Pokimane Just Fell For The Oldest Meme In The Book
The internet is never gonna give Rick Astley's most famous song up. Rickrolling is an old meme that still elicits a chuckle from some online denizens, and recently streamer Pokimane showed the world that she still thinks Rickrolling is hilarious.
In a recent stream, Pokimane watched a TikTok that initially seemed like a self defense instructional video. "This move is only for life or death situations," the bearded man in the video said. He stated that the move was created by Yeltsa Kcir in 1987, but that it was immediately banned. For those paying attention, "Yeltsa Kcir" is "Rick Astley" backwards.
Still, Pokimane didn't catch on. She watched the video intently and began mimicking the moves as the TikToker balled his hands into fists and began dancing. Soon, the video cut to part of the "Never Gonna Give You Up" music video, and Pokimane realized she'd been Rickrolled. Pokimane covered her face in shock. "I just got Rickrolled through a TikTok in 2021!" she laughed.
The prank was so funny to Pokimane that she immediately decided to send it to her friend Jodi, who streams as QuarterJade. Jodi felt less enthused than Pokimane, and watched the video silently as Pokimane giggled to herself.
"Dude, I just fell for it!" Pokimane said. "I started doing it and I looked exactly like him. It was so embarrassing!" Jodi seemed willing to go along with the joke, dancing on her stream and enjoying herself, but not finding it nearly as funny as Pokimane.
In an attempt to get even more people in on the joke, Pokimane tweeted a clip of the TikTok with the caption, "everyone NEEDS to learn this self-defense trick, it blew my mind." One fan said that they also fell for the joke, since the video does use some real martial arts advice to lure viewers into a false sense of security before the music begins.
Video game culture has a fascination with Rickrolling. In 2019, the team behind "World War Z" included a QR code in the game that took players to Rick Astley's most famous song online. Despite the meme being over 10 years old, there's still something funny about Rick Astley's dorky dance moves and being trolled by a famous gaming developer.
It's nice to see Pokimane enjoy a lighthearted moment on stream, especially considering some of the toxic messages she regularly deals with from fans. Maybe she can help Rickroll others in the future and bring a little more joy to the world.