I got so much better, in fact, that in January of 2020, I thought 'you know what I should start performing again. This plays almost like a glitch and goes unexplained until later in the special when a sketch plays out with Burnham as a Twitch streamer who is testing out a game called "INSIDE" (in which the player has to have a Bo Burnham video game character do things like cry, play the piano, and find a flashlight in order to complete their day). Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. It's conscious of self. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. The special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. Good. I'm talking to you, get the f--- up.". 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. (For example, the song "Straight, White, Male" from the "Make Happy" special). Right after the song ends, the shot of Burnham's guest house returns but this time it's filled with clutter. It moves kind of all over the place. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. 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. And then, of course, he had previous standup comedy specials. Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. 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). 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. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. And I think the pandemic was a time when a lot of people were in this do I laugh or cry space in their own minds. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. Thought modern humans have been around for much longer than 20,000 years, that's around how long ago people first migrated to North America. Yes, Bo Burnham posted a trailer via Twitter on April 28, 2021. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. 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. While talking to the audience during the opening section, Burnham takes a sip out of a water bottle. LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Thank you, Michel. 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. That YouTube commenter might be understood by Burnham if they were to meet him. While sifting through fan reactions to Inside, the YouTube algorithm suggested I watch a fan-made video that pitch corrects All Eyes on Me to Burnhams actual voice. Under stand up, Burnham wrote "Middle-aged men protecting free speech by humping stools and telling stories about edibles" and "podcasts. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. The title card appears in white, then changes to red, signaling that a camera is recording. He was only 16. With menacing horror movie sound effects and hectic, dreamy camerawork, what becomes clear is Burnhams title has a double meaning: referring to being inside not just a room, but also his head. "A part of me loves you, part of me hates you," he sang to the crowd. He's also giving us a visual representation of the way social media feeds can jarringly swing between shallow photos and emotional posts about trauma and loss. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. Burnham spent his teen years doing theater and songwriting, which led to his first viral video on YouTube a song he now likely categorizes as "offensive.". He's freely admitting that self-awareness isn't enough while also clearly unable to move away from that self-aware comedic space he so brilliantly holds. 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. He decided to stop doing live performances, and instead set out to write and direct his first feature film, the critically-acclaimed 2018 movie "Eighth Grade." The arrogance is taught or it was cultivated. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. But it doesn't. 7 on the Top 200. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. 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. 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). Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on? In the worst case, depression can convince a person to end their life. Likewise. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.". HOLMES: I liked a bunch of the songs in this, and a lot of them are silly songs about the things that his comedy has already been concerned with for a long time, right? But in recent years, theres been enough awareness of online behavior to see how parasocial relationships can have negative impacts on both the creator and the audience if left uninterrogated by both parties. I was not, you know, having these particular experiences. I don't think it's perfectly morally defendable.". In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. My heart hurts with and for him. But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? It's wonderful to be with you. WebA grieving woman magically travels through time to 1998, where she meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to her late love. 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. For the album, Bo is credited as writer, performer, and producer on every song. Using cinematic tools other comics overlook, the star (who is also the director, editor and cameraman) trains a glaring spotlight on internet life mid-pandemic. He also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. Now, hes come a long way since his previous specials titled What. and Make Happy, where his large audiences roared with laughter He is now back to where he was, making jokes alone in his room, an effort to escape his reality. Netflix It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. Bo Burnham: Inside is a devastating portrait of the actor-director-singer-comedian's dysfunctional interiority and 2020's unyielding assault on mental and social health. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. I did! I have a lot of material from back then that I'm not proud of and I think is offensive and I think is not helpful. 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. For all the ways Burnham had been desperate to leave the confines of his studio, now that he's able to go back out into the world (and onto a real stage), he's terrified. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Something went wrong. The song begins with a fade in from back, the shot painfully close to Burnhams face as he looks off to the side. ", "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. Doona! Inside has been making waves for comedy fans, similar to the ways previous landmark comedy specials like Hannah Gadsbys Nanette or Tig Notaros Live (aka Hello, I Have Cancer) have. I mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. Burnhams eyes are sharply in focus; the rest of him faded out subtly, a detail you might not even notice with how striking his eyes are. 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. He, for example, it starts off with him rhyming carpool karaoke, which is a segment on James Corden's show, with Steve Aoki, who's a DJ. Inside doesnt give clear answers like parasocial relationships good or parasocial relationships bad, because those answers do not, and cannot, exist. How does one know if the joke punches down? 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. It's just Burnham, his room, the depressive-sound of his song, and us watching as his distorted voice tries to convince us to join him in that darkness. But Burnham is of course the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. Burnham has said in interviews that his inspiration for the character came from real YouTube videos he had watched, most with just a handful of views, and saw the way young women expressed themselves online. It's not. When we see it again towards the end of the special, it's from a new camera angle. ", 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.". "Got it? But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. That's when the younger Burnham, the one from the beginning of his special-filming days, appears. The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. But in both of those cases, similarity and connection would come from the way the art itself connects people, not any actual tie between Burnham and myself, Burnham and the commenter. Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt.". And like unpaid interns, most working artists cant afford a mortgage (and yeah, probably torrent a porn). 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. For fans who struggle with panic attacks (myself included) its a comfort to see yourself represented in an artist whose work you respect. The fun thing about this is he started writing it and recording it early on, so you get to see clips of him singing it both, you know, with the short hair and with the long hair - when he had just started this special and when he was finishing it. Its an origin story of sorts. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. And you can roughly think about this, I think, as a series of short videos that are mostly of him singing songs and that are sewn together with a little bit of other material, whether it's shots of him lying in bed or setting up the cameras. At the beginning of "Inside," Burnham is not only coming back to that same room, but he's wearing a very similar outfit: jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers picking up right back where he left off. 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. The whole song ping pongs between Burnham's singing character describing a very surface-level, pleasant definition of the world functioning as a cohesive ecosystem and his puppet, Socko, saying that the truth is the world functions at a much darker level of power imbalance and oppression. And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. You can tell that he's watched a ton of livestream gamers, and picked up on their intros, the way the talk with people in the chat, the cadence of their commentary on the game, everything. ", When asked about the inspiration for the song, like if people he knew thought he was gay, Burnham said, "A lot of my close friends were gay, and, you know, I wasn't certain I wasn't at that point.". And you know what? Relieved to be done? But before that can register, Burnham's eyes have closed and the special transitions to the uncannily catchy song "S---," bopping about how he hasn't showered in nine days or done any laundry. And so I think he's always had that stubborn insistence on holding both of those things in his head at the same time. And the very format of it, as I said, it's very much this kind of sinister figure trying to get you interested. MARTIN: And it's deep, too. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. So in "Inside," when we see Burnham recording himself doing lighting set up and then accidentally pull down his camera was that a real blooper he decided to edit in? Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. Well now the shots are reversed. BURNHAM: (Singing) Start a rumor, buy a broom or send a death threat to a Boomer. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. Then, of course, the aspect ratio shrinks again as the white woman goes back to posting typical content. The song untangles the way we view peoples social media output as the complete vision of who they are, when really, we cannot know the full extent of someones inner world, especially not just through social media. 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. "Robert's been a little depressed," he sings (referring to himself by his birthname). Linda Holmes, welcome. Its a stupid song, and, uh, it doesnt really mean anything. The video continues. HOLMES: Yeah. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. Is he content with its content? Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. "Problematic" is a roller coaster of self-awareness, masochism, and parody. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. 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. But, like so many other plans and hopes people had in the early months of the pandemic, that goal proved unattainable. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---, you say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried," he sings. Theres always been a tension in his comedy between an ironic, smarty-pants cleverness and an often melodramatic point of view. "And I spent that time trying to improve myself mentally. Depression acts like an outside force, one that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. He puts himself on a cross using his projector, and the whole video is him exercising, like he's training for when he's inevitably "canceled.". By keeping that reveal until the end of the special, Burnham is dropping a hammer on the actual at-home audience, letting us know why his mental health has hit an ATL, as he calls it ("all time low"). It's self-conscious. Im talking to you. Years later, the comedian told NPR's Terry Gross that performing the special was so tough that he was having panic attacks on stage. Got it? He had a role in the film "Promising Young Woman." The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. And part of it is sometimes he's just in despair. There's no more time left to add to the camera's clock. But now Burnham is back. The hustle to be a working artist usually means delivering an unending churn of content curated specifically for the demands of an audience that can tell you directly why they are upset with you because they did not actually like the content you gave them, and then they can take away some of your revenue for it. Relieved to be done? At the second level of the reaction video, Burnham says: "I'm being a little pretentious. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. During the last 15 minutes of "Make Happy," Burnham turns the comedy switch down a bit and begins talking to the audience about how his comedy is almost always about performing itself because he thinks people are, at all times, doing a "performance" for one another. So this is how it ends. He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. Viewer discretion is advised. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. Fifteen years later, Burnham found himself sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to sit back down at his piano and see if he could once again entertain the world from the claustrophobic confines of a single room. 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). Then he moves into a new layer of reaction, where he responds to that previous comment. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. Burnham's creative background began with being a theater then he transitioned to musical-comedy. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. and concludes that if it's mean, it's not funny. At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. Performing "Make Happy" was mentally taxing on Burnham. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror. 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. 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. In his first Netflix special (2013's "what. 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. 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 ". Daddy made you your favorite, open wide.". And did you have any favorites? Though it does have a twist. 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. Bo Burnham: Inside, was written, edited, and directed by the talent himself and the entire show is shot in one room. BO BURNHAM: (Singing) If you'd have told me a year ago that I'd be locked inside of my home, I would have told you a year ago, interesting, now leave me alone. See our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. Poioumenon (from the Greek word for "product") is a term created by author Alastair Fowler and usually used to refer to a kind of metafiction. From the very beginning of "Inside," Burnham makes it clear that the narrative arc of the special will be self-referential. '", "Robert's been a little depressed, no!" Accuracy and availability may vary. 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. 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. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. He was alone. During that taping, Burnham said his favorite comic at the time was Hans Teeuwen, a "Dutch absurdist," who has a routine with a sock puppet that eats a candy bar as Teeuwen sings. He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. The picturesque view of sun-soaked clouds was featured in "Comedy," during the section of the song when Burnham stood up and decided that the only thing he (or his character in the song) could do was "heal the world with comedy.". Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". And I don't think that I can handle this right now. "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. Anything and everything all of the time. Hiding a mysterious past, a mother lives like a nameless fugitive with her daughter as they make hotels their home and see everyone else as a threat. An ethereal voice (which is really just Burnham's own voice with effects over it) responds to Burnham's question while a bright light suddenly shines on his face, as if he's receiving a message from God. 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. As someone who has devoted time, energy, and years of research into parasocial relationships, I felt almost like this song was made for me, that Burnham and I do have so much in common. WebBo's transcripts on Scraps From The Loft. 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 sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. ", "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? "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. That his special is an indictment of the internet by an artist whose career was born and flourished there is the ultimate joke.