Finally doing basic care tasks for yourself like eating breakfast and starting work in the morning. And while its an ominous portrait of the isolation of the pandemic, theres hope in its existence: Written, designed and shot by Burnham over the last year inside a single room, it illustrates that theres no greater inspiration than limitations. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. 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. An ethereal voice (which is really just Burnham's own voice with effects over it) responds to Burnham's question while a bright light suddenly shines on his face, as if he's receiving a message from God. Thank you so much for joining us. I hope to see you inside at some point. "And so today I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything.". 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 it doesn't. Using cinematic tools other comics overlook, the star (who is also the director, editor and cameraman) trains a glaring spotlight on internet life mid-pandemic. MARTIN: So Bo Burnham has had a lot of different identities lately. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. The tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. Bo Burnham also uploaded Welcome to the Internet and White Womans Instagram on his YouTube channel. HOLMES: Yeah. 20. 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. 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. 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. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. 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). If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. With electro-pop social commentary, bleak humour and sock-puppet debates, the comics lockdown creation is astonishing. HOLMES: Thank you. The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. Now get inside.". He takes it, and Burnham cries robotically as a tinny version of the song about being stuck in the room plays. And it has a lot of very clever and very quick wordplay about the specific things you can get on the internet. One of those is the internet itself. It chronicles Burnhams life during the pandemic and his journey creating the special. Web9/10. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. 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. Bo Burnhams Inside begs for our parasocial awareness The comedians lifetime online explains the heart of most of his new songs By Wil Williams @wilw_writes Jun 28, 2021, 11:01am EDT ", 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.". 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. ", "I do not think my intention was homophobic, but what is the implicit comedy of that song if you chase it all the way down? And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. ", 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.". 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"). Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. He was only 16. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror. Good. But now Burnham is back. Like most of Burnhams specials, it includes comedic songs and creative lighting effects. I think you're getting from him, you know, the entertainment element. I've been singing that song for about a week NOW. 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. As we explained in this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside," Bo Burnham's newest special is a poioumenon a type of artistic work that tells the story of its own creation. And I think that, 'Oh if I'm self-aware about being a douchebag it'll somehow make me less of a douchebag.' And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. His new Netflix special Inside was directed, written and performed all inside one room. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. And you know what? 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. In his first Netflix special (2013's "what. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. 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. Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? The special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. 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. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. That quiet simplicity doesn't feel like a relief, but it is. A distorted voice is back again, mocking Burnham as he sits exposed on his fake stage: "Well, well, look who's inside again. WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. Doona! Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". And I think that's what you're getting here. 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. 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. You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. In White Womans Instagram, the comedian assumes the role of a white woman and sings a list of common white lady Instagram posts (Latte foam art / Tiny pumpkins / Fuzzy, comfy socks) while acting out even more cliched photos in the video with wild accuracy. 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. The question is now, Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?). Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. MARTIN: And I understand you were saying that it moves between genres. Now get inside.". Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. You know, I was not, you know, I was alone, but I was not trapped in one room. 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." The result, a special titled "Inside," shows all of Burnham's brilliant instincts of parody and meta-commentary on the role of white, male entertainers in the world and of poisons found in internet culture that digital space that gave him a career and fostered a damaging anxiety disorder that led him to quit performing live comedy after 2015. Burnham makes it textual, too. 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. 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. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. Mid-song, a spotlight turns on Burnham and shows him completely naked as a voice sings: "Well, well, look who's inside again. 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. . Years later, the comedian told NPR's Terry Gross that performing the special was so tough that he was having panic attacks on stage. Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. 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. Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. 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. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Not in the traditional senseno music was released prior to the special other than a backing track from Content found in the trailer. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. 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? WebBo Burnham: Inside is a 2021 special written, directed, filmed, edited, and performed by American comedian Bo Burnham. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). 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. / 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. The picturesque view of sun-soaked clouds was featured in "Comedy," during the section of the song when Burnham stood up and decided that the only thing he (or his character in the song) could do was "heal the world with comedy.". 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. Burnham can't get through his words in the update as he admits he's been working on the special much longer than he'd anticipated. 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. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. 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. It's so good to hear your voice. Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. 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 global pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders of March 2020 put a stop to these plans. Burnham may also be trying to parody the hollow, PR-scripted apologies that celebrities will trot out before they've possibly had the time to self-reflect and really understand what people are trying to hold them accountable for. Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. 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. Some of the things he mentions that give him "that funny feeling" include discount Etsy agitprop (aka communist-themed merchandise) and the Pepsi halftime show. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. 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. "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.". 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. And I don't think that I can handle this right now. @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.". 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. Daddy made you your favorite. 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. Its called INSIDE, and it will undoubtedly strike your hearts forevermore. It's progress. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. 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. Something went wrong. 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.". By keeping that reveal until the end of the special, Burnham is dropping a hammer on the actual at-home audience, letting us know why his mental health has hit an ATL, as he calls it ("all time low"). The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside,". 7 on the Top 200. Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. While sifting through fan reactions to Inside, the YouTube algorithm suggested I watch a fan-made video that pitch corrects All Eyes on Me to Burnhams actual voice. 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. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door.