Speaking Spanish like an abuela, Houston parrot rocks Tiktok
It is very likely that users browsing Tiktok’s discover page or simply scrolling through their home feed have come to hear a small parrot repeat waves of Spanish words and phrases such as “atrapado” (trapped) or “¿vas a trabajar?” (are you going to work?).
That parrot is Bruno, one of Houston’s most popular Tiktok celebrities.
The yellow-naped Amazon parrot — known for his green body the yellow on his head — has soared to great heights in just six months of being on the Tiktok scene, with some of his videos reaching 19 million views.
A possible explanation for his overnight success, according to his budding co-star and owner Jhonatan “Jhono” Manjarrez, is that — for some — Bruno’s pitch and accent reminds viewers of home.
“I think the publicity he is attracting is because he is a parrot who speaks Spanish,” Manjarrez said in a recent interview, adding he had never seen any type of content that involved parrots speaking Spanish in his time browsing social media platforms.
“Now, not only does he speak Spanish, but he also sounds like a grandma or like a mom with (a characteristic) Hispanic mom accent.”
Manjarrez, a 22-year-old Houston native, uploads videos with Bruno on his Tiktok account @jhono. official and has garnered 1.1 million followers in part for his interactions with the charming bird.
“People don’t really see parrots that speak fluent sentences,” he said. “They hear birds say only a few words, but with Bruno it is full-on phrases.”
Some of Bruno’s favorite utterances include “¿vas a comer?” (are you going to eat?), “donde esta Bruno?” (where is Bruno?) and “cansado” (tired).
Recently, he started mixing “potato” into his regular rotation: “potato para Bruno” (potato for Bruno).
Sounds like his mom
Manjarrez said Bruno has learned all of these and more from listening to Manjarrez’s mother speak Spanish while on the phone.
“I remember two months into him moving in with us I woke up early thinking: ‘Why is my mom up so early?’ ” Manjarrez said. “And I went to check and it was just Bruno talking exactly like her. It is pretty crazy how he can mimic my mom’s voice.”
For Manjarrez, it is very important to show viewers that his relationship and interactions with Bruno are very natural.
“I never record just to make content, I record for fun,” he said. “After a while, I started improvising. I started adding subtitles and other effects. But all of the videos are not scripted, I just recorded my conversations with him.”
Tiktok is the perfect platform for Bruno, Manjarrez said, due to the brevity of the videos.
“With Tiktok you can post a short video and it just draws people’s attention,” Manjarrez said, adding that other platforms like Youtube require longer videos to truly be considered enjoyable content.
Bruno’s initial rise to stardom came out of nowhere, Manjarrez said, noting that watching Bruno’s meteoric ascent into Tiktok fame felt like a surreal experience.
“I have always wanted to go into the entertainment industry or go into social media. I had this feeling that one day I would get some type of publicity,” Manjarrez said. “Just to find that over a million people found that (first) video, it was crazy. It was a pretty exciting moment.”
Getting recognized
But their relationship wasn’t always that close, Manjarrez recalled. Bruno, now 10, didn’t always like Manjarrez, but the soon-tobe University of Houston graduate attributes their serendipitous new bond to their newfound venture as content creators.
“As soon as that first video blew up, I don’t know what happened, but he just started hanging out with me,” he said. “He started following me around , and after a while, he always wanted to be in my room. He always wanted to be on my shoulder and instead of going with my mom he always wanted to come with me.”
Their online following, Manjarrez said, has already translated into microcelebrity fame. For Bruno, this means fans send him toys and other presents that are unboxed in a Tik Tok video.
As for Manjarrez, he and his mother have already been recognized by fans in Houston.
“There’s one time I remember I went to IHOP with my mom and my nephew and this group of four high schoolers walked in and I heard one of them ask if that was me,” he said. “When I looked, all of them were staring at me. It was pretty crazy.”
As far as goals in the short term, Manjarrez says he plans to have a merchandise drop due to growing fan requests for apparel featuring one of Tiktok’s most popular parrots.
Said Manjarrez, “As a long-term goal, I want to keep posting videos and hopefully keep his popularity growing.”