Went out to look for a reason to hide again. He is now back to where he was, making jokes alone in his room, an effort to escape his reality. 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 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. "And so, today, I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. 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. 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). Still terrified of that spotlight? HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. 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. Years later, the comedian told NPR's Terry Gross that performing the special was so tough that he was having panic attacks on stage. (The question is no longer, Do you want to buy Wheat Thins?, for example. ", 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.". MARTIN: This special is titled, appropriately enough, "Inside," and it is streaming on Netflix now. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. And part of it is sometimes he's just in despair. 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. It's self-conscious. 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. 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. Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. Daddy made you your favorite, open wide.". The performer, along with the record label and brand deals, encourage a parasocial relationship for increased profits. I got so much better, in fact, that in January of 2020, I thought 'you know what I should start performing again. 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. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. Known as "Art is a Lie, Nothing is Real," there's a bit Burnham did at the start of his 2013 special "what." He has one where he's just sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar describing our modern world. Thank you, Michel. He takes it, and Burnham cries robotically as a tinny version of the song about being stuck in the room plays. ", "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. I did! It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. Theres always been a tension in his comedy between an ironic, smarty-pants cleverness and an often melodramatic point of view. 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've been singing that song for about a week NOW. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. His career evolved through YouTube, MTV, Vine, his movie "Eighth Grade," and now Netflix's "Inside." He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. Tell us a little bit more about that. And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. 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 ". And then, of course, he had previous standup comedy specials. ", 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. 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. "That's a good start. It's so good to hear your voice. But, like so many other plans and hopes people had in the early months of the pandemic, that goal proved unattainable. But before that can register, Burnham's eyes have closed and the special transitions to the uncannily catchy song "S---," bopping about how he hasn't showered in nine days or done any laundry. 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. For fans who struggle with panic attacks (myself included) its a comfort to see yourself represented in an artist whose work you respect. "The poioumenon is calculated to offer opportunities to explore the boundaries of fiction and reality the limits of narrative truth," Fowler wrote in his book "A History of English Literature.". The incentives of the web, those that reward outrage, excess and sentiment, are the villains of this show. When you're a kid and you're stuck in your room, you'll do any old s--- to get out of it.". I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. 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.". 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. How does one know if the joke punches down? It's prison. 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. The vocal key used in "All Eyes On Me" could be meant to represent depression, an outside force that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. HOLMES: Thank you. He was alone. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. My heart hurts with and for him. Oops. The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. The song is like having a religious experience with your own mental disorder. 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. Yes, Bo Burnham posted a trailer via Twitter on April 28, 2021. 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.". His new Netflix special Inside was directed, written and performed all inside one room. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. 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." Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. Mid-song, a spotlight turns on Burnham and shows him completely naked as a voice sings: "Well, well, look who's inside again. All rights reserved. And she's with us now to tell us more about it. 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. Like, what is it? Might not help but still it couldn't hurt. All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release. our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. Poioumenon (from the Greek word for "product") is a term created by author Alastair Fowler and usually used to refer to a kind of metafiction. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. It moves kind of all over the place. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. 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. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror. Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. 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. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. 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. Bo Burnham: Inside is a devastating portrait of the actor-director-singer-comedian's dysfunctional interiority and 2020's unyielding assault on mental and social health. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. WebOn a budget. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform. Bo Burnhams Inside: A Comedy Special and an Inspired Experiment, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/television/bo-burnham-inside-comedy.html. It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. 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. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. / 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 mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. . As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. In this time-jumping dramedy, a workaholic who's always in a rush now wants life to slow down when he finds himself leaping ahead a year every few hours. 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. 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. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake. Because there's also a little bit Bo Burnham the character in this almost. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. (SOUNDBITE OF COMEDY SPECIAL, "BO BURNHAM: INSIDE"). Just wanted to make sure everybody knew about Bo's comedy special transcripts on Scraps. But look, I made you some content. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. 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. His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. Its a visual that signifies a man exposing himself, until you realize hes in a spotlight. But unlike many of us, Burnham was also hard at work on a one-man show directed, written and performed all by himself. 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. 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. 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. Many of his songs begin seriously, then shift into the joke, but this one doesnt. 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. 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.". This is especially true for Patreon campaigns that give fans direct access to creators on platforms like Discord. "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. The flow chat for "Is it funny?" His virtuosic new special, Inside (on Netflix), pushes this trend further, so far that it feels as if he has created something entirely new and unlikely, both sweepingly cinematic and claustrophobically intimate, a Zeitgeist-chasing musical comedy made alone to an audience of no one. And the biggest risk Burnham takes in the show is letting his emotional side loose, but not before cracking a ton of jokes. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. Though it does have a twist. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. At first it seems to be just about life in the pandemic, but it becomes a reference to his past, when he made faces and jokes from his bedroom as a teenager and put that on the internet. HOLMES: Yeah. Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. And it portends and casts doubt on a later scene when his mental health frays and Burnham cries in earnest. 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.". The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. The song's melody is oddly soothing, and the lyrics are a sly manifestation of the way depression convinces you to stay in its abyss ("It's almost over, it's just begun. But now Burnham is back. 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. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.". 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. Is he content with its content? HOLMES: Yeah. Its a stupid song, and, uh, it doesnt really mean anything. The video continues. of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. I think you're getting from him, you know, the entertainment element. Here's a little bit of that. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. But he's largely been given a pass by his fans, who praise his self-awareness and new approach. So let's dive into "Inside" and take a closer look at nearly every song and sketch in Burnham's special. 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. Its an origin story of sorts. 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. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. Its an instinct I have for all my work to have some deeper meaning or something. He also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. Inside is the work of a comic with artistic tools most of his peers ignore or overlook. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. 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. Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. 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. Parasocial relationships are neutral, and how we interact with them is usually a mixed bag. BURNHAM: (Singing) Does anybody want to joke when no one's laughing in the background? And it has a lot of very clever and very quick wordplay about the specific things you can get on the internet. That his special is an indictment of the internet by an artist whose career was born and flourished there is the ultimate joke. Later in Inside, Burnham thanks the audience for their support while holding them at knifepoint. 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? The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. Daddy made you your favorite. Burnham's growth is admirable, but also revealing of how little we expect from men in the industry. Fifteen years later, Burnham found himself sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to sit back down at his piano and see if he could once again entertain the world from the claustrophobic confines of a single room. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. Burnham brings back all the motifs from the earlier songs into his finale, revisiting all the stages of emotion he took us through for the last 90 minutes. Something went wrong. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. 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. In Inside, Burnham confronts parasocial relationships in his most direct way yet. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. It's like Burnham's special has swallowed you whole, bringing you fully into his mind at last. 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. 7 on the Top 200. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. (For example, the song "Straight, White, Male" from the "Make Happy" special). The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, #1 on the Comedy Albums chart, and #18 on the Independent Albums chart. Finally doing basic care tasks for yourself like eating breakfast and starting work in the morning. 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. TikTok creator @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon thanks to the meta scenes of Burnham setting up lights and cameras, not to mention the musical numbers like "Content" and "Comedy" that all help to tell the story of Burnham making this new special. 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.". WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. Bo Burnham defined an era when he created Inside. "I'm so worried that criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. It's progress. The comedy special perfectly encapsulated the world's collective confusion, frustration, and exhaustion amid ongoing pandemic lockdowns, bringing a quirky spin to the ongoing existential terror that was the year 2020. So he has, for example, a song in which he adopts the persona of a kind of horror movie carnival barker, you might call it, who is trying to sell people the internet. Still terrified of that spotlight? Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. For those who are unaware, Bos real name is Robert Burnham. Then he moves into a new layer of reaction, where he responds to that previous comment. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). Still, its difficult not to be lulled back into, again, this absolute banger. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. 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. Now get inside.". 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. "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. And now depression has its grips in him. It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. 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. Inside is a tricky work that for all its boundary-crossing remains in the end a comedy in the spirit of neurotic, self-loathing stand-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. Relieved to be done? Burnhams eyes are sharply in focus; the rest of him faded out subtly, a detail you might not even notice with how striking his eyes are. And he's done virtually no press about it. Now get inside.". But it doesn't. 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. "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. I don't think it's perfectly morally defendable.". that shows this exact meta style. 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. And maybe the rest of us are ready, too. But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. The global pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders of March 2020 put a stop to these plans. And then the funniest thing happened.". 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." "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. Copyright 2021 NPR. Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt.". Accuracy and availability may vary. 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 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.
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