A long line of eager students filed up the stairs of the Student Center last Wednesday to see the special guest they had once seen on their television screen. Creed Bratton, known for playing Creed on the hit show “The Office”, came to Sonoma State University and put on a comedic, musical mash-up for students. 

That crowd quickly filled up the Student Center Ballroom just before the event was scheduled to begin. Talk about Bratton and the show could be heard throughout the rows of anxious and electrified students. 

“Excited is an understatement,” freshman Brandon Jolly said, who is a big fan of “The Office” and Creed himself.

A few moments after being announced to come on stage, a man in a blue shirt holding a guitar walked through the side doors of the ballroom and students began clapping and cheering his name. 

Bratton walked up to the stage and began gently strumming his guitar only to interrupt himself and begin to explain the song he was about to play. The song, oddly enough, was actually a shopping list he heard from his travels in Europe and continued to play it as students giggled.

He began his talk with mentions of him getting here on his scooter which brought laughs from the audience. He then asked the audience for participation as he portrayed his character from “The Office”. Soon after he began talking about himself and being adopted by asian parents. 

“[They] made pretty good chow mein. I wanted chop suey but they said ‘that is too complicated. Chow mein good’.”’

He then played and sang another song called “Secret Agent Man” by P.F. Sloan and after, played his own original song titled “Down the way of Rome”, and mentioned that it was the second audience he’s played it to. 

After two songs, Creed began talking about how he was soon going on a European tour. As the audience awed in excitement, they were soon played for fools as he leaned to his side and spoke to his manager through an earpiece and confessed that he is actually going to Chico.

 “That part caught me off guard and had me dying because I actually believed him,” junior Zuleyma Fernandez said. 

Following the joke, he played “Where were you when I needed you”  and “Live for today” by Grass Roots. 

As the show went on, Bratton talked about his lifestyle and how he tries to keep busy since “The Office”. He mentioned to the audience that he works out, does yoga and eats well as part of attempting to inspire students to be healthy. He also mentioned that the water he drinks is of the purest form. “[It’s] from the Arctic Circle and filtered through Johnny Depp’s hair,” Bratton said. 

He then talked about a few characters from “The Office” and followed by a song with the lyrics, “Hey mose, get out of the way”. As the audience began to sing along, he then stopped halfway to talk to his manager again. Towards the end of his performance, he sang a song that was featured in the finale of “The Office” called “All the faces”. This received a standing ovation and soon after Bratton quickly ran off the stage and out the ballroom. 

However, not 30 seconds later he returned for an encore. He then played a funky song called, “The Rubber Tree Dance” from season two of “The Office” which got the audience pumped up and singing along one last time.

After his humorous and musical performance, Creed had a quick Q&A with the audience where he was asked a variety of questions ranging from what his favorite improv was on “The Office” to who he thought was going to win the SuperBowl this year, to which he replied “That’s football?”