Known as "Art is a Lie, Nothing is Real," there's a bit Burnham did at the start of his 2013 special "what." ", 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.". 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. 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. Daddy made you your favorite. 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. 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.. In Inside, Burnham confronts parasocial relationships in his most direct way yet. 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. 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.". 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. 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. Entertainment correspondent Kim Renfro ranked them in ascending order of greatness. And its easier to relax when the video focuses on a separate take of Burnham singing from farther away, the frame now showing the entire room. Web9/10. Still terrified of that spotlight? Like, what is it? Likewise. WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. The voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. Tell us a little bit more about that. While the other songs have abrupt endings, or harsh transitions, "That Funny Feeling" simply fades quietly into darkness perhaps the way Burnham imagines the ending of it all will happen. Coined in 1956 by researchers Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, the term initially was used to analyze relationships between news anchors who spoke directly to the audience and that audience itself. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. This line comes full circle by the end of the special, so keep it in mind. 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? Anyone can read what you share. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. This special spoke to me closer and clearer than Ive ever felt with another person. BURNHAM: (Singing) The live-action "Lion King," the Pepsi halftime show, 20,000 years of this, seven more to go. In his first Netflix special (2013's "what. Inside is the work of a comic with artistic tools most of his peers ignore or overlook. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. 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 / [. "And I spent that time trying to improve myself mentally. "I didn't perform for five years," he says. 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. An older Burnham sits at a stool in front of a clock, and he says into a microphone that he's been working on the special for six months now. Bo Burnham defined an era when he created Inside. If we continue to look at it from the lens of a musical narrative, this is the point at which our protagonist realizes he's failed at his mission. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. My heart hurts with and for him. 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. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? 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. It's a reprieve of the lyrics Burnham sang earlier in the special when he was reminiscing about being a kid stuck in his room. (SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "BO BURNHAM: INSIDE"). It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. Not in the traditional senseno music was released prior to the special other than a backing track from Content found in the trailer. But look, I made you some content. Just wanted to make sure everybody knew about Bo's comedy special transcripts on Scraps. 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. 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. Is he content with its content? Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. 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). Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. 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." "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.". If "All Eyes on Me" sounds disconcertingly comforting to you, it could be because you can recognize the mental symptoms of a mood disorder like depression. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. 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. For the album, Bo is credited as writer, performer, and producer on every song. Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. Burnham reacts to his reaction to his reaction: Im so afraid that this criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. The video keeps going. That his special is an indictment of the internet by an artist whose career was born and flourished there is the ultimate joke. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. The flow chat for "Is it funny?" MARTIN: This special is titled, appropriately enough, "Inside," and it is streaming on Netflix now. HOLMES: Yeah. 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. Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. Now, hes come a long way since his previous specials titled What. and Make Happy, where his large audiences roared with laughter "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. 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. 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. 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. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Its a lyrically dense song with camerawork that speeds up with its rhythm. The song is like having a religious experience with your own mental disorder. Relieved to be done? 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.". It's so good to hear your voice. Thank you so much for joining us. He's showing us how terrifying it can be to present something you've made to the world, or to hear laughter from an audience when what you were hoping for was a genuine connection. Still, its difficult not to be lulled back into, again, this absolute banger. 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. He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". 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. Bo Burnham also uploaded Welcome to the Internet and White Womans Instagram on his YouTube channel. 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. In the worst case, depression can convince a person to end their life. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. 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. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. That's what it is. 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. 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. Well now the shots are reversed. They Cloned Tyrone. 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. 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. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. 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. "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. Toward the end, he appears completely naked behind his keyboard. 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. When he appeared on NPR's radio show "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross in 2018, the host played a clip of "My Whole Family" and Burnham took his headphones off so he didn't have to relisten to the song. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. And we might. But we weren't. Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. 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." 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. 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? 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. 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. 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. 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. Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. 7 on the Top 200. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. 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. But unlike many of us, Burnham was also hard at work on a one-man show directed, written and performed all by himself. He doesn't really bother with any kind of transitions. 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. WebBo's transcripts on Scraps From The Loft. From the very beginning of "Inside," Burnham makes it clear that the narrative arc of the special will be self-referential. Most creator-made content online is available for free, meaning creators usually have to rely on their fans for income via crowdfunding like Patreon. And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. 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.. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on? 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 ". 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. After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. 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. 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. And so I think he's always had that stubborn insistence on holding both of those things in his head at the same time. So for our own little slice of the world, Burnham's two time spans seem to be referencing the start and end of an era in our civilization. He had a role in the film "Promising Young Woman." Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything.". "Truly, it's like, for a 16-year-old kid in 2006, it's not bad. "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. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). 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. The penultimate song, "All Eyes On Me," is the best in the whole special, in this writer's opinion. WebBo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. It's not. 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. But he's largely been given a pass by his fans, who praise his self-awareness and new approach. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." Its a stupid song, and, uh, it doesnt really mean anything. The video continues. But Burnham is of course the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. It's wonderful to be with you. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. Its horrific.". 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. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. And the biggest risk Burnham takes in the show is letting his emotional side loose, but not before cracking a ton of jokes. Later in Inside, Burnham thanks the audience for their support while holding them at knifepoint. It's an emergence from the darkness. And she's with us now to tell us more about it. 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. 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. All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. And the very format of it, as I said, it's very much this kind of sinister figure trying to get you interested. All rights reserved. HOLMES: So before he was this celebrated filmmaker, Bo Burnham was himself a YouTube star. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. 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. Got it? Underneath the Steve Martin-like formal trickery has always beaten the heaving heart of a flamboyantly dramatic theater kid. 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. 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. I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? MARTIN: And it's deep, too. Just as often, Burnhams shot sequencing plays against the meaning of a song, like when he breaks out a glamorous split screen to complement a comic song about FaceTiming with his mom. 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 it portends and casts doubt on a later scene when his mental health frays and Burnham cries in earnest. In the same way that earlier vocal distortion represented God, the effect on his voice in "All Eyes on Me" seems to signal some omniscient force outside of Burnham. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. (For example, the song "Straight, White, Male" from the "Make Happy" special). On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". Open wide.. But, of course, it tangles that right back up; this emotional post was, ultimately, still Content. A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Bo Burnhams Inside begs for our parasocial awareness, Sign up for the WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. Many of his songs begin seriously, then shift into the joke, but this one doesnt. Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. 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. It's like the mental despair of the last year has turned into a comfort. .] 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? At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. While platforms like Patreon mean creators can make their own works independently without studio influence, they also mean that the creator is directly beholden to their audience. Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. "Got it? 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.". 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. Not putting a name on parasocial relationships makes the theme less didactic, more blurred while still being astutesuch sharp focus on the eyes, you dont notice the rest of the face fades into shades of blue. Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. 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. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. 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. Anything and everything all of the time. Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. Here's a little bit of that. The tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. I've been hiding from the world and I need to reenter.' 20. While talking to the audience during the opening section, Burnham takes a sip out of a water bottle. 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. The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, #1 on the Comedy Albums chart, and #18 on the Independent Albums chart. Get up. At first hearing, this is a simple set of lyrics about the way kids deal with struggles throughout adolescence, particularly things like anxiety and depression. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. That quiet simplicity doesn't feel like a relief, but it is. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release.
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