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Elderly couple, Bruce and Esther Huffman, become Internet hit without knowing it

Some young people go to extreme lengths trying to become Internet sensations, but an elderly couple has achieved that without even trying. In fact, they didn't even know the video was recording when they made it.

Less than a month ago, Bruce and Esther Huffman, who live in a retirement community in Oregon, upgraded to a new laptop. They got an Aqua One because Esther liked the colour.

Their granddaughter tried to teach them how to use the new webcam and must have done some things correctly because the couple managed to record themselves. They just didn't know it.

For almost three minutes the couple, who were trying to take a still picture, stared into the camera wondering how to capture a photo. They may not have captured any still photos, but they did manage to hit record on the video function and spent three minutes making goofy faces and just being themselves.

Bruce tells ABC News Esther looked like "the wicked witch of the west," although he was the one making monkey faces, singing and burping into the camera.

"That's a pretty good monkey," Bruce says in the video.

"Why won't it take a picture," says Esther, who seems to be more concerned about capturing a photo. "I took one before by accident."

Their granddaughter saw the file on their computer and posted it to YouTube with the title "webcam 101 for seniors." The video quickly went viral making the candid elderly couple Internet celebrities.

Making monkey faces may seem like an odd thing, but Bruce has a perfectly good explanation for doing it.

"When I was eight years old, my uncle paid me five cents if I'd make a monkey face and I've been working on it all these years," Bruce tells KATU. "I never knew it'd make me famous. He's up in heaven and he'd be amazed at what's going on right here, right now."