"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.". Viewer discretion is advised. The voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. 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. He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? To save you the time freeze-framing, here's the complete message: "No pressure by the way at any point we can stop i just want to make sure ur comfortable all this and please dont feel obligated to send anything you dont want to just cuz i want things doesnt mean i should get them and its sometimes confusing because i think you enjoy it when i beg and express how much i want you but i dont ever want that to turn into you feeling pressured into doing something you don't want or feeling like youre disappointing me this is just meant to be fun and if at any point its not fun for you we can stop and im sorry if me saying this is killing the mood i just like ". WebBo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." Burnham is also the main character in the game, a character who is seen moving mechanically around a room. During the last 15 minutes of "Make Happy," Burnham turns the comedy switch down a bit and begins talking to the audience about how his comedy is almost always about performing itself because he thinks people are, at all times, doing a "performance" for one another. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. HOLMES: Yeah. This is especially true for Patreon campaigns that give fans direct access to creators on platforms like Discord. 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. WebA Girl and an Astronaut. HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. If "All Eyes on Me" sounds disconcertingly comforting to you, it could be because you can recognize the mental symptoms of a mood disorder like depression. Thank you, Michel. of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. 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. 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 is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. Bo Burnham: Inside, was written, edited, and directed by the talent himself and the entire show is shot in one room. And I think that, 'Oh if I'm self-aware about being a douchebag it'll somehow make me less of a douchebag.' I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? Because there's also a little bit Bo Burnham the character in this almost. 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. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. Relieved to be done? Burnham skewers himself as a virtue-signaling ally with a white-savior complex, a bully and an egoist who draws a Venn diagram and locates himself in the overlap between Weird Al and Malcolm X. Burnhams eyes are sharply in focus; the rest of him faded out subtly, a detail you might not even notice with how striking his eyes are. WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. Its an origin story of sorts. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. But look, I made you some content. 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. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. 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. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. His career evolved through YouTube, MTV, Vine, his movie "Eighth Grade," and now Netflix's "Inside." It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. "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.". ", 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. 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. 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.". Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything.". 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. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. And you know what? Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. So this is how it ends. The whole song sounds like you're having a religious experience with your own mental disorder, especially when new harmonies kick in. 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 Bo Burnham also uploaded Welcome to the Internet and White Womans Instagram on his YouTube channel. I've been hiding from the world and I need to reenter.' ", "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. Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. 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. Is he content with its content? 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. How does one know if the joke punches down? His new Netflix special Inside was directed, written and performed all inside one room. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. 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. The incentives of the web, those that reward outrage, excess and sentiment, are the villains of this show. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. But Burnham doesn't put the bottle down right, and it falls off the stool. 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. The structured movements of the last hour and half fall away as Burnham snaps at the audience: "Get up. The penultimate song, "All Eyes On Me," is the best in the whole special, in this writer's opinion. All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. 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. begins with the question "Is it mean?" "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. Depression acts like an outside force, one that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. 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. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. 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. 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"). Still terrified of that spotlight? 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. 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. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). Is he content with its content? 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. Trying to grant his dying father's wish, a son discovers an epic love story buried in his family's distant past. 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. And many of them discuss their personal connection to the show and their analysis of how Burnham must have been thinking and feeling when he made it. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. jonnyewers 30 May 2021. An existential dread creeps in, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. 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. 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. Its called INSIDE, and it will undoubtedly strike your hearts forevermore. Now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room, where he's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. 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. Bo Burnhams Inside: A Comedy Special and an Inspired Experiment, https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/01/arts/television/bo-burnham-inside-comedy.html. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. .] But it doesn't. "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. But now Burnham is back. 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.". His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. One of those is the internet itself. But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. Just as often, Burnhams shot sequencing plays against the meaning of a song, like when he breaks out a glamorous split screen to complement a comic song about FaceTiming with his mom. 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. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. Burnham brings back all the motifs from the earlier songs into his finale, revisiting all the stages of emotion he took us through for the last 90 minutes. In another scene, Burnham gives a retroactive disclaimer to discussions of his suicidal ideation by telling the audience, And if youre out there and youre struggling with suicidal thoughts and you want to kill yourself, I just wanna tell you Dont! Look Whos Inside Again is largely a song about being creative during quarantine, but ends with Now come out with your hands up, weve got you surrounded, a reflection on police violence but also being mobbed by his fans. 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. It's a heartbreaking chiding coming from his own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. 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. It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. 7 on the Top 200. HOLMES: So before he was this celebrated filmmaker, Bo Burnham was himself a YouTube star. 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. And like unpaid interns, most working artists cant afford a mortgage (and yeah, probably torrent a porn). Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. Still terrified of that spotlight? 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. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. That YouTube commenter might be understood by Burnham if they were to meet him. 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?. 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.