Brooke Allison Brodack (born April 7, 1986), known online as Brookers, is one of the earliest

YouTubers YouTubers are people mostly known for their work on the video sharing platform YouTube. The following is a list of YouTubers for whom Wikipedia has articles either under their own name or their YouTube channel name. This list excludes people wh ...

. Brodack, a receptionist from

Holden, Massachusetts Holden is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. The town was founded in 1741, and the Town Square (Center, Common) was donated by John Hancock, former Governor of Massachusetts. The population was 19,905 at the 2020 census. H ...

, first began uploading short comedy skits to

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

in September 2005. She was offered a contract from

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

show host Carson Daly in 2006, before YouTubers were able to monetize their videos, but nothing came of it. Brodack briefly had the most-subscribed YouTube channel. ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' called her "the first real YouTube star." Brodack moved in with fellow YouTuber

iJustine Justine Ezarik ( ; born March 20, 1984) is an American YouTuber. She is best known as iJustine, with over one billion views on her YouTube channel. She gained attention as a lifecaster who communicated directly with her millions of viewers on ...

, but afterwards deleted her channel and moved to

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is the second largest city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district and is situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River, from the state capita ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. She relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

in early 2017.

Early life

Brodack was born in

Putnam, Connecticut Putnam is a town in Windham County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,224 at the 2020 census. History Putnam, originally known as Aspinock, then part of Killingly, is a New England mill town incorporated in 1855. Created from se ...

. She has been making videos since she was nine years old. Graduating from

Wachusett Regional High School Wachusett Regional High School (abbv. WRHS) is located in Holden, Massachusetts, United States and services the Wachusett Regional School District. Founded in 1955, WRSD comprises Holden, Paxton, Princeton, Rutland, and Sterling. William Bea ...

, she then attended college at

Worcester State College Worcester State University (WSU) is a public university in Worcester, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1874 and enrolls nearly 5,500 undergraduates and over 900 graduate students. History Founded in 1874 as the Massachusetts State Normal Sch ...

Quinsigamond Community College Quinsigamond Community College ()('' colloq:'' QCC, Quinsig) is a public community college in Worcester, Massachusetts. It has an enrollment of over 7,000 students. Many students are enrolled in the college's transfer program, MassTransfer, with ...

and

Mount Wachusett Community College Mount Wachusett Community College (MWCC) is a public community college in Gardner, Massachusetts. Established by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1963, it features an open admissions policy for the majority of its academic programs. MWCC of ...

, ultimately

dropping out Dropping out refers to leaving high school, college, university or another group for practical reasons, necessities, inability, apathy, or disillusionment with the system from which the individual in question leaves. Canada In Canada, most ind ...

of all three. Brodack worked from 2003 to 2006 as a receptionist and hostess at the 99 Restaurant, and she volunteered (2003–2005) for the NEADS program (Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans) in

Sterling, Massachusetts Sterling is a town in Worcester County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 7,985 at the 2020 census. History Sterling was first settled by Europeans in 1720 and was officially incorporated in 1781. Previous to its incorporation it was " ...

. Brodack lived in

with her mother and younger sister, working as a receptionist.

Internet Success

Brodack began posting her short comedic videos on her "Brookers"

channel in September 2005. By June 2006, she was offered an 18-month development contract from Carson Daly, the host of a late night show on

, but nothing ever came of it. From July 3 to August 17, 2006, her "Brookers" channel was the most-subscribed on YouTube. She was named a "Crossover Star" by ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' on its New Media Power List on July 29, 2006. Brookers directed, edited and performed in her early videos, most of which were set at her family home in

. ''

'' has called her videos "defiantly madcap." Her single-most popular video, "Crazed Numa Fan!!!!", a

lip-sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , the same as the word ''sink'', short for lip synchronization) is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements with sung or spoken vocals. Audio for lip syncing is generated th ...

parody of an earlier Internet meme,

Numa Numa Dance Nuclear mitotic apparatus protein 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''NUMA1'' gene. Interactions Nuclear mitotic apparatus protein 1 has been shown to interact with PIM1, Band 4.1, GPSM2 G-protein-signaling modulator 2, also call ...

Gary Brolsma "Numa Numa" () is an Internet meme based on a video by American vlogger Gary Brolsma made after the song "Dragostea Din Tei" as performed by Moldovan pop group O-Zone. Brolsma's video, entitled "Numa Numa Dance", was released on December 6, 20 ...

(itself a parody of "

Dragostea din tei "Dragostea Din Tei" (; official English title: "Words of Love", also informally known as "Maya Hi" and "Numa Numa") is a song by Moldovan pop group O-Zone, released as the second single from their third studio album, ''DiscO-Zone'' (2004). The s ...

" by

O-Zone O-Zone was a Moldovan Eurodance group that was active from 1999 to 2019. Originating in 1998 as a duo consisting of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi before the latter's departure, their official trio lineup in 1999 consisted of Dan Bălan, R ...

), was viewed on YouTube over 8.2 million times. Her younger sister, Melissa "Missy" Brodack, performed alongside her in many videos, including "Crazed Numa Fan!!!!" Her video "Chips," a

spoof Spoof, spoofs, spoofer, or spoofing may refer to: * Forgery of goods or documents * Semen, in Australian slang * Spoof (game), a guessing game * Spoofing (finance), a disruptive algorithmic-trading tactic designed to manipulate markets __NOTOC__ ...

suspense drama about eating potato chips, was called "brilliant" by ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cu ...

'', which has listed it among the "great moments in YouTube history." From August 2006 to April 2007, she played a large role on a Daly-hosted, NBC-sponsored video contest website, It's Your Show TV posting many videos there. She appeared on ''

The Tyra Banks Show ''The Tyra Banks Show'', also known as and shortened to ''Tyra'' or ''The Tyra Show'', was an American talk show hosted by Tyra Banks that aired from 2005 to 2010. While Banks's show covered a variety of topics, there was a sensationalized focus ...

'' (December 6, 2006), as a judge for a student video competition. In February 2007, she appeared alongside other early YouTube stars in "The Sound of Your Voice," a viral music video for Barenaked Ladies. From May 2007 to March 2008, Brookers had her own web channel, brookebrodack.tv, which was offered through www.me.tv, a new service Daly helped to found. She participated in the 777 (July 7, 2007) YouTube gathering in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. In November 2007, she released, "Ozzy's Magical Glasses n' Stuff," a viral video advertisement for a live auction of

Ozzy Osbourne John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne (born 3 December 1948) is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. He rose to prominence during the 1970s as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Black Sabbath, during which period he adop ...

items on the

Auction Network Auction Network is a 24-hour Internet and cable television channel that allows viewers to participate remotely in auctions taking place throughout the world. Viewers become “virtual bidders” in live auctions of items, including automobiles, co ...

, for which she was paid "a solid five figures" by the Palisades Media Group.

Later Life

From mid 2013 to early 2017, she lived in

, working on video workshop lectures in collaboration with Design Infinium. As of February 2017, she relocated to Los Angeles. On July 12, 2017, Brodack deleted her YouTube account. She also deleted her Twitter and set her Instagram profile to private. In mid-2018, she returned to YouTube on a new self-titled channel. This channel also no longer exists. In 2019 Brodack created a new YouTube channel.

References

External links

Myspace profileYoutube profile, old and terminated channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brodack, Brooke 1986 births Living people People from Holden, Massachusetts People from Putnam, Connecticut Actresses from Massachusetts American YouTubers Comedy YouTubers Viral videos YouTube vloggers 21st-century American women Number-one YouTube channels in subscribers

Early life

Internet Success

Later Life

See also

References

Further reading

Books

Articles and videos

External links