It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). HOLMES: Thank you. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. 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. Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. 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. "That's a good start. Review: Bo Burnham's 'Inside MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on? 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. 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. One of those is the internet itself. 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. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. 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. "They say it's like the 'me' generation. Though it does have a twist. 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.". On June 9, Burnham released the music from the special in an album titled Inside (The Songs), which hit No. 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. Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. 20. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. 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). Its called INSIDE, and it will undoubtedly strike your hearts forevermore. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". But by the end of the tune, his narrative changes into irreverence. Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". MARTIN: So a lot of us, you know, artists, journalists have been trying to describe what this period has been like, what has it meant, what's been going on with us. It's self-conscious. Hes bedraggled, increasingly unshaven, growing a Rasputin-like beard. The title card appears in white, then changes to red, signaling that a camera is recording. Open wide.. It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. Inside 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. Viewer discretion is advised. Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. 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. Thank you, Michel. Is he content with its content? The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. "And so, today, I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Oops. He had a role in the film "Promising Young Woman." 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. Bo Burnham "A part of me loves you, part of me hates you," he sang to the crowd. At the start of the special, Burnham sings "Content," setting the stage for his musical-comedy. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. Bo Burnham Bo But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? Burnham watching the end of his special on a projector also brings the poioumenon full circle the artist has finished their work and is showing you the end of the process it took to create it. Here's a little bit of that. Today We'll Talk About That Day 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 / [. HOLMES: Yeah. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. At the end of the song, "Inside" cuts to a shot of Burnham watching his own video on a computer in the dark. Bo Burnham defined an era when he created Inside. 7 on the Top 200. The special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. 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. 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. WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---, you say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried," he sings. 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. Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. 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 prison. And I think that, 'Oh if I'm self-aware about being a douchebag it'll somehow make me less of a douchebag.' I was not, you know, having these particular experiences. HOLMES: Well, logically enough, let's go out on the closing song. That YouTube commenter might be understood by Burnham if they were to meet him. 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. 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. 1 on Billboards comedy albums chart and eventually climbed to No. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. "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. A distorted voice is back again, mocking Burnham as he sits exposed on his fake stage: "Well, well, look who's inside again. Bo Burnham A college student navigates life and school while dealing with a unique predicament he's living with a beautiful former K-pop sensation. Many of his songs begin seriously, then shift into the joke, but this one doesnt. 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. I've been hiding from the world and I need to reenter.' . Like most of Burnhams specials, it includes comedic songs and creative lighting effects. Burnham reacts to his reaction to his reaction: Im so afraid that this criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. The video keeps going. Under stand up, Burnham wrote "Middle-aged men protecting free speech by humping stools and telling stories about edibles" and "podcasts. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. 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. Its an uncanny, dystopian view of Burnham as an instrument in the soulless game of social media. And now depression has its grips in him. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. 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. 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.". Then he moves into a new layer of reaction, where he responds to that previous comment. Now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room, where he's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. Netflix Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. The whole song sounds like you're having a religious experience with your own mental disorder, especially when new harmonies kick in. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. ", He then pulls the same joke again, letting the song play after the audience's applause so it seems like a mistake. 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 It's progress. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. Something went wrong. And the very format of it, as I said, it's very much this kind of sinister figure trying to get you interested. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Like, what is it? This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. 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: Inside Trying to grant his dying father's wish, a son discovers an epic love story buried in his family's distant past. HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. The fun thing about this is he started writing it and recording it early on, so you get to see clips of him singing it both, you know, with the short hair and with the long hair - when he had just started this special and when he was finishing it. "Truly, it's like, for a 16-year-old kid in 2006, it's not bad. 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. Im talking to you. And like those specials, Inside implores fans to think about deeper themes as well as how we think about comedy as a genre. How how successful do you think is "Inside" at addressing, describing kind of confronting the experience that a lot of people have had over the past year? Bo Burnham You know, as silly as that one is, some of the other ones are more sedate. MARTIN: And I understand you were saying that it moves between genres. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. Burnham's growth is admirable, but also revealing of how little we expect from men in the industry. It's 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. Long before the phrase parasocial relationship had entered the mainstream zeitgeist, Burnhams work discussed the phenomenon. 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. But he meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, art is a lie nothing is real. 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. 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. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. Please enter a valid email and try again. Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. 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. But I described it to a couple of people as, you know, this looks like what the inside of my head felt like because of his sort of restlessness, his desire to create, create, create. The special was nominated for six Emmy Awards in 2021, of which it won three: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Music Direction. The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? 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? 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.". Tell us a little bit more about that. There's also another little joke baked into this bit, because the game is made by a company called SSRI interactive the most common form of antidepressant drugs are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, aka SSRIs. But Burnham is of course the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. 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. With electro-pop social commentary, bleak humour and sock-puppet debates, the comics lockdown creation is astonishing. After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. Daddy made you your favorite. "This show is called 'what.,' and I hope there are some surprises for you," he says as he goes to set down the water bottle. 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. The performer, along with the record label and brand deals, encourage a parasocial relationship for increased profits. 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. ", From then on, the narrative of "Inside" follows Burnham returning to his standard comedic style and singing various parody songs like "FaceTime with My Mom" and "White Woman's Instagram.". Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. 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. In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. And maybe the rest of us are ready, too. Bo Burnham: Inside And the biggest risk Burnham takes in the show is letting his emotional side loose, but not before cracking a ton of jokes. All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. Good. "Got it? 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. 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. Its horrific.". Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. 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. "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. 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"). And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. 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. The song is a pitched-down Charli XCX-styled banger of a ballad has minimal lyrics that are mostly just standard crowd instructions: put your hands up, get on your feet. My heart hurts with and for him. But Burnham doesn't put the bottle down right, and it falls off the stool. "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. So for our own little slice of the world, Burnham's two time spans seem to be referencing the start and end of an era in our civilization. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. 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. 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. He is now back to where he was, making jokes alone in his room, an effort to escape his reality. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. 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." 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. 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. BURNHAM: (Singing) Does anybody want to joke when no one's laughing in the background? I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. Now, hes come a long way since his previous specials titled What. and Make Happy, where his large audiences roared with laughter 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. HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. Relieved to be done? Bo Burnham Linda, thank you so much for joining us. Web9/10. ", 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. 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 Bo Burnham Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. The battery is full, but no numbers are moving. 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. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". This is especially true for Patreon campaigns that give fans direct access to creators on platforms like Discord. "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. 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. 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 then the video keeps playing, and so he winds up reacting to his own reaction, and then reacting yet again to that reaction. 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. 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. Bo Burnham Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. Is he content with its content? WebBo's transcripts on Scraps From The Loft. When the song starts, the camera sitting in front of Burnham's mirror starts slowing zooming in, making the screen darker and darker until you (the audience member at home) are sitting in front of the black mirror of your screen. Likewise. Theyre complicated. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. It's conscious of self. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. 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.

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