I absolutely love the crazy Carney vibes of this one
I absolutely love the crazy Carney vibes of this one
Yes! Thank you. I knew the whole cartoony sinister vibe felt familiar but I couldnât place it.
Cartoony sinister is a great way to describe the internet
Someone should make a song about the internet with the cartoony sinister vibe. We could call it something like "The internet welcomes you" or something.
Until it's just suddenly sinister sinister.
I want Bo to play a Disney villain now.
It really reminded me of Gogol Bordello.
Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while. Guess I'm wearing purple tomorrow.
Have you ever been to American wedding?
Weâre coming rougher every time
Oh no
Thank you for reminding me of Gogol Bordello!
START WEARING PURPLE đ
I have been looking for things that capture this vibe, even trying to figure out what that particular piano part is called when he is laughing.
If anyone has anything that scratches this itch, lemme know.
Circus Contraption!!! Definitely check out th band/act Circus Contraption. They were an actual circus show for a while but they recorded a few albums before the stopped performing. Check them out, I think they have what you're looking for!
This is probably hitting the closest for sure
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I totally forgot about this band.
Not exact but kinda sorta
Roustabout - Beats Antique
Charlie's Inferno - That Handsome Devil
I'm constantly looking for the same type of music as well. Don't really know wtf to call it either.
Steam Powered Giraffe used to have sounds like this. Been a while since ive listened to them though. Check out "clockwork vaudeville", "honeybee", 'fire fire" and "brass goggles" as starting points
Man Man earlier stuff, especially the album Six Demon Bag, has some stuff with a similar vibe.
He reminds me of Faruq from Legion.
Tonight is the Night I Fell Asleep at the Wheel: https://youtu.be/drjqJ_kzJvE
... Bo Burnham should write a Broadway musical, and star as the villain, because this song was a perfect musical villain theme.
Vaudeville is what you're looking for.
Step right up.... we got anything and everything all of the time
Very Danny Elfman.
Well then I have some exciting news for you buddy; you should listen to the band Primus.
If you like this, you'd enjoy Idiot Flesh.
Dr. Robert (Bono) from Across the Universe!
I am he as you are he as you are me and we are all together.
BIG Pippin vibes honestly, even down to the lyrics and meaning.
Bo has always created great music, but I think almost every song from this new special can stand alone, especially this one.
đ” Jeffrey Bezos đ¶
âFuck their wives, drink their blood, come on Jeff, GET EM!â
Ăaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
I really wanted there to be more to that one. Love it. Was happy to see its brief reprise later in the show even if it was just nonsense, haha.
The song comes right after he says "I always try to have deeper meaning in my songs". Its supposed to be just dumb comedy
You did it!
Congratulations!!
I love how you can just barely hear him cracking a laugh when he says "congratulations!"
Lmao I work for one of Bezos' companies and those two pieces had me DYING. That scream at the end đ
I've replayed both (especially the GET EM one) so many times now, I'm addicted, it's stuck in my head all day.
Glad I'm not the only one repeatedly watching this special đ
Funny Feeling is pretty amazing.
Iâm not even really a fan of his and I listened to that one multiple times. Was taken aback by how poignant, haunting, and beautiful it was.
Heâs developed into a really good artist. The talent was always there. Very easy to love.
Has he been around this whole time and I've never noticed or did he basically disappear after I listened to New Math (and others) 13 years ago?
He's released two other specials on netflix previous to this one
TIL. Clearly I've just been living under a rock.
the most recent special ends with the "kanye rant", where he basically tells the audience he can't do it anymore because it's taking a toll on his mental health. that was four years ago, so he has been away for quite a while.
He wrote and directed a fantastic movie called Eighth Grade.
Also has a poetry book called Egghead and I loved it!
Is "I fuck sluts" in it?
If by "away" you mean writing, acting, and directing major television shows and award winning movies sure he's been away.
Seriously if anyone only knows him from early YouTube go check out his Wikipedia page, the man has serious talent.
Hes been away from the stage.
This. That's what was fucking him up.
Itâs funny you say that too because as I watched âinsideâ all I could think the entire time was that this would make for an amazing Broadway stage show. I have a feeling it may go that route. Itâs THAT good.
That's how his other specials were. He doesn't develop his act in front of crowds. He writes them from beginning to end like a stage production and then takes them on the road and then records them.
by "away" i mean away from standup comedy/one-man shows aka the topic of conversation here.
He's like a white Donald Glover.
he has been away from the stage because he got anxiety attacks on stage five years ago, this special is his return to "standup"
This is the first "stand-up" hes done in 5 years. He talks a bit about it in the special. I believe he also wrote and directed a movie about an 8th grader trying to become a YouTube sensation within that span too.
It's called Eighth Grade. It's not really about the girl trying to find success online (though that is part of it). It's more of an examination of how awful being 13 is and how the internet effects a developing brain. It's a great film and everybody should see it, especially eighth graders despite the R rating.
As a parent of a 16 and 13 year old, the struggle is real.
As the parent of a 10 and 5 year old, the struggle is real here too.
*an awarding winning movie about a 8th grader trying to become a YouTube star.
8th grade. Amazing movie
His two netflix specials before this one are amazing. Highly recommend!
He's got 3 Netflix specials, including this, and a film called Eighth Grade, in the past decade. I don't know if there's anything else.
The short lived TV-show Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous, which had one season in 2013. Still holds up, has a lot of his criticism of fame, and managed to end in a way that both would be a great set up for another season and is a poignant final scene of a complete story.
They aren't his own projects, but he was the male lead in Promising Young Women, and played a small role in The Big Sick.
This reminds me he also had a very short cameo on Parks and Rec in 2014.
Fun fact, that appearance (and the country persona he created) are where he says he got the idea for his own country song.
He's got another special called "words, words, words." that people seem to forget. I've only ever seen it on the comedy central add-on for Amazon (or another way of getting comedy central on demand, I guess)
He had two Comedy Central specials before he turned 20. One was a half hour for Comedy Central Presents and the other was an hour called Words Words Words.
He's got 3 Netflix specials, including this, and a film called Eighth Grade, in the past decade. I don't know if there's anything else.
As if that weren't enough productivity!
He was great in the critically acclaimed movie "Promising Young Woman"
He touches on this a bit in the special. Basically he was doing tours between 2009-2016 (and released a few albums) when he stopped due to panic attacks. He's been focusing more on writing and directing since then.
He has two previous fantastic specials on netflix, and just released a third one "Inside", tho he did have a bit of a gap in his career. In his new special he basically says outright that he quit doing performances and kinda retreated inward for the past 5 years because of poor mental health and panic attacks, only recently feeling well enough to sorta reenter the world and consider performing again; and then the pandemic started...
Well the combination of the panic attacks (theyâre the worst and I donât wish them on anyone), the retreat and then the pandemic was the perfect storm to give us âInsideâ which I feel is truly a masterpiece. I was in awe watching it and Iâve only done the first half.
This special was excellent. The Unpaid Intern song that rolls into a reaction video of the song is extremely well done and very, very well edited. The whole special is super tight. Loved it!
I LOVED the Unpaid Intern song. I wish it had been developed into a longer song tbh. The reaction-ception bit was incredible, though.
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The unpaid intern song was great, and the end of it (WADDA BA WAP BA DA) cracked me the hell up. The ENTIRE course of that bit every time I heard that bit of the song I had to hold back laughter to keep watching.
Jeffrey bezoooos
That was a single take, no edits. Even more impressive.
And scripted/performed! There was no way for that not to be one take, right? Or am I going crazy?
That was some Christopher Nolan shit, and I loved it
I stopped the video to laugh at the last sound he makes
That laugh is fucking amazing, I have chills every time.
It feels like I fell into his trap and I'm laughing nervously while saying "why are we laughing"
Dude, I don't know how more people aren't talking about that laugh. It's perfectly maniacal.
I'm more impressed by him acting it out in the vid in a way that convincingly looks like he's doing it live. Not easy when it comes to maniacal laughter lol.
My mind went more to tragedy:
- He just articulated what the original dream was. Putting the world in the hands of everyone growing up with the internet.
- He realizes how grotesquely not that the actual creation is. And how wrong he was in believing exposing everyone to the whole world unfiltered would be a good thing.
- Cue desperate laugh on the verge of crying as the regret has him slip into madness.
- Reprise: Doubling down on what things are now because it's all he has and knows how to do.
In a way, it's much darker.
It really gives off the feeling that the internet is the devil running a circus show.
Sounds accurate to me.
I'd say it's even more cosmic horror-y especially with the way the lighting plays.
To me, this song is about the charming allure of internet addiction. I always thought the ballad part is the lie the internet tries to sell you. The goal of the internet is to keep you entertained, and telling you the internet was made for you specifically to do greatness is absolutely part of the way the internet keeps people hooked. Everyone has personalized feeds that cater to them specifically, and it will throw, "anything and everything" at you to get you to stay.
Huh, I interpreted that more as him talking directly to Zoomers/millennials and bringing up the tendency that they have to make the internet a central part of our life and to think that weâre the center of everything going on. Like addressing that subconscious attitude a lot of people have with some tongue and cheek lyrics addressing that audience directly and saying that the internet was actually created for us, before laughing hysterically because itâs clearly all bs
Huh, strange way to interpret it.
Comes off as a shady dealer trying to get people into his trap to me. Like the dude who brings kids to Pleasure Island in Pinocchio.
I know that this special is different, mostly because of COVID but also due to his inevitable growth as a comedian. But I wasnât expecting his musical ability (and his singing voice) to have grown as much as it clearly has.
If he released an album of sincere pop tracks I would LOVE it
Agreed, the music itself is super catchy and I continuously found myself bummed that a song ended short or wasn't a full song.
The synthpop stuff was a particularly pleasant surprise.
The first Jeff Bezos song was wayyyyy too short. That keyboard solo was nasty and I needed at least another minute of it.
100% it absolutely banged and I've played it so many times
I would honestly pay him so much money to make a more complete version.
It is complete! We meet Jeff, he is born, he conquers planet, then wailing and gnashing of teeth. That's everything right there.
Congratulations!
I loved how like 2 skits later it just hard cuts to him in a ghillie suit singing it again out of no where, just mid chorus lol
The jazz intern one really sounded fucking amazing, wish he could finish that oneđ but Iâd definitely watch a reaction to that song if I have to
i needed sooo much more of that BADA DAP WAP WAP
Getcho Fukkin Hands Up!!
Concept album CONCEPT ALBUM
Honestly i want the full length songs from the special on spotify.
Thatâs what I thought too! I was like...I knew he was already a decent enough musician, but I always thought he had a garbage singing voice. Heâs still not like a Broadway quality vocalist, but you can tell heâs seriously worked on his singing voice and put a lot of time into producing. Itâs been a fun ride watching him evolve as an artist.
Reminds me of Tim Minchin in a way. Mostly silly/comedy stuff, but could definitely do a serious song if he wanted.
Tim Minchin put a new song out on his YouTube page yesterday and the description even says it was inspired by Boâs new special. Warmed my heart right up.
In his other specials he sang without autotune each time which I always thought was a very interesting choice. These songs are studio quality productions - so the vocals are mixed and mastered with the music just like any other song. Compression, autotune, the works. Not to discredit him but it makes a big difference and weâre hearing it here.
Yeah I understand all of that. But you can still tell heâs worked on his vocals quite a bit beyond increasing his mastery of pro tools (or whatever program heâs using). Thereâs a musical maturity that heâs developing that comes with repetition of practice and performance. Itâs a subtle and nuanced thing, but itâs there and I think itâs great heâs been working so hard on it.
For sure, thatâs definitely apparent as well. Wasnât trying to detract from that. That plus having these professionally mixed and mastered gives a much different sound than his other specials. Just a different process overall.
Whatâs interesting about not using auto tune in a live performance?
A lot of live specials use autotune on the mic, or they are corrected later in the studio. I canât say for sure that Bo didnât do that as well but it sounds mostly auto-tune free from what I can hear. So itâs probably a choice he made stylistically, more raw and vulnerable.
Bo came back hard (not that he was ever gone)
If anything, I see him writing a Broadway musical. His musicianship, arranging sensibility, melodic gifts, lyrical and comedic cleverness and poignancy, awareness of staging, asides, live presence and a knack for shifting energy, point straight to the Big White Way.
He just needs the right material to focus on.
I think if he does so, we're talking as big as Hamilton or The Book Of Mormon. Possibly bigger.
I was thinking the same thing but honestly Inside is that show. With how close to home it hits with the Pandemic and all the ways it touches on mental health and modern society itâs ripe for a stage show that people would see all over the world.
Yes! Especially as a musician myself itâs really cool to see his growth. He always had pretty basic musical knowledge that he managed to work around pretty nicely with his simple piano accompaniments, but the music in this special was next level in every way. The more obvious advancement is the diverse instrumentation that making the special from home lent him the ability to do, but even harmonically, melodically, and vocally itâs miles ahead (yes there was vocal processing ofc, but i can still hear lots of improvement)
GET YOUR FUCKIN HANDS UP
I started bawling during that song. I think it released a lot of pent-up emotions from the past year.
I cried during âWhite Womanâs IGâ during the really sincere part. I lost my dad a couple years ago. I have a little shrine for him in my apt and talk to him from time to time. Updates on my life. That hit close to home. Then out of nowhere GOAT CHEESE SALAD!
Mine was in Possible Ending Song when he's borrowing parts from previous songs and he sings the one from Welcome to the internet
"Am I going crazy? Would I even know?
Am I right back where I started 14 years ago?
Wanna guess the ending? If it ever does
I swear to God that all I've ever wanted was:
A little bit of everything all of the time
A bit of everything all of the time
Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime
I'm finished playing, and I'm staying inside"
There's just something about it that gets me.
Funny Feeling was the one that hit me the hardest. The outro is such a beautiful little glimmer of hope in a special that's so bleak. Cannot say enough good things about Inside.
âThat unapparent Summer air in early Fall.â
"The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all."
Hope? "It'll be over soon" hit me differently. Like, it's not that COVID will be over soon. It'll all be over soon.
It's about climate change.
Not all that hopeful.
My girlfriend just finished her thesis which revolvedsaround economics and climate change... fucking bleak
When he first starts that song I thought he had shaved because he was done with the special, but then I realized that he probably started the song early on, when he thought he would be done in under six months, and then didn't finish the song until a year later.
My mom will be gone for a decade this Monday so that part had me unexpectedly crying. He nailed it, although I wonât be posting on my white woman Instagram. I love this damn special.
I think that part was about how despite all the bullshit we post thereâs some real stuff in there. He kinda humanized the entire bit. âYou never know what battles people are fighting.â Iâm a grown ass man an that had me crying. I cry a lot. Life is tough. I miss my dad. You wouldnât guess it from my IG though. I donât wanna speak for Bo but thatâs what I took away from it.
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I didnât even notice that tbh. I gotta check that out.
I think the after bit where heâs watching that song alone in the room is kind of a reminder like âdonât make fun of these people on Instagram too much. Youâre the one watching this alone on your laptop.â
I didn't cry the first time I heard it, but I wanted to listen to it again when I drove back from work. Bad fucking move. I cried like a baby. 2020 sucked ass, but it sucked worse for other people and it made me feel obligated to not complain as I honestly was very lucky to have everything I needed.
Past 5 years.
That song was my favourite on the special
Mine too. That verse:
âYou say the oceanâs rising like I give a shit
You say the world world is ending, honey it already did
Youâre not gonna slow it, Heaven knows you tried...
Got it? Good
Now get insideâ
Such a powerful statement
I loved this song and the moment he picked up the camera. Felt like he was picking up all of us.
The moment when you can see his shadow on the wall and it's just him holding a camera added so much weight
Iâm listening to it on repeat right now.
I loved it the most too, I still here it on repeat. It really helps gets the tears flowin
GET UP OUT OF YOUR SEAT
ALL EYES ON ME
ALL EYES ON ME
Yeah, you! GET THE FUCK UP!
This song is so catchy! It's been in my head all week.
I never thought anything could top the Kanye Rant from Make Happy but this might be it. Wow!
That song makes me feel like I'm at the final night of a suicide cult and we are all drinking Kool aid when the night is over and it's to late to go back just enjoy the show because we are all fucked but it will be over soon.
I really believe he heard the crowd in his head and that he was actually on stage performing live. Knowing all the crowd noises were just samples, everything was premeditated, probably a dozen takes in over weeks.
Iâm still processing that song.
Get on out of your seat! All eyes on me. All eyes on me.
I ugly cried after this song.
This special was absolutely incredible. The song in particular is so sinister, humorous, and catchy. Bo is amazing
In 20 years, if anyone asks me what living through the pandemic was like I'll send them to this special.
In 20 years the first thing you might reply is "which pandemic?".
I loved the special, but maybe three things in my life changed because of the pandemic. Masks, Stocks, It's now socially acceptable to stay inside 24/7.
I love the evil cackle he exudes when he brings it back at the end.
Easily one of the best songs from the special!
For me it's "Facetime with my Mom".
Fuckin' catchy and (mostly) wholesome.
I love how the aspect ratio even changes to match facetime
This and âIâm a special kinda white guyyyyyâ have been stuck in my head for most of this past week lmfao
The line about the dad hit home
Oh for sure. It's been spinning in my head right alongside White Woman's Instagram for days now and I'm not mad
White Woman's Instagram was incredible.
What a fucking gut punch. I cried.
Such a unexpected but great ending. I definitely indulged in laughing at the 'oh white girls are so samey and funny!' part... but the last bit was a great reminder that no person is reducible to a 'starter pack'... That performance of, or adherence to, a trope or stereotype- doesn't forego individuality or humanity. You can be basic but you're not simple!
I've noticed that these jokes and memes on the internet often target women specifically... Stuff like being "not like other girls", "cheugy", "basic", etc... I see nothing wrong with making fun of white people but why does it usually seem to be exclusively women as the butt of the joke?
Lol yes welcome to the entire history of western civilization.
The whole damn special was incredible. Never really considered myself a real Bo fan, but god damn he knocked it out of the park with Inside. The way he repeated themes throughout was pretty amazing just from a musical standpoint, and the way it was shot was pretty genius. He captured how the past year + has felt for most of us.
Jeff Bezos. YOU DID IT!
I fucking died
Congratulations!!!
Jeffrey*
CONGRATULATIONS!
CONGRATLUATIONS!!
Inside was unlike anything I've ever seen before. Bo manages to do relatable comedy that's very socially aware and at times very dark, but he manages to keep it funny. So many great songs from the special, also the skits!
If you havenât watched âMake Happyâ I highly recommend it! Itâll add context to âInside.â
^This, a lot
I havenât watched it since it came out. Watching it now though!!
And was up to this point his best work. Different, original, entertaining and funny.
I feel like every burnham project is his best up to that point
The real answer
I would say each special has a different high point in a different area which is cool that his act is progressing.
âFunnyâ is an odd way to describe it. It was the only time I watched a comedy special that left me in a puddle of tears at the end, and not happy tears. Donât get me wrong, it was a transformational performance that showcases just how much of a genius he Bo is, but holy crap was it powerful.
Listening to Can't Handle This around the start of the year was how I realized I was in a really bad place mentally and needed to get some help fixing that. The lyrics suddenly turned a lot more personal, if overly focused on Pringles.
The last 15 minutes of Make Happy are the greatest 15 minutes of performance I've ever seen.
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Years ago he was tied to a movie directed and produced by Judd Apatow that was supposed to be like the Anti High School Musical. Always wished that had got made.
He made a film called eighth grade which is essentially the antithesis of most high school films
Heâs writing music for the new Sesame Street movie
Iâve been craving a Bo Burnham musical for well over a decade
As good as that song was, my favorite part of it was right after when Bo was staring dead eyed into his screen watching the song play.
The entire special has a lot of themes that I probably will just not fully grasp. There seems to be a lot of attention put into the aspect of creation, self-reflection, and attempting perfection. I've never had to really watch myself on screen as I constantly reattempt the same thing over and over and over again until I feel it's - in my own eyes - perfect, with no outside feedback. "Does anybody want to joke when no one's laughing in the background?"
How the world works is a close second for me...the sound of him ripping Socko off his hand is hilarious.
I'm surprised this one isn't more popular than Funny Feeling. To me it's much more poignant and humourous. Funny Feeling is a Bob Dylan-esque folk song, but more boring imo. Not to detract, it was well written, but fuck me a lot of people seem to be sleeping or want to ignore how true How The World Works is.
The simple narrative taught in every history class is demonstrably false and pedagogically classist. Don't you know?! The world is built with blood!
The global network of capital essentially functions as a means to separate the worker from the means of production. And the FBI killed Martin Luther King!
Private property's inherently theft. And neoliberal fascists are destroying the left.
That fucking sock made me cry. Everything I've always felt and knew and preached just blurted out by a sock puppet in a comedy song.
Go to IMDb, sort reviews by 1 star reviews, bask in the salty goodness. The same for the show Invincible.
it upsets me to see yet another celebrity go woke.
Damn, you'd think he'd be upset by his almost completely useless perception if he thinks Bo recently "went woke."
What does that even mean?
"Going woke" is how angry right-wingers describe people adopting more leftist views, including being anti-racist, feminist, accepting of LGBTQ+ people and anti-billionaire.
Not surprised it's a bunch of angry racists. Each quote is from a different review:
Please stop calling self deprecation over your race "comedy". It's pathetic.
just don't have enough white guilt to get through this one. Turned it off.
I was already against him because of all the "white guilt" nonsense and wokery
Who knew, I guess racists don't have a sense of humor?
Comedy is a salve for fear.
Racists like being afraid.
Eh, I think How The World Works is funnier but Funny Feeling is just a legitimately great song, not necessarily funny just clever and musically better in my opinion.
I agree
Funny Feeling makes me uncomfortable. But in a good way. Like, the first layer is a catchy folk song but when you start to think about it what that funny feeling is it becomes one of the darkest songs in the special.
Genuinely want to ask. I was high as fuck watching so maybe it hit me harder but: Did the point that he was government whitewashing how the world works, and the sock being the public speaking out only to be put back in place by the government come through?
The government making sure the sock knew whoâs hand it was on, and the sock being a propped up public figure not wanting to go back to the horrors of everyday mediocrity now that it had made it into the light. So the sock gave into the government only to be tossed aside once they had served their purpose?
This song hit the hardest for me while high and I feel like if I were back in college I would have written a paper on it.
Hilarious isnât a word Iâd have used to describe this.
Not easy for me. So much good music in this one. âComedyâ and âFunny Feelingâ were also very great.
funny feeling has stayed with me since i first heard/watched
it's beautiful and haunting
edit: jesus christ the account that replied to me is a spamming champion
Yeah, funny feeling is pretty amazing. Beautiful, haunting, disturbing, soothing. It's just a great piece of work.
I honestly didnât really understand âFunny Feelingâ. He was just listing a bunch of things that didnât seem to relate to each other? I couldnât figure out the throughline. Do you mind explaining what worked about it for you?
âStuck in a roomâ, âJeff Bezosâ, and the Unpaid Intern song are all great too
Stuck in a room not getting enough love.
well, well
look who's inside again
went out to look for a reason to hide again
well, well
buddy you found it
now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded
Iâve been repeating that part over and over for a week straight
That part hit me but I don't really know why, anybody think they know the meaning behind the "we've got you surrounded" part of that song? It could just be setup for when he repeats it at the end of the special.
I could be wrong, but I think he's referring to the anxiety that comes with being famous. Like the constant attention and feedback is overwhelming.
I was high first time I watched, so the random "JEFFREY BEZOOOOOS! JEFFREY BEZOOOOOS!" songs were killing me. >!"YOU DID IT!"!<
The "I'm turning 30" song might have been my favorite, though.
The way he repeats >!my stupid friends are having stupid children!< with emphasis lmao
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Goddamn that synth at the end was so good I didn't want the song to end... and then, it did.
Lmao same here! I got supremely high in preparation for watching this. It freaked me out at first and I was starting to feel a bit paranoid but as soon as White Woman Instagram came on, I was sold on the whole special.
The skat-jazz wailing at the end of unpaid intern had me wailing laughing so hard and I rewinded it like 5 times to watch him do that
I watched it high too and it made me super depressed and unsettled, but in like a happy way? You know, stoner logic.
"That funny feeling"
Funny Feeling especially.
"The backlash to the backlash to the thing that's just begun."
"twenty thousand years of this, seven more to go."
"The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all."
Lotta sunny lyrics in that one.
Oh I was just saying what you described is what he was going for in Funny Feeling. âDepressed and unsettled, but in a happy wayâ
White Woman Instagram defintely was some much-needed levity haha. Also the song is an absolute BOP
Sexting is basically a Post Malone song and I love every second of it.
Aye aye AT&T
Dude I can't even think of that part without laughing
"stupid fucking ugly boring children"
My partner and I were like "Yep, us too".
As harrowing as welcome to the internet is, I firmly think growing up in the information age has absolutely contributed to some millennials just wanting nothing to do with kids more so than generations before. Zoomers will probably feel that affect even more, they're more screwed overall.
/r/childfree gets a fairly deserved rep for going too far with it sometimes, but I agree, less and less people are having kids these days.
Partially due to everyone not having the same opportunities, so it takes until we're in our 30s-40s for people to feel like settling down rather than in their 20s like they used to.
I am child free for many of the reasons that sub says, but god damn I canât handle them, they act like children sometimes.
Not blaming them really, any sub becomes an echo chamber for the edgiest version of the topic.
Haha I feel that, lots of somewhat agreeable subs become hell holes if they don't strictly root out the shitty people in them from the start.
Can Confirm, am 37, might get my first house next yearish maybe?!
Another major factor is potential parents actually considering the children themselves in the decision making process. It just wasn't a consideration until more recently.
I am 30, turning 31 soon, this resonates on a deeeep level for me
I turned 30 during lockdown and it was unbelievably similar to him sitting next to the clock so that part was a big ol roundhouse to the gut
Ya man. Me too lol. Fuckinâ cheers bro đ€Ł
I was high first time I watched
I was so high and when Unpaid Intern rolled into a reaction video that...rolled right back around like 4 more times, I was kind of in shock at how well edited it was, and how perfectly it all fit. I had to call my wife into the room and was just "oh shit, watch this it's crazy!" He's extremely talented.
ohh yeah! That one was wild and felt specifically catered to me lol
Unpaid Intern needs to have a full version, it had no business being as good as it was
And the sock song!!
đ¶ That is how the world works đ¶
God damn youâre right! That was my favorite when I initially watched it. The sock going on communist tangent was just what I needed
I wish unpaid intern didnât end so quickly
â20,000 years of this. 7 more to goâ
The creativity of this one is what gets me. To be a sinister sales man as âThe Internetâ, those glasses sell it so well. And when that evil laugh hits, ooooo just such a great summation of society with internet currently.
COME ON JEFF, GET EM!
It checks all the boxes. [] SONG [] INCLUDED ON "INSIDE"
Where do you watch this special?
It's on netflix
Itâs the best. White womanâs Instagram is next but Iâll fight anyone who says this isnât the best track.
I know itâs short, but Bezos part one where he says âfuck their wives drink their bloodâ is up there for me. That might be the bar of the special.
That was my favorite too
how the world works #1, sexting #2 for me
Been listening to this one a lot.
It's so good
Healing the world with comedy has been living rent free in my head since I first watched it.
Not just from the special I think itâs one of his best songs ever period. Iâve watched it over eight times and itâs still amazing.
Aside from the incredible songs, Watching him teach himself how to run his own lighting and video and seeing how his inventory grows as the pandemic continued was amazing to me.
I work with larger more professional lighting equipment, but seeing how he put all that together with an ovation spot, a projector, and eventually a bunch of objectively cheap lighting off of Amazon and dmx operator (essentially everyone's first console in my field) gave me such a better sense of the passage of time.
Pair that with his darkening mental state and how ragged he looked by the end of it and it really made me feel even more for the guy. That special was like mainlining the entire Wilfred series in 2 hours.
I have only seen this clip, but if heâs doing the lightning himself, thatâs amazing! I really like how Bo goes like âcomedians can benefit from lightning tooâ! I am still wondering why he is the only one though - or am I missing something?
There wasn't any crew for the special (at least until post). He wrote, performed, directed, and shot it himself. All the lighting and camera work was done by him which is pretty impressive.
I think the reason more comics don't do it is that his style lends itself to this kind of theatrics much better than typical stand-up. A super coordinated light show isn't much use for somebody standing on an empty stage and standing still while talking into a microphone.
Even in a tightly controlled environment without an audience like this special it wouldn't work nearly as well if the jokes weren't being told with music.
It was written, produced, and filmed from like April 2020 to April ish 2021, so it was an entirely solo project because of forced quarantine. And yea if you watch his hands on some of the more involved songs you can see him cueing scenes or using his phone as a strobe, or hitting pedals to trigger lights. It's starts off super basic but by the end of it he's running a small console to trigger chases while playing or singing.
I'm watching this tonight, pretty excited! Thanks, I will watch the hands!
That last sentence is so damn accurate. Fuck.
Definitely some emotional turmoil involved
Shit. I forgot about Wilfred. I need to go back and finish it now.
God I feel old D: I remember when he was just some kid making youtube songs from his bedroom lol
Omg me too. Iâm a couple years younger than Bo and all my friends thought he was the absolute MAN as teenagers. When he got his first Comedy Central special we all geeked, and when Words, Words, Words dropped....oh man legendary stuff.
And now he's a Netflix guy making music in his bedroom.
âWanna hear a rap?â
He's done a great job summing up the macabre and bizarre nature of the internet and how it's breaking all of us down over time, even though we like to pretend that we can handle it. We humans evolved in small communities, and used spirituality and other practices to help us understand our world and it's purpose. Now we are shown the vast unnerving spectrum of human/animal behavior and and a lot of folks have lost any sense of purpose other then the base need to survive. and acquire things.
We went from thousands and thousands of years of human history of not knowing what happened 10 years ago accept what our 'elders' told us happened. To now being able to learn the intimate details of history going back thousands of years. We can see every tragedy, every horror, every everything in high definition, 5k, at 200 mbps, and we get to do it anonymously.
Think about it, are we really mean to be able to process the entire world in the palm of our hand? Is it any wonder why some of folks literally just lose it, get depressed, get obsessed, withdraw, or become completely deluded? Not to say that people get an excuse for doing messed up things.... but really we have turned a very strange corner in human affairs.
Well said, it is an extreme concept when you look at it objectively like that. And it has happened so fast, I feel lucky to be a part of his generation that saw its rise (and his) but also concerned about where it could lead. I wonder the kind of toll it takes on him to dive into these subjects for his songs, and if it is a sort of therapy or if it weighs on him. Judging by the tone of his songs he must be thinking of these things anyways, he just has an incredible ability to convey it and I think he is still somehow under appreciated to this day.
He has said before that creating these shows is a sort of therapy for him in many ways.
As someone who wants to work in a creative field. If Iâm not making things, Iâm depressed.
The internet (and social media especially, given its share of traffic) is something of a giant, uncontrolled experiment we have decided to conduct on almost everyone all at once.
Like no one knows how this is gonna play out. Iâm not a big doomsayer in general but thereâs a lot of uncertainty and there are no guarantees.
I was a lot more optimistic about it in 2005.
We are seeing it play out and I for one am terrified
We have examples of worst case scenarios where Facebook is the main driving force of communication. Genocide, extremism, and falsehoods. Fuck we had an insurrection here in the US, and to this day people don't believe it. We have people denouncing the genocide in ww2, we have people spread lots about vaccines and 5G Network causing this pandemic. We're fucked...
I think one big factor is that we've always had thousands of years of human history but people are by and large not that interested in it. I would say the average person probably has a better knowledge of history today than 30 years ago.
As well, the more disgusting parts of the internet have basically always existed.... there's just easier access now and less of an admission price. Pre-internet world was certainly not enlightened.
Ignorance is bliss, but not for the people who suffered at the hands of the teachings elders passed to their children who committed those atrocities. Victims of religion. Victims of ignorance. I think overall it's better to know, but like most things it comes at cost.
We've come a long way. It wasn't too long ago that more than 90% of humans everywhere were illiterate. But I don't think ready access to knowledge changes motivation for knowledge for most people. Just like there's a bell curve for intelligence or athleticism or whatever else, autonomy to sit down and learn something, the curiosity to seek out information and spend lots of free time being autodidactic, is more inherent than taught. We as a species haven't changed. Time travel a baby from 2,000 years ago and he'll likely get suckered into endlessly scrolling through Instagram like most others.
There are studies on this and data. Most people read a news headline, not the article, and believe that's all they need to know. Maybe then some of those people will read a Wikipedia page or a short summary and feel confident that they know enough. I've met people who reference authors and books as if they've read them only to find out that they've only read a poor summary online and are just pretentious dicks, although some weird shit in their heads tells them, 'I really deeply understand this.'
The worst real world example of this pretention is outrage over something conservatives are calling "critical race theory". I studied lots of critical theory in grad school and these illiterates have no idea what they're acting outraged about, yet even with that complete lack of knowledge, several states have passed laws banning "critical race theory" from being taught in public schools, colleges, and universities. A college professor in Oklahoma who's taught the same course for years had her class cancelled as a result of the new law. And the people passing these laws believe evolution is a hoax and that the Christian God created the universe a few thousand years ago.
However, there are some people who put in the work. If it was thirty years ago, they'd be the ones in the libraries and bookstores and maybe getting degrees. What's astonishing is that the amount of people with PhDs over the last 20 years has doubled. The access to knowledge as a result of the internet has an effect.
Here's the issue. Take identical twins, let's say their genetics give them genius IQs, raise one in a wealthy home in Cambridge and another in a poor home in Compton, and the one in Cambridge will likely end up going to Harvard or MIT. Inequality of opportunity is rampant in the US. Despite more access to knowledge now than ever before, many kids who may be the next Nobel Prize winner will never see that come to fruition. And the world suffers as a result.
I don't think people spending time online endlessly scrolling through memes and gifs is making us stupider because I don't think those same people, thirty years ago, would go to the library either. They are who they are and there's nothing wrong with that. The largest impediment to posterity's progress is inequality. And despite technological advances, lots of it is getting worse.
Yeah, Iâm in my 20s and pretty disassociated. Iâm happy but nothing is real and all ends in suffering. I guess irrefutable proof that nothing matters that is evident from the Internet kind of sucks the magic out of life lol.
Wow. I thought he was good as a young lad. He has gotten better. Great song.
The part in this special where he talks about turning 30 really fucking hit home for me. I turned 30 earlier this year and spent it alone in my room getting stoned and staring at my computer.
Heavy, my man.
The whole special was deeply relatable. The turning 30 song/segment hit way too close to home.
And all my stupid friends are having stupid children
Ditto except double your age and your spouse dies
Exact same lmao - just sitting there like "woo."
Same here, though I turned 40 the past year. It had me reflecting on thoughts I had at the time, including the ending where he said he'd wait another 10 years before killing himself (different mindset now, thankfully).
The choreography, lighting, and lyrics of that song were great. I'm as straight as can be, but am not afraid to admit he was damn sexy in that and other parts of the special.
Oh yeah I felt that too, definitely better mentally now than I was 5 years ago.
Oh I agree 100% I loved the one where he was working out n' shit, the song about sexting was so damn perfect too I loved it.
My 30th birthday was on March 11th. I was out at a bar with friends when I saw that the CDC declared COVID-19 a pandemic. I remember looking at everyone in my group, dumbfounded, and talking about what this would mean. We had no fucking clue... that day changed everything.
I came here to say the same thing. I remembering watching this gangly high school kid make jokes about math and pirates and thinking "wow, he's funny and talented". Seeing him develop this way has been amazing
I love seeing how much success he's had. He went to a highschool in a neighboring town to where I grew up, so a bunch of kids I knew also knew him. I remember seeing his videos and as another very awkward kid in highschool I loved seeing someone else use the stupid "cringe" humor and make hilarious songs with it. But because he wasn't exactly popular before the fame and gave off that nerd vibe, a ton of kids made fun of him (at least at my school) at first. So something about someone who was the "weird" kid becoming massively famous and successful always makes me happy
Comedians usually get better with time. Can't wait to see what else is Bo gonna come up with. His movie "middle school" was also really good, btw.
Edit : "8th grade" is the name of Bo's movie. "middle school" is also a movie but looks like utter crap.
Itâs Eighth Grade, homie.
Oops! That's the one...my bad.
I think this special was really great - if he is not comfortable with doing stand-up comedy in front of an audience, I have no problem with that, I liked this pre-taped solo piece better anyway and I think it's the best thing he's done yet.
Eighth Grade was also great, and if he wants to I think he has a great future as a screenwriter. And possibly as a director (the movie didn't blow me away directing-wise, but it was still a great movie and he got it made).
He also popped up acting in Promising Young Woman, although tbh I don't think acting is his strong suit.
He's gonna star in a show or something playing a basketball player
The dude is fuckin huge. Something like 6'4"
According to the hands up song monologue, it seemed he actually wanted to go back to live stand up but covid happened.
Just wait until he pulls a Chapelle.
Heâs legit one of my favourite musicians
Inside felt more like a concept album than a comedy special to me. The music is ridiculously good.
100% true!
The music is ridiculously good.
Across so many genres as well. He is absurdly talented
comedy is an interesting way to describe this special. iâd use the word pain
Yeah, it's a very... interesting tag for this song, which is probably the bleakest one in the special for those of us who spend a lot of time online
One of the things I find interesting about this special is how many different reactions people have had to it while still remaining generally positive. I found this to be one of the funniest songs in the special (not to mention the catchiest)
i weirdly found âFunny Feelingâ to be the bleakest, this one still has a bit of mirth to it no matter how ironic, but âFunny Feelingâ is just so quietly gutting. like staring up at the ceiling and accepting extinction.
In Netflix , it was tagged under suicide for me.
Ha ha ha classic comedy đ”
It really does a great job evoking anxiety from information overload.
Every song fuckin SLAPS!
"White Woman Instagram" is the hit single, but this.....this is the song on the album that gets 3rd or 4th most plays and is actually the best song on the album.
This is a masterpiece
This song makes me think of willy wonka and the chocolate factory when they are on the boat going through the tunnel and everything gets real unsettling. https://youtu.be/Judtv1OsNsQ?t=132
Daddy made us our favorite!
Open wide!
That was the exact moment i was completely sold on it. The first few minutes of the special left me feel weird about the concept of it, then he turned on his head light. Ah yes, this will be good.
Heâs fucking brilliant
Just got done watching for a second time, this time on Shrooms. The incessant genius of this special is hard to overstate. This is a literary journey, a powerful visual concept album complete with interludes, religious imagery, biting standup monologues in the middle of anthemic, deeply inspiring songs. Bo bravely centers himself as a self aware, honest messiah figure, especially in the last song where he pleads with his followers to keep their "eyes on me, don't be scared, come on in, the water's fine." He sings tunes while simultaneously performing a light-show in impressive, uncut takes.
The details: The Creative transitions between pieces, easter eggs, references that seem flippant yet are carefully chosen to point to his influence (He references Eraserhead and the last seen on the stage is pure Lynchian surrealism). The flawless editing and cinematography... The Carlin-esque, Burnham-esque ironic commentary on social hypocrisy and the digital age, delivered in infinitely original settings never before explored in multiple mediums. Trailblazing new ground in standup presentation, in what a special can be, in what a musical album can be... a new, complete art form that is amazingly inspiring. He is presented as a wise profit, offering insights on the exterior society and the world, along with revealing his chaotic inner world... profoundly personal yet intensely relatable.
The recurring theme of the apocalypse, The articulate political rants of an existentially terrified sock poppet, the digging deeper and deeper into his psyche via Reaction Video Inception, a sex symbol worthy 80's synth-pop performance for a song analyzing his perceived problematic past, a sardonic, congratulatory ode to Jeff Bezos, the unendingly meta, behind the scenes look at the production process of the piece that you are currently watching- complete with the sincere frustrated fits of a tortured perfectionist.
The song "That Funny Feeling" mixes witty jokes and commentary on capitalism/the media with poignant poetry carried by a haunting melody in the vain of Pete Seeger or James Taylor... really stirring. He is serious and sad, but never sappy: He hilariously implores us not to commit suicide in a mocking passage... and the surreal finale wrapped up this painful, but healing journey perfectly. I can go on, but I'll just say that I am excited to watch this soon-to-be influential masterpiece for years to come and I can't wait to see what he does with his next 30 years. To find out is one more reason to stay alive.
Itâs not often a comedy special, makes me reflect and cry and laugh within the span of an hour.
If I can laugh and pray in 90 minutes, it's money well spent
I cried a lot, too
Real artists are so hard to fucken find.
Inside is really insane. It's so good. I'm not sure how you could watch it all through and not have something to think about. It touches on the insanity of internet culture and general issues in society while also managing to keep it funny. On top of writing all these great songs, the skits were very good. I appreciate how every song/skit was relevant to modern day society.
It also had a timeless quality. I just spoke to the human condition. I am quite moved by it.
I think he would find it funny that this song in particular is sparking discourse on reddit.
People are laughing on TikTok because a snippit of it is trending there too
Discourse is something at least. If we just only vapidly shared this around going "omg so truee đđ" that would more accurately fit the criticisms.
Amazing song but can someone explain the part around the iPad? I understand that itâs about the early stages of the internet and âinnocentâ it was but I get lost towards the end of the part as the iPad doesnât make sense for example
Much appreciated! I was really impressed by the special.
Hereâs how I interpreted this part⊠Throughout the song Bo is acting as if he is the internet. For this slower bridge part he is addressing an unknown younger person who was not alive when the internet was still young. Thatâs the whole, âbefore your timeâ, âcirca 99â part. Then the internet âset our sights and spent our nights waiting for youâ which is a little fuzzy to interpret but I take to mean the âWeâ here is the twitters, facebooks, YouTubes, etc. of the internet that weâre created between 2000-2010 and how they relied on users for content to be relevant. Then we get to the iPad part. Which is a mom giving a kid an iPad and the kid being able to use it because Apple designed it to be ridiculously easy to use and with tools for it to become addictive. The first iPad was released in 2010 and this person was 2. Then Bo, speaking as the internet, says âlook at you, look at how you grewâ about the kid so I take that to mean the kid spent from 2 till 13ish (now) on the internet. The real dark part is at the end of the bridge when Bo tries to make it seem like him and the kid have unlimited potential because it was always the plan to put access to all information in the world in the palm of the kids hand and then laughs maniacally because that was not the plan at all since no one knows the impact immediate access to all information ever recorded will have on childrenâs minds.
Iâm not sure but Iâd say it was a comment about how people give their kids tablets just to shut them up. Itâs a big topic with child rearing these days, the fact that kids are never allowed to be âboredâ and those kids who demand screen time are often less creative and have issues problem solving. No source on that just a thought.
Bo 100% created the chorus to be the exact length and tempo to trend on Tiktok, which is exactly what it's doing. This man can rule the internet but CHOOSES not to. There's a reason he never uses social medias. He knows this place inside and out.
I decided to try tiktok and it's scary how addictive it's designed to be. Minute long videos on repeat unless you pause it, as well as ones in multiple parts. It's so easy to get lost due to how quick everything is. Plus the like system just spams hearts on the screen and if it's a live video it's other emoji/symbols.
Yeah it's insane how quickly it took me to go from downloading it to then spending hours on the app everyday.
He has an insightful genius like George Carlin.
Might be the beard but this special gave me real Robin Williams vibes.
Tim Minchin vibes for me.
Tim put a very touching glowing review of Inside on his Instagram and posted a song of his inspired by it. Seems like they have a heartfelt respect for each other. Check it out.
That probably has something to so with the severe underlying depression
Is it underlying? Seems pretty overt to me.
Well he made it very clear in this special. Itâs something he opened up about over the last few years I think.
Agreed. Like a I cant smile for real so i make weird faces to distract us both sorta thing
Doesn't help that he looks a lot like Kurt Cobain at a lot of points.
The beard and depression, sure.
But his comedy is funny and genuinely original... no disrespect to Williams but those are def more Carlin traits aha.
The lyrical comedy was really reminding me of Tom Lehrer.
Oh yea
Tom Lehrer meets Voltaire
I Dono if he can be compared in any way to George Carlin. Not yet at least.
Agreed not to use the term genius lightly, but both Carlin and Bo are truly that.
Dude is truly a generational talent
Brilliant man.
I LOVE this song. It feels like a demon convincing you to join him after you've already shaken his hand and made a deal. Feels kind of scary and I love the line "a little bit of everything all of the time".
Damn. That song hurt, deeply. As an older millennial I saw a lot of these things happening (parents handing their very young children iPads with no supervision, etc.) And thought, "that's probably not going anywhere good". Such pointed, heartbreaking truth about our culture.
As a Gen-X-er who had such high hopes for the internet when it first became so huge, all I can do is stare at dismay at the monster itâs become. But Iâm hardly surprised.
Whatâs that synth, maybe a Nord Electro?
This kid's a genius.
As a kid he was a genius. Heâs 30 now and a bona fide generational talent and amazing artist.
Damn, the dude has gotten BETTER
You gotta check out the special the music is incredible honestly
Father John Burnham
The world doesn't deserve Bo Burnham.
[removed]
Are you saying he's literally making a difference...metaphorically ?
I know this is Bo's lyric referencing to how useless comedy is in the grand scheme of things, but I think he honestly did make a difference with this special.
I've seen a lot of videos on TikTok where people express that they felt really seen by the special. If I'm honest, it helped me start emotionally process the pandemic. It let me know that other people really struggled, especially since it felt like Bo broke into my apartment and read my diary as a part of his creative process
Edit: Wording
[removed]
Ah, hm, yes, I know some of these words
Mhmmyes, shallow and pedantic
Meh, the people who donât deserve him wouldnât watch this
He's a product of the word. It made him. We deserve the existential crisis his music gives us.
Someone described this special as "Weird Al on hard crack," which sums up this song's vibe perfectly.
I would say Weird Al slightly overlapping Malcolm X would be more appropriate
I donât think whoever said that has listened to weird al or done crack..
I don't know, I totally get "edgy" Weird Al vibes from this and "White Woman's Instagram" and I mean that in the best way. IIRC Burnham has also sited Weird Al as a major inspiration.
This tweet must've sparked some joy for Bo then
Ah. Yeah. I thought you meant just this one song. Which is more or less hunter s Thompson on lsd leading a circus
Edit: you said special, I should have reread
Is there soft crack?
Yeah DM me
Iâm pretty sure this song was meant to be in the style of Tom Lehrer, another dark musical comedy genius.
Bo is so ridiculously talented it blows my mind.
Feelin like a saggy massive sack of shit! Shit!
We are so blessed to have this man's raw emotion, amazing talent, and witty sense of humor on display for us to witness.
He's looking a lot like Mitch Hedberg these days
Dammit.. y'all comments are making go watch it again
My favorite song of the entire devastating special. Fantastic.
The thing that is so unnerving (and genius) about the entire special is that it takes a look at the internet from the perspective of someone who, while not raised with it, had fully used the internet to his advantage. Bo was one of the first to truly strike it big because of the internet and he is now the one who spends an entire special parodying and critiquing its influence on our behavior.
This isnât someone whoâs new to the game and was always immersed in it, and itâs not someone who just hates it because itâs different than what they grew up with. Boâs the perfect person to both understand and criticize the influence the internet has on us and itâs fucking perfect. I donât really have it in me to rewatch the special, but itâs definitely going to get a rewatch whenever I need to get existential.
Hes a once in a generation talent. So glad he decided to come back and hes better than ever.
Urh! Just hit 'facetiming with my mum' and I'm feeling too much. I need a break!
I know I'm not the only one that's had this playing in their head for days. I was singing it in the shower this morning.
I would LOVE for him to play a villain in a big movie. He seems like the perfect riddler.
Iâd be down for that but more than that I just want him to release an album.
I would agree with that
Okay release the tracks on Spotify already !!!
Dude those Dr. Strangelove shades were on point!
So brilliant. I had to go back and watch it again
He's grown into an amazing artist. This song gave me Danny Elfman vibes while also perfectly encapsulating what the internet is.
I can't figure out why, but I have watched inside 4 times now. I keep coming back to it. What a guy.
Wow. So this is gen Ys (internet) version of Tim Minchin. Iâm glad you kids have someone so insightful for your time.
Sounds identical/same cadence/same lyrical stylings of Tim.
One of many many examples https://youtu.be/KVN_0qvuhhw
Bo, good first choice to post mate, bless
đđđ„đ©
"Inside" is one of the most important pieces of art of our generation. From the way Bo writes indie songs about our impending Doom to synth wave bangers about Jeff Bezos and all the REAL looks into what depression, Anxiety and poor mental health look like in general. The absolute best hour and a half of TV I've watched throughout the pandemic.
Now that Bo has seen just a fraction of how many people will end up seeing his work I truly hope he will find happiness.
Please ask your friends to watch it.
This special has really made me let myself be bored and separate myself from my phone more often thank you no burnham
I love Bo, and liked this special, but to call it comedy is misleading. He is so vulnerable in it, and the âjokesâ were on the dark side, even for Bo. Very appropriate for the time and the type of show and cool to see him maturing, but I felt really depressed after watching it.
Dark comedy is a thing. Not misleading.
From my perspective it was comedy but I will say it was unlike anything else I have ever seen before. Something can be depressing but that doesn't mean you can't find humor in it anyway, many philosophers contend that the best way to deal with the absurd is to laugh.
Bo just voiced a lot of what I have been thinking and feeling over the last few years, much of which I find incredibly depressing, but it made me feel a little less alone and allowed me to laugh at the absurdity of my reality.
it made me feel a little less alone
Itâs interesting how my favorite comedians do this. They arenât just telling jokes, they have a ton of underlying insight and use comedy to talk about things that are hard to confront otherwise.
Like Louis CK in this Conan interview almost casually mentions:
[...] because you know, underneath everything in your life thereâs that thing, that empty, forever empty, ya know what Iâm talking about? YeahâjustâJust that knowledge that itâs all for nothing and youâre alone. You know, itâs down there. [...]
And itâs all part of a very funny and insightful bit on kids and phones and attention. About how phones have filled up all this space where you might otherwise be bored (âboredom is a crime!â), time where youâre just âbeing a personâ, alone with your thoughts.
But you could never just address this incredibly important thing, this deep and important part of the human condition, in nearly any other way. It almost has to be part of a funny story. Which is bizarre because on some level I think we all do know exactly what heâs talking about.
It's more of the classical definition of comedy... more a series of parodies to make you think and feel something
Comedy is a just storytelling device that uses laughter and humor in order to entertain and amuse. But comedy usually has several sub-genres that achieve different effects from purely uplifting to deeply upsetting. This is the latter.
I thought "one man show" might have been more accurate than "comedy special," but "comedy" isn't completely wrong.
I was trying to type this but more poorly phrased. You are spot on. This is undoubtedly comedy(for those who want to contest this, you can tell from it being consistently funny). But it's more spaced out than a comedy special and interspersed with some genuine homebrewed filmmaking.
I found it to be an hilarious psychological horror film
Same. I didn't laugh much at all during the whole thing. It was good, but it was really dark. Especially that Truman Show ending and the meta of him smiling at himself while watching it with no one there.
Dark humor is usually absurdity of a situation acknowledged, like the aristocrats joke for instance or the "here's your rape" joke. A lot of what Bo points out is just fact, it's not an observation, it's a poetic info dump and a lot of introspection. It's brilliant in it's own way, but I wouldn't call the special completely comedic at all.
I think it's going to be divisive based on peoples perspectives more than his typical comedy. For people in very dark places themselves, they may find it more hilarious because that's how they cope. For others not quite as deep or no longer in the deep end, they might not find it as funny, but it will still resonate.
Unlike a lot of other comedic bits, Inside really captures even in it's name how more personal and divided it will be. It's inside Bo's head, inside his depression, inside his heart and mind as he's lived while making this special. So the inside of people right now is a determining factor on what they find funny and what they may fight poignant if not depressing.
Usually Iâm not a fan of Bo but holy shit this was good. It was sonically good which usually I donât think he is but the lyrics are also amazing
I could see this being something that played to the children in brave new world.
The return of the king!
Genius
I wonder if Bo listened to Tom Lehrer growing up.
(Malcom X) ME (Weird Al)
That evil laugh towards the end was beautifully executed. One of my favorite evil laughs, up there with Ted Danson's big reveal laugh in The Good Place.
Love the whole thing
The New York Times compared him in this song to the Emcee from Cabaret, with the internet as his Kit Kat Klub. I thought it was a brilliant comparison.
I loved this song and the jazzy unpaid intern song because no can start to have a kind of a rut where all his phrases in his son's are the same length because it sets up the comedy better. But this some really broke that rut and was a lot of fun to watch. It really gives some Disney villian vibes.
The musical performances of the entire special are all really well done. The voicing, programming and multi tracking are all cool af. Thereâs a really nice thread that seems to connect all the songs. A sort of bittersweet flavor thatâs self depreciating, but not too personal. The really personal stuff is, moving, is best word I can think of.
The fact that he was able to write and record all of those just in his room is impressive as hell.
Dude is really talented damn
This guy. I can only wordlessly shake my head at such talent.
Bo has never disappointed me.
that went off
his progression as an artist is just so incredible, always loved him probably always will
Could we all please rise for our new international anthem
The finale of Make Special is my favorite but every one of his songs fills me with joy before punching me in the gut.
Such a wonderful artist.
Am I the only one that didnât view his special as a comedy but more of a cry for help? There were a few laughs for sure, but it felt like there was so much revealed about his declining mental state. It is hard to interpret how much of it is an act or for real.
Just watched the special. Holy shit so visceral and dark and beautiful and depressing and hilarious. Loved it.
Burnham is so good it's almost criminal.
Me: I think Bo Burnhan is a great comedian.
Also Me: I would believe any story of him being a huge asshole.
Where else can we post this? I understand this is r/music, but even then, why are we not talking at all about the message? Every comment is a well deserved compliment to his music, but can anyone acknowledge the message, the things he says are absolutely nothing to ignore.
I'll bring the girls, you bring the beer... The troops will bring the freedom
Oh so this is what you get when Danny Elfman fucks Wierd Al, huh? Neat.
bo took my ex to my prom in 2008
Bo Burnham is an incredible song writer.
God that was amazing.
I watched inside a couple days ago and this song has been stuck in my head ever since. This special was so awesome
This special is watching genius unfold, unravel, and pull itself together. Itâs easily a classic.
Been watching Bo on YouTube since he started, and he just keeps getting better.
Literally watching this special right now, ha
He has become Richard Cheeseđ
And thatâs where I stop scrolling. Thanks Bo!
This while special had me second guessing everything he said couldn't tell what was a joke and what was real.
wow Nice english Song
harry chapin vibes
this song is good, but my favorite from the special is How the World Works https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLmHi_YuxPE
This guy is a comedy and musical GENIUS.
I love how accurate this is hah!
God we need a full version of the Jeff Bezos song also AVacadoooooooo đ
My daughter(16) has been listening to him for what seems like ages and she's obsessed with the new material.
Most creative artist to ever grace the entertainment industry. Change my mind.
Man, Bo's so good. He's comedy a bit depressing tho, but I like it nontheless. Great talent right there.
This is awesome.
Excellent, not watch inside yet, but will make a point of it on Sunday night.
This special was devastating. I've only watched it once, and I don't know if I'm in a place where I can bring myself to watch it again. That said, it was beautiful, and I really enjoyed it.
This special captured the zeitgeist in a way nothing else has. There were so many moments that âclickedâ for me about the way we live our lives today, and how social media has fucked everything up.
He did a disservice to himself releasing this as a âNetflix Comedy Specialâ because itâs honestly one of the best films Iâve ever seen and should totally be in the running for half the categories at next yearâs Academy Awards.
This was such a banger. I want to see him do a legit musical just to see how it would turn out.
Seeing this on reddit and commenting makes me feel like I'm stabbing the special in the back. And yet here I am writing a comment.
I love evil bo more than life itself
I like how it went from a polka, to a ballad, back to a polka seamlessly
It's all about "That Funny Feeling" for me. Made me weep through the whole song and half the next day.
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I tried the special⊠I passed after about 10 min. I watched âdick johnson is deadâ instead.
Reminds me of the production at the end of Forgetting Sarah Marshall.
I adore this man. True genius of music and comedy. Iâm in love with his mind
This special was maybe the bravest thing I've ever seen.
It's a deep study on what this pandemic has been like for people who live alone.
I can't think of any artist that made themselves that sincerely vulnerable in the content itself, not just in an interview or documentary after the fact.
Captures our dystopian reality in such a succinct way. Fuck.
I love the big Dr. Facilier energy
Bo Burnham is the creative genius that Kanye West thinks that Kanye West is.
Is Bo going to be this generations Weird Al?
Watched âInsideâ last night and itâs honestly very hard for me to pick a favorite moment. It is all so incredible, poignant, disarming & funny. This song really is incredible to listen to and think about but so is literally every bit of the special. Absolutely loved it and was so glad to hear Bo again.
I love how the internet has collectively come together to agree that this special was pure genius. And it was. It's one of the best things I've ever seen.
Gay rights!!!! Love is love!!
He doesnât get enough attention. Heâs such a great comedian, definitely one of my favorites
I loved the Socko song
My jaw dropped at that entire segment. I'm amazed he was allowed to just come out and say all that on a Netflix special, and that the outrage hasn't been more visible. Hopefully a good sign going forward.
Capitalism will sell you anti-capitalism
We live in a society type of shit. Makes me feel helpless.
I agree with the sentiment but seeing where the rest of the special went I think the whole socko song was about how being locked down in quarantine radicalized a lot of people politically on both ends of the spectrum.
I don't know why people are in denial about Bo having these views, what he said isn't even "radicalized", it's what happens.
Absolutely, depressing as it is. I just hope it leads at least a few people take it as inspiration to find ways to fix it outside the system we're told to believe is permanent.
Bill Hicks on advertising
Other comedians have come out and essentially spelled out the entire thing for audiences multiple times over and been okay because "comedian", albeit a lot of them do die early.
And coffee is right. What is exceptionally more rare are instances where people manage to actually tell you how to go about fixing things. Telling you what is broken is more common and not as threatening to them imo.
Absolutely. Bo is just the first relatively mainstream one I can remember doing it so bluntly in a few years, probably because I'm younger and don't follow many comedians anyway.
It's kind of a shout out to one of his favorite comedians. A Dutch guy by the name of Hans Teeuwen, who uses a sock puppet in his act.
"He comes out with a black sock on his hand and... "
"See, already I don't like him."
"Fine, it's a white sock."
Exactly why I remembered! Haha