Miss Bruno

Submission 13,021

Part of a series on TikTok. [View Related Entries]

About

Miss Bruno, formerly known pre-transition as Mr. Bruno, is the online handle of TikTok comedian and musician Ramona Dowd, known for her unusual video style, exaggerated mannerisms, large prescription glasses and intense unblinking stare. After the user went viral on TikTok in late July 2020, in August 2020 her videos reached explosive popularity on other platforms, becoming popular source material for edits. In November 2022, Dowd announced her transition and started using she/her pronouns.

Online History

On March 22nd, 2020, @mr.brun0 (now @miss.brun0) created her TikTok^[1] account (originally named infantmotorist), initially posting videos of herself playing guitar^[2] and other miscellaneous content. By July 17th, 2020, the account gained 420 followers.^[3] On July 22nd, 2020, @miss.brun0 posted her first viral video^[4] which received over 7.9 million views and 1.8 million likes in one month (now deleted). As of July 26th 2020, miss.brun0 had over 10,000 followers.^[5]

Starting in late July 2020, Miss Bruno incorporated the style of her first viral video into more of her content, with more of her videos going viral on TikTok in the following weeks. For example, a July 28th video posted^[6] by Miss Bruno received over 13.8 million views and 2.9 million likes (now deleted). A TikTok^[7] posted on July 29th gained over 8 million views and 1.6 million likes (now deleted). A 9 + 10 = 21 TikTok^[8] posted by Miss Bruno on August 1st gained over 6.5 million views and 1.1 million views (now deleted).

On August 11th, 2020, Miss Bruno's TikTok^[9] account reached one million subscribers. As of August 27th, 2020, she had nearly two million followers (compilation of videos uploaded up to August 2020 shown below).

Following the viral spread of Miss Bruno's content on TikTok, it also spread to other platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. For example, on August 8th, Twitter^[10] account @OutOfContextEv reposted a duet^[11] between TikTokers Miss Bruno and Gemini, with the video gaining over 330,700 views on Twitter in three weeks.

Use in Memes

Multiple viral videos by Miss Bruno have been used as source material for memes. On August 4th, 2020, Instagram^[12] user plexx.exe posted one of the earliest memes based on a video by Ms. Bruno (shown below, left, slide five). The post received over 4,200 likes in three weeks.

On August 14th and 16th, 2020, Instagram^[13]^[14] user elias.mp4_ posted two edits based on TikToks by Miss Bruno which received over 26,700 views and 23,200 views, respectively (shown below, center and right).

In the following days, more content creators posted edits based on Miss Bruno's videos, including notable edits by nayx.gun,^[15] notkinghill^[16] and toucher_of_cancer.^[17]

2022 Transition

On November 2nd, 2022, @miss.brun0 posted a video to TikTok^[19] about having gender dysphoria where she shows herself in a crop top set to Charles Bradley's "Changes," garnering over 2 million views in a month. On November 9th, she posted a video to TikTok^[20] showing then and now photographs showcasing her transition, writing, "hi, I’m Ramona, and you’re watching didnee chanol," garnering over 3.6 million views in a similar span of time (shown below).

While many supported the transition, Miss Bruno also received some transphobic comments following her coming out as trans, including TikTokers who made video compilations mocking her transition. On November 13th, she posted a video to TikTok reacting to some of these videos and calling out her haters, garnering over 1.7 million views in a month (shown below).

On November 16th, miss.brun0.official made a post to Instagram^[21] announcing her transition along with a photograph of herself, writing:

it’s made me big big happy to come out, and I’ve only just begun. So many changes to make, so much time to say that I have so little time. thanks to everyone who’s sent me nice words; it makes it all the more comforting to be myself publicly :)

Personal Life

Mona "Miss Bruno" Dowd resides in Chicago, United States.^[18] She is the child of local musician Gerald Dowd and has played guitar at her father's live performances.