And part of it is sometimes he's just in despair. The second emotional jump scare comes when Burnham monologues about how he stopped performing live because he started having panic attacks on stage, which is not a great place to have them. The monologue increases that sense of intimacy; Burnham is letting the audience in on the state of his mental health even before the global pandemic. The special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. "And so today I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. But when reading songs like Dont Wanna Know and All Eyes On Me between the lines, Inside can help audiences better identify that funny feeling when they start feeling like a creator is their friend. Inside (2021) opens with Bo Burnham sitting alone in a room singing what will be the first of many musical comedy numbers, Content. In the song, Burnham expresses, Roberts been a little depressed ii. Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. HOLMES: Yeah. 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.". Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. He also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. 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. "Everything that once was sad is somehow funny now, the Holocaust and 9/11, that s---'s funny, 24-7, 'cause tragedy will be exclusively joked about, because my empathy iss bumming me out," he sang. That his special is an indictment of the internet by an artist whose career was born and flourished there is the ultimate joke. Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. It is set almost entirely within one room of his Los Angeles guest house, the same one shown in the closing song of the June 2016 Make Happy special, titled Are you happy?. Copyright 2021 NPR. He takes a break in the song to talk about how he was having panic attacks on stage while touring the "Make Happy" special, and so he decided to stop doing live shows. Burnham's creative background began with being a theater then he transitioned to musical-comedy. "Inside" feels like the creative culmination of Bo Burnham's career over the last 15 years, starting with his first viral YouTube video in 2006. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. Tapping on a synthesizer, he sings about the challenges of isolation as he sits on a cluttered floor, two striking squares of sunlight streaming in through the windows of a dark room. How does one know if the joke punches down? 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.". In the song, Burnham specifically mentions looking up "derealization," a disorder that may "feel like you're living in a dream. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. Now get inside.". Is he content with its content? The title card appears in white, then changes to red, signaling that a camera is recording.
Bo Burnham 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. Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. Accuracy and availability may vary. WebA Girl and an Astronaut. The song made such a splash in its insight that it earned its own episode in Shannon Struccis seminal Fake Friends documentary series, which broke down what parasocial relationships are and how they work. He points it at himself as he sways, singing again: Get your fuckin hands up / Get on out of your seat / All eyes on me, all eyes on me.. Daddy made you your favorite. Anyone can read what you share.
Bo Burnham He doesn't really bother with any kind of transitions. But look, I made you some content. Burnham is especially aware as a creator constantly reflecting on his own life. Inside is the work of a comic with artistic tools most of his peers ignore or overlook. 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. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. Web9/10. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. ", Right as Burnham is straightening up, music begins blaring over the speakers and Burnham's own voice sings: "He meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, but you all thought it was an accident. Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. So let's dive into "Inside" and take a closer look at nearly every song and sketch in Burnham's special. And the biggest risk Burnham takes in the show is letting his emotional side loose, but not before cracking a ton of jokes. "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. "Goodbye sadness, hello jokes!". Many of his songs begin seriously, then shift into the joke, but this one doesnt. Bo Burnhams Inside: A Comedy Special and an Inspired Experiment, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/television/bo-burnham-inside-comedy.html. 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. MARTIN: So as you can hear in that bit, he sounds something like other comedic songwriters who do these kind of parody or comedy songs, whether it's Tom Lehrer, Weird Al or whoever. "Robert's been a little depressed," he sings (referring to himself by his birthname). According to a May 2021 Slate article, the piece was filmed at Bo Burnhams Los Angeles guest housethe same room used for June 2016s Are You Happy? and the closing shots of the Make Happy special. How how successful do you think is "Inside" at addressing, describing kind of confronting the experience that a lot of people have had over the past year? 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. Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt.". 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. WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. 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. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. 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? 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. of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. He is not talking about it very much. At the start of the special, Burnham sings "Content," setting the stage for his musical-comedy. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. 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. Some of this comes through in how scenes are shot and framed: its common for the special to be filmed, projected onto Burnhams wall (or, literally, himself), and then filmed again for the audience. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. that shows this exact meta style. He was alone. Instead, thanks to his ultra-self-aware style, he seems to always get ahead of criticism by holding himself accountable first. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. At the end of the song, "Inside" cuts to a shot of Burnham watching his own video on a computer in the dark. On June 9, Burnham released the music from the special in an album titled Inside (The Songs), which hit No. 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). WebBo Burnham: Inside (2021) Exploring mental health decline over 2020, the constant challenges our world faces, and the struggles of life itself, Bo Burnham creates a. wonderful masterpiece to explain each of these, both from general view and personal experience. This is especially true for Patreon campaigns that give fans direct access to creators on platforms like Discord. And she's with us now to tell us more about it.
Bo Burnham: Inside Trying to grant his dying father's wish, a son discovers an epic love story buried in his family's distant past. And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. Good. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. Good. 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.". The battery is full, but no numbers are moving. In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. Not in the traditional senseno music was released prior to the special other than a backing track from Content found in the trailer. Finally doing basic care tasks for yourself like eating breakfast and starting work in the morning. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. And then, of course, he had previous standup comedy specials. But then the music tells the audience that "he meant to play the track again" and that "art's still a lie, nothing's still real.". Its a stupid song, and, uh, it doesnt really mean anything. The video continues. 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. Because there's also a little bit Bo Burnham the character in this almost. And many people will probably remember his 2018 movie, "Eighth Grade." Bo Burnham also uploaded Welcome to the Internet and White Womans Instagram on his YouTube channel. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here.
Bo Burnham Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform. @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.". I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. HOLMES: Well, logically enough, let's go out on the closing song. Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. 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. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out.
Bo Burnham: Inside ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake. 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. It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror.
Bo Burnham Get up. 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. 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. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. 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 did! 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. "Trying to be funny and stuck in a room, there isn't much more to say about it," he starts in a new song after fumbling a first take. So this is how it ends. "Got it? It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. 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. 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. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. And finally today, like many of us, writer, comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham found himself isolated for much of last year - home alone, growing a beard, trying his best to stay sane. 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"). 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. 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. 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. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. Entertainment correspondent Kim Renfro ranked them in ascending order of greatness. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. It feels like the ending of a show, a climax, but it's not. Linda Holmes, welcome. 7 on the Top 200. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. 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. The whole song sounds like you're having a religious experience with your own mental disorder, especially when new harmonies kick in. For the album, Bo is credited as writer, performer, and producer on every song. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". Hes bedraggled, increasingly unshaven, growing a Rasputin-like beard.
Bo Burnham: Inside Burnham had no idea that his song would be seen more than 10 million times,nor that it would kick start his career in a niche brand of self-aware musical comedy. Now, the term is applied to how viewers devote time, energy, and emotion to celebrities and content creators like YouTubers, podcasters, and Twitch streamers people who do not know they exist. His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. HOLMES: Yeah. Yes, Bo Burnham posted a trailer via Twitter on April 28, 2021. 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 Detailed Breakdown of How Bo Burnham 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. 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. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. Right after the song ends, the shot of Burnham's guest house returns but this time it's filled with clutter. Is he content with its content? Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. But then the video keeps playing, and so he winds up reacting to his own reaction, and then reacting yet again to that reaction. In his first Netflix special (2013's "what. 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.
Bo Burnham's Netflix Special, 'Inside And he's done virtually no press about it. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. 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 ". Im talking to you.
Burnham may also be trying to parody the hollow, PR-scripted apologies that celebrities will trot out before they've possibly had the time to self-reflect and really understand what people are trying to hold them accountable for. 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. And if you go back and you look at a film like "Eighth Grade," he's always been really consumed by sort of the positive and the negative of social media and the internet and the life of of young kids. But by the end of the tune, his narrative changes into irreverence. 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. They Cloned Tyrone. Its a lyrically dense song with camerawork that speeds up with its rhythm. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. WebA biotech genius tries to bounce back from the depths of grief with help from his son, who works to escape his dads shadow and save the family business. Burnham's career as a young, white, male comedian has often felt distinct from his peers because of the amount of public self-reflection and acknowledgment of his own privileges that he does on stage and off screen. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. The song is like having a religious experience with your own mental disorder. Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. And did you have any favorites? Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. 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. 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. "They say it's like the 'me' generation. "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. Theyre complicated. A college student navigates life and school while dealing with a unique predicament he's living with a beautiful former K-pop sensation. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. '", "Robert's been a little depressed, no!" Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. "If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, then when the clock runs out, the average global temperature will be irreversibly on its way to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels.". "I'm so worried that criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. 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. I mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. he sings as he refers to his birth name. And then the funniest thing happened.". You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. 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. Got it? 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. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. The structured movements of the last hour and half fall away as Burnham snaps at the audience: "Get up. Still terrified of that spotlight? But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? According to the special, Bo decided he was ready to begin doing stand-up again in January 2020, after dealing with panic attacks onstage during his previous tour, the Make Happy Tour of 2015-2016. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. Burnham makes it textual, too. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. 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. Like most of Burnhams specials, it includes comedic songs and creative lighting effects. 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. 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.