Bo Burnham And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. 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. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. But I described it to a couple of people as, you know, this looks like what the inside of my head felt like because of his sort of restlessness, his desire to create, create, create. Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. When we see it again towards the end of the special, it's from a new camera angle. I think you're getting from him, you know, the entertainment element. HOLMES: Yeah. Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. But Burnham is of course the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. Open wide.. Still terrified of that spotlight? Theres always been a tension in his comedy between an ironic, smarty-pants cleverness and an often melodramatic point of view. I got better. Good. MARTIN: And it's deep, too. (The question is no longer, Do you want to buy Wheat Thins?, for example. Burnham says he had quit live comedy several years ago because of panic attacks and returned in January 2020 before, as he puts it in typical perverse irony, the funniest thing happened.
The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. That quiet simplicity doesn't feel like a relief, but it is. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. BURNHAM: (Singing) The live-action "Lion King," the Pepsi halftime show, 20,000 years of this, seven more to go. Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. Burnhams 2013 special, what., culminates in Burnham, the performer, reacting to pre-recorded versions of himself playing people from his life reacting to his work and fame, trying to capitalize on their tenuous relationship with him. Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. It's full circle from the start of the special, when Burnham sang about how he's been depressed and decided to try just getting up, sitting down, and going back to work. But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? The song, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, and the various conversations they're having trying to figure it out. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. When you're a kid and you're stuck in your room, you'll do any old s--- to get out of it.". WebBo Burnham's "Inside" special on Netflix is an incredibly detailed musical-comedy artwork. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. Because there's also a little bit Bo Burnham the character in this almost. It's an emergence from the darkness. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. Thank you so much for joining us. "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. 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). I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. The global pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders of March 2020 put a stop to these plans. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. Instead, thanks to his ultra-self-aware style, he seems to always get ahead of criticism by holding himself accountable first. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. HOLMES: Yeah. The song is a pitched-down Charli XCX-styled banger of a ballad has minimal lyrics that are mostly just standard crowd instructions: put your hands up, get on your feet. But he's largely been given a pass by his fans, who praise his self-awareness and new approach. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. But usually there is one particular voice that acts as a disembodied narrator character, some omniscient force that needles Burnham in the middle of his stand up (like the voice in "Make Happy" that interrupts Burnham's set to call him the f-slur). Not putting a name on parasocial relationships makes the theme less didactic, more blurred while still being astutesuch sharp focus on the eyes, you dont notice the rest of the face fades into shades of blue. In another scene, Burnham gives a retroactive disclaimer to discussions of his suicidal ideation by telling the audience, And if youre out there and youre struggling with suicidal thoughts and you want to kill yourself, I just wanna tell you Dont! Look Whos Inside Again is largely a song about being creative during quarantine, but ends with Now come out with your hands up, weve got you surrounded, a reflection on police violence but also being mobbed by his fans. Only he knows. "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. When that future-Burnham appears, it's almost like a precursor to what he'll have shown us by the end of the special: That both he, and his audience, could never have known just how brutal the next year was about to be. Burnham's creative background began with being a theater then he transitioned to musical-comedy. Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. HOLMES: Right. Or DM a girl and groom her, do a Zoomer, find a tumor in her HOLMES: And this is what the chorus of that song sounds like. The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. He's showing us how terrifying it can be to present something you've made to the world, or to hear laughter from an audience when what you were hoping for was a genuine connection.
Bo Burnham In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. But it doesn't. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. The comedians lifetime online explains the heart of most of his new songs, I made you some content, comedian Bo Burnham sings in the opening moments of his new Netflix special, Inside. The special was nominated for six Emmy Awards in 2021, of which it won three: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Music Direction. The scene cuts to black and we see Burnham waking up in his small pull-out couch bed, bookending the section of the special that started when him going to sleep. Remember how Burnham's older, more-bearded self popped up at the beginning of "Inside" when we were watching footage of him setting up the cameras and lighting? Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. But the lyrics Burnham sings seem to imply that he wants to be held accountable for thoughtless and offensive jokes of his past: "Father please forgive me for I did not realize what I did, or that I'd live to regret it, times are changing and I'm getting old, are you gonna hold me accountable?". Its folly to duplicate the feel of a live set, so why not fully adjust to the screen and try to make something as visually ambitious as a feature?
I'm talking to you, get the f--- up.". Look at them, they're just staring at me, like 'Come and watch the skinny kid with a steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself. I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? For the song "Comedy," Burnham adopts a persona adjacent to his real life self a white male comedian who is driven to try and help make the world a better place. "And I spent that time trying to improve myself mentally. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. Other artists have made works on the wavelength of Repeat Stuff, but few creators with a platform as large as Burnhams return to the topic over and over, touching on it in almost all of their works. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube.
Inside He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. Burnham achieved a similar uncanny sense of realism in his movie "Eighth Grade," the protagonist of which is a 13-year-old girl with extreme social anxiety who makes self-help YouTube videos. The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, #1 on the Comedy Albums chart, and #18 on the Independent Albums chart. To save you the time freeze-framing, here's the complete message: "No pressure by the way at any point we can stop i just want to make sure ur comfortable all this and please dont feel obligated to send anything you dont want to just cuz i want things doesnt mean i should get them and its sometimes confusing because i think you enjoy it when i beg and express how much i want you but i dont ever want that to turn into you feeling pressured into doing something you don't want or feeling like youre disappointing me this is just meant to be fun and if at any point its not fun for you we can stop and im sorry if me saying this is killing the mood i just like ". Its a stupid song, and, uh, it doesnt really mean anything. The video continues. Please enter a valid email and try again. Daddy made you your favorite. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. ", "I do not think my intention was homophobic, but what is the implicit comedy of that song if you chase it all the way down? I'm sitting down, writing jokes, singing silly songs, I'm sorry I was gone. Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. that shows this exact meta style. Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. The penultimate song, "All Eyes On Me," is the best in the whole special, in this writer's opinion. This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". Long before the phrase parasocial relationship had entered the mainstream zeitgeist, Burnhams work discussed the phenomenon. 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. Come and watch the skinny kid with a / Steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts / To give you what he cannot give himself. Like Struccis Fake Friends documentary, this song is highlighted in Anuska Dhars video essay, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness. Burnhams work consistently addresses his relationship with his audience, the ways he navigates those parasocial relationships, and how easy they can be to exploit. 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. ", "On September 17, the clock began counting down from seven years, 103 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes and seven seconds, displayed in red," the Smithsonian reported. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. "The poioumenon is calculated to offer opportunities to explore the boundaries of fiction and reality the limits of narrative truth," Fowler wrote in his book "A History of English Literature.". Tell us a little bit more about that. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. In the song "That Funny Feeling," Burnham mentions these two year spans without further explanation, but it seems like he's referencing the "critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. 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. In recent years, he has begun directing other comics specials, staging stand-up sets by Chris Rock and Jerrod Carmichael with his signature extreme close-ups. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. Burnham says he had quit live comedy several years ago because of panic attacks and returned in January 2020 before, as he puts it in typical perverse irony, the funniest thing happened.. 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. MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on?
Bo Burnham You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. "They say it's like the 'me' generation. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. That's when the younger Burnham, the one from the beginning of his special-filming days, appears. My heart hurts with and for him. The question is now, Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?). Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. The song's melody is oddly soothing, and the lyrics are a sly manifestation of the way depression convinces you to stay in its abyss ("It's almost over, it's just begun. On the Netflix special, however, Josh Senior is credited as a producer, Cooper Wehde is an assistant producer, and a number of people are credited for post-production, editing, and logistical coordinating.
Bo Burnham Anyone can read what you share. Get up. He uploaded it to YouTube, a then barely-known website that offered an easy way for people to share videos, so he could send it to his brother. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. 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. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. Like, what is it? "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. Underneath the Steve Martin-like formal trickery has always beaten the heaving heart of a flamboyantly dramatic theater kid.
Bo Burnham: Inside - The 10 Funniest Quotes From The Netflix Special Its an instinct I have for all my work to have some deeper meaning or something. The tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? "This show is called 'what.,' and I hope there are some surprises for you," he says as he goes to set down the water bottle. And it has a lot of very clever and very quick wordplay about the specific things you can get on the internet. "That's a good start. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. "The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all," is another of Burnham's lyrics in this song that seems to speak to the idea that civilization is nearing collapse, and also touches on suicidal ideation. "Goodbye sadness, hello jokes!". Went out to look for a reason to hide again. Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform. Got it? People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. And now depression has its grips in him. While the other songs have abrupt endings, or harsh transitions, "That Funny Feeling" simply fades quietly into darkness perhaps the way Burnham imagines the ending of it all will happen. The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. On June 9, Burnham released the music from the special in an album titled Inside (The Songs), which hit No. At the second level of the reaction video, Burnham says: "I'm being a little pretentious. A college student navigates life and school while dealing with a unique predicament he's living with a beautiful former K-pop sensation. In the song, Burnham specifically mentions looking up "derealization," a disorder that may "feel like you're living in a dream. Then, the video keeps going past the runtime of the song and into that reaction itself. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." Web9/10. ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake.
Bo Burnham "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. 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. I mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". Next in his special, Burnham performs a sketch song about being an unpaid intern, and then says he's going to do a "reaction" video to the song in classic YouTube format. And like those specials, Inside implores fans to think about deeper themes as well as how we think about comedy as a genre. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Its an origin story of sorts. As we explained in this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside," Bo Burnham's newest special is a poioumenon a type of artistic work that tells the story of its own creation. But then the video keeps playing, and so he winds up reacting to his own reaction, and then reacting yet again to that reaction. The vocal key used in "All Eyes On Me" could be meant to represent depression, an outside force that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. HOLMES: Well, logically enough, let's go out on the closing song. The comedy special perfectly encapsulated the world's collective confusion, frustration, and exhaustion amid ongoing pandemic lockdowns, bringing a quirky spin to the ongoing existential terror that was the year 2020. Under the TV section, he has "adults playing twister" (something he referenced in "Make Happy" when he said that celebrity lip-syncing battles were the "end of culture") and "9 season love letter to corporate labor" (which is likely referencing "The Office"). @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon, which led to his first viral video on YouTube, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, defines depersonalization-derealization disorder, "critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.". While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. Still, its difficult not to be lulled back into, again, this absolute banger. Coined in 1956 by researchers Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, the term initially was used to analyze relationships between news anchors who spoke directly to the audience and that audience itself. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. When the song starts, the camera sitting in front of Burnham's mirror starts slowing zooming in, making the screen darker and darker until you (the audience member at home) are sitting in front of the black mirror of your screen. So this is how it ends. Viewer discretion is advised. At first hearing, this is a simple set of lyrics about the way kids deal with struggles throughout adolescence, particularly things like anxiety and depression. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. Burnham skewers himself as a virtue-signaling ally with a white-savior complex, a bully and an egoist who draws a Venn diagram and locates himself in the overlap between Weird Al and Malcolm X. It's so good to hear your voice. BURNHAM: (Singing) Start a rumor, buy a broom or send a death threat to a Boomer. 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.