The Internet is a fairly new thing in the grand scheme of life.
In this guinea pig generation there’s no telling what the long term effects of social
media, giving three year olds ipads, or instant fame from Youtube videos.
In 2006 Bo Burnham became an internet sensation with his debut song “My Whole Family…”
and the rest was history.
There were tons of tracks that would drive his popularity like New Math, I’m Boyo,
Love is… all of these before he had even turned 18.
He’d go on to comedy festivals, a self titled album, and of course his first studio album
Words, Words, Words.
I’m sure this hyperlight speed ascension to the top of the stand up comedians led to
a lot of resentment for the young comedian.
The Green Room with Paul Provenza is a good example of this, for the most part these really
famous comedians are pretty respectful.
Ray Romano is good for a laugh every minute or so *insert Romano laughing* but there is
definitely an heir of “you don’t know what you’re talking about kid”.
Which, to be fair, to some degree yeah a 20 year old doesn’t have the most figured out
life, but also usually a 20 year old isn't being broadcasted onto the world with every
thought they have.
Like I get these are jokes or whatever, but there’s something a little odd with the
energy in it.
Also Bo would later work with Judd Apatow, which turned into a canceled show, “Yo Teach”,
that was then used for a gag in Funny People.
For a really famous comedian his track record isn’t exactly what you would expect.
He has brief cameos in a bunch of comedies, like you get Bo Burnham of all people to be
a bartender in Hall Pass?
I just wonder what it was like to enter this different space after being the center of
attention in the stand up comedy world, only to kinda feel like an afterthought in TV in
Film.
Which maybe that’s how he wanted it, who’s to say.
However, Bo Burnham went on to make his own film, Eighth Grade, that aimed to depict an
authentic portrayal[a] of a teenager on the internet.
Bo of course was known for his authenticity in comedy, from songs like Art is Dead, We
Think We Know You, and Can’t Handle This there is a different feel to his comedy.
It feels open and expressive, I mean of course these are still jokes, but there’s a lot
more introspection than one might expect from an Internet Comedian.
This openness bled into his feature film as it is dealing with someone who broadcasts
themselves online but instead these aren’t met with the instant fame and success.
This is an assumption, but I’d imagine there is a sleight jealousy from Burnham, like don’t
get me wrong the dude is set for life and good for him, however there is so much that
went into his big success that likely was a lot of stress to throw at someone before
their brain had even fully matured.
Around the release of Eighth Grade he opened up about his anxiety that led to him retiring
from stand up comedy, but stayed in the comedy space directing two specials for Jerrod Carmichael
and Chris Rock.
Bo Burnham is this weird celebrity where a large part of the internet has grown up with
him and for a lot of people a very famous person opening up about problems that they
have dealt with in their own life.
But this openness led to something completely different in his return to stand up in his
2021 special Inside.
Bo Burnham’s stand up special, if you even want to call it that, was announced a month
before it’s release which is great!
The return of the legend!
Like I mentioned he’s the most well known internet created celebrity, but without an
audience what exactly would a self produced, directed, edited, and starring special have
in store for people?Even though this is a return to where it all started, it’s certainly
different from anything I’ve seen.
While it still includes a lot of what people have come to expect from Bo Burnham, there’s
an overwhelming amount of lingering darkness throughout.
It’s simple things but from the way he looks at his camera angrily throughout the experience,
the constant cuts to the mundane editing process, and the inclusion of his lowest of lows during
his time in quarantine.
Sure it was real, but in a very worrisome way, which I don’t know maybe that’s the
terms that he wants to come back on or maybe it morphed into this as the longer quarantine
went on.
Because while yes it’s great that a lot of people felt seen by this, is this healthy
for Bo Burham?
Like to doctor all of these thoughts down in not the best times, like I completely relate
to how crippling it must have been to feel like the pieces were finally coming together
only to be knocked down by a global pandemic.
That was me, but I don’t exactly want to relive thinking about that over and over,
and not only that having to edit that all together and to second guess yourself on if
you sound like a whiny dude with first world problems.
A lot of the editing process moments felt like an admission to how exhausting this process
can be, like I second guess myself when I talk about Movie Posters, so I can’t imagine
being ambuntandly open about a lot of your feelings going over well in that process.
Maybe it was gratifying!
In a lot of ways this special felt like a mix of “I’m the monster you created”
with tons of openness about the toils of creating art, I’m just worried for the guy, I just
don’t know the effects of going through all of this stuff and the constant second
guessing if you should even put this out.
But maybe this is exactly what people needed, someone brave enough to show all of the bad
self loathing that comes along with churning out that content, and hopefully this will
allow people to put down a couple of their guards.
But at the same time I can’t stop circling back to the fraught “You made This” feeling
that feels very pointed to the internet.
Just the imagery of him staring at his younger self gives me the sense of him remembering
a time where he wasn’t famous for half of his life or the idea of wondering if this
was all worth it or if he would do it any differently.
But again this is what it is like for him in this era, for everyone to constantly over
analyze and think about every single action that a human being does and decide if you
can still support them but they don’t know anything about him.
He even alludes to a lot with some of the imagery at the end of this special, he’s
done with the show only to be locked out still on stage to keep making them laugh.
I don’t know if it was the fans, producers, or himself that are giving a constant reminder
to go back to the grind of the content machine even if he’s not ready.
And I’m sure with so much time away from stand up there is probably a lot of feeling
like you missed out on a ton of material, feeling out of rhythm, or wondering if people
will even care about your return.
I will say that to me that this seems like something Burnham doesn't feel as much in
service to his audience as it does as a means of understanding an individual through a rougher
part of their artistic process.
But I know nothing about him, and regardless of how cluttered or messy this project is,
that’s the beautiful thing about art.
It doesn’t need to be understood or explained, it just needs to exist.
Thanks Bo