Relieved to be done? Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. Copyright 2021 NPR. When we see it again towards the end of the special, it's from a new camera angle. 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.". Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. Bo Something went wrong. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. HOLMES: Yeah. Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. And it portends and casts doubt on a later scene when his mental health frays and Burnham cries in earnest. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. 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 almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. . Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything.". He is now back to where he was, making jokes alone in his room, an effort to escape his reality. 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. 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. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? 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. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." 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.". "That's a good start. But now Burnham is back. and concludes that if it's mean, it's not funny. Open wide.. 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.". Went out to look for a reason to hide again. Bo Burnham We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. 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. 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. I was not, you know, having these particular experiences. Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. Bo Burnham: Inside (For example, the song "Straight, White, Male" from the "Make Happy" special). The incentives of the web, those that reward outrage, excess and sentiment, are the villains of this show. 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. 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. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. 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. I did! 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. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. It chronicles Burnhams life during the pandemic and his journey creating the special. Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. 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? 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. That's when the younger Burnham, the one from the beginning of his special-filming days, appears. Now we've come 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. Some of the things he mentions that give him "that funny feeling" include discount Etsy agitprop (aka communist-themed merchandise) and the Pepsi halftime show. I've been singing that song for about a week NOW. 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. "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. 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"). Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. Many of his songs begin seriously, then shift into the joke, but this one doesnt. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. Though it does have a twist. The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. 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 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 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. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. Teeuwen's performance shows a twisted, codependent relationship between him and the puppet on his hand, something Burnham is clearly channeling in his own sock puppet routine in "Inside.". 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. 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. But he knows how to do this. Bo Burnham Because there's also a little bit Bo Burnham the character in this almost. Bo Burnham A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. 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. And many people will probably remember his 2018 movie, "Eighth Grade." For the album, Bo is credited as writer, performer, and producer on every song. But during the bridge of the song, he imagines a post from a woman dedicated to her dead mother, and the aspect ratio on the video widens. For those who are unaware, Bos real name is Robert Burnham. 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. This is especially true for Patreon campaigns that give fans direct access to creators on platforms like Discord. MARTIN: So Bo Burnham has had a lot of different identities lately. [1] Created in the guest house of Burnham's Los Angeles home during the COVID-19 pandemic without a crew or audience, it was released on Netflix on May 30, 2021. This special spoke to me closer and clearer than Ive ever felt with another person. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. 1 on Billboards comedy albums chart and eventually climbed to No. I got better. Theyre complicated. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. 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. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Only he knows. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. HOLMES: Thank you. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. The special is set almost entirely in one cluttered room. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. WebOn a budget. / 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. "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. It feels like the ending of a show, a climax, but it's not. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. MARTIN: So a lot of us, you know, artists, journalists have been trying to describe what this period has been like, what has it meant, what's been going on with us. 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. Bo Burnham Viewer discretion is advised. Bo Burnham Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. He's self-evaluating his own visual creation in the same way people will often go back to look at their Instagram stories or posts to see how it looks after they've shared it. Comedian Bo Burnham recently a new comedy special for Netflix aptly titled Inside which was filmed entirely by himself while under lockdown during the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. Its an instinct I have for all my work to have some deeper meaning or something. 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. 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. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. Review: Bo Burnham's 'Inside Now, hes come a long way since his previous specials titled What. and Make Happy, where his large audiences roared with laughter 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. Instead of working his muscles at open mics or in improv, Burnham uploaded joke songs to the platform in 2006. Likewise, the finale of Burnhams next special, Make Happy (2016) closes in a song called Handle This (Kanye Rant). The song starts as him venting his hyperbolically small problems, until the tone shifts, and he starts directly addressing the audience, singing: The truth is, my biggest problem is you / [. A Detailed Breakdown of How Bo Burnham The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. (SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "BO BURNHAM: INSIDE"). And like unpaid interns, most working artists cant afford a mortgage (and yeah, probably torrent a porn). There's also another little joke baked into this bit, because the game is made by a company called SSRI interactive the most common form of antidepressant drugs are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, aka SSRIs. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? "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. .] Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. Got it? An astronaut's return after a 30-year disappearance rekindles a lost love and sparks interest from a corporation determined to learn why he hasn't aged. 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. Throughout "Inside," there's a huge variety of light and background set-ups used, so it seems unlikely that this particular cloud-scape was just randomly chosen twice. While talking to the audience during the opening section, Burnham takes a sip out of a water bottle. 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. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. The whole song sounds like you're having a religious experience with your own mental disorder, especially when new harmonies kick in. Its a visual that signifies a man exposing himself, until you realize hes in a spotlight. Yes, Bo Burnham posted a trailer via Twitter on April 28, 2021. "Problematic" is a roller coaster of self-awareness, masochism, and parody. So this is how it ends. With electro-pop social commentary, bleak humour and sock-puppet debates, the comics lockdown creation is astonishing. Inside "Inside" kicks off with Burnham reentering the same small studio space he used for the end of "Make Happy," when the 2016 Netflix special transitioned from the live stage to Burnham suddenly sitting down at his piano by himself to sing one final song for the at-home audience. ", "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? 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.". He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. 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. Its horrific.". The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. But unlike many of us, Burnham was also hard at work on a one-man show directed, written and performed all by himself. Bo Burnhams Inside: A Comedy Special and an Inspired Experiment, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/television/bo-burnham-inside-comedy.html. 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. The global pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders of March 2020 put a stop to these plans. ", "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. 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. Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. Not only has his musical range expanded his pastiche of styles includes bebop, synth-pop and peppy show tunes Burnham, who once published a book of poems, has also become as meticulous and creative with his visual vocabulary as his language. This is a heartbreaking chiding coming from Burnham's own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. 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. BURNHAM: (Singing) Start a rumor, buy a broom or send a death threat to a Boomer. And I don't think that I can handle this right now. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. And then the funniest thing happened.". Thank you, Michel. 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. "Got it? "I'm so worried that criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. 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. Anything and everything all of the time. It's not. Like most of Burnhams specials, it includes comedic songs and creative lighting effects. 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. 20. All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. 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. 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. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. 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? 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. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. It's progress. His 2014 song Repeat Stuff and its music video parodies how boy bands and other corporately-owned pop stars prey on young fans desire to feel loved by writing songs with lyrics vague enough anyone can feel like it was written specifically about them. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. "Truly, it's like, for a 16-year-old kid in 2006, it's not bad. begins with the question "Is it mean?" You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. 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. Bo Burnham: INSIDE | Trailer - YouTube 0:00 / 2:09 The following content may contain suicide or self-harm topics. The performer, along with the record label and brand deals, encourage a parasocial relationship for increased profits. Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. 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. And he's done virtually no press about it. All rights reserved. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". 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. ", 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. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. Bo Burnham 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. Theres a nostalgic sweetness to this song, but parts of it return throughout the show, in darker forms, one of many variations on a theme. And so I think he's always had that stubborn insistence on holding both of those things in his head at the same time. 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 then, of course, he had previous standup comedy specials. "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. The penultimate song, "All Eyes On Me," is the best in the whole special, in this writer's opinion. 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. 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. Bo Burnham HOLMES: Yeah. In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. Now get inside.". Bo Burnham He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. I'm talking to you, get the f--- up.". 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). "And I spent that time trying to improve myself mentally. Right after the song ends, the shot of Burnham's guest house returns but this time it's filled with clutter. Bo Burnham: Inside - The 10 Funniest Quotes From The Netflix Special The flow chat for "Is it funny?" Burnham is especially aware as a creator constantly reflecting on his own life. "And so, today, I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. 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. 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. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. Who Were We Running From? But Burnham is of course the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. As energetic as the song "S---" is, it's really just another clear message about the mental disorder that has its grips in Burnham (or at least the version of him we're seeing in this special).
Demo Reel Production Company,
Maana Ya Jina Brighton,
Articles B