We all know very well that things in this world tend to backfire. Call it a law of nature, a frequent twist of fate, or destiny. “Look who’s laughing now” is a phenomenon that has happened to virtually every one of us, and no matter what you do, it repeats again and again, and again.

The Reddit community “There Was An Attempt” is dedicated to precisely the comic absurdity of all the attempts in life that went against the plan, or turned in the wrong direction. Created in August 2015, the subreddit now has 1.9m members that are not immune to the funny attempts that “were there.”

“People enjoy the slapstick comedy of it. At the end of the day, everyone is laughing,” the subreddit’s moderator told Bored Panda in the interview that you can read in full below. And now we leave the stage to the ensued hilarity.

#1

To Make The Special Olympics Look Bad

To Make The Special Olympics Look Bad

reddit.com Report

#2

To Complain About A Child Selling Hot Dogs

To Complain About A Child Selling Hot Dogs

reddit.com Report

#3

To Clean Up After Himself

To Clean Up After Himself

reddit.com Report

Bored Panda spoke to redditor u/F4T4-M0RG4N4, the moderator of the r/ThereWasAnAttempt subreddit, who said that the community has evolved a lot since it was created 5 years ago.

“When I first joined the team, it was mostly a screenshot sub. A few months back, there was some drama about how there were only three mods who ran the subreddit (which at the time had around a million members).” As a result, they invited more people to join the moderator team and removed the screenshot posts.

#5

To Make Speaking 2 Languages Sophisticated

To Make Speaking 2 Languages Sophisticated

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#6

To Sound Literate

To Sound Literate

reddit.com Report

For those who’re wondering what, precisely, “there was an attempt” refers to, u/F4T4-M0RG4N4 explained that it’s basically about “someone attempting something but ultimately failing.”

Conceptually, it’s similar to “if someone tried jumping off a trampoline into a pool but when they tried to jump, the trampoline tore. In that case, you could say, 'Well... there was an attempt, at least' and that’s where our subreddit comes into play.”

The posts are mainly about “some people having a dumb idea, trying out that idea, and failing.” This misery is what makes it so funny. 

#7

To Prevent The Homeless From Sleeping Here

To Prevent The Homeless From Sleeping Here

reddit.com Report

#8

To Start Cat Racing

To Start Cat Racing

reddit.com Report

#9

To Prove That Patton Oswalt Is A Failed Comedian

To Prove That Patton Oswalt Is A Failed Comedian

reddit.com Report

Today, the moderator team only allows video submissions and cross-posts, “which are posts that were in one subreddit but were reposted to another (kind of like retweeting.” This format works better for r/ThereWasAnAttempt, since screenshots can more easily become reposts, for one.

Especially when there’s one similar subreddit that’s specifically for social media clapbacks and comebacks, but its content mainly features screenshots.When it comes to their 1.9 million member count, the moderator said that “I don’t think we have the exact same post frequency as, say, a meme subreddit.”

Partly, it’s because it isn’t easy to repost something from r/ThereWasAnAttempt. “I could probably look at the new section for r/memes and see quite a few frequent reposts.”

#10

...to Photograph Birds

...to Photograph Birds

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#11

To Be Responsible And Uber Home

To Be Responsible And Uber Home

reddit.com Report

#12

To Scare Your Boyfriend

To Scare Your Boyfriend

reddit.com Report

#13

At Going Outside

At Going Outside

reddit.com Report

#14

To Shame Atheists And Take Away Their Holidays

To Shame Atheists And Take Away Their Holidays

reddit.com Report

#15

I Mean... You Tried..?

I Mean... You Tried..?

reddit.com Report

#16

To Be An Animal Activist

To Be An Animal Activist

reddit.com Report

#17

To Arrest A “Drug Dealer

To Arrest A “Drug Dealer

reddit.com Report

#18

To Make Fun Of A Bird

To Make Fun Of A Bird

reddit.com Report

#20

To Sound Intellectual

To Sound Intellectual

astrolopy Report

#21

To Take A Cute Picture

To Take A Cute Picture

reddit.com Report

#22

To Convince People To Be Pro-Life

To Convince People To Be Pro-Life

ZedU_KOh Report

#24

.... To Find Buried Treasure

.... To Find Buried Treasure

reddit.com Report

#26

To Suggest A New Idea

To Suggest A New Idea

MatthewKeysLive Report

#27

To Glorify The President

To Glorify The President

reddit.com Report

#28

To Eat A Mozzarella Stick

To Eat A Mozzarella Stick

reddit.com Report

See Also on Bored Panda
#30

To Betray Coca Cola

To Betray Coca Cola

reddit.com Report

#31

There Was An Attempt To Run For Mayor

There Was An Attempt To Run For Mayor

reddit.com Report

#32

To Replace I'm Sorry With Thank You

To Replace I'm Sorry With Thank You

reddit.com Report

#33

To Prove How Unfashionable These Jeans Were

To Prove How Unfashionable These Jeans Were

reddit.com Report

#34

To Be Neighborly

To Be Neighborly

reddit.com Report

#35

To Provide Front, Side, And Rear Photos For The Car Insurance Rep

To Provide Front, Side, And Rear Photos For The Car Insurance Rep

reddit.com Report

#36

To Virtue Signal...

To Virtue Signal...

reddit.com Report

#37

To Get A Cardi B Tattoo

To Get A Cardi B Tattoo

reddit.com Report

See Also on Bored Panda
#39

To Display Plus Size Clothes Without Causing Offence

To Display Plus Size Clothes Without Causing Offence

reddit.com Report

#40

To Stand Up For The Joker

To Stand Up For The Joker

kigucunt Report

#41

To Get A Heartwarming Tattoo

To Get A Heartwarming Tattoo

reddit.com Report

#42

To Fuck The Police

To Fuck The Police

reddit.com Report

#43

To Keep A Streak Going

To Keep A Streak Going

reddit.com Report

#44

To Befriend A Porcupine

To Befriend A Porcupine

qwasd0r Report

#45

To Pass Security

To Pass Security

ahmierda Report

#46

To Sound Tougher

To Sound Tougher

reddit.com Report

#47

To Criticize A Garbage Man

To Criticize A Garbage Man

reddit.com Report

#48

To Be A Professional Company

To Be A Professional Company

mckenziedenisee Report

See Also on Bored Panda
#49

To Create 3 Mexican Countries

To Create 3 Mexican Countries

reddit.com Report

#50

To Hide

To Hide

reddit.com Report

Note: this post originally had 150 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.