--- title: This Guy's Reaction to Cardi B at AMAs Is a Very Useful Meme description: Taran Killam's face had the perfect response to Cardi B's performance canonical: https://time.com/5420195/cardi-b-amas/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-10-10T16:33:21.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:55:24.200Z og:title: This Guy's Reaction to Cardi B at AMAs Is a Very Useful Meme og:description: Taran Killam had the perfect response to Cardi B's performance og:url: https://time.com/5420195/cardi-b-amas/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Guy's Reaction to Cardi B at AMAs Is a Very Useful Meme twitter:description: Taran Killam had the perfect response to Cardi B's performance twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Stunned Man Reacting to Cardi B Performance at AMAs Is a Very Useful Meme by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Oct 10, 2018 4:33 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Oct 10, 2018 4:33 PM UTC Cardi B went all out for her performance of “I Like It” at the [2018 American Music Awards](http://time.com/5419522/2018-american-music-awards-recap-amas/) on Tuesday night, so it was no surprise that the audience was stunned by the [on-stage show](http://time.com/5420205/american-music-awards-amas-taylor-swift/). One gobsmacked audience member’s over-the-top reaction was so pitch perfect that it instantly became a meme. The man in question was former _Saturday Night Live_ star Taran Killam who was on-hand with his wife, _How I Met Your Mother_ actress Cobie Smulders, to present an [award](http://time.com/5419755/amas-2018-taylor-swift/) later in the evening. Before he could take the stage, though, he nearly stole the spotlight when his jaw literally dropped during the performance by Cardi B, J Balvin, and Bad Bunny, who was wheeled out in a shopping cart with a fake third-eye plastered on his forehead. For the song, the stage at the Microsoft Theater was transformed into a madcap Mardi Gras celebration, packed with bright lights, Carnivale colors, bicycle riders, drummers, and so much more. When Cardi B showed off her flexibility by casually pulling her leg up to her head, Killam apparently couldn’t contain his amazement. The moment the camera settled on his stunned face, the at-home audience (and the GIF makers at Giphy) jumped into action turning his bewilderment into a very useful meme to express their own awe at the on-stage antics. > [](https://twitter.com/GIPHY/status/1049828732503027712) > [](https://twitter.com/amanda%5Faccardo/status/1049834136209424384) > [](https://twitter.com/RonnieThaGreat/status/1049829003870302208) > [](https://twitter.com/pkdsurvivor04/status/1049834979738439680) > [](https://twitter.com/kriscarnevale/status/1049828729759952897) > [](https://twitter.com/AMessOfAHipster/status/1049829087806742528) > [](https://twitter.com/josagurod/status/1049907527486500869) > [](https://twitter.com/JaneCStevenson/status/1049833765751554048) > [](https://twitter.com/fka%5Fnas/status/1049887687770103808) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5420195/cardi-b-amas/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5420195/cardi-b-amas/"},"headline":"Stunned Man Reacting to Cardi B Performance at AMAs Is a Very Useful Meme","datePublished":"2018-10-10T16:33:21.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:55:24.200Z","description":"Taran Killam had the perfect response to Cardi B's performance","url":"https://time.com/5420195/cardi-b-amas/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Internet","Music","twitter","memes"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5420195/cardi-b-amas/","name":"Stunned Man Reacting to Cardi B Performance at AMAs Is a Very Useful Meme"}}]}] ```