Pee Wee Herman is the bow-tied character created and played by Paul Reubens, who became a pop culture figure through the 1985 film Pee-wee's Big Adventure and the television series Pee-wee's Playhouse in the late 1980s. His exaggerated, high-pitched laugh was one of his signature traits, instantly marking his playful and childlike persona. Long after the original shows ended, clips of the laugh circulated on video sites and soundboards as a reaction sound, where creators use it to signal silliness, cheekiness or an awkward joke landing badly. Its recognisability keeps it in regular use.