Keyboard Cat was one of YouTube’s first recurring meme formats, featuring a cat “playing” a keyboard to humorously conclude fail videos.
Origin
The original footage was filmed in 1984 by Charlie Schmidt, showing his cat Fatso wearing a blue shirt and “playing” an upright piano (Schmidt manipulated Fatso’s paws). Schmidt uploaded the video to YouTube in June 2007 as novelty content.
In February 2009, blogger Brad O’Farrell created the “Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat” format — appending the Keyboard Cat clip to the end of fail videos as a comedic punctuation. The format went viral, with thousands creating their own versions.
Format Evolution
The meme established templates for future participatory formats:
- Structure: Fail/awkward moment → cut to Keyboard Cat
- Musical timing: The jaunty tune perfectly deflated tension
- Adaptability: Works with any embarrassing footage
- Nostalgia factor: 1980s video quality added charm
Popular variations included Keyboard Dog, Keyboard Goat, and countless remixes. The format declined by 2012 as new meme templates emerged, but established the “reaction clip” genre that persists in TikTok duets and Twitter quote-tweets.
Legal & Cultural Impact
Schmidt licensed the footage for commercials (Wonderful Pistachios Super Bowl ad), TV shows, and video games. In 2018, Bento (the second Keyboard Cat after Fatso’s 1987 death) died, prompting retrospectives about the original cat’s posthumous fame.
The meme represented early YouTube’s collaborative remix culture — one person’s home video became raw material for thousands of creators. The “play off” concept influenced how internet culture processes failure and embarrassment.
Sources:
- Know Your Meme: Keyboard Cat Documentation
- The Verge: “The History of Keyboard Cat” (2018)
- YouTube: Original Upload and Compilations (2007-2012)