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. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. 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. "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. Its an origin story of sorts. Daddy made you your favorite, open wide.". In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. 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." 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. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. "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. Relieved to be done? 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. WebA grieving woman magically travels through time to 1998, where she meets a man with an uncanny resemblance to her late love. 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. It's not. 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 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. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.". The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. 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. 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.". Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. 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. .] Get up. 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.". Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). Bo Burnham: INSIDE | Trailer - YouTube 0:00 / 2:09 The following content may contain suicide or self-harm topics. "And so, today, I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. HOLMES: So before he was this celebrated filmmaker, Bo Burnham was himself a YouTube star. In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. Anyone can read what you share. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? 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. But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. 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. A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall. The song is like having a religious experience with your own mental disorder. Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? 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. WebBo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. 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. HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." 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. 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. ", "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 got so much better, in fact, that in January of 2020, I thought 'you know what I should start performing again. Bo Burnham also uploaded Welcome to the Internet and White Womans Instagram on his YouTube channel. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. You know, I was not, you know, I was alone, but I was not trapped in one room. MARTIN: And I understand you were saying that it moves between genres. 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. 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. 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?". 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. "Got it? 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. 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. There's no more time left to add to the camera's clock. All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. 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. "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. He doesn't really bother with any kind of transitions. "And so today I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. @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.". Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? The incentives of the web, those that reward outrage, excess and sentiment, are the villains of this show. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. 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. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. 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. His new Netflix special Inside was directed, written and performed all inside one room. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. I think you're getting from him, you know, the entertainment element. 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. newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. It's so good to hear your voice. 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. And part of it is sometimes he's just in despair. that shows this exact meta style. Inside doesnt give clear answers like parasocial relationships good or parasocial relationships bad, because those answers do not, and cannot, exist. 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. MARTIN: So Bo Burnham has had a lot of different identities lately. Finally doing basic care tasks for yourself like eating breakfast and starting work in the morning. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. begins with the question "Is it mean?" The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. 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. Like most of Burnhams specials, it includes comedic songs and creative lighting effects. Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Thank you, Michel. So let's dive into "Inside" and take a closer look at nearly every song and sketch in Burnham's special. On the other two sides of that question ("no" and "not sure") the flowchart asks if it could be "interpreted" as mean (if so, then it's "not funny") or if it "punches down.". 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. 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?. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. You can tell that he's watched a ton of livestream gamers, and picked up on their intros, the way the talk with people in the chat, the cadence of their commentary on the game, everything. jonnyewers 30 May 2021. Poioumenon (from the Greek word for "product") is a term created by author Alastair Fowler and usually used to refer to a kind of metafiction. Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? 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. 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. 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. "Part of me needs you, part of me fears you. 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. Theyre complicated. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. 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. He was only 16. And it has a lot of very clever and very quick wordplay about the specific things you can get on the internet. But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. 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's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. 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 moves kind of all over the place. You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. Accuracy and availability may vary. 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). 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"). Burnham is also the main character in the game, a character who is seen moving mechanically around a room. For those who are unaware, Bos real name is Robert Burnham. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. 1 on Billboards comedy albums chart and eventually climbed to No. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. Mid-song, a spotlight turns on Burnham and shows him completely naked as a voice sings: "Well, well, look who's inside again. Tell us a little bit more about that. 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. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. 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. It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". It's prison. Instead, thanks to his ultra-self-aware style, he seems to always get ahead of criticism by holding himself accountable first. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. Copyright 2021 NPR. 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. Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. See our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. 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). our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. 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. The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. 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. The tropes he says you may find on a white woman's Instagram page are peppered with cultural appropriation ("a dreamcatcher bought from Urban Outfitters") and ignorant political takes ("a random quote from 'Lord of the Rings' misattributed to Martin Luther King"). "Robert's been a little depressed," he sings (referring to himself by his birthname). Let's take a closer look at just a few of those bubbles, shall we? 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. I don't think it's perfectly morally defendable.". Theres always been a tension in his comedy between an ironic, smarty-pants cleverness and an often melodramatic point of view. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. When you're a kid and you're stuck in your room, you'll do any old s--- to get out of it.". He is now back to where he was, making jokes alone in his room, an effort to escape his reality. Who Were We Running From? The clearest inspiration is Merle Traviss 16 Tons, a song about the unethical working conditions of coal miners also used in weird Tom Hanks film Joe vs. 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. A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. One of those is the internet itself. 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. Doona! But, of course, it tangles that right back up; this emotional post was, ultimately, still Content. 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. And he's done virtually no press about it. ", 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. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Im talking to you. It chronicles Burnhams life during the pandemic and his journey creating the special. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. Got it? 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. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). The flow chat for "Is it funny?" 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. 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. 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. Years later, the comedian told NPR's Terry Gross that performing the special was so tough that he was having panic attacks on stage. Sitting in the meeting room, not making a sound becomes the perceived 24/7 access fans have to DM you, reply to you, ask you questions. 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. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. And then the funniest thing happened.". 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. And it portends and casts doubt on a later scene when his mental health frays and Burnham cries in earnest. 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. 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 a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. It's a heartbreaking chiding coming from his own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. But by the end of the tune, his narrative changes into irreverence. But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". 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? 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. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. 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. When that future-Burnham appears, it's almost like a precursor to what he'll have shown us by the end of the special: That both he, and his audience, could never have known just how brutal the next year was about to be. But then the video keeps playing, and so he winds up reacting to his own reaction, and then reacting yet again to that reaction. Burnhams online success and an awareness of what kind of his audiences perceived closeness made the comedian key to one of the most prominent discussions in a creator- and influencer-driven era of media: the idea of parasocial relationships. Likewise. Not in the traditional senseno music was released prior to the special other than a backing track from Content found in the trailer. Bo Burnham: Inside, was written, edited, and directed by the talent himself and the entire show is shot in one room. Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. 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.". And I'm just wondering, like, how would you describe that? Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Now, hes come a long way since his previous specials titled What. and Make Happy, where his large audiences roared with laughter 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. The song begins with a fade in from back, the shot painfully close to Burnhams face as he looks off to the side. 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. 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. . In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. 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.

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