Are You A Wizard

About

Are You a Wizard? is an image macro series typically featuring wall-eyed subjects staring into the distance while wearing a confused-looking expression. It is sometimes used as a reaction image to an extraordinary or absurd remark on image boards or web forums and can be used sarcastically to point out an obvious statement in similar vein to Captain Obvious.

Origin

One of the earliest mentions of the phrase “Are you a wizard?” online comes from the webcomic “Left Handed Toons”[7] in a comic titled “Wizard Time” (shown below, left) posted on June 19th, 2009. In early 2010, a MemeGenerator page was created for “Are You a Wizard,” featuring a photograph of a mustachioed man wearing glasses with the caption “Are you a wizard?” (shown below, right). The original Meme Generator page has since been removed.

Spread

The original Meme Generator image macro was reposted to the blog DangerousMinds[8] on March 23rd, 2010. On March 30th, Body Building Forums[10] member craigcmead replied with the image macro in response to a post outlining the chemical structure of Pyrucate decarboxylase. On April 1st, the earliest archived 4chan[9] thread featuring the image was posted to the /b/ (random) board in response to instructions on how to access hidden music on the Windows operating system. On May 16th, a new Meme Generator[11] page was created, which featured a photograph of a young boy wearing glasses accompanied by the caption “Are you a wizard?” (shown below).

On May 20th, the Internet humor site The Chive[1] highlighted the original Meme Generator image macro in a post titled “Captions, making ordinary photos LOL.” On May 22nd, an image macro based on a photograph of Insane Clown Posse member Violent J with the caption “Are you a magnet?” (shown below) was featured on MyConfinedSpace,[2] which referenced the hip hop duo’s 2009 single “Miracles”.

The meme has since spread to other image-sharing communities, such as the Internet humor site FunnyJunk[6] and the microblogging site Tumblr under the tag “#are you a wizard.”[13] As of September 10th, 2012, the “Are you a Wizard?” Facebook[12] page has accumulated over 1,750 likes.

Notable Examples

Many other photographs featuring wall-eyed or disturbed-looking subjects have been captioned with the phrase.


Search Interest

Search query volume for “are you a wizard” began rising in February of 2010.

External References

[1] The Chive Making Ordinary Photos LOL (May 2010)

[2] My Confined Space – are you magic (May 2010)

[3] Angry White Dude – are you a wizard (May 2010)

[4] Sharenator – are you a wizard (June 2010)

[5] Flickr – are you a wizard (August 2010)

[6] FunnyJunk – are you a wizard

[7] Left Handed Toons – Wizard Time

[8] Dangerous Minds – Are You a Wizard

[9] Chanarchive – Hidden windows music

[10] Body Building Forums – Another high res ass photo

[11] Meme Generator – Are You a Wizard

[12] Facebook – Are you a wizard?

[13] Tumblr – #are you a wizard

Originally written and published by at Know Your Meme Entries – Confirmed. Click here to read the original story.
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