Ishowspeed Smiling Trying Not To Laugh — IShowSpeed wearing headphones in two panels: suppressing laughter on the left and smiling widely on the right.

Ishowspeed Smiling Trying Not To Laugh

2021reaction videoactive

Published July 30, 2026

IShowSpeed Smiling Trying Not To Laugh is a 2021 reaction clip of the YouTuber pursing his lips and settling into a closed-eye smile as a young Fortnite fan begs him for a win by saying his mom is kinda homeless. The still frame and the full video both spread as reaction memes from 2023 onward, with a viral reunion stream in October 2025 bringing the original kids back on camera.

reaction memes streamer memes catchphrase memes facial expression memes livestream memes

Overview

IShowSpeed Smiling Trying Not To Laugh, also called the IShowSpeed Face Meme, is a short reaction clip pulled from one of the streamer's Fortnite broadcasts where he presses his lips together, holds back a giggle, then settles into a closed-eye smile1. The moment plays out after a young player begs him for a win with the line My Mom Is Kinda Homeless, which cracks Speed up on stream3. Both the still frame and the full video circulate as reactions, with the smiling face used the most in image form6.

Two lines from the exchange, My Mom Is Kinda Homeless and Please Speed I Need This, also travel on their own as catchphrases and phrasal templates3. The kid saying them was later publicly identified as Acey, and the other player scolding Speed was named Pew4.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (stream) / X and TikTok (viral spread)
Creator
IShowSpeed
Date
2021

The clip comes from a December 29, 2021 IShowSpeed livestream on YouTube titled EARLY STREAM! where he ran a Fortnite build battle1. Around the 2:08:05 mark, a young player pleaded, Please, Speed, I need this. My mom is kinda homeless. I live with my dad. I want to help her out, while Speed visibly bit back a laugh1. A second kid can be heard telling him off for almost laughing at the plea3. The original broadcast passed 2.3 million views over the following three years1.

How It Spread

The clip started circulating as a reaction in late 2023. On October 24, 2023, X user @VenomDbd posted it captioned Peter when he saw the Miles Morales Original Suit, pulling over 23,000 likes in four months2. Two days later, TikToker @tlmmy_burch shared a version captioned POV: me tryna hold in my laugh during a serious conversation, which hit around 74,000 plays and 4,000 likes5. On January 23, 2024, X user @EnjoyerFive posted the closed-eye smile still and picked up 37,000 likes in two weeks6.

Fan edits kept the format going. On June 1, 2024, X user @Kawa_suguru shared a black-and-white edit of Speed with a mustache and monocle, captioned in mock-Victorian slang about Speed cackling at the film, gaining roughly 59,000 likes over a year7. Fresh clips from the same EARLY STREAM! broadcast kept surfacing through 2025, prompting X user @troyismid to quote-tweet on September 30, 2025 that it was genuinely a top 10 most influential stream ever, which pulled 54,000 likes in a month8.

On October 26, 2025, IShowSpeed held a reunion stream with the two guys from the original clip, hitting 5.6 million views in three days4. Acey came on around the 18:12 mark, and his mom confirmed on camera that she had actually been kind of homeless back in December 20214. Pew joined shortly after and, in a later video call, put a fake gun in his mouth on stream4. X user @FearedBuck posted a clip of Speed recreating the My Mom Is Kinda Homeless moment with the same kids that day, gaining 55,000 likes9, and @scubaryan_ shared a side-by-side of the 2021 and 2025 versions that pulled 16,000 likes10.

▶

Watch Video

X

How to Use This Meme

The still image of Speed with closed eyes and a tight smile is typically dropped under any post about biting back laughter at something serious, awkward, or too absurd to acknowledge. The full clip often stands in for holding composure during heavy conversations. The lines My Mom Is Kinda Homeless and Please Speed I Need This are also used on their own as phrasal templates in captions and replies.

Frequently Asked Questions