Brittany Broski visits campus for HP’s Comedic Conversations

Students gather around the stage at the Rat on Friday, April 22. Photo credit: Michael Mok

For Robert Pattinson enthusiasts, TikTok addicts and kombucha skeptics, their dreams came true this past Friday at the Rathskeller.

Internet star and comedian Brittany Broski visited campus as a part of Hurricane Productions’ annual Comedic Conversations event.

Broski, who originally rose to fame after a TikTok video of her tasting kombucha went viral, currently has 6.8 million followers on the app, including over 1 million subscribers on YouTube and over 954,000 followers on Instagram.

The Rathskeller reached full capacity with students eager to hear from Broski.

Students gather around the stage at the Rat on Friday, April 22.
Students gather around the stage at the Rat on Friday, April 22. Photo credit: Michael Mok

Students in attendance also received a ticket redeemable for one food item, cheekily referred to as “Broski Bites.”

“We have been planning this event over the past five months, deciding on everything from the venue and marketing plan to giveaways and logistics,” said Nkosi Robinson, a senior who serves as HP’s Daytime and Special Events chair.

“Our committees met separately every week, and Sarah and I met together weekly to go over what we discussed in our separate meetings and the plan of action for the future,” Robinson continued. “Our advisors were instrumental in getting everything together and keeping us on track for the planning of the show.”

The discussion, moderated by Robinson and HP executive board member Sarah Hutchinson tackled Broski’s advice on college, thoughts on internet stardom and her latest pop culture takes.

“I think it’s such a strange intersection of reality that I’ve been a part of,” Broski said at the event.

“From going to college and having that normal college kid experience and then being trampoline-jumped into this whole David Dobrik, Jake Paul ass world that I hate 80% of the time just because of the people. But the opportunities that I get and the people I get to meet I would say is a high of the business for sure,” Broski said.

Comedic Conversations was previously held virtually in the past year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as most student organization events were.

This was the first in-person Comedic Conversations event since the pandemic.

“I was the chair of the Rathskeller Advisory Board last year, so I had to plan the virtual show and host it,” said Megan Valcq, the current president of HP.

“It’s not the same experience as being able to be in-person. So I’m really excited for everyone to be together in the Rat and get to see this performance. I hope it’ll be good energy and hopefully a good show,” Valcq said.

Throughout the entire event, Broski kept the audience engaged and laughing out loud. She even declared those in attendance as official members of “Broski Nation,” the name of her internet fanbase.

“The event went very well tonight,” Robinson said. “We had a very good turnout, and Brittany really appreciated all the love UM showed her.”