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. Netflix. But now Burnham is back. The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. Good. 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. 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). We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. It's a heartbreaking chiding coming from his own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. And maybe the rest of us are ready, too. Today We'll Talk About That Day "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.". 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. When you're a kid and you're stuck in your room, you'll do any old s--- to get out of it.". 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. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. Sitting in the meeting room, not making a sound becomes the perceived 24/7 access fans have to DM you, reply to you, ask you questions. Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt.". 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. After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. Got it? Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake. 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 tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. 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. Linda Holmes, welcome. 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. The performer, along with the record label and brand deals, encourage a parasocial relationship for increased profits. Still terrified of that spotlight? ", From then on, the narrative of "Inside" follows Burnham returning to his standard comedic style and singing various parody songs like "FaceTime with My Mom" and "White Woman's Instagram.". 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"). Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. Viewer discretion is advised. Bo Burnham I've been hiding from the world and I need to reenter.' Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. MARTIN: So Bo Burnham has had a lot of different identities lately. Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. 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. Initially, this seems like a pretty standard takedown of the basic bitch stereotype co-opted from Black Twitter, until the aspect ratio widens and Burnham sings a shockingly personal, emotional caption from the same feed. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. .] HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." Instead of working his muscles at open mics or in improv, Burnham uploaded joke songs to the platform in 2006. / Are you having fun? The crowd directions are no longer stock pop song lyrics; now, the audience understands them as direct orders to them from Burnham. 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. He was alone. Then he moves into a new layer of reaction, where he responds to that previous comment. "That's a good start. But by using this meta-narrative throughout the whole special, Burnham messes with our ability to know when we're seeing a genuine struggle with artistic expression versus a meticulously staged fictional breakdown. ", 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.". Relieved to be done? "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. 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. that shows this exact meta style. But by the end of the tune, his narrative changes into irreverence. And we might. 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.". On June 9, Burnham released the music from the special in an album titled Inside (The Songs), which hit No. "I don't know that it's not," he said. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. Relieved to be done? But he's largely been given a pass by his fans, who praise his self-awareness and new approach. Now, five years later, Burnham's new parody song is digging even deeper at the philosophical question of whether or not it's appropriate to be creating comedy during a horrifyingly raw period of tragedy like the COVID-19 pandemic and the social reckoning that followed George Floyd's murder. I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? jonnyewers 30 May 2021. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. 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? 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? And many of them discuss their personal connection to the show and their analysis of how Burnham must have been thinking and feeling when he made it. This line comes full circle by the end of the special, so keep it in mind. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. In White Womans Instagram, the comedian assumes the role of a white woman and sings a list of common white lady Instagram posts (Latte foam art / Tiny pumpkins / Fuzzy, comfy socks) while acting out even more cliched photos in the video with wild accuracy. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. 7 on the Top 200. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). It feels like the ending of a show, a climax, but it's not. Bo Burnham: Inside - The 10 Funniest Quotes From The Netflix Special Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. Let's take a closer look at just a few of those bubbles, shall we? One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. At the forefront of this shift has been Bo Burnham, one of YouTubes earliest stars, who went on to make his own innovative specials with satirical songs backed by theatrical lighting and disembodied voices. 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. 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. Inside doesnt give clear answers like parasocial relationships good or parasocial relationships bad, because those answers do not, and cannot, exist. 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. A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall. You know, as silly as that one is, some of the other ones are more sedate. But then, just as Burnham is vowing to always stay inside, and lamenting that he'll be "fully irrelevant and totally broken" in the future, the spotlight turns on him and he's completely naked. 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. Still terrified of that spotlight? I mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. It's not. Bo Burnham: INSIDE | Trailer - YouTube 0:00 / 2:09 The following content may contain suicide or self-harm topics. Is he content with its content? 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. Bo Burnham defined an era when he created Inside. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". It's like the mental despair of the last year has turned into a comfort. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. 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. Thank you so much for joining us. 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. 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. But, like so many other plans and hopes people had in the early months of the pandemic, that goal proved unattainable. 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. He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. On May 30, 2022, Burnham uploaded the video Inside: The Outtakes, to his YouTube channel, marking a rare original upload, similar to how he used his YouTube channel when he was a teenager. (The question is no longer, Do you want to buy Wheat Thins?, for example. And I don't think that I can handle this right now. Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? 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. All rights reserved. "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. 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. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. 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. It's so good to hear your voice. The arrogance is taught or it was cultivated. Bo Burnham Right after the song ends, the shot of Burnham's guest house returns but this time it's filled with clutter. Bo Burnham His career evolved through YouTube, MTV, Vine, his movie "Eighth Grade," and now Netflix's "Inside." "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. 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. 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 also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. Bo Burnhams Inside begs for our parasocial awareness The comedians lifetime online explains the heart of most of his new songs By Wil Williams @wilw_writes Jun 28, 2021, 11:01am EDT I don't think it's perfectly morally defendable.". Soering New insights from various parties come to light that raise questions about Jens Sring's conviction of the 1985 murders of his then-girlfriend's parents. Bo Burnham 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. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. Might not help but still it couldn't hurt. It's an emergence from the darkness. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. You know, I was not, you know, I was alone, but I was not trapped in one room. 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. Its a visual that signifies a man exposing himself, until you realize hes in a spotlight. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. 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. Bo "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. An existential dread creeps in, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. But Burnham doesn't put the bottle down right, and it falls off the stool. Bo Burnhams Inside: A Comedy Special and an Inspired Experiment, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/television/bo-burnham-inside-comedy.html. 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. He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. While talking to the audience during the opening section, Burnham takes a sip out of a water bottle. That cloud scene was projected onto Burnham during the section of "Comedy" when Burnham stood up right after the God-like voice had given him his directive to "heal the world with comedy." At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. "Part of me needs you, part of me fears you. Here's a little bit of that. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. 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. 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. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. It's self-conscious. HOLMES: Yeah. Were complicated. Bo Burnham And you know what? 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. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. They Cloned Tyrone. Good. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. That quiet simplicity doesn't feel like a relief, but it is. 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. And did you have any favorites? The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. Bo Burnham After about 35 minutes of candy-colored, slickly designed sketch comedy, the tone shifts with Burnhams first completely earnest song, a lovely indie-rock tune with an ear worm of a hook about trying to be funny and stuck in a room. This is the shows hinge. He takes it, and Burnham cries robotically as a tinny version of the song about being stuck in the room plays.
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