The rimshot has been a staple of live comedy for decades, where a house drummer would punctuate a joke with two snare hits and a cymbal crash. As short video editing and meme culture grew, that same cue moved from the stage to reaction videos, gaming streams and TikTok edits, becoming shorthand for a joke that is knowingly bad. Its brevity makes it easy to reuse, and its instantly understood meaning keeps it popular long after other meme sounds fade.
关于此声音
The classic ba dum tss rimshot drum sound effect played after a joke or punchline, with a snare hit and cymbal crash that lands the pun in comedy clips.
The ba dum tss is a short drum rimshot that instantly tells the listener a joke has just landed, even when the joke itself is deliberately bad. It opens with two quick drum hits, ba dum, followed by a bright cymbal crash, tss, creating a punchy, slightly cheeky rhythm that feels like a live comedy club. At just over a second long, it is sharp, clean and instantly recognisable, cutting through dialogue without overpowering it. The effect is pure comic timing: it turns an awkward pause into a punchline, invites a groan or a laugh, and signals that the joke was intentional rather than accidental.
