Talking To Brick Wall — Young man in black T-shirt gesturing and shouting at a red brick wall.

Talking To Brick Wall

2010reaction imageclassic

Published October 28, 2026

Talking To Brick Wall comes from a November 2010 YouTube skit by comedian Maronzio Vance, who demonstrated the frustration of political debates by holding a one-sided chat with an actual brick wall1. Screenshots began appearing in image macros on Tumblr and Twitter by 2014, and in July 2020 a GIF version was added as the DonoWall emote on Twitch streamer xQc's channel2.

reaction memes dismissal memes twitch emotes frustration memes delayed virality memes

Overview

Talking To Brick Wall works as a reaction image or video clip for any exchange where the other side will not listen4. Posters typically combine a screenshot of Vance mid-sentence with a caption describing a futile exchange, like explaining something to a stubborn relative or trying to reason with a conspiracy theorist.

On Twitch, the DonoWall version gets spammed in chat when a streamer ignores text-to-speech donation messages, extending the joke to live streaming2. The emote became closely tied to xQc's channel after viewers adopted it as an inside reference for his ignored donos6.

Origin & Background

Platform
YouTube (origin) / Twitch (viral spread)
Creator
Maronzio Vance
Date
2010

Comedian Maronzio Vance posted a short skit to YouTube on November 22, 2010, with the caption, "At times I feel like I'm talking to a brick wall. So I went out and found one that will listen"1. In the clip, Vance leans against a brick wall and holds a one-sided conversation as though the wall is a willing listener, pausing to let it answer. His clip reached over 151,000 views in its first eleven years5.

How It Spread

Image macros using a still frame from the video showed up on Tumblr and Twitter around 2014 as a reaction to pointless conversations5. Vance's clip found a second life on Twitch years later. On July 1, 2020, viewer FewBreath submitted a GIF of Vance as a BetterTTV emote named DonoWall, referencing xQc's habit of ignoring donation messages, and posted it to r/xqcow where it collected over 2,200 upvotes3. xQc added the emote the same day, and by September 2021 it was active on more than 28,000 Twitch channels2. An Urban Dictionary entry defined DonoWall in connection with xQc on July 13, 20206.

More Talking To Brick Wall posts appeared through late 2020 and 2021. YouTuber ItsPaul uploaded a sped-up version of the clip on December 28, 2020, which drew over 67,000 views in seven months7. On January 23, 2021, Redditor r4jan shared a video macro to r/dankmemes that collected more than 28,500 upvotes8. On July 28, 2021, Instagram page @patrickwarburtonfan53 applied the format to Minecraft lore by joking about arguing with Herobrine deniers, with the post getting over 15,000 likes in two days9.

Timeline

2010-11-22

Maronzio Vance uploads 'The Brick Wall Talks Politics' comedy skit to YouTube.

2014

Still frames from the video start appearing as image macros on Tumblr and Twitter.

2020-07-01

FewBreath submits a GIF of the clip to BetterTTV as the DonoWall emote and posts it to r/xqcow; xQc adds it to his channel the same day.

2020-07-13

An Urban Dictionary entry for DonoWall is published, linking the emote to xQc.

2020-12-28

YouTuber ItsPaul posts a sped-up version of the clip.

2021-01-23

Redditor r4jan shares a video macro of the clip to r/dankmemes, collecting over 28,500 upvotes.

2021-07-28

Instagram meme page @patrickwarburtonfan53 uses the format for a Herobrine deniers joke.

2021-09-06

DonoWall is in use on more than 28,000 Twitch channels on BetterTTV.

How to Use This Meme

Users typically take a screenshot of Vance mid-conversation with the wall and add caption text describing a conversation partner who refuses to engage, or post the GIF or clip as a direct reply to someone ignoring an argument online4.

Frequently Asked Questions