"The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. The frame is intimate, and after such an intense special, something about that intimacy feels almost dangerous, like you should be preparing for some kind of emotional jump scare. You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. They Cloned Tyrone. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. This sketch, like the "White Woman Instagram" song, shows one of Burnham's writing techniques of bringing a common Internet culture into a fictionalized bit. The reason he started making this special, he explains in the show, is to distract himself from shooting himself in the head, the first of several mentions of suicide (including one in which he tells viewers to just dont). It's as if Burnham is showing how wholesale judgments about the way people choose to use social media can gloss over earnest, genuine expressions of love and grief being shared online. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. And maybe the rest of us are ready, too. Might not help but still it couldn't hurt. It's wonderful to be with you. Anything and everything all of the time. The result, a special titled "Inside," shows all of Burnham's brilliant instincts of parody and meta-commentary on the role of white, male entertainers in the world and of poisons found in internet culture that digital space that gave him a career and fostered a damaging anxiety disorder that led him to quit performing live comedy after 2015. But the cultural standards of what is appropriate comedy and also the inner standards of my own mind have changed rapidly since I was 16. Underneath the Steve Martin-like formal trickery has always beaten the heaving heart of a flamboyantly dramatic theater kid. But look, I made you some content. Theres a nostalgic sweetness to this song, but parts of it return throughout the show, in darker forms, one of many variations on a theme. The first half is dominated by sharp, silly satires of the moment, like a visually precise and hilarious song about social media vanity, White Womans Instagram, and a commercial for a woke brand consultant.
Bo Burnham Like, what is it? We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." "I didn't perform for five years," he says. Here's a little bit of that.
Bo Some of the narrative of the show can be indulgently overheated, playing into clichs about the process of the brooding artist, but Burnham has anticipated this and other criticisms, and integrated them into the special, including the idea that drawing attention to potential flaws fixes them. Tell us a little bit more about that. As he shows in this new sketch, he's aware at a meta level that simply trying to get ahead of the criticism that could be tossed his way is itself a performance sometimes. But we weren't. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. "And so today I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. Its a visual that signifies a man exposing himself, until you realize hes in a spotlight. Under the movies section, there's a bubble that says "sequel to classic comedy that everyone watches and then pretends never happened" and "Thor's comebacks.". A college student navigates life and school while dealing with a unique predicament he's living with a beautiful former K-pop sensation. It's so good to hear your voice. The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism.
Bo Burnham Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. Under stand up, Burnham wrote "Middle-aged men protecting free speech by humping stools and telling stories about edibles" and "podcasts. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. Unpaid Intern isnt just about unpaid internships; when your livelihood as an artist depends on your perceived closeness with each individual fan, fetching a coffee becomes telling someone theyre valid when they vent to you like they would a friend (or a therapist). WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. And notably, Burnhams work focuses on parasocial relationships not from the perspective of the audience, but the perspective of the performer.Inside depicts how being a creator can feel: you are a cult leader, you are holding your audience hostage, your audience is holding you hostage, you are your audience, your audience can never be you, you need your audience, and you need to escape your audience.
A Detailed Breakdown of How Bo Burnham Hes been addressing us the entire time. When Burnham's character decides he doesn't want to actually hear criticism from Socko, he threatens to remove him, prompting Socko's subservience once again, because "that's how the world works.". Daddy made you your favorite, open wide.".
Bo Burnham Likewise, the finale of Burnhams next special, Make Happy (2016) closes in a song called Handle This (Kanye Rant). The song starts as him venting his hyperbolically small problems, until the tone shifts, and he starts directly addressing the audience, singing: The truth is, my biggest problem is you / [. Hes bedraggled, increasingly unshaven, growing a Rasputin-like beard. I cant say how Burnham thinks or feels with any authority, but as text and form-driven comedy, Inside urges the audience to reflect on how they interact with creators. He had a role in the film "Promising Young Woman." HOLMES: Thank you. Burnham is also the main character in the game, a character who is seen moving mechanically around a room. The tropes he says you may find on a white woman's Instagram page are peppered with cultural appropriation ("a dreamcatcher bought from Urban Outfitters") and ignorant political takes ("a random quote from 'Lord of the Rings' misattributed to Martin Luther King"). WebA Girl and an Astronaut. But Burnham is of course the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. As energetic as the song "S---" is, it's really just another clear message about the mental disorder that has its grips in Burnham (or at least the version of him we're seeing in this special). Burnham reacts to his reaction to his reaction to his reaction, focusing so intently on his body and image that he panics, stops the videoand then smiles at his audience, thanking them for watching. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. This line comes full circle by the end of the special, so keep it in mind. But it doesn't. begins with the question "Is it mean?" WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. And that can be a really - if you're not very good at it, that kind of thing, where there's a balance between sort of the sarcastic and ironic versus the very sincere can be really exhausting. At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. WebBo Burnham: Inside is a 2021 special written, directed, filmed, edited, and performed by American comedian Bo Burnham. When we saw that projection the first time, Burnham's room was clean and orderly. At the end of the song, "Inside" cuts to a shot of Burnham watching his own video on a computer in the dark. Theyre complicated. 20. In the song Problematic, Burnham sings about his past problematic behavior, asking the audience, Isnt anyone going to hold me accountable? The specials intermission looks like a clear view into Burnhams room, until Burnham washes a window between himself and the viewer an explicit, but invisible, boundary between creator and audience. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. It moves kind of all over the place. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. I've been singing that song for about a week NOW. ", The Mayo Clinic defines depersonalization-derealization disorder as occurring "when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both. So he has, for example, a song in which he adopts the persona of a kind of horror movie carnival barker, you might call it, who is trying to sell people the internet. Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt.". In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? Burnham spoofs a PewDiePie-like figure a YouTuber who narrates his playing of a video game with a dead-eyed smugness, as shown in an image at the bottom-right corner of the screen. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. Burnham watching the end of his special on a projector also brings the poioumenon full circle the artist has finished their work and is showing you the end of the process it took to create it. From the very beginning of "Inside," Burnham makes it clear that the narrative arc of the special will be self-referential. Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. On June 9, Burnham released the music from the special in an album titled Inside (The Songs), which hit No. Not only is this whiteboard a play on the classic comedy rule that "tragedy plus time equals comedy," but it's a callback to Burnham's older work. Only he knows. He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. The voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. Who Were We Running From? At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside,". Inside takes topics discussed academically, analytically, and delivers them to a new audience through the form of a comedy special by a widely beloved performer. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. An existential dread creeps in, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. This is a heartbreaking chiding coming from Burnham's own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. ", And last but not least, for social media he put "sexually pranking unsuspecting women at public beaches" and "psychologically abusive parents making rube goldberg machines" alongside "white people using GIFs of Black people widening their eyes.". Yes, Bo Burnham posted a trailer via Twitter on April 28, 2021. "Robert's been a little depressed," he sings (referring to himself by his birthname). If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform.
Bo Burnham He was alone. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. If "All Eyes on Me" sounds disconcertingly comforting to you, it could be because you can recognize the mental symptoms of a mood disorder like depression. And now depression has its grips in him. Its horrific.". Most creator-made content online is available for free, meaning creators usually have to rely on their fans for income via crowdfunding like Patreon. MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on? 7 on the Top 200. WebOn a budget. His 2014 song Repeat Stuff and its music video parodies how boy bands and other corporately-owned pop stars prey on young fans desire to feel loved by writing songs with lyrics vague enough anyone can feel like it was written specifically about them. WebA grieving woman magically travels through time to 1998, where she meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to her late love. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. He grabs the camera and swings it around in a circle as the song enters another chorus, and a fake audience cheers in the background. It's like the mental despair of the last year has turned into a comfort. Its easy to see Unpaid Intern as one scene and the reaction videos as another, but in the lens of parasocial relationships, digital media, and workers rights, the song and the reactions work as an analysis for another sort of labor exploitation: content creation. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy.