I got better. Got it? 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. He doesn't really bother with any kind of transitions. In the song, Burnham specifically mentions looking up "derealization," a disorder that may "feel like you're living in a dream. 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. 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. Might not help, but still, it couldn't hurt.". He has one where he's just sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar describing our modern world. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. I'm sitting down, writing jokes, singing silly songs, I'm sorry I was gone. Netflix And you know what? In his first Netflix special (2013's "what. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. At the start of the special, Burnham sings "Content," setting the stage for his musical-comedy. The voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. Burnham is an extraordinary actor, and "Inside" often feels like we're watching the intimate, real interior life of an artist. Tell us a little bit more about that. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. The song begins with a fade in from back, the shot painfully close to Burnhams face as he looks off to the side. For the song "Comedy," Burnham adopts a persona adjacent to his real life self a white male comedian who is driven to try and help make the world a better place. 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). 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.. All rights reserved. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. 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. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". It's progress. The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. Other artists have made works on the wavelength of Repeat Stuff, but few creators with a platform as large as Burnhams return to the topic over and over, touching on it in almost all of their works. "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. HOLMES: Yeah. Inside doesnt give clear answers like parasocial relationships good or parasocial relationships bad, because those answers do not, and cannot, exist. 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. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. The title card appears in white, then changes to red, signaling that a camera is recording. 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. But he knows how to do this. He was alone. The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. 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. Though it does have a twist. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. 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.". But unlike many of us, Burnham was also hard at work on a one-man show directed, written and performed all by himself. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. Anyone can read what you share. At the forefront of this shift has been Bo Burnham, one of YouTubes earliest stars, who went on to make his own innovative specials with satirical songs backed by theatrical lighting and disembodied voices. Netflix. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. Then, the video keeps going past the runtime of the song and into that reaction itself. The first half is dominated by sharp, silly satires of the moment, like a visually precise and hilarious song about social media vanity, White Womans Instagram, and a commercial for a woke brand consultant. WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. The special is set almost entirely in one cluttered room. I got so much better, in fact, that in January of 2020, I thought 'you know what I should start performing again. WebBo Burnham: Inside is a 2021 special written, directed, filmed, edited, and performed by American comedian Bo Burnham. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. BURNHAM: (Singing) The live-action "Lion King," the Pepsi halftime show, 20,000 years of this, seven more to go. 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. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. Tapping on a synthesizer, he sings about the challenges of isolation as he sits on a cluttered floor, two striking squares of sunlight streaming in through the windows of a dark room. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. 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 ". And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. And he's done virtually no press about it. 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. . Get up. Carpool Karaoke, Steve Aoki, Logan Paul. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. 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. 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. 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.". We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. But, of course, it tangles that right back up; this emotional post was, ultimately, still Content. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. Web9/10. Entertainment correspondent Kim Renfro ranked them in ascending order of greatness. He is leaving it to speak for itself in terms of what it says about isolation and sadness. His career evolved through YouTube, MTV, Vine, his movie "Eighth Grade," and now Netflix's "Inside." And many people will probably remember his 2018 movie, "Eighth Grade." 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. A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. With electro-pop social commentary, bleak humour and sock-puppet debates, the comics lockdown creation is astonishing. He grabs the camera and swings it around in a circle as the song enters another chorus, and a fake audience cheers in the background. WebBo Burnham's "Inside" special on Netflix is an incredibly detailed musical-comedy artwork. 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. "I'm so worried that criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. WebBo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. BURNHAM: (Singing) Does anybody want to joke when no one's laughing in the background? But in both of those cases, similarity and connection would come from the way the art itself connects people, not any actual tie between Burnham and myself, Burnham and the commenter. 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. Now, you heard me struggling to describe what this is, so help me out. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. It's not. 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.". In a giddy homage to Cabaret, Burnham, in sunglasses, plays the M.C. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). 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.". Some of the narrative of the show can be indulgently overheated, playing into clichs about the process of the brooding artist, but Burnham has anticipated this and other criticisms, and integrated them into the special, including the idea that drawing attention to potential flaws fixes them. newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. 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. Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. 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 / [. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. 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. 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. In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. Still terrified of that spotlight? See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. 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. LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Thank you, Michel. It's a heartbreaking chiding coming from his own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. See our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. Relieved to be done? 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. This line comes full circle by the end of the special, so keep it in mind. 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. 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). Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". 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. Instead of working his muscles at open mics or in improv, Burnham uploaded joke songs to the platform in 2006. Im talking to you. The comedy special perfectly encapsulated the world's collective confusion, frustration, and exhaustion amid ongoing pandemic lockdowns, bringing a quirky spin to the ongoing existential terror that was the year 2020. 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?. MARTIN: This special is titled, appropriately enough, "Inside," and it is streaming on Netflix now. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. Relieved to be done? 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.". He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. That's when the younger Burnham, the one from the beginning of his special-filming days, appears. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. 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"). But then the music tells the audience that "he meant to play the track again" and that "art's still a lie, nothing's still real.". I think this is something we've all been thinking about. It feels like the ending of a show, a climax, but it's not. 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. It's an emergence from the darkness. 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. How does one know if the joke punches down? 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. 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. / 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. I was not, you know, having these particular experiences. 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? ", 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.". "Part of me needs you, part of me fears you. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. ", "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. He had a role in the film "Promising Young Woman." HOLMES: That was NPR's Linda Holmes reviewing Bo Burnham's new Netflix special "Inside." Who Were We Running From? Just wanted to make sure everybody knew about Bo's comedy special transcripts on Scraps. MARTIN: Well, that being said, Lynda, like, what song do you want to go out on? A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall. BO BURNHAM: (Singing) If you'd have told me a year ago that I'd be locked inside of my home, I would have told you a year ago, interesting, now leave me alone. 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. begins with the question "Is it mean?" .] Something went wrong. HOLMES: Thank you. 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. Well now the shots are reversed. You can tell that he's watched a ton of livestream gamers, and picked up on their intros, the way the talk with people in the chat, the cadence of their commentary on the game, everything. It moves kind of all over the place. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." But we weren't. Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). ", Right as Burnham is straightening up, music begins blaring over the speakers and Burnham's own voice sings: "He meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, but you all thought it was an accident. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. As he shows in this new sketch, he's aware at a meta level that simply trying to get ahead of the criticism that could be tossed his way is itself a performance sometimes.