The “let me tell you something” meme is from a TikTok video of a scared bungee jumper about to be pushed off by his attendants. The man’s repeated shouts of “let me tell you something” to delay the terrifying stunt made for a viral soundbite that was relatable enough to become a meme.
@shotovercanyonswing LET ME TELL SOMETHING 🤣 #viraltiktok #canyonswing #funnyvideos #funnytiktok #chair #funnymoments ♬ original sound – Shotover Canyon Swing 🇳🇿
Who among us hasn’t used a stall tactic similar to this to give us a few more seconds before something horrible happens, even if it’s not as frightening as plummeting from a bridge?
What is the ‘let me tell you something’ meme?
The video of the Indian man yelling “let me tell you something” turned out to be ideal fodder for an exploitable meme that allowed people to joke about relatable moments or scenes from works of fiction.
TikTok users began a trend of taking the audio from the original video and acting out skits in which they’re caught robbing a house or trying to escape from an angry partner. For example, singer Ed Sheeran got two security guards at a concert venue to act out dragging him from the area with the caption “when you forget your backstage pass.”
@edsheeran This was funny to make
♬ original sound – Shotover Canyon Swing 🇳🇿
The original sound has so far shown up in over 85,000 TikTok entries since 2022.
‘Let me tell you something’ meme origins
The extreme touring company Shotover Canyon Swing posted the original video to their TikTok account on June 28, 2022. This particular bungee jump, described as “the world’s biggest cliff jump,” requires jumpers to sit in a stack of three plastic chairs that attendants tip over backward to make the customer fall while attached securely to a bungee cord.
The point of making people sit in the chair instead of jumping themselves is both for safety and to help jumpers overcome their survival instinct, which motivates them to stall rather than plummet off a cliff. Shotover Canyon Swing describes their “jump masters” as “slightly unhinged” but “never less than 100% professional in their dedication to Canyon Swing safety and your personal journey.”
In the video, the attendants do wait and allow the man to say what he wants to say, asking them to double-check the safety mechanisms. Then they push him.
Is he okay?
On July 26, 2022, the company posted an extended version of the video to show the full context of what happened. It’s clear that the jumper, named Sina, had already asked the jump masters to double-check everything to ensure it was safe, and they did, even as one of them joked that they weren’t going to.
The attendants used questions and jokes to help distract the customer and keep him as calm as possible before the jump. After he falls and stops screaming, the attendants pull him safely back up to the platform, where he’s all smiles once again. He then confirms that the experience “was good.”
‘Let me tell you something’ meme examples
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