So Anyway, I Started Blasting features Frank Reynolds, played by Danny DeVito, holding two guns while sitting in a television studio. The joke is usually about someone responding to a small problem with a completely over-the-top reaction.
The image comes from the comedy series It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Although the original scene appeared on television in 2013, it took several years before the image became a major internet meme. It started spreading widely in 2019, especially on Facebook and Reddit.
What Does So Anyway, I Started Blasting Mean?
The phrase is used when someone reacts to a situation in an extreme, reckless, or unnecessarily aggressive way. In many memes, the word “blasting” does not literally mean shooting. It can simply describe going too far when dealing with a problem.
For example, imagine someone receives one annoying text and responds by sending 50 messages. A meme using Frank Reynolds might describe the situation and then finish with So anyway, I started blasting.
That contrast is what makes the meme funny. The original situation may be ordinary, but Frank’s reaction suggests that everything has suddenly turned into complete chaos.
Where Did Started Blasting Meme Come From?
The meme comes from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, the American comedy series created by Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton and Charlie Day. Danny DeVito plays Frank Reynolds, one of the show’s main characters.
The specific scene comes from the Season 9 episode “Gun Fever Too: Still Hot,” which first aired on September 11, 2013. The episode deals with gun ownership and gun control through the show’s dark and absurd style of comedy.
In the opening scene, Frank appears on a local television program while arguing in favor of gun ownership. He tells a story about encountering robbers and explains that he had his guns with him. He then pulls out two pistols and describes how he fired toward the attackers.
The ridiculous part is that Frank admits he could not see very well and missed. His completely casual attitude toward the situation made the scene memorable long before it became a meme.
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How Did the Meme Become Popular?
The television scene was released in 2013, but the meme did not become widely popular at the same time. It took more than six years for the image to become a recognizable reaction format.
According to Know Your Meme, one of the earliest known meme versions was posted by Facebook user Josh Davis on September 29, 2019, in an It’s Always Sunny shitposting group. The post reportedly received thousands of reactions, comments and shares.
The image quickly moved to Reddit. On September 30, 2019, versions appeared on communities including r/IASIP and r/HistoryMemes. Some of these posts received thousands of upvotes, helping the format reach a much larger audience.
From there, the template appeared in gaming memes, history jokes, pop-culture posts and everyday reaction memes. Its simple structure made it easy to adapt to almost any situation involving an exaggerated response.
Why Is the Meme So Funny?
The main joke is the difference between the problem and the reaction.
Frank does not look particularly worried in the image. Instead, he looks almost proud of what he is explaining. That calm expression combined with the two guns creates an absurd picture.
The meme becomes even funnier when the original situation is something completely harmless. A person might have a minor disagreement, lose a video game, receive an annoying email or face a small inconvenience. The caption then turns that ordinary event into an imaginary action-movie scene.
It is basically the internet’s way of saying, “I completely overreacted.”
How the Meme Is Used
The standard format usually has two parts. First, the meme describes a problem or situation. Then Frank’s image appears as the exaggerated response.
The word “blasting” can also be used metaphorically. Someone might say they started blasting music, sending messages, posting online, arguing, working, or doing something else excessively.
Because of this, the template is not limited to jokes about guns. The visual is often enough to communicate the idea of an extreme reaction.
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| Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Meme name | So Anyway, I Started Blasting |
| Also known as | Anyway, I Started Blasting |
| Meme type | Reaction image and image macro |
| Original source | It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia |
| Character | Frank Reynolds |
| Actor | Danny DeVito |
| Original episode | “Gun Fever Too: Still Hot” |
| Episode release | September 11, 2013 |
| Meme popularity | Late September 2019 |
| Early meme platform | |
| Major spread | Reddit and other meme communities |
| Main meaning | An exaggerated, reckless or disproportionate reaction |
| Common use | Reaction memes, jokes about overreaction and chaotic situations |
The Difference Between the Original Scene and the Meme
In the original episode, Frank’s story is part of a larger joke about gun ownership and American gun culture. The scene is deliberately ridiculous because Frank treats reckless behavior as if it proves his argument.
Internet users removed the scene from that original context and turned it into a general-purpose reaction image. As a result, the meme can now be used for situations that have nothing to do with guns.
That is common with successful reaction memes. A scene starts with one meaning in a movie or television show, but the internet gives the image a broader meaning that works in many different situations.
Did the Meme Appear Immediately After the Episode?
No. This is one of the interesting things about the meme.
The scene was originally broadcast in 2013, but the major meme format appeared years later. The earliest widely documented meme version dates to September 2019, more than six years after the episode aired.
The delay shows how older television scenes can suddenly become popular again when users discover that a particular expression or moment works perfectly as a reaction image.
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Frank Reynolds and the Meme’s Lasting Popularity
Frank Reynolds has become one of the most recognizable characters from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Danny DeVito’s expressions have been used in many internet jokes.
The “Started Blasting” image works especially well because it captures several parts of Frank’s personality at once: confidence, poor judgment, chaos and a complete lack of concern about how ridiculous he looks.
The show later returned to Frank’s relationship with guns in Season 16. The episode “Frank Shoots Every Member of the Gang” aired in 2023 and once again made his reckless gun behavior a major part of the story.
Why the “Started Blasting” Meme Still Works
The meme has lasted because its basic joke is easy to understand. You do not need to know every detail about It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia to understand the image.
Someone has a problem. Instead of handling it normally, they go completely overboard. Frank’s expression delivers the punchline.
It is also flexible. The same image can be used for gaming, arguments, work problems, social media drama, sports, everyday annoyances and countless other situations. That flexibility helped turn a single television scene into a long-running internet reaction format.
The meme comes from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, specifically the Season 9 episode Gun Fever Too: Still Hot.
The person in the meme is Frank Reynolds, a character played by actor Danny DeVito.
The phrase is generally used to describe an exaggerated or reckless response to a problem. The person may have faced a small issue but reacted as if it were a major crisis.
Not always. Although the original scene involves guns, internet users often use the phrase in a completely different context. It can simply mean reacting aggressively, excessively, or dramatically.