There is no genre of video purer and more universally beloved than the game show fuckup. They have all the elements of something truly thrilling: pure earnestness, high stakes, and a single fractional moment of brain-clouding stupidity. Few of them aspire to the absolute earth-shattering highs of this one though, from the show $100,000 Pyramid.
Without spoiling anything, just watch this shit and try not to die of secondhand embarrassment:
choking on my own tongue. pic.twitter.com/9VtRysTXEL
— bobby (@bobby) August 13, 2018
Now, to clarify the rules of this game. If you’ve never watched Pyramid, the goal is actually to convey the category to the person sitting opposite you – who, in this case, is actor Tim Meadows – without actually saying the category itself. That is why he didn’t just say Barack Obama as it seems like he should. Obviously, that doesn’t quite explain his logic in calmly, stoically saying “BIN LADEN!”
Luckily, the contestant Evan Kaufman has taken to Twitter without a roundabout explanation of what exactly was going through his mind when he did this. Apologies for the long tweet thread, but enjoy this:
So. This is me below. Racist $100,000 Pyramid Guy. Let me tell you the story about perhaps the most embarrassing moment of my life. #KillMe (Thread 1/13) https://t.co/CcyxnxXsC9
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
I was on $100,000 Pyramid. I’m playing with Tim Meadows, one of my heroes from SNL. My son had been born two weeks prior. I am very tired but excited to win money for my family. We play up the whole tired Dad thing. (2/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
The producers of the show tell us beforehand, if we get to the final round, to study the questions VERY hard. “People misread them!” They say. They have no idea. (3/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
I lose my first round. I think, oh well… no Pyramid for me. Then Meadows and I go on a run in the second round. We’re having fun, he’s cracking jokes! This is great. (4/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
I make it to the final round. I remember what the producers said. I try and focus. READ THE QUESTIONS CAREFULLY. (5/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
The first square flips. I breathe. I read “People Whose Last Name is Obama.” I freeze. There’s only one. BARACK OBAMA. The man I would have voted for three times*! (*H/T Jordan Peele) (6/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
“Who else is a famous Obama?” My brain is racing. I need to list multiple people. I can’t just say Barack. What I should have said was, “Michelle, Sasha, Malia, Bo! The PORTUGUESE WATER DOG BO!” (7/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
Here’s what my brain decided. Who is associated with Obama? Who did he kill? What sounds like Obama! (8/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
And so you have this perfectly viral clip. A clip that is insanely funny. It would be so funny if it wasn’t me. The editing is impeccable. The little breath I take? I’m working so hard to get it right. (9/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
But this just goes to show you that even a liberal Globalist Cuck like yours truly has some inherent racism lurking in my brain. What a disaster. (10/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
What you don’t see in this clip is me, shocked, correcting myself and saying Barack. Tim gets the answer. We get stumped on Margarita a few questions later. Turns out Margarita is Tim Meadow’s Grandmother’s name. (11/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
Tim feels bad he lost the money for me, because he’s sweet. Kathy Najimy can’t look me in the eye. I leave knowing that my day of reckoning is coming. Maybe they can cut it out? They can’t… it’s timed. (12/13)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
I leave with $8500… and the story of the worst pyramid guess of all-time. (13/13 Fin)
— Evan Kaufman (@EvanKaufman) August 14, 2018
So he fucked up, but ended up getting $8500 anyway. Good innings, at the low price of being a terrible meme for a couple of days.
