I Do Not Control the Speed at Which Lobsters Die

Confirmed 110,620

Part of a series on Drake and Josh. [View Related Entries]

About

I Do Not Control the Speed at Which Lobsters Die is a quote by the character Josh from Drake and Josh. Beginning in 2017, a screenshot from Josh saying the line began circulating as an Anti-meme, often paired with a caption to the effect of "When you do not control the speed at which lobsters die."

Origin

The quote comes from season 3, episode 5 of Drake and Josh, "The Affair."^[1] Josh says the line after Drake and Megan ask when "the lobster will be ready." The episode aired May 21st, 2005.

Spread

On April 22nd, 2017, an anti-meme made from the clip was uploaded to /r/me_irl,^[2] where it gained over 8,100 points (shown below).

Over the following year, the joke appeared several times on /r/JonTron.^[3]^[4]^[5] Photoshops of the scene also began appearing on various subreddits. For example, on December 21st, 2017, user prettybadmccree posted a photoshop to /r/dankmemes that gained over 2,800 points (shown below, left). The following day, another photoshop posted by sloggerface appeared on /r/bonehurtingjuice (shown below, right).

On September 16th, 2018, a slight variation on the original anti-meme was posted to /r/me_irl by user Scotty627881, where it gained over 35,000 points (shown below). This led to another surge in the meme, with reposts appearing on /r/antimeme^[6] and /r/notinteresting.^[7] Inquiries about the meme also appeared on /r/OutOfTheLoop.^[8]^[9]