We all know very well that things in this world tend to backfire. Call it a law of nature, a frequent twist of fate, or destiny. “Look who’s laughing now” is a phenomenon that has happened to virtually every one of us, and no matter what you do, it repeats again and again, and again.
The Reddit community “There Was An Attempt” is dedicated to precisely the comic absurdity of all the attempts in life that went against the plan, or turned in the wrong direction. Created in August 2015, the subreddit now has 1.9m members that are not immune to the funny attempts that “were there.”
“People enjoy the slapstick comedy of it. At the end of the day, everyone is laughing,” the subreddit’s moderator told We in the interview that you can read in full below. And now we leave the stage to the ensued hilarity.
#1 To Make The Special Olympics Look Bad
#2 To Complain About A Child Selling Hot Dogs
#3 To Clean Up After Himself
We spoke to redditor u/F4T4-M0RG4N4, the moderator of the r/ThereWasAnAttempt subreddit, who said that the community has evolved a lot since it was created 5 years ago.
“When I first joined the team, it was mostly a screenshot sub. A few months back, there was some drama about how there were only three mods who ran the subreddit (which at the time had around a million members).” As a result, they invited more people to join the moderator team and removed the screenshot posts.
#4 To Get Drinks
#5 To Make Speaking 2 Languages Sophisticated
#6 To Sound Literate
For those who’re wondering what, precisely, “there was an attempt” refers to, u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 explained that it’s basically about “someone attempting something but ultimately failing.”
Conceptually, it’s similar to “if someone tried jumping off a trampoline into a pool but when they tried to jump, the trampoline tore. In that case, you could say, ‘Well… there was an attempt, at least’ and that’s where our subreddit comes into play.”
The posts are mainly about “some people having a dumb idea, trying out that idea, and failing.” This misery is what makes it so funny.
#7 To Prevent The Homeless From Sleeping Here
#8 To Start Cat Racing
#9 To Prove That Patton Oswalt Is A Failed Comedian
Today, the moderator team only allows video submissions and cross-posts, “which are posts that were in one subreddit but were reposted to another (kind of like retweeting.” This format works better for r/ThereWasAnAttempt, since screenshots can more easily become reposts, for one.
Especially when there’s one similar subreddit that’s specifically for social media clapbacks and comebacks, but its content mainly features screenshots.When it comes to their 1.9 million member count, the moderator said that “I don’t think we have the exact same post frequency as, say, a meme subreddit.”
Partly, it’s because it isn’t easy to repost something from r/ThereWasAnAttempt. “I could probably look at the new section for r/memes and see quite a few frequent reposts.”
#10 …to Photograph Birds
#11 To Be Responsible And Uber Home
#12 To Scare Your Boyfriend
#13 At Going Outside
#14 To Shame Atheists And Take Away Their Holidays
#15 I Mean… You Tried..?
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#16 To Be An Animal Activist
#17 To Arrest A “Drug Dealer
#18 To Make Fun Of A Bird
#19 To Shame Men
#20 To Sound Intellectual
#21 To Take A Cute Picture
#22 To Convince People To Be Pro-Life
#23 To Defend God
#24 …. To Find Buried Treasure
#25 To Be Racist
#26 To Suggest A New Idea
#27 To Glorify The President
#28 To Eat A Mozzarella Stick
#29 To Motivate
#30 To Betray Coca Cola
#31 There Was An Attempt To Run For Mayor
#32 To Replace I’m Sorry With Thank You
#33 To Prove How Unfashionable These Jeans Were
#34 To Be Neighborly
#35 To Provide Front, Side, And Rear Photos For The Car Insurance Rep
#36 To Virtue Signal…
#37 To Get A Cardi B Tattoo
#38 To Be Deep
#39 To Display Plus Size Clothes Without Causing Offence
#40 To Stand Up For The Joker
#41 To Get A Heartwarming Tattoo
#42 To Fuck The Police
#43 To Keep A Streak Going
#44 To Befriend A Porcupine
#45 To Pass Security
#46 To Sound Tougher
#47 To Criticize A Garbage Man
#48 To Be A Professional Company
#49 To Create 3 Mexican Countries
#50 To Hide
#51 To Compliment Her Tattoos
#52 To Explain Who Barack Obama Is
#53 To Blame Homosexuality
#54 To Karma Whore On Reddit
#55 To Make A Pun
#56 To Make An Infographic
#57 To Bash A Girl With Acne
#58 To Take A Panoramic Photo Which Included Their Dog
#59 To Be Pro Lgbt
#60 To Amputate
#61 To Cut In Line
#62 To Be A Good Person
#63 To Ambush British Vessels
#64 To Cook Smiley Buns
#65 To Escape Prison
#66 To Correct Someone
#67 To Identify A Threat
#68 To Draw A Horse
#69 To Champion “Straight Pride”
#70 To Say That Boomer Is A Racial Slur
#71 To Ask Twitter
#72 To Make A Serious Ad Campaign
#73 To Raise Self-Esteem
#74 There Was An Attempt To “Shame” Someone Who Was Suicidal
#75 To Stop Suicide
#76 To Understand A Joke
#77 To Be Patriotic
#78 To Play Hard To Get
#79 To Be Inclusive
#80 To Spread Anarchy
#81 To Be Offended For Another Group Of People
#82 To Be Non-Binary
#83 To Dress Up Like A Matrix Character….
#84 To Have A Smart Shower Thought
#85 To Be Anti-Government
#86 To Honor Rosa Parks
#87 To Run From A Flying Predator
#88 To Avoid Death
#89 By Google To Identify A Cat.
#90 To Be Deep
#91 To Get Into The Library
#92 To Understand A Girl
#93 To Blame Hispanics…
#94 To Criticize The Local News Station
#95 To Help Someone Trapped In An Elevator
#96 To Market Her Oils
#97 To Construct A Tough And Resilient Airplane
#98 To Be Poetic
#99 To Show China In A Positive Way
#100 To Not Be Racist
#101 To Write A Math Question
#102 There Was An Attempt To Catfish
#103 To Figure Out Trump’s Natural Skin Color
#104 To Be Wholesome
#105 Oldschool Cool
#106 To Have A Selfie With Mona Lisa
#107 To Burn Ted Cruz
#108 To Cure Cancer
#109 To Have Fun With A Halloween Decoration
#110 To Take A Nice Selfie
#111 To Take Away Car Privileges…
#112 There Was A Attempt To Steal A Joke
#113 To Blackmail Jaromir Jagr
#114 To Roast Males
#115 To Scare Someone
#116 To Make A Cute Picture Of A Family Wearing Masks
#117 To Save The Teens
#118 To Infect Someone With A Virus
#119 To Understand A Joke
#120 To Ask About Dirty Toilets…
#121 To Be Edgy And Poetic
#122 To Promote Equal Rights
#123 To Recreate The Spider-Man Meme
#124 To Install A Kitty Door
#125 To Have A Black Friday Week “Sale”
#126 To Be Sexist
#127 To Make A Selfish Photoshop Request
#128 To Predict A War With Iran
#129 To Recreate A Wholesome Family Photo
#130 To Help The Blind Read The Sign
#131 To Diss Myspace
#132 To Get An A
#133 To Be Inclusive
#134 To Correct The Student’s Answer
#135 To Protest Homophobia
#136 There Was An Attempt To Protest Racism
#137 To Get Gold
#138 … To Choose A Sexual Orientation
#139 To Have Their Dick Sucked Tomorrow
#140 To Write 7 Rings In Japanese
#141 To Make A Dark Mode Only Meme
#142 To Be Sassy
#143 To Count Words
#144 To Rick Roll On Reddit.
#145 To Make People Stop Making Rape Jokes
#146 To Make His Death Look Like A Suicide
#147 At Least He Tried
#148 To Sneak A Hot-Dog In The Back Pocket
#149 To Sound Poetic
#150 There Was A Attempt To Steal A Joke
