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The ‘TED Talk Gorilla’ Meme Could Make TED Talks Fun Again

Last Friday, the L.A. Zoo began its Roaring Nights Summer Music Series, promoting the event with a photo of one of their Gorilla residents holding forth like he’s delivering some wise bon mots to an enraptured audience. Within a day, the obvious Harambe joke appeared on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/memeprovider/status/878655867469647872

But then others noticed this appeared to be more like a lecture series, with lexlevi saying “This gorilla looks like he decided to have his undergraduate philosophy lecture outside since it’s a nice day” and Patrick Monahan comparing it to a TED Talk.

https://twitter.com/pattymo/status/878771619077992453

And so, a new meme was born: TED Talk Gorilla, and we have so much to learn from the Professor.

The gorilla sagely agreed with all of us about that other Planet Of The Apes reboot.

https://twitter.com/SonnyBunch/status/878793715250335746

Seriously, what was that about? Mark Wahlberg needs to go back in time and fix this disaster.

Meanwhile, others on Twitter imagined the gorilla as that roommate. You know the one.

https://twitter.com/McKelvie/status/878939993347162112

And speaking of people you don’t want to be stuck in a room with, the gorilla also freelances as a shill for business pitches you don’t want to hear:

Then the Ted Talk Gorilla referenced this recent fantastic mashup:

And the gorilla also waxed real philosophical-like:

https://twitter.com/MichaelJTiberi/status/878811648575684608

All that philosophizing must have taken a toll, because then the gorilla seemed resigned to a bleak existence:

https://twitter.com/RamAlbumClub/status/878909220749496320

And some argued it was never really a TED Talk all along.

(Hat tip to Smosh, Pedestrian TV, Buzzfeed, and LAist)