What is Venn Diagram Parodies?

Venn Diagram Parodies are mock Venn charts where two or three unrelated groups share a surprising punchline in the overlapping slice of their circles.

Where did Venn Diagram Parodies come from?

One of the earliest online examples was posted on the blog Indexed on August 9, 2006, showing Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy overlapping at "Religious doubt". The format went viral on Twitter in August 2018 after @adamklevy posted a chart comparing preachers, DJs and bank robbers.

What does Venn Diagram Parodies mean?

It applies the structure of John Venn's 1880 logic diagram to make jokes about unexpected traits shared between unrelated groups, with the actual punchline landing in the center overlap.

How do you use Venn Diagram Parodies?

Pick two or three groups, label each circle with a group name, and write the surprising thing they all share in the middle where the circles meet; posters typically build them in tools like Google Slides with plain text and no imagery.

Is Venn Diagram Parodies still popular?

The format is a classic internet joke style; its biggest spike came during the August 2018 Twitter run around @adamklevy's "put your hands up" chart and the variations it inspired.

Venn Diagram Parodies

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Published October 24, 2026

Venn Diagram Parodies are mock Venn charts where unrelated groups share a punchline in the overlapping slice, turning random comparisons into one-line jokes. Online examples go back to a 2006 Indexed post about Santa and the Tooth Fairy2, but the format exploded on Twitter in August 2018 when a diagram comparing preachers, DJs and bank robbers hit thousands of retweets and set off a week of imitation posts1.

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Overview

The joke works by picking two or three groups that look nothing alike, then naming what they secretly share where their circles overlap. Each group's label sits in the outer, non-overlapping part of its own circle, and the shared slice carries the actual punchline1. Common targets include religious figures, holiday mascots, and specific social situations like weddings or living with parents4.

Posters typically build Venn Diagram Parodies in simple tools without any illustration. Adam Levy, who made the viral 2018 preachers/DJs/bank robbers chart, told the Daily Dot he threw it together in Google Slides after a group chat joke1. Captions stick to plain text labels and plain circles, since the comparison between the words is the entire gag.

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Origin & Background

Platform

Indexed blog (early examples) / Twitter (viral spread)

Date

2006

English logician John Venn introduced the Venn Diagram in July 1880 through a paper titled "On the Diagrammatic and Mechanical Representation of Propositions and Reasonings," published in the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science10. Parody versions likely existed in print for decades before migrating online.

One of the earliest online parodies ran on the single-panel chart blog Indexed on August 9, 2006. Titled "How tenuous, that imaginary friendship," it showed three circles labeled "Easter Bunny," "Santa Claus" and "Tooth Fairy" meeting at a center slice marked "Religious doubt"2.

How It Spread

Through the late 2000s and early 2010s, hobbyist bloggers kept the format alive on small sites. A Warwick.ac.uk blogger posted a Jolly Green Giant diagram on June 4, 20088, and Chartporn uploaded a Christmas-themed set about Santa's brand positioning on December 17, 20105. Tumblr user lateenough joined in on April 10, 2011 with a chart mapping social networks to personality disorders9. Mental Floss collected a dozen Venn Diagram Parodies into a January 13, 2015 listicle11.

The format broke through on August 20, 2018, when Twitter user @adamklevy posted a three-circle chart showing that preachers, DJs and bank robbers all say "put your hands up." The tweet earned over 2,900 retweets and 7,000 likes within nine days3. Variations followed quickly: @mattsurely added a circle for "mom taking off your sweater," picking up more than 3,700 retweets and 10,000 likes6, while @_ericcurtin kept the same three labels but replaced the center with a guilt-trip note reading "Dinner is at 7pm tonight, please try to make it. It would make your mom really happy"12.

The trend also drew backlash. Pixelated Boat posted an Epic Handshake meme mocking the sudden popularity of the Venn format, earning around 1,700 retweets and 10,000 likes in six days7. The Daily Dot rounded up popular versions the next week in an August 28, 2018 listicle on viral Venn Diagram Parodies1, and the chart style became a reusable template for object-labeling jokes well after the initial burst4.

Timeline

1880-07

John Venn publishes the paper introducing the Venn Diagram in the Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science.

2006-08-09

The blog Indexed posts an early online parody with Easter Bunny, Santa Claus and Tooth Fairy meeting at "Religious doubt."

2008-06-04

A Warwick.ac.uk blogger posts a Jolly Green Giant parody chart.

2010-12-17

Chartporn uploads a Christmas-themed set about Santa's brand.

2011-04-10

Tumblr user lateenough posts a diagram mapping social media sites to personality disorders.

2015-01-13

Mental Floss publishes a listicle of 12 funny Venn diagrams.

2018-08-20

@adamklevy posts the viral "preachers, DJs and bank robbers" chart on Twitter.

2018-08-28

The Daily Dot runs a listicle rounding up viral Venn diagram Twitter memes.

How to Use This Meme

To make a Venn Diagram Parody, pick two or three groups that at first glance share nothing, then find a short phrase, object or behavior that quietly applies to all of them. Label each full circle with a group name, place identifying traits for each group in the non-overlapping outer sections, and put the shared punchline in the center where the circles meet1. Common conventions include using three circles rather than two, writing small pairwise punchlines inside each two-way overlap when using three circles, and sticking to plain text with no imagery.