Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. 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.. Bo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. 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. that shows this exact meta style. 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). But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. Under stand up, Burnham wrote "Middle-aged men protecting free speech by humping stools and telling stories about edibles" and "podcasts. 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. 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. Relieved to be done? Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. 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. 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. They Cloned Tyrone. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. 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. Bo Burnham 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. 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. 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. Might not help but still it couldn't hurt. 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.". Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Oops. People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. 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. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. 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 song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. "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. Bo Burnhams 2021 special, Inside. .] '", "Robert's been a little depressed, no!" 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. 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. 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. All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. But he's largely been given a pass by his fans, who praise his self-awareness and new approach. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. WebA Girl and an Astronaut. WebA biotech genius tries to bounce back from the depths of grief with help from his son, who works to escape his dads shadow and save the family business. I'm talking to you, get the f--- up.". MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on? "Any Day Now" The ending credits. Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. 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. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." 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 WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.". 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. But he meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, art is a lie nothing is real. And finally today, like many of us, writer, comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham found himself isolated for much of last year - home alone, growing a beard, trying his best to stay sane. 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. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release. @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.". It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. 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. And it portends and casts doubt on a later scene when his mental health frays and Burnham cries in earnest. 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. That quiet simplicity doesn't feel like a relief, but it is. Bo Burnham: Inside Then, of course, the aspect ratio shrinks again as the white woman goes back to posting typical content. The song untangles the way we view peoples social media output as the complete vision of who they are, when really, we cannot know the full extent of someones inner world, especially not just through social media. 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. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. But Burnham doesn't put the bottle down right, and it falls off the stool. He was only 16. Were complicated. Bo Burnham Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. 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. But now Burnham is back. 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. I've been singing that song for about a week NOW. He points it at himself as he sways, singing again: Get your fuckin hands up / Get on out of your seat / All eyes on me, all eyes on me.. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. Tell us a little bit more about that. "Problematic" is a roller coaster of self-awareness, masochism, and parody. 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. 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. Now get inside.". "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. Unpaid Intern isnt just about unpaid internships; when your livelihood as an artist depends on your perceived closeness with each individual fan, fetching a coffee becomes telling someone theyre valid when they vent to you like they would a friend (or a therapist). 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. In Unpaid Intern, Burnham sings about how deeply unethical the position is to the workers in a pastiche of other labor-focused blues. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? Good. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. 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. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. So this is how it ends. 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. And notably, Burnhams work focuses on parasocial relationships not from the perspective of the audience, but the perspective of the performer.Inside depicts how being a creator can feel: you are a cult leader, you are holding your audience hostage, your audience is holding you hostage, you are your audience, your audience can never be you, you need your audience, and you need to escape your audience. ", 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. 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. The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. 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. 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. 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"). Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). 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.". The whole video is filmed like one big thirst trap as he sweats and works out. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. And I think that's what you're getting here. And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. And we might. 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. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. How does one know if the joke punches down? Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. According to a May 2021 Slate article, the piece was filmed at Bo Burnhams Los Angeles guest housethe same room used for June 2016s Are You Happy? and the closing shots of the Make Happy special. All rights reserved. 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. MARTIN: And it's deep, too. The song is like having a religious experience with your own mental disorder. 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. Now get inside.". 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. In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. 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. TikTok creator @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon thanks to the meta scenes of Burnham setting up lights and cameras, not to mention the musical numbers like "Content" and "Comedy" that all help to tell the story of Burnham making this new special. The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. And then the funniest thing happened.". 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. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) 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. 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 The song begins with a fade in from back, the shot painfully close to Burnhams face as he looks off to the side. 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. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. 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. 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. 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. and concludes that if it's mean, it's not funny. Please enter a valid email and try again. As energetic as the song "S---" is, it's really just another clear message about the mental disorder that has its grips in Burnham (or at least the version of him we're seeing in this special). Bo Burnham HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." An astronaut's return after a 30-year disappearance rekindles a lost love and sparks interest from a corporation determined to learn why he hasn't aged. Let's take a closer look at just a few of those bubbles, shall we?