# Tying My Shoes Meme: Put Yourself Behind the Tip Cup > The tying my shoes meme, also called the Tip Cup trend or the asking for money meme, is a viral New York park clip: a man sets his drink down to tie his shoe, strangers take it for a tip cup and drop cash in it, and he grins. Canonical: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend Updated: 2026-11-13 Published: 2026-11-13 Author: MakeViral Team (https://www.makeviral.ai/about) Publisher: MakeViral (https://www.makeviral.ai) The **tying my shoes meme**, also called the **Tip Cup trend** or the asking for money meme, is a viral New York park clip: a man sets his drink down to tie his shoe, strangers take it for a tip cup and drop cash in it, and he grins. Add one photo, and you or your pet take his place. You put your cup down to tie your shoe, and people start dropping cash in it. Add one photo, and you or your pet star in the viral clip, grin and all, with its original sound. Also called: Tip Cup trend, Spare Change Cup. **Make it now:** [Make this video](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/create). 1 photo · 13 s · 9:16 with sound · 198 credits, charged once · ready in up to several minutes · no prompt to write. Keyword: tying my shoes meme. Also answers: asking for money meme, cat asking for money meme, tie your shoe meme, tying shoe meme, guy tying shoes meme, tie my shoe prank, when you're just trying to tie your shoes, tip cup ai trend, tip cup meme, fastest career change in history, spare change meme, cat begging for money meme, tie my shoes gone wrong, tying my shoe and people gave me money, tying shoes money ai video, cat tying shoes money ai, ai cat begging meme, jaywicwya cup, tying my shoes meme tiktok, spare change cup ai. ## What is the Tying My Shoes Meme trend, and where did it start? The clip comes from the New York creator @jaywiccwya, who tags his videos #jaywicwya. Filmed with the phone low on a park path, it shows him put his drink cup down and crouch to tie his shoe. People walking past take the cup for a tip cup and drop bills in it, and he switches to a huge grin and sits down behind it. The post is no longer on his profile, but copies went around from 14 July 2026: one titled "Tie my shoes gone wrong", another with his watermark and the line "When you're just trying to tie your shoes". On 20 July 2026 a compilation opened with it under a French caption that means "the fastest career change in history". It passed 1.6 million views, the first post of the trend with more than a million. In November 2026 the clip turned into an AI trend: creators kept the park, the camera and the passers-by and swapped only the man. Two remixes came out on 7 November; on 11 November @merkurianin posted an AI black cat in his place. It had 1.2 million views two days later, and it is the clip this template copies. ### Tying My Shoes Meme trend timeline - **2026-07-14**: A repost of @jaywiccwya's park clip, titled "Tie my shoes gone wrong", is up on TikTok; it has 63,000 views by 13 November. The creator's own post is no longer on his profile. Source: [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@ybee7tv/video/7662380502694841631). - **2026-07-20**: A compilation that opens with the clip, captioned in French "the fastest career change in history", is posted. It passes 1.6 million views, the first post of the trend with more than a million. Source: [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@brightvibes89/video/7664431710586637582). - **2026-11-07**: The first AI remixes of the same clip appear: one swaps in a man in a beige suit (38,400 views), another a game soldier in a balaclava with the caption "POV: my bro asking for an AWP" (34,900 views). Source: [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@cs2everyday2/video/7705499266000669959). - **2026-11-11**: @merkurianin posts an AI black cat in the man's place, with TikTok's AI label and the caption "original @Jaywicwya". It has 1.2 million views and 116,200 likes by 13 November. Source: [TikTok](https://www.tiktok.com/@merkurianin/video/7706831636708461831). ## What the Tying My Shoes Meme video looks like The original AI reel by @merkurianin. The cat is AI-made; the people walking past come from the original phone clip by @jaywiccwya. Your video keeps them and puts you or your pet behind the cup. - **Example 1** (13 s, 9:16 MP4 with sound): The original AI reel by @merkurianin: an AI-made black cat walks up, sets a cup on the park path and bends down, and passers-by drop cash in the cup while it grins at the camera. You and Pet put you or your pet in its place. - Video: https://www.makeviral.ai/media/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/original-pet-v2.mp4 - Poster: https://www.makeviral.ai/media/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/original-pet-v1.jpg ## How to make the Tying My Shoes Meme video on MakeViral Everything runs in the browser. No editing app, no watermark. ### The one-tap way (no prompt to write) 1. **Add your photo.** Press "Make yours" and add you, head to toes. Take it with the camera or pick it from your library. Start here: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/create 2. **Press Generate.** The button shows the price. Seedance 2.5 puts your photos into the Tying My Shoes Meme trend clip and copies it shot by shot for 13 seconds, with the reel's original song. You write no prompt. 3. **Download or share.** The video is ready in up to several minutes as a 9:16 MP4. Download it, share it from your phone, or find it later in My videos. ### The by-hand way, with the exact prompts The one-tap flow runs this prompt for you. The video prompt animates your own photo directly. To change it, copy it and edit it in AI Video. #### Variant: You Settings: 1 photo (you, head to toes) · Seedance 2.5 · 13 s · 720p · 9:16 · no sound · 198 credits in one tap. 1. The video prompt is filled in. Settings: Seedance 2.5, 13 s, 720p, 9:16, sound off. The video prompt: ```text Recreate the reference video [Video 1] shot for shot: the same paved path in a leafy city park with green trees, park benches and a black backpack in the back, fallen leaves on the ground, the same soft daylight, the same phone camera lying low on the ground and never moving, the same framing, timing and passers-by, one continuous take with no cuts. The ONLY change: the big cat that walks in upright and sits behind the plastic cup is now the person in [Image 1], a real adult human. The person = the person in [Image 1], whole body, in EVERY frame: copy the exact face from [Image 1]: face shape, eye color and eye shape, eyebrows, nose, mouth, teeth, skin tone, age, hair color, hair length and hairstyle, and any beard, moustache, glasses or freckles exactly as in the photo. The person wears the clothes from [Image 1]; if [Image 1] shows only the head or the upper body, invent the rest so it matches naturally, with sneakers. A grown adult with the full height, build and proportions of an adult, as big next to the passers-by as the cat in the video, never small and never child-like, at the age of [Image 1]. A fully human body: NO cat ears, NO black fur, NO tail, NO whiskers, NO cat face, human hands with five fingers. The same real person in every frame, from the first second to the last, so their friends instantly recognize them, also in the huge grin. Never morph, never drift back to the cat. The performance, matching [Video 1] second by second: 0-1 s: walks in from the left along the path, holding a clear plastic cup with a drink. 1-2.5 s: bends down, puts the cup on the path in front of the camera and crouches behind it to tie a shoelace, eyes on the shoe. 2.5-4.5 s: still busy with the shoelace while people walk past; one passer-by drops a banknote into the cup. 4.5-6 s: notices the money, looks straight into the camera with a huge open-mouthed grin and sits down on the ground behind the cup. 6-9 s: sits behind the cup with the same huge grin, hands together, while more passers-by drop banknotes into it. 9-11 s: a group of passers-by bend down and put cash into and beside the cup; the person keeps grinning. 11-13 s: sits behind the cup full of cash, rubbing the hands together, grinning at the camera. The passers-by, their legs, sneakers and hands, the cup and the cash stay exactly as in [Video 1]. Anatomy rules: one head only, on the person's shoulders. Two arms and two hands with five fingers each, two legs. Exactly one person sits behind the cup. No animal. No text, no captions, no logos, no watermark. No dialogue throughout the entire video. No background music. ``` 2. Press Generate, then download the 9:16 MP4. One-tap version of this variant: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/create #### Variant: Pet Settings: 1 photo (your pet, whole body) · Seedance 2.5 · 13 s · 720p · 9:16 · no sound · 198 credits in one tap. 1. The video prompt is filled in. Settings: Seedance 2.5, 13 s, 720p, 9:16, sound off. The video prompt: ```text Recreate the reference video [Video 1] shot for shot: the same paved path in a leafy city park with green trees, park benches and a black backpack in the back, fallen leaves on the ground, the same soft daylight, the same phone camera lying low on the ground and never moving, the same framing, timing and passers-by, one continuous take with no cuts. The ONLY change: the big cat that walks in upright and sits behind the plastic cup is now the pet in [Image 1]. The pet = the pet in [Image 1], whole body, in EVERY frame: the same species and breed, head shape, muzzle, eyes, ears, fur colors, fur length, markings and body shape as in [Image 1], with the natural body volume and proportions of that animal: never flattened, squashed, stretched or merged with anything, so its owner instantly recognizes it. It is as big in the frame as the cat in the video, walks upright on its hind legs like that cat and wears nothing: its own fur. Never drift back to the cat in the video: not the coat and not the eyes of the cat in the video unless [Image 1] shows them. If [Image 1] shows a dog, a cat or another animal, that animal takes the same place and does the same moves, with its own ears, muzzle and tail. The performance, matching [Video 1] second by second: 0-1 s: walks in upright from the left along the path, a clear plastic drink cup in its front paws. 1-2.5 s: bends down, puts the cup on the path in front of the camera and bends over its own hind paws. 2.5-4.5 s: still bent over its paws while people walk past; one passer-by drops a banknote into the cup. 4.5-6 s: notices the money, looks straight into the camera with a huge open-mouthed grin that shows its teeth and sits up behind the cup. 6-9 s: sits behind the cup with the same huge grin, front paws together, while more passers-by drop banknotes into it. 9-11 s: a group of passers-by bend down and put cash into and beside the cup; the pet keeps grinning. 11-13 s: sits behind the cup full of cash, rubbing its front paws together, grinning at the camera. The passers-by, their legs, sneakers and hands, the cup and the cash stay exactly as in [Video 1]. Anatomy rules: one head, one tail, two hind legs and two front legs ending in round furry paws, never human hands, no fingers, no bare skin. Exactly one animal, behind the cup. No text, no captions, no logos, no watermark. No dialogue throughout the entire video. No background music. ``` 2. Press Generate, then download the 9:16 MP4. One-tap version of this variant: https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/create?variant=pet ### Which photo works best? Upload **one photo**: of yourself for You, of your pet for Pet. - **You:** head to toe if you can, or at least waist up, face to the camera, sharp and in good light. The video shows your whole body walking up and crouching, and it takes your clothes from the photo, so casual street clothes and sneakers fit the park best. - No sunglasses, no hat that hides the face and no beauty filter. A clear face makes the big grin look like you. - **Pet:** one animal, the whole body in view if you can, eyes open, in daylight. The fur colors, ears and markings come from your photo. - Any background works: the park, the cup, the cash and the people walking past come from the clip. - Use your own photo, a friend who said yes, or your own pet. Never a celebrity or a stranger. ## How many credits does it cost? You pay per video in credits, and the create page shows the exact price on the Generate button before you spend anything. The one-tap price covers the scene photo and the video, charged once. The cheaper models are there if you run the prompts by hand in AI Video. | Video model | Settings | Credits | | --- | --- | --- | | Seedance 2.5 (this template) | 13 s, 720p, copies the trend clip, one tap | 198 | Credits come with a plan; see [pricing](https://www.makeviral.ai/pricing). A failed video gives its credits back. ## What happens in the tying my shoes video, second by second? Both versions copy @merkurianin's AI clip, one continuous shot from a phone lying low on the park path. Your photo takes the cat's place; the park, the cup, the cash and the people walking past stay as they are: | Time | What happens | You | Pet | |---|---|---|---| | 0 to 1 s | Walk-up | You walk in with a drink cup. | Your pet walks in upright with the cup. | | 1 to 4.5 s | The shoe | You set the cup down and crouch to tie your shoe while people walk past. One drops a bill in the cup. | It sets the cup down and bends over its paws. | | 4.5 to 6 s | The switch | You spot the cash, look into the camera with a huge grin and sit down behind the cup. | The same big grin, and it sits behind the cup. | | 6 to 11 s | Payday | More people drop cash; a group bends down to fill the cup. You keep grinning. | It grins and rubs its paws. | | 11 to 13 s | The end | You sit behind a cup full of money. | The same, with your pet. | **How it works:** top-quality AI video models, including Seedance 2.5, edit the clip itself: they swap the cat for the person or pet in your photo and keep everything else. You get 13 seconds, vertical 9:16 at 720p, with the clip's original sound put back after the run. A run takes 5 to 15 minutes, and the exact price shows on the Generate button before you spend anything. Every run is a new take, so results differ. ## You or Pet: which one should you make? - **You** puts you in the clip the way the meme started: you, your face and your clothes, crouching to tie your shoe while strangers fill your cup. It is the version for a "fastest career change in history" caption. - **Pet** is the version that went viral in November 2026: the AI cat clip with your dog, cat or other pet behind the cup. A pet with a goofy face or a big smile is the funniest. **Caption ideas:** "When you're just trying to tie your shoes", "Fastest career change in history", "Tie my shoes gone wrong", "My cat asking for money for treats", "Me after rent is due". Or write your own. More money memes: sing for cash in the [ABCDEFG I need money trend](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/abcdefg-i-need-money-ai-trend), or count your stack in the [counting money meme](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/counting-money-meme-ai). ## What goes wrong, and how do you fix it? | Problem | Fix | |---|---| | Cat ears, black fur or a tail come back (You) | The clip's star is a cat, and the prompt bans its ears, fur and tail on a person. Use a sharp, full-body photo and run it again. | | Your pet gets a black coat or yellow eyes (Pet) | The cat in the clip is black with yellow eyes. Use a sharp photo where the fur and eyes are clear, then run it again. | | The grin does not look like you | The grin is wider than in most photos. A photo where you smile with your teeth helps. | | A hand or a paw blurs when people drop the cash | That moment is busy, with hands near the cup. Run it again for a new take. | | The face is small in the first second | You walk in from the side of a wide shot, so the face gets bigger when you sit down behind the cup. | | The model refuses a photo | Some photos get refused. The credits come back; try another photo. | ## Which sound, caption and hashtags should you post it with? Your clip comes with the original sound of the clip it copies, the full 13 seconds, so it is ready to post. You can turn it off on the result screen. The sound belongs to its owner, and MakeViral gives you no rights to it. **Hashtags:** #tyingshoes (6,371 TikTok videos and 108.6 million views on 13 November 2026), #aicat and #funnycat. Keep the platform's AI label on. **Keep it a joke.** The video is made, not filmed, so say it is AI. Make it with your own face, your own pet or a friend who said yes, and never to pass off a fake clip as a real collection for money. ## Tying My Shoes Meme trend questions ### What is the tying my shoes meme? It is a viral clip from a New York park, filmed from the ground: a man puts his drink cup down to tie his shoe, people walking past take it for a tip cup and drop cash in it, and he answers with a huge grin and sits behind the cup. On TikTok it went around as "When you're just trying to tie your shoes" and "Tie my shoes gone wrong". In November 2026 it became an AI trend, with a cat and other characters in his place. ### Who started the tying my shoes meme? The New York creator @jaywiccwya, who tags his videos #jaywicwya: the Jaywicwya cup clip is his. Copies of it went around from 14 July 2026, one with his watermark, although his own post is no longer on his profile. The AI cat version that went viral in November credits him with "original @Jaywicwya". ### Why is it called the tip cup AI trend or the asking for money meme? Because the joke is the cup: he only put his drink down, and strangers treated it as a tip cup and paid him. The cat asking for money meme and the Spare Change Cup are other names for the AI versions with a cat behind the cup. In search it also shows up as the tie your shoe meme, the tying shoe meme and the guy tying shoes meme. ### What does "fastest career change in history" mean? It is the caption of a compilation from 20 July 2026, the first post of the trend with more than a million views. The joke: he went from tying his shoe to collecting money in one second, and he takes the new job with a grin. ### Is the cat with the cup real? No. The black cat in @merkurianin's clip of 11 November 2026 is AI-made, and the post has TikTok's AI label. The park, the cup and the people walking past come from the original phone clip, so the cat tying shoes and collecting money is an AI edit of a real moment. ### Can my dog or cat do the tip cup meme? Yes. Pick Pet. Your pet walks up on its hind legs, sets the cup down, bends over and then grins behind the cup while people drop cash in it, with the clip's sound. Dogs, cats and other pets work. Use a sharp photo of one animal with the whole body in view if you can. ### How do I make the tying my shoes AI video with my photo? Press "Create your own", pick You or Pet and add one clear photo. Press Generate; the button shows the price first. You get a 13-second vertical clip of you or your pet tying a shoe while strangers drop money in the cup, with the original sound, and it waits in My videos when it is ready. You write no prompt. ### Which prompt does this template use? No creator of the trend shared a prompt, and we found no AI video site template for it, so we wrote our own. It follows the clip second by second and adds rules that keep your face and clothes from the photo, or your pet's fur, ears and markings, and keep the park, the cup and the people walking past. ### How long is the video and what format is it? 13 seconds as an MP4 at 720p, vertical 9:16 like the original clip, with the original sound. It plays on TikTok, Reels and Shorts, and there is no watermark. ### Does the tying my shoes video cost credits? Yes. Each video costs credits, and the create page shows the exact price on the Generate button before you spend anything. If a video fails, the credits come back. ### Is the spare change meme the same thing? Not quite. Most spare change meme results are older cartoon scenes of someone asking for spare change. The Spare Change Cup in this AI trend is the park clip where nobody asked: the cup was a drink, and people filled it anyway. ### Is this the tie my shoe prank where people give money? It started as one: people have filmed the tie my shoe prank, where a cup next to someone tying a shoelace gets money from strangers, at least since early 2026 ("he was just tying his shoelace", 84,400 views in February). The @jaywiccwya park clip is the version with the grin that the AI trend copies, and tying my shoe and people gave me money is how many posts describe it. ### Is there a cat begging for money meme or an AI cat begging meme version? Yes, the AI cat clip of 11 November 2026 is the cat begging for money meme of this trend, with 1.2 million views. Pick Pet to make your own cat or dog do it. ## Other AI video templates and tools - [ABCDEFG I Need Money AI Trend: Your Pet (or You) Sings the Money Line](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/abcdefg-i-need-money-ai-trend): Add one photo of your dog, cat or yourself. The video sings "A, B, C, D, E, F, G", stops dead, leans into the camera and asks for M-O-N-E-Y with a dead-serious face and a finger rub. - [Counting Money Meme: You as the Boss Flipping Stacks of Cash](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/counting-money-meme-ai): Add one photo. You stand behind a desk piled with banded cash in a sharp dark suit, flip through a thick stack one bill after another, then fan it out and wave it at the camera with a smug look. - [Clapping Cat: Make Your Pet Grin and Clap Like the Black Cat](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/clapping-cat-ai-video): Your cat or dog sits up, grows two small human hands, flashes a wide human grin and gives you a slow, loud clap, like the black cat clapping meme. One pet photo in, a 6-second clip with clap sounds out. - [Meme Video](https://www.makeviral.ai/tools/meme-video-generator): One line of text, one image, six seconds. The cheapest format to produce and the easiest one to test ten different ways in an afternoon. - [AI TikTok Video](https://www.makeviral.ai/tools/ai-tiktok-video-generator): Eight native TikTok formats, one prompt or product URL, a finished 9:16 video with captions burned in. - [AI photo generator](https://www.makeviral.ai/ai-photo-generator) - [All AI video templates](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates) ## New AI video trends this week - [Jensen Huang AI Video: Take the Wheel Next to the Nvidia CEO](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/jensen-huang-ai-video): The car clip that started the Jensen Huang AI memes, with you at the wheel. Add one photo, and you (or your pet) drive the Nvidia CEO in his black leather jacket, with the clip's own sound. - [Cat Shower AI: Dodge the Water, Dive Under the Blanket](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/cat-shower-ai-trend): The cat scoops the water, pours it over its head and leans away so not one drop hits it. Then it shivers and runs to bed. Add one photo, and you or your pet take the cat's place, with the trend's own sound. - [MobLand Dance AI: Do Paul's Dance From One Photo](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/mobland-paul-dance-ai): Lean in to the camera, step back, then the knee lifts, the little kicks, the shrugs and the hand flicks, with a straight face that keeps breaking into a grin. Add one photo of you or your pet and get the 10 second clip with the music. - [Bad Aim Edit AI Trend: Miss the Target, Then Own the Office](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/bad-aim-edit-ai-trend): You try archery in a grass field and miss the flying target badly. Then a hard cut: a cool black and white office edit in black fight gloves, with a mug, a shh and a walk out the door. Add one photo of you or your pet. - [Favorite Rumors About Us AI: Do the Couple Rumors Trend From Two Photos](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/favorite-rumors-about-us-ai-trend): Two of you stand side by side while the rumors pop up one by one, and whoever the rumor is true for breaks into a goofy dance on the beat. Add two photos and get the clip with the rumor captions and the sound. - [Flashlight Trend: Your Couple Photo on Pure Black With a Warm Rim Light](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/flash-couple-silhouette-ai-photo): Upload a photo of you and one of your partner, or one photo of you two together. You get one vertical photo: the two of you close on a pure black background, a warm light behind you that outlines your hair, and a small white heart in the dark above. ## Make your own Tying My Shoes Meme video Add one photo and press Generate. No prompt to write. 198 credits, charged once. [Make this video](https://www.makeviral.ai/templates/tying-shoes-money-ai-trend/create)