Initially, this seems like a pretty standard takedown of the basic bitch stereotype co-opted from Black Twitter, until the aspect ratio widens and Burnham sings a shockingly personal, emotional caption from the same feed. The incentives of the web, those that reward outrage, excess and sentiment, are the villains of this show. Known as "Art is a Lie, Nothing is Real," there's a bit Burnham did at the start of his 2013 special "what." newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. His new Netflix special Inside was directed, written and performed all inside one room. It's like the mental despair of the last year has turned into a comfort. Most sources discuss fictional characters, news anchors, childrens show hosts, or celebrity culture as a whole. Inside (2021) opens with Bo Burnham sitting alone in a room singing what will be the first of many musical comedy numbers, Content. In the song, Burnham expresses, Roberts been a little depressed ii. At the second level of the reaction video, Burnham says: "I'm being a little pretentious. He also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. Come and watch the skinny kid with a / Steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts / To give you what he cannot give himself. Like Struccis Fake Friends documentary, this song is highlighted in Anuska Dhars video essay, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness. Burnhams work consistently addresses his relationship with his audience, the ways he navigates those parasocial relationships, and how easy they can be to exploit. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. So for our own little slice of the world, Burnham's two time spans seem to be referencing the start and end of an era in our civilization. Oops. Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. Then, of course, the aspect ratio shrinks again as the white woman goes back to posting typical content. The song untangles the way we view peoples social media output as the complete vision of who they are, when really, we cannot know the full extent of someones inner world, especially not just through social media. [1] Created in the guest house of Burnham's Los Angeles home during the COVID-19 pandemic without a crew or audience, it was released on Netflix on May 30, 2021. WebBo Burnham: Inside is a 2021 special written, directed, filmed, edited, and performed by American comedian Bo Burnham. For those who are unaware, Bos real name is Robert Burnham. But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. It's just Burnham, his room, the depressive-sound of his song, and us watching as his distorted voice tries to convince us to join him in that darkness. Netflix. "If greenhouse gas emissions continue at their current rate, then when the clock runs out, the average global temperature will be irreversibly on its way to 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit above pre-industrial levels.". In the song Problematic, Burnham sings about his past problematic behavior, asking the audience, Isnt anyone going to hold me accountable? The specials intermission looks like a clear view into Burnhams room, until Burnham washes a window between himself and the viewer an explicit, but invisible, boundary between creator and audience. So he has, for example, a song in which he adopts the persona of a kind of horror movie carnival barker, you might call it, who is trying to sell people the internet. But he's largely been given a pass by his fans, who praise his self-awareness and new approach. "Robert's been a little depressed," he sings (referring to himself by his birthname). It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. My heart hurts with and for him. Not only has his musical range expanded his pastiche of styles includes bebop, synth-pop and peppy show tunes Burnham, who once published a book of poems, has also become as meticulous and creative with his visual vocabulary as his language. 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. And we might. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. I got so much better, in fact, that in January of 2020, I thought 'you know what I should start performing again. And like unpaid interns, most working artists cant afford a mortgage (and yeah, probably torrent a porn). Toward the end, he appears completely naked behind his keyboard. The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. 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. It's wonderful to be with you. The song brings with it an existential dread, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". The frame is intimate, and after such an intense special, something about that intimacy feels almost dangerous, like you should be preparing for some kind of emotional jump scare. For fans who struggle with panic attacks (myself included) its a comfort to see yourself represented in an artist whose work you respect. An ethereal voice (which is really just Burnham's own voice with effects over it) responds to Burnham's question while a bright light suddenly shines on his face, as if he's receiving a message from God. Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? Burnham's career as a young, white, male comedian has often felt distinct from his peers because of the amount of public self-reflection and acknowledgment of his own privileges that he does on stage and off screen. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. Unpaid Intern isnt just about unpaid internships; when your livelihood as an artist depends on your perceived closeness with each individual fan, fetching a coffee becomes telling someone theyre valid when they vent to you like they would a friend (or a therapist). But during the bridge of the song, he imagines a post from a woman dedicated to her dead mother, and the aspect ratio on the video widens. 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. Underneath the Steve Martin-like formal trickery has always beaten the heaving heart of a flamboyantly dramatic theater kid. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. After about 35 minutes of candy-colored, slickly designed sketch comedy, the tone shifts with Burnhams first completely earnest song, a lovely indie-rock tune with an ear worm of a hook about trying to be funny and stuck in a room. This is the shows hinge. There's no more time left to add to the camera's clock. "Goodbye sadness, hello jokes!". Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. WebBo Burnham's Netflix special "Inside" features 20 new original songs. He uploaded it to YouTube, a then barely-known website that offered an easy way for people to share videos, so he could send it to his brother. And he's done virtually no press about it. HOLMES: Right. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. But look, I made you some content. It's an emergence from the darkness. Bo Burnham: Inside review this is a claustrophobic masterpiece. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. He takes it, and Burnham cries robotically as a tinny version of the song about being stuck in the room plays. So in "Inside," when we see Burnham recording himself doing lighting set up and then accidentally pull down his camera was that a real blooper he decided to edit in? His virtuosic new special, Inside (on Netflix), pushes this trend further, so far that it feels as if he has created something entirely new and unlikely, both sweepingly cinematic and claustrophobically intimate, a Zeitgeist-chasing musical comedy made alone to an audience of no one. Burnham's growth is admirable, but also revealing of how little we expect from men in the industry. The fun thing about this is he started writing it and recording it early on, so you get to see clips of him singing it both, you know, with the short hair and with the long hair - when he had just started this special and when he was finishing it. @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon, which led to his first viral video on YouTube, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, defines depersonalization-derealization disorder, "critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.". Let's take a closer look at just a few of those bubbles, shall we? "That's a good start. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. According to a May 2021 Slate article, the piece was filmed at Bo Burnhams Los Angeles guest housethe same room used for June 2016s Are You Happy? and the closing shots of the Make Happy special. Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. 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. Though it does have a twist. Inside takes topics discussed academically, analytically, and delivers them to a new audience through the form of a comedy special by a widely beloved performer. Went out to look for a reason to hide again. MARTIN: This special is titled, appropriately enough, "Inside," and it is streaming on Netflix now. A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". Thematically, it deals with the events of 2020, rising wealth inequality, racial injustice, isolation, mental health, social media, and technologys role in our lives. And I think that, 'Oh if I'm self-aware about being a douchebag it'll somehow make me less of a douchebag.' Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. It's self-conscious. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Netflix did, however, post Facetime with My Mom (Tonight) on YouTube. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. HOLMES: Well, logically enough, let's go out on the closing song. Accuracy and availability may vary. The question is now, Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?). 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. HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. WebBo's transcripts on Scraps From The Loft. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." He puts himself on a cross using his projector, and the whole video is him exercising, like he's training for when he's inevitably "canceled.". The first comes when Burnham looks directly into the camera as he addresses the audience, singing, Are you feeling nervous? See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Its an instinct I have for all my work to have some deeper meaning or something. 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.". . MARTIN: And it's deep, too. But on the other hand, it is lyrically so playful. 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. That's when the younger Burnham, the one from the beginning of his special-filming days, appears. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. 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. Burnham spent his teen years doing theater and songwriting, which led to his first viral video on YouTube a song he now likely categorizes as "offensive.". This special spoke to me closer and clearer than Ive ever felt with another person. Look at them, they're just staring at me, like 'Come and watch the skinny kid with a steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself. During that taping, Burnham said his favorite comic at the time was Hans Teeuwen, a "Dutch absurdist," who has a routine with a sock puppet that eats a candy bar as Teeuwen sings. Now get inside.". But by the end of the tune, his narrative changes into irreverence. Only he knows. But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. HOLMES: So, as you'll hear there, on the one hand, there's a lot of sadness in what he's talking about there. Burnham has said in interviews that his inspiration for the character came from real YouTube videos he had watched, most with just a handful of views, and saw the way young women expressed themselves online. Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Daddy made you your favorite, open wide.". Open wide.. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. When we see it again towards the end of the special, it's from a new camera angle. (For example, the song "Straight, White, Male" from the "Make Happy" special). Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. Burnham reacts to his reaction to his reaction to his reaction, focusing so intently on his body and image that he panics, stops the videoand then smiles at his audience, thanking them for watching. Inside has been making waves for comedy fans, similar to the ways previous landmark comedy specials like Hannah Gadsbys Nanette or Tig Notaros Live (aka Hello, I Have Cancer) have. It has extended versions of songs, cut songs, and alternate versions of songs that were eventually deleted; but is mainly comprised of outtakes. For all the ways Burnham had been desperate to leave the confines of his studio, now that he's able to go back out into the world (and onto a real stage), he's terrified. It's not. 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. Throughout "Inside," there's a huge variety of light and background set-ups used, so it seems unlikely that this particular cloud-scape was just randomly chosen twice. I did! But, of course, it tangles that right back up; this emotional post was, ultimately, still Content. You know, as silly as that one is, some of the other ones are more sedate. But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? Doona! he sings as he refers to his birth name. And the very format of it, as I said, it's very much this kind of sinister figure trying to get you interested. But then the video keeps playing, and so he winds up reacting to his own reaction, and then reacting yet again to that reaction. Theyre complicated. Anyone can read what you share. Trying to grant his dying father's wish, a son discovers an epic love story buried in his family's distant past. ", "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. If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. Hes been addressing us the entire time. In another scene, Burnham gives a retroactive disclaimer to discussions of his suicidal ideation by telling the audience, And if youre out there and youre struggling with suicidal thoughts and you want to kill yourself, I just wanna tell you Dont! Look Whos Inside Again is largely a song about being creative during quarantine, but ends with Now come out with your hands up, weve got you surrounded, a reflection on police violence but also being mobbed by his fans. And the biggest risk Burnham takes in the show is letting his emotional side loose, but not before cracking a ton of jokes. BURNHAM: (Singing) Start a rumor, buy a broom or send a death threat to a Boomer. From the very beginning of "Inside," Burnham makes it clear that the narrative arc of the special will be self-referential. ", The Mayo Clinic defines depersonalization-derealization disorder as occurring "when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both. "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---, you say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried," he sings. .] At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. WebA Girl and an Astronaut. 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. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." It feels like the ending of a show, a climax, but it's not. Is he content with its content? this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside,". In the same way that earlier vocal distortion represented God, the effect on his voice in "All Eyes on Me" seems to signal some omniscient force outside of Burnham. 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. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). Not putting a name on parasocial relationships makes the theme less didactic, more blurred while still being astutesuch sharp focus on the eyes, you dont notice the rest of the face fades into shades of blue. "And I spent that time trying to improve myself mentally. Viewer discretion is advised. He's the writer, director, editor, and star of this show. Burnham makes it textual, too. Now, hes come a long way since his previous specials titled What. and Make Happy, where his large audiences roared with laughter The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. And finally today, like many of us, writer, comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham found himself isolated for much of last year - home alone, growing a beard, trying his best to stay sane. The voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. A distorted voice is back again, mocking Burnham as he sits exposed on his fake stage: "Well, well, look who's inside again. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. 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.". "I didn't perform for five years," he says. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. One of those is the internet itself. But usually there is one particular voice that acts as a disembodied narrator character, some omniscient force that needles Burnham in the middle of his stand up (like the voice in "Make Happy" that interrupts Burnham's set to call him the f-slur). Inside is a tricky work that for all its boundary-crossing remains in the end a comedy in the spirit of neurotic, self-loathing stand-up. Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform. Photograph: Netflix Its a measure of the quality of Inside 1.0 that this stuff could end up on the cutting-room floor. '", "Robert's been a little depressed, no!" An astronaut's return after a 30-year disappearance rekindles a lost love and sparks interest from a corporation determined to learn why he hasn't aged. 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.