a load of this guy, box two has nothing left to do. Put the situation on top and the sneer underneath.
Making the target sympathetic. If the setup describes somebody who is tired, broke or grieving, the format turns on you and you become the guy. The target has to be enjoying himself.
Using it to end an argument. It is a spectator meme, not a rebuttal. Posted at someone mid-disagreement it reads as a concession with extra steps, because it appeals to a crowd instead of answering the point.
Choosing a face that does not match the tone. The Bateman version and the Ross version are not the same joke. One is warm, one is not. Pick deliberately.
Long box-two text. The aside is supposed to be muttered. Anything over about eight words stops sounding like a mutter.
Limits and etiquette
Be honest about the age gradient. The source film is from 1992 and the reaction image is from 2010, so on paper this is an old format. The mid-2025 sticker-comment revival has given it a second life, but the specific still you pick signals which era you are speaking from, and a heavily compressed 2011 image macro will read as deliberately retro whether or not you meant it that way.
Aim it upward or inward. Pointed at a public figure being pompous, or at yourself, it is fine. Pointed at a named private person, or dropped repeatedly in someone else’s replies, it stops being a joke and becomes pile-on fuel — which is exactly how the TikTok comment version can go wrong, because there the target is a real account watching in real time.
The film frame and the publicity photograph are third-party material we did not create and do not claim. They are hosted here so people can caption them, and anything you make with them is yours. If you hold rights in the underlying image and want it removed, the takedown policy is at /dmca/.
Frequently asked questions
What movie is the Get a Load of This Guy meme from?
Know Your Meme traces the original still to Wayne’s World, the Paramount comedy released on February 14, 1992, where an on-screen label reading Get-A-Load-Of-This-Guy Cam appears while Wayne gestures at Garth.
Why do most versions show a guy from Friends instead?
A Ross Geller variant using a promotional photo of David Schwimmer was posted to 4chan on March 31, 2011, and that image became the one most meme generators ship under this name. The caption travels; the face does not have to.
How many text boxes does this template use?
Two. Box one describes what the person did, and box two is the mocking aside delivered to the audience.
When did it first appear online?
The phrase was defined on Urban Dictionary on May 3, 2007, and the earliest archived use of the screenshot as a reaction image that Know Your Meme records is a 4chan post from August 17, 2010.
Is the meme dead in 2026?
No. Know Your Meme documents a resurgence beginning in mid-2025 on TikTok, where the format spread through picture and sticker comments left under videos posted by other users.
What is the difference between this and the American Psycho version?
Tone. The Wayne version reads as friendly ribbing, while the Patrick Bateman variant posted in January 2011 reads as cold and slightly threatening, so it suits harsher jokes.
Can I use it on myself?
Yes, and self-directed versions are often the strongest. Describing your own small act of smugness in box one and sneering at yourself in box two avoids the pile-on problem entirely.
Is it free to make one here?
Yes. The editor on this page is free, needs no account, and adds no watermark, and the meme you export belongs to you.