Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. BURNHAM: (Singing) Does anybody want to joke when no one's laughing in the background? Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. 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. The song made such a splash in its insight that it earned its own episode in Shannon Struccis seminal Fake Friends documentary series, which broke down what parasocial relationships are and how they work. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. It moves kind of all over the place. ", 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.". People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. And I think that's what you're getting here. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. HOLMES: Yeah. And you know what? In Unpaid Intern, Burnham sings about how deeply unethical the position is to the workers in a pastiche of other labor-focused blues. Entertainment correspondent Kim Renfro ranked them in ascending order of greatness. But by the end of the tune, his narrative changes into irreverence. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. 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. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. Still terrified of that spotlight? 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. 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. Burnham is also the main character in the game, a character who is seen moving mechanically around a room. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. HOLMES: So before he was this celebrated filmmaker, Bo Burnham was himself a YouTube star. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. When you're a kid and you're stuck in your room, you'll do any old s--- to get out of it.". Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. 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. 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.". HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." And I don't think that I can handle this right now. Well now the shots are reversed. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. WebA Girl and an Astronaut. [1] Created in the guest house of Burnham's Los Angeles home during the COVID-19 pandemic without a crew or audience, it was released on Netflix on May 30, 2021. The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? "They say it's like the 'me' generation. He says his goal had been to complete filming before his 30th birthday. Here's a little bit of that. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. 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). 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 voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. 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. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. Still terrified of that spotlight? I mean, honestly, he's saying a lot right there. Relieved to be done? ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake. 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. In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. 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. And part of it is sometimes he's just in despair. WebOn a budget. Instead, thanks to his ultra-self-aware style, he seems to always get ahead of criticism by holding himself accountable first. 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. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. 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. Inside is the work of a comic with artistic tools most of his peers ignore or overlook. I'm sitting down, writing jokes, singing silly songs, I'm sorry I was gone. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. 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. 7 on the Top 200. 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.". 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.". 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. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. He is not talking about it very much. 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 special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. Hes bedraggled, increasingly unshaven, growing a Rasputin-like beard. 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. 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. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. The incentives of the web, those that reward outrage, excess and sentiment, are the villains of this show. He had a role in the film "Promising Young Woman." Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. 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. The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. In his new Netflix special, Inside, Bo Burnham sings about trying to be funny while stuck in a room. 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. It's a heartbreaking chiding coming from his own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. Remember how Burnham's older, more-bearded self popped up at the beginning of "Inside" when we were watching footage of him setting up the cameras and lighting? This is a heartbreaking chiding coming from Burnham's own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. 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. .] Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. .] Burnham makes it textual, too. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. 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. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. That YouTube commenter might be understood by Burnham if they were to meet him. HOLMES: Right. 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. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. And then the funniest thing happened.". At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. 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." 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.". MARTIN: So Bo Burnham has had a lot of different identities lately. He slaps his leg in frustration, and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. ", "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? All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. On June 9, Burnham released the music from the special in an album titled Inside (The Songs), which hit No. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Were complicated. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. This line comes full circle by the end of the special, so keep it in mind. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. And he's done virtually no press about it. jonnyewers 30 May 2021. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. Years later, the comedian told NPR's Terry Gross that performing the special was so tough that he was having panic attacks on stage. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. WebBo Burnham's "Inside" special on Netflix is an incredibly detailed musical-comedy artwork. Its an origin story of sorts. I did! Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. 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. That quiet simplicity doesn't feel like a relief, but it is. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. The structured movements of the last hour and half fall away as Burnham snaps at the audience: "Get up. 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 as if Burnham is showing how wholesale judgments about the way people choose to use social media can gloss over earnest, genuine expressions of love and grief being shared online. Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". ", 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. 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.