Who Is 'Tonight's Big Loser'? The Memes Behind Sal Vulcano's Wide Face, Explained

He may be tonight's big loser, but he has certainly won a place in the hearts of meme enjoyers everywhere. Sal Vulcano, a star of Impractical Jokers, became a part of the pantheon of great Reddit memes when a distorted photo of him staring languidly at the camera, paired with a quote from the show, became a favorite post for users of the social media platform.

Sal became a symbol of losers and losing everywhere, but also of the empathy we feel towards them. Because, at one point or another, we've all been tonight's big loser. And yet, there's always tomorrow to try again.

Where Does 'Tonight's Big Loser' Come From?

The meme is adapted from a segment on the show Impractical Jokers, where the program's four hosts compete in different challenges and whichever one of them loses is forced to do whatever the other tell him to, often something embarrassing or uncomfortable. Sal Vulcano, one of the cast members, sometimes lost these challenges and would be dubbed "tonight's biggest loser." The meme is a still of him from the show, paired with the text.

Although Sal's image and references to the show circulated widely throughout the 2010s, the meme really picked up steam in 2018 on Reddit, as users posted meme instances about doing ridiculous or ethically dubious acts.

What Does 'Tonight's Big Loser' Mean?

The meme is used in a manner similar to an Advice Animal. It is posted when users want to narrate or illustrate a defeat, and attach a face to the idea. Often, it will describe the situation of a loss in a brief narrative text a few phrases long and then show the face of Sal.

How Is The 'Tonight's Big Loser' Meme Used?

The meme has popped up in several contexts. One popular variation of this meme mocks Sal as someone who didn't have the editing software necessary to make more advanced or higher-quality posts. This version of the meme was usually deployed to mock somebody online.

Other times, the meme veered into more absurdist territory, citing some horrible thing Sal had done or failed to prevent from happening, and calling him the "big loser" due to that.

The meme, like many Reddit memes, also turned into a creative and surrealistic exercise, with users challenging themselves to spell out the caption in unique ways or place Sal's face into unusual situations.

For the full history of "tonight's big loser," be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.