Boneless Pizza
Also known as: B O N E L E S S · Boneless Pizza Prank Call
Boneless Pizza is an absurdist comedy meme originating from a May 2017 YouTube video by Sethical, in which a masked character attempts to order a "boneless pizza" from a bewildered restaurant employee. The nonsensical premise and quotable dialogue made it a viral hit, spawning prank call videos, animated remixes, and a dedicated subreddit within days of its upload.
Overview
The Boneless Pizza meme centers on a mock phone call where a customer wearing an Aku Aku mask from the Crash Bandicoot franchise demands a "boneless pizza" from a pizza shop employee. The joke hinges on the absurd request itself, since pizza obviously doesn't contain bones, and the escalating frustration between both parties. The customer's insistence that the pizza be made "B O N E L E S S" and "D E A D A S S" became heavily quoted catchphrases3.
The format is a slideshow-style video with exaggerated voice acting, fitting neatly into the mid-2017 wave of absurdist YouTube humor. The Aku Aku mask gives the ordering character a distinct visual identity, making the meme instantly recognizable even as a still image3.
On May 28, 2017, YouTuber Sethical uploaded a video titled with the concept of ordering a boneless pizza. The video features a slideshow of images showing a person wearing an Aku Aku mask (from Crash Bandicoot) calling a pizza restaurant and making the bizarre request for pizza without bones3. The employee responds with confusion, asking how pizza could possibly have bones, to which the customer doubles down with increasing aggression.
The full exchange includes lines like "the fuck did I just say then?" and "y'all got bones in ya shit then?" delivered in a deadpan style that made the dialogue endlessly quotable2. Within three weeks, the original video pulled in over 300,000 views and 700 comments3.
Origin & Background
How It Spread
How to Use This Meme
The Boneless Pizza format works in a few ways:
- Quote the dialogue directly. The most common usage is dropping lines like "lemme get uhhhhhhh... boneless pizza" or "B O N E L E S S" into conversations, comment sections, or image macros. The spaced-out letter formatting is part of the joke. - Prank call format. Some creators recorded real calls to pizza shops requesting boneless pizza, recreating the absurd exchange with unsuspecting employees. - Apply the template to other things. The format extends to any situation where someone requests something nonsensical with total confidence. "Can I get a boneless [thing that obviously doesn't have bones]" follows the same comedic logic. - Image macros. Screenshots or images of the Aku Aku mask character paired with the dialogue work as standalone reaction content, typically captioned with "B O N E L E S S" or "D E A D A S S."
The humor generally lands best when the delivery is deadpan and the requester treats the absurd demand as completely reasonable.
Cultural Impact
Boneless Pizza represented the rise of surreal, absurdist meme humor in the 2010s.
Fun Facts
The Aku Aku mask worn in the video is from Crash Bandicoot, a game franchise that coincidentally had a major revival (Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy) released just one month after the meme went viral in June 2017.
Urban Dictionary hosts a surprisingly detailed alternative definition of "boneless pizza" as a real pizza style (Detroit, Sicilian, Grandma) where toppings go edge-to-edge, eliminating the "bones" of untouched crust.
The /r/BonelessPizza subreddit was created just six days after the original video upload, showing how quickly the meme built a dedicated fanbase.
The phrase "2 litre of coke" from the original exchange became its own minor catchphrase, often paired with boneless pizza references.
Derivatives & Variations
Prank call videos.
AndrewBrosVideos ABV's prank call audio on June 4, 2017 kicked off a wave of real prank calls to pizza shops using the boneless pizza script[3].
Animated remixes.
Magnaviz's animated version on June 5, 2017 gave the format a visual upgrade beyond the original slideshow style[3].
"Can I get a bag of chips with that."
Sethical's own sequel video on June 1, 2017 crossed the boneless pizza premise with other memes of the period[3].
Urban Dictionary entries.
Multiple definitions emerged, including one that reinterpreted "boneless pizza" as a legitimate pizza style where toppings cover the crust entirely, eliminating the "pizza bones" (untouched crust edges)[1].
Frequently Asked Questions
References (4)
- 1Kebabencyclopedia
- 2Boneless Pizza - Urban Dictionarydictionary
- 3Boneless Pizza - Know Your Memeencyclopedia
- 4Urban Dictionary: Boneless pizzadictionary