The rimshot has its roots in vaudeville and burlesque theatres, where house drummers marked comics' punchlines so audiences knew when to laugh. It carried into radio, television variety shows and stand-up clubs through the twentieth century, becoming shorthand for a joke, good or bad. As meme soundboards and short video edits spread online, the sting escaped the stage and became a reaction sound anyone could add in post, which is why it now appears in gaming clips, chat videos and parodies far from live comedy.
About this sound
The classic badum tss drum rimshot sound effect from stand-up comedy, used to punctuate a punchline, bad joke, pun or awkward one-liner in videos.
Badum tss is the short drum sting played right after a joke lands, or fails to land. It is built from two quick hits, ba-dum, followed by a bright cymbal crash, the tss, in about two seconds. The rhythm mimics a drummer underlining a punchline in a comedy club. In edits it works as audible punctuation, telling viewers the last line was meant as a joke. Used well it adds a knowing wink, but used after a weak pun it becomes part of the humour itself, leaning into how corny the line was.
