Ah, nostalgia, the fond remembrance of things past. And the further past they are, the more the Nostalgia Filter takes effect: memories of bygone days are bathed in the golden light of reminiscence, often with just a touch of self-delusion or selective editing.

But sometimes, this warm glow is rudely extinguished. One character tenderly recalls hazy memories, as if the event were in the distant past... then another character contradicts them, because the event in question happened in the very recent past.

Typically Played for Laughs and characterizes the nostalgic character as The Ditz, a Cloudcuckoolander, a Drama Queen, or The Gadfly. They may declare "I Remember It Like It Was Yesterday" only to be reminded that it was today! (Heck, it was one hour ago!) May involve a Flashback, or (even funnier) a Flashback Fail to show that even in such a short time the character's memory has become misty and rose-tinted. Compare Bait-and-Switch Time Skip, a gag where for a moment it seems a great time really has elapsed, then the illusion is broken.

A more serious variation can happen between characters of different ages. To a young person, a few years seems a significant fraction of a lifetime, so someone else with a lot more past may listen with mild amusement (and possibly a touch of irritation) if they describe an event happening "so long ago". Indeed, the more elderly the person involved, the more they might reply with Elderly Ailment Rambling about some medical condition or another that has lasted longer than the time in question (or the youngster's whole life). For a more intense version, see Time Dissonance, where a Long-Lived character recalls things from ages ago that seem recent from their perspective.

Another variation has someone deliberately invoke nostalgia as if mourning things from their past that seem to be gone forever, unaware that they are still present. Compare Not Now, We're Too Busy Crying Over You.

Compare Low Count Gag and Unimpressive Progress Reveal for similar types of jokes. Compare with Viewers Are Goldfish, which is about gratuitous flashbacks to something the audience just saw — sometimes as a deliberate joke, sometimes because the writers really underestimate the audience's intelligence.

Examples: