Netflix. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. 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's Netflix Special, 'Inside 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. Because there's also a little bit Bo Burnham the character in this almost. and concludes that if it's mean, it's not funny. The title card appears in white, then changes to red, signaling that a camera is recording. 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. BO BURNHAM: (Singing) If you'd have told me a year ago that I'd be locked inside of my home, I would have told you a year ago, interesting, now leave me alone. @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon, which led to his first viral video on YouTube, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, defines depersonalization-derealization disorder, "critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.". A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). ", 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.". ", And last but not least, for social media he put "sexually pranking unsuspecting women at public beaches" and "psychologically abusive parents making rube goldberg machines" alongside "white people using GIFs of Black people widening their eyes.". 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.". 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. / 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. And many people will probably remember his 2018 movie, "Eighth Grade." In the song, Burnham specifically mentions looking up "derealization," a disorder that may "feel like you're living in a dream. 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. Let's take a closer look at just a few of those bubbles, shall we? WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. Bo Burnham This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. The tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. 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. An existential dread creeps in, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. 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. MARTIN: So Bo Burnham has had a lot of different identities lately. This plays almost like a glitch and goes unexplained until later in the special when a sketch plays out with Burnham as a Twitch streamer who is testing out a game called "INSIDE" (in which the player has to have a Bo Burnham video game character do things like cry, play the piano, and find a flashlight in order to complete their day). Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. How does one know if the joke punches down? 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. ", 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. 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. The flow chat for "Is it funny?" It's wonderful to be with you. There's no more time left to add to the camera's clock. Its folly to duplicate the feel of a live set, so why not fully adjust to the screen and try to make something as visually ambitious as a feature? The battery is full, but no numbers are moving. 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 like the mental despair of the last year has turned into a comfort. Its called INSIDE, and it will undoubtedly strike your hearts forevermore. Toward the end, he appears completely naked behind his keyboard. ", The Mayo Clinic defines depersonalization-derealization disorder as occurring "when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both. "Goodbye sadness, hello jokes!". HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. 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. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. 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. Copyright 2021 NPR. But, of course, it tangles that right back up; this emotional post was, ultimately, still Content. "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.". Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform. Anything and everything all of the time. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. It's not. Bo Burnham Even when confronted with works that criticize parasocial attachment, its difficult for fans not to feel emotionally connected to performers they admire. Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." Still, its difficult not to be lulled back into, again, this absolute banger. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. It chronicles Burnhams life during the pandemic and his journey creating the special. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. I got better. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." Get up. People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. 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. The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. 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. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. 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. 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. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. He was alone. The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. Bo Burnham Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? 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. It's so good to hear your voice. And part of it is sometimes he's just in despair. Right after the song ends, the shot of Burnham's guest house returns but this time it's filled with clutter. Is he content with its content? that shows this exact meta style. Doona! For those who are unaware, Bos real name is Robert Burnham. I have a lot of material from back then that I'm not proud of and I think is offensive and I think is not helpful. Review: Bo Burnham's 'Inside Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. 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. While talking to the audience during the opening section, Burnham takes a sip out of a water bottle. Bo Burnham: Inside, was written, edited, and directed by the talent himself and the entire show is shot in one room. Bo Burnham: Inside 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. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. But in recent years, theres been enough awareness of online behavior to see how parasocial relationships can have negative impacts on both the creator and the audience if left uninterrogated by both parties. It's an instinct that I have where I need everything that I write to have some deeper meaning or something, but it's a stupid song and it doesn't really mean anything, and it's pretty unlikable that I feel this desperate need to be seen as intelligent.". The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. 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. Today We'll Talk About That Day See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Then, the video keeps going past the runtime of the song and into that reaction itself. 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. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. It is set almost entirely within one room of his Los Angeles guest house, the same one shown in the closing song of the June 2016 Make Happy special, titled Are you happy?. Once he's decided he's done with the special, Burnham brings back all the motifs from the earlier songs into "Goodbye," his finale of this musical movie. 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. Bo Burnham And it has a lot of very clever and very quick wordplay about the specific things you can get on the internet. 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. Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. Likewise. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. "I didn't perform for five years," he says. HOLMES: Yeah. Bo Burnham: Inside - The 10 Funniest Quotes From The Netflix Special The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. But unlike many of us, Burnham was also hard at work on a one-man show directed, written and performed all by himself. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. . "And I spent that time trying to improve myself mentally. I was not, you know, having these particular experiences. 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. Performing "Make Happy" was mentally taxing on Burnham. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). WebBo Burnham's "Inside" special on Netflix is an incredibly detailed musical-comedy artwork. But we weren't. Bo Burnham 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. WebA grieving woman magically travels through time to 1998, where she meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to her late love. Now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room, where he's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. 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.. And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. . our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. The album peaked at #7 on the Billboard 200 chart, #1 on the Comedy Albums chart, and #18 on the Independent Albums chart. Likewise. Its an origin story of sorts. 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. "Truly, it's like, for a 16-year-old kid in 2006, it's not bad. Inside is the work of a comic with artistic tools most of his peers ignore or overlook. From the very beginning of "Inside," Burnham makes it clear that the narrative arc of the special will be self-referential. But the lyrics Burnham sings seem to imply that he wants to be held accountable for thoughtless and offensive jokes of his past: "Father please forgive me for I did not realize what I did, or that I'd live to regret it, times are changing and I'm getting old, are you gonna hold me accountable?". 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. 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.". It's just Burnham, his room, the depressive-sound of his song, and us watching as his distorted voice tries to convince us to join him in that darkness. He has one where he's just sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar describing our modern world. At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. 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. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. 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." Parasocial relationships are neutral, and how we interact with them is usually a mixed bag. Not in the traditional senseno music was released prior to the special other than a backing track from Content found in the trailer. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. 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 / [. 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. 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. He also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. Bo Burnham: Inside Web9/10. And he's done virtually no press about it. Netflix And it portends and casts doubt on a later scene when his mental health frays and Burnham cries in earnest. 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. I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. The Volcano, which touched on labor rights. The second emotional jump scare comes when Burnham monologues about how he stopped performing live because he started having panic attacks on stage, which is not a great place to have them. The monologue increases that sense of intimacy; Burnham is letting the audience in on the state of his mental health even before the global pandemic. Accuracy and availability may vary. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. Instead of working his muscles at open mics or in improv, Burnham uploaded joke songs to the platform in 2006. All rights reserved. (The question is no longer, Do you want to buy Wheat Thins?, for example. 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. 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.. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. 1 on Billboards comedy albums chart and eventually climbed to No. 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. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. 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. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. 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. 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.". WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. 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. 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. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. 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 Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. 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.