Maybe you have seen the videos on your for you page or a friend has come home after a late night slurring about trivia, but that one TikTok guy you have probably seen is actually Madison’s own. His name is Wyatt Eiden.
Eiden was in New York at the time this interview was conducted, on a work-related trip, as he was invited to Rolling Loud — one of the more glamorous perks of being a content creator.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Wyatt, you are a Wisconsin local hailing from Chippewa Falls. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and how you ended up in Madison, Wisconsin?
Yeah, right up by Eau Claire! I am the youngest of two older brothers who both went to Wisconsin. When it came time to apply, I talked to them and they liked their time at Wisconsin, so I thought it would be a great fit. I applied to UW undecided.
You are a recent graduate — what did you major in?
I graduated in May of 2022, with my Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry. I came in thinking I was going to go into nursing because I liked the healthcare field after my time being a CNA [certified nursing assistant]. From there, I found I loved chemistry so much that I switched into it soon after. I was thinking about going to medical school, but since I found social media, I was busy trying to get out of school and see how far I can go with this.
How did you get started on TikTok – what sparked the idea?
So it all kind of started my sophomore year of college, which was the spring of 2020 when COVID-19 hit. I knew I wanted to be on social media and so that semester I began posting clips just from my camera roll. Gaining an audience means being consistent with whatever it is that you’re doing, and at the time I didn’t really have an account being that I was posting random videos every day. When COVID-19 came and we were all sent home from school, I began working on a tree fort build, so I decided to document it. I made a series out of that and people really seemed to enjoy it — it was something for them to watch that was consistent everyday. I went from there, just continuing with random, fun videos to build up an audience.
When does trivia get incorporated into the mix?
When school started back up, my friends would go out to drink and have a good time downtown, but I was never really a fan of that kind of scene, so I’d sit around wondering what to do. So, I went out to interview, to see how smart drunk college kids are and that’s how it started.
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Who films your videos? Do you do all the editing and audio yourself as well?
I’ve been going for a while now, mainly one-man operated. I have been filming, doing the audio, editing, research, emails and all that jazz — sponsorships too. Recently, I acquired a new set up, a new camera, because I used to film with just my phone and a microphone. Now, it is a lot more detailed, which makes it a bit trickier to do by myself when I film. For stand alone trivia, when it’s just me talking with other people, those will always be filmed by me. My more intricate videos, which require the camera to move, will [have to] be filmed by other people.
The chance of winning $5 by answering five questions … are you part of the creator fund?
I get paid for uploading videos since I am in the creator fund, but it is still my money.
You’ve been sponsored by the likes of Trivia Crack, Crocs and even Kwik Trip. Can you tell me about that undertaking?
My first sponsorship was with a voting campaign to encourage the youth to vote. A friend, a fellow TikToker at the UW, Erin Marie, told me about it and got me on the campaign. My second one was [with] fellow UW students who had a caffeinated chocolate chew that you could take in the morning instead of a cup of coffee. Since then, I’ve worked with a variety of different organizations, people, companies and a plethora of areas around the world. It’s great, I love to meet new people and learn more about all these unique products that people have.
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Can you tell me about some of the behind the scenes of filming on the street? Have drunk people ever been top tier jerks in terms of harassment?
It has been pretty tame. Every time I go film late at night, I have to remind myself that people are inebriated and don’t mean the things they do or say. I’m doing a weird thing too, so I cut them a break and try to keep an open mind about it or brush it off. Some things have happened though, I’ve had people come up to me and not exactly belittle me, but comment on what I’m doing as “dumb,” I’ve gotten a few “why don’t you do something else” — which is pretty mild. I’ve had someone come up and kick my spinning wheel, but most of their friends will be like “hey, that’s not cool.” It’s the camera’s fault, they’ll try to get in the frame. Besides some pretty funny answers, it’s been nothing crazy.
Have you had your stardom moment yet?
I was at the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, visiting a friend for spring break this year and some people down there recognized me from my videos and they asked to take a picture, which is really cool. It baffled me that people outside of Madison or Wisconsin have seen my content.
Have the cops ever hassled you for a permit to film?
Actually, when I was filming down in Georgia, the board of the school or someone with stature there was like, “you can’t film here, this is private property.” They didn’t technically kick me off, but I had to ditch the camera.
Have you thought about your plans for after trivia? You’ve got a face and clearly a presence for TV.
I would love to host a game show. Currently, I am thinking more short term than that, in terms of what I am going to do next year. My full time job is content creating, social media type stuff. I’ve had offers to be on TV or host and other things, but I’d love to hear them all out first. I am trying to take small steps. Sticking with social media for as long as I can, but I want to start my next adventure before this one ends, whether that’s starting a business or finding a new way to be online. It’s all very early but I want to explore all the opportunities.
Any final parting words?
Promote positivity and spread smiles. That’s kind of what I am in it for, you know, spread the next smile I can.
