Keyboard Cat
This article is about the internet meme. For the original Solana memecoin, see Keyboard Cat ($KEYCAT).
Keyboard Cat Cat is one of the internet's earliest viral animals, a cat that appears to play a jaunty tune on a keyboard, later reborn on Base as the token Keycat.
Origin
The footage dates back to the 1980s, when Charlie Schmidt filmed his cat dressed in a small shirt with its paws guided across an electric keyboard. The clip resurfaced on YouTube in 2007 and exploded as the "Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat" format, in which the cat's tune was edited onto videos of people stumbling or embarrassing themselves.
Spread
Across the late 2000s and into the 2010s, editors tacked the keyboard jingle onto blooper reels and awkward moments as a comedic sign-off, cementing the cat as a staple of early meme culture. The character stuck around as a nostalgic touchstone long after the format itself cooled off.
Legacy
Keyboard Cat is remembered as a pioneer of the viral animal video era, and its revival as a Base memecoin carried the classic gag to a fresh crypto-native audience.
The Chain Trail
The OG token for this meme is Keyboard Cat ($KEYCAT) on Base, launched 2024-04.
Key facts
- Filmed by Charlie Schmidt in the 1980s and viral on YouTube from 2007.
- Known for the "Play Him Off, Keyboard Cat" sign-off format.
- The cat in the original clip was named Fatso.
- Revived as the Keycat token on Base.
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The tokens that claim Keyboard Cat
Every token we can tie to this meme, and which contract appeared first. The original is marked OG; the rest arrived to ride the name.
| # | Coin | Price | 24h | Market Cap | Liquidity | Launched |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Keyboard Cat $KEYCAT | $0.000395 | -0.51% | $3.95M | $573.89K | Apr 3, 2024 |
Combined live market cap for Keyboard Cat: $3.95M across 1 coin. Market data is live from DexScreener; figures are not investment advice.
The deep investigation. Deployer and wallet maps, contract migrations, bundles, supply concentration, and every project that falsely claimed to be first, with archived sources and a full chronological record.
We don’t sell the truth. We sell the work it takes to find it. Commissioned research is coming soon, and conclusions always stay independent and evidence-based.