MA-0001 · first seen 1984
Keyboard Cat
A 1984 home video of a cat “playing” a keyboard that was reborn in 2009 as the Internet’s way of playing someone off.
- Status
- ClassicPeaked more than five years ago
- Trend score
- 8/100Estimated
- Change, 90 days
- 0%Estimated
- Peak
- 68Jun 2009
- Years active
- 3Index of 30 or more
- First seen
- 19841984
Popularity over time
Monthly attention from Jun 2007 to Oct 2026. Hover or tab through the chart for each month.
- First appearance
- Went viral
- Peak
- Decline
Attention index, 0 to 100 on one scale for the whole archive. Estimated from each meme’s key dates, not measured.
About
In 1984 Charlie Schmidt filmed his cat Fatso apparently playing a keyboard, with Schmidt’s hands out of frame. The VHS tape sat for decades and was uploaded to YouTube in June 2007. In February 2009 Brad O’Farrell had a better idea: splice the clip onto the end of a video of someone failing, and let the cat play them off.
“Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat” went viral in May 2009, with coverage from the Associated Press and a tweet from Ashton Kutcher. The cat became a franchise: a successor named Bento arrived in 2010, and Schmidt later joined the creator of Nyan Cat in a lawsuit over the use of both in a video game.
Origin
Charlie Schmidt filmed his cat Fatso on VHS in 1984; the tape was uploaded to YouTube in June 2007.
1984
Viralization
Brad O’Farrell’s “Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat” format in February 2009 went viral in May 2009.
May 2009
Peak
Estimated peak in mid-2009, after coverage by the Associated Press and a tweet by Ashton Kutcher.
Jun 2009
Timeline
From the first post to where it stands today.
Origin
Fatso at the keyboard
Charlie Schmidt films his cat on VHS. Fatso dies in 1987.
Early adoption
Uploaded to YouTube
The tape surfaces online as “charlie schmidt’s cool cat” and draws little attention.
Viral
Play him off
Brad O’Farrell’s February 2009 remix spreads in May, covered by the Associated Press.
Peak
A franchise
The cat is referenced on television and in countless fail videos.
Decline
A shared lawsuit
Schmidt and the creator of Nyan Cat settle a suit with the makers of a video game that used both.
Current
Skinny
A new cat, Skinny, is introduced as the current Keyboard Cat.
Related memes
Chosen by shared era, category, platform and cultural link.
Nyan Cat
22/100+1%Classic2011Same conversation · Same kind of meme
LOLcats
9/1000%Classic2005Same conversation · Same era
Numa Numa
6/1000%Classic2004Same conversation · Same kind of meme
Grumpy Cat
15/1000%Classic2012Same conversation · Same kind of meme