# Steel Is Heavier Than Feathers

A 2012 sketch from Scottish comedian Brian Limond's BBC series Limmy's Show gave the internet one of its favorite trick-question gags, in which Limmy insists a kilogram of steel outweighs a kilogram of feathers before being corrected on camera. By 2015, Tumblr users were using the screenshot of his broken, confused face as a reaction image for moments of total mental defeat.

## Origin
The sketch comes from Series 3, Episode 3 of Limmy's Show, the sketch comedy series written by and starring Scottish comedian Brian Limond. The episode aired on BBC Two on December 2nd, 2012[1]. A YouTube upload of the segment was posted a few days earlier, on November 27th, 2012, by user John Gillooley[2].

At broadcast the bit was one of dozens of short sketches in the episode and did not immediately break out online. It sat on YouTube for roughly two and a half years before meme accounts and aggregators picked it up[3].

- **Platform:** BBC (sketch), Tumblr / 9gag (viral spread)
- **Creator:** Brian Limond (Limmy)
- **Date:** 2012

## Overview
The joke works on a simple riddle setup. Limmy asks the camera, 'What's heavier? A kilogramme of steel or a kilogramme of feathers?' and then confidently delivers the wrong answer, insisting steel wins because 'steel is heavier than feathers'[2]. Other characters in the scene break in to correct him, and Limmy's face slowly collapses into stunned bewilderment as the obvious truth sinks in[3].

Online, the sketch split into two uses. The video itself was shared as a short comedy clip, often by people discovering Limmy's Show for the first time outside the UK[4]. The screengrab of Limmy's crushed expression, dubbed 'the face of a broken man' in early reposts, was separated out as a reaction image for any moment of catastrophic realization[3]. YouTube accounts also made edits of the exchange, including a version replacing the actors with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure characters that gained over 104,000 views[3].

## How to Use
Posters typically pair the screengrab of Limmy's slack-jawed, hollow-eyed face with a caption describing a moment of being proven wrong about something they were completely sure of, or discovering an obvious fact everyone else already knew. The video clip itself is often reposted as a standalone joke, sometimes with the audio replaced or the characters edited into other franchises[3].

## Frequently Asked Questions
### What is Steel Is Heavier Than Feathers?
A sketch from the Scottish BBC comedy Limmy's Show in which Limmy incorrectly claims a kilogram of steel is heavier than a kilogram of feathers; the clip and a screengrab of his stunned face both became internet memes[2][3].

### Where did Steel Is Heavier Than Feathers come from?
The sketch aired in Series 3, Episode 3 of Limmy's Show on BBC Two on December 2nd, 2012, written by and starring Brian Limond[1].

### What does Steel Is Heavier Than Feathers mean?
It plays on the classic trick question of comparing equal weights of different materials; Limmy falls for the trap by weighting the materials, not the measured mass, and his collapsing expression became shorthand for being blindsided by an obvious fact[3].

### How do you use Steel Is Heavier Than Feathers?
People reshare the video clip as a standalone joke or caption the screengrab of Limmy's bewildered face when they want to react to being proven embarrassingly wrong about something they were sure of[3].

### Is Steel Is Heavier Than Feathers still popular?
It is a classic Limmy's Show meme that has stayed in rotation on Tumblr and YouTube since its 2015 breakout, with parody edits accumulating six-figure view counts[3].

## References
1. [https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p65q7](<https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p65q7>)
2. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyisXVnnNyc](<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KyisXVnnNyc>)
3. [https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/steel-is-heavier-than-feathers](<https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/steel-is-heavier-than-feathers>)
4. [https://9gag.com/tv/p/am2LaZ/which-is-heavier-a-kilogram-of-steel-or-a-kilogram-of-feathers](<https://9gag.com/tv/p/am2LaZ/which-is-heavier-a-kilogram-of-steel-or-a-kilogram-of-feathers>)
5. [https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/3jxi04/which_is_heavier_a_kilogram_of_steel_or_a/](<https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/3jxi04/which_is_heavier_a_kilogram_of_steel_or_a/>)
6. [https://funnyjunk.com/1kg+of+steel+vs+1kg+of+feathers/movies/5554565/](<https://funnyjunk.com/1kg+of+steel+vs+1kg+of+feathers/movies/5554565/>)

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Source: https://meme.com/memes/steel-is-heavier-than-feathers
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