About

Poetry by Gary refers to edits of a SpongeBob SquarePants clip in which the character Gary the Snail performs at the Krusty Krab talent show with a poem. Edits, which appeared online throughout the 2010s and 2020s, typically feature Gary performing well-known songs or making humorous sound effects in place of the original audio from the show.

Origin

The clip of Gary performing comes from season one episode 10a of the SpongeBob SquarePants episode "Culture Shock," which aired September 18th, 1999.^[1] In the episode, Squidward introduces Gary at the Krusty Krab talent show by saying, "And now poetry … by Gary," after which Gary takes the stage and meows several times as Sandy Cheeks sighs and says, "Oh, he has such a way with words" (shown below).

On January 30th, 2011, YouTuber TaiwanIsntACountry uploaded the first edit of the scene, showing Gary rapping "Nigga Nigga Nigga" by Gangsta Rap. The video gained over 3 million views in roughly 11 years (shown below).

Spread

Over the following decade, the meme saw many variations grow to prominence. On May 29th, 2011, YouTuber brenderp uploaded a video showing Gary rapping "Fuck Shit Stack" by Reggie Watts, gaining over 100,000 views in 11 years (shown below, left). A January 8th, 2012, edit by TaiwanIsntACountry using "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey gained over 500,000 views in 10 years (shown below, right).

Though there was never a period where many edits were created, variations continued to see spread throughout the early 2020s. Some high engagement examples include an August 31st, 2021, upload by Josiah Summers showing Gary scatting to the band Korn, gaining over 349,000 views in roughly seven months (shown below, left), and a November 19th upload by JackYT showing Gary singing Super Idol that gained over 2,200 views in four months (shown below).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References