# Dramatic Reading Dramatic Reading is the comedy of performing badly written text or boring material aloud in a mock-Shakespearean voice. The format exploded on YTMND in 2006 when user boomaga uploaded a theatrical performance of Eric Bauman's cease-and-desist letters to the site. By late 2006, YTMND filled with fan-made dramatic readings of Star Wars screenplays and MySpace breakup letters. ## Origin Dramatic readings predate the web by decades. Peter Sellers recorded a Laurence Olivier-style version of The Beatles' 'A Hard Day's Night' in 1965[3], and sci-fi conventions had been passing around Jim Theis's 1970 novella The Eye of Argon as a party game, challenging readers to finish without laughing. Online, user boomaga adapted the tradition in 2006 with 'The Bauman E-mails: A Dramatic Reading,' a recording of Eric Bauman of Ebaumsworld.com sending cease-and-desist letters to YTMND users[1]. The childish insults paired with boomaga's theatrical delivery held YTMND's top spot for several weeks. - **Platform:** YTMND - **Creator:** Unknown - **Date:** 2006 ## Overview Readers rely on contrast: amateur fan fiction or misspelled rants delivered with the gravitas of a Shakespearean monologue[1]. Performers typically preserve every error in the source, sounding out 'u' as literal 'you' and reading run-on sentences without breaks to maximize the absurdity. Audio posts on YTMND paired the recordings with static images or slow-panning shots of the text being read, letting viewers follow along as the narrator delivered each typo with solemn authority. The genre split between two main sources: real documents written by non-writers (angry emails, cease-and-desist letters, personal ads) and badly written fiction, especially fan work for Halo, Star Wars, and anime properties[2]. Delivery usually imitates classical stage acting or BBC news anchors, which clashes with content about MySpace breakups or Jedi Knights to produce the joke. ## How to Use Pick a text with maximum earnestness-to-quality mismatch, like fan fiction, an angry email, or a personal ad, then read it aloud slowly in a deeply serious theater voice. Common practice includes keeping every spelling and grammar mistake verbatim, often pronouncing acronyms letter by letter and sounding out shorthand like 'u' or 'ur' as full words. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### What is Dramatic Reading? Dramatic Reading is the comedic practice of reading badly written or boring text aloud in an exaggeratedly theatrical voice, popularized on YTMND in 2006[3]. ### Where did Dramatic Reading come from? The online dramatic reading fad kicked off with boomaga's 2006 YTMND post 'The Bauman E-mails: A Dramatic Reading,' a theatrical performance of Eric Bauman's cease-and-desist letters to YTMND users[1]. ### What does Dramatic Reading mean? It describes a performance style where a reader delivers bad writing with serious theatrical gravitas, pronouncing every typo, acronym, and shorthand abbreviation as if it were weighty prose[1]. ### How do you use Dramatic Reading? Pick text with earnestness problems like a fan fiction chapter or an angry MySpace message, then read it aloud slowly with dramatic emphasis, keeping every spelling mistake intact[4]. ### Is Dramatic Reading still popular? The YTMND dramatic reading fad peaked in 2006 and 2007, with fan fiction classics like 'Halo: Halos In Space' still counted among the site's best-remembered posts[5]. ## References 1. [https://baumanletters.ytmnd.com]() 2. [https://shakespearesw.ytmnd.com]() 3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dramatic-reading]() 4. [https://adrfm.ytmnd.com]() 5. [https://fanficofthelegendary.ytmnd.com]() --- Source: https://meme.com/memes/dramatic-reading Published by meme.com — The Internet Meme Library