Bongo Cat: origin of the meme and Keyboard Cat

In 2018, Bongo Cat emerged, a rather charming meme of a cat playing music using a bongo. How did this viral meme come about? What is its origin? What has the internet created using the cat playing bongo and other instruments? In this article, we will explore everything about Bongo Cat and also about Keyboard Cat!

It all started on May 7, 2018, when Twitter user @DitzyFlama responded to a GIF from @StrayRogue. StrayRogue had drawn a white, cat-like blob smacking a table with both paws, and later showed the full body to make clear that the character was a blob rather than an actual cat. DitzyFlama edited that drawing, put bongos under the paws, and set the paw hits to "Athletic" from the Super Mario World soundtrack. Before long, the tweet gained over 3,800 retweets and 7,000 likes.

Shortly after, the video was uploaded to YouTube and picked up thousands of views. Different versions of Bongo Cat were created with other songs and instruments, on YouTube and on Twitter.

Bongo Cat vs Keyboard Cat

Some people make a strong connection between Bongo Cat and another meme called Keyboard Cat. Charlie Schmidt filmed his cat Fatso in 1984, moving the paws off camera so it looked as if Fatso were playing an electronic keyboard. Schmidt uploaded that old footage to YouTube in June 2007, first titled "Cool Cat." The meme took off in 2009, when Brad O'Farrell, with Schmidt's permission, stuck the clip on the end of a blooper, as if the cat were playing the person offstage.

Fatso was long said to have died in 1987. Schmidt's wife Joanne later recalled Fatso still alive when their daughter, born in 1998, was a baby, which points to around 1999. After the clip became famous, Schmidt got another cat, named Bento, to carry on as Keyboard Cat. Bento's version, "Keyboard Cat REINCARNATED!", appeared in March 2010, and that same year Bento showed up in a Wonderful Pistachios commercial. Bento died on March 8, 2018, at the age of eight.

Even though there is no connection between the making of Bongo Cat and Keyboard Cat, it is undeniable that their similarities also explain why Bongo Cat spread. Apparently, people love cats playing instruments. I always knew that cats rule the world!

Searching for a real cat on the bongos

While writing this article, I thought about finding real cats playing the bongos. I believe that anyone who has a cat and a pair of bongos has played around making the cat hit its paws on them. Unfortunately, the internet is so infested with animations of cats playing the bongos that I can't find any real videos.

The best part of this meme is that it has managed to bring together various other memes and songs that have stood out in recent times. We can see many Bongo Cat videos with music from games, anime, memes, and classics. Perhaps this is one of the main reasons the meme spread so quickly. Another drawn cat, Nyan Cat, had already taken off years earlier.

I hope you enjoyed this short article about cats playing instruments. Bongo Cat is the drawn blob on the bongos. Keyboard Cat was Fatso, and later Bento, at a real keyboard. We appreciate the comments and shares.