Depression acts like an outside force, one that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. Bo Burnhams latest Netflix special, Inside, is a solo venture about the comedian and filmmakers difficult experience in quarantine thats earned enthusiastic critical acclaim. At just 20 years old, Burnham was a guest alongside Judd Apatow, Marc Maron, Ray Romano, and Garry Shandling. 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. Theres always been a tension in his comedy between an ironic, smarty-pants cleverness and an often melodramatic point of view. Now get inside.". Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. Now get inside.". The piece also highlights Bos anxieties with becoming older and his legacy as a comedian. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). 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. Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything.". As we explained in this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside," Bo Burnham's newest special is a poioumenon a type of artistic work that tells the story of its own creation. "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.". It's wonderful to be with you. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. It's conscious of self. When he appeared on NPR's radio show "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross in 2018, the host played a clip of "My Whole Family" and Burnham took his headphones off so he didn't have to relisten to the song. Long before the phrase parasocial relationship had entered the mainstream zeitgeist, Burnhams work discussed the phenomenon. HOLMES: Well, logically enough, let's go out on the closing song. Sitting in the meeting room, not making a sound becomes the perceived 24/7 access fans have to DM you, reply to you, ask you questions. So we broke down each song and sketch and analyzed their meaning and context. Burnham starts spiraling in a mental health crisis, mentioning suicidal ideation after lamenting his advance into his 30s. True, but it can deepen and clarify art. WebStuck in a passionless marriage, a journalist must choose between her distant but loving husband and a younger ex-boyfriend who has reentered her life. When Burnham's character decides he doesn't want to actually hear criticism from Socko, he threatens to remove him, prompting Socko's subservience once again, because "that's how the world works.". . "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. 1 on Billboards comedy albums chart and eventually climbed to No. And I think that, 'Oh if I'm self-aware about being a douchebag it'll somehow make me less of a douchebag.' Perform everything to each other, all the time for no reason. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. Other than Fred Rogers, Bo Burnham is one of the most cited single individual creators when discussing parasocial relationships. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. MARTIN: This special is titled, appropriately enough, "Inside," and it is streaming on Netflix now. Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. Released on May 30, 2021, Bo Burnham wrote, recorded, directed, and produced Inside while in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. Burnham is also the main character in the game, a character who is seen moving mechanically around a room. And I don't think that I can handle this right now. He grabs the camera and swings it around in a circle as the song enters another chorus, and a fake audience cheers in the background. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. I feel very close and intimate with him in this version. he sings as he refers to his birth name. The song made such a splash in its insight that it earned its own episode in Shannon Struccis seminal Fake Friends documentary series, which broke down what parasocial relationships are and how they work. "The world needs direction from a white guy like [you] who is healing the world with comedy. And it has a lot of very clever and very quick wordplay about the specific things you can get on the internet. "And so today I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". 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. Poioumenon (from the Greek word for "product") is a term created by author Alastair Fowler and usually used to refer to a kind of metafiction. In his first Netflix special (2013's "what. BURNHAM: (Singing) The live-action "Lion King," the Pepsi halftime show, 20,000 years of this, seven more to go. Relieved to be done? Oops. When we see it again towards the end of the special, it's from a new camera angle. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release. Mirroring the earlier scene where Burnham went to sleep, now Burnham is shown "waking up.". "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. Fifteen years later, Burnham found himself sheltering in place during the COVID-19 pandemic and decided to sit back down at his piano and see if he could once again entertain the world from the claustrophobic confines of a single room. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Its folly to duplicate the feel of a live set, so why not fully adjust to the screen and try to make something as visually ambitious as a feature? Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. There's no more time left to add to the camera's clock. The arrogance is taught or it was cultivated. WebBo Burnham's new Netflix comedy special "Inside" is jam-packed with references to his previous work. It's a heartbreaking chiding coming from his own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. MARTIN: And I understand you were saying that it moves between genres. At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. The result, a special titled "Inside," shows all of Burnham's brilliant instincts of parody and meta-commentary on the role of white, male entertainers in the world and of poisons found in internet culture that digital space that gave him a career and fostered a damaging anxiety disorder that led him to quit performing live comedy after 2015. jonnyewers 30 May 2021. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Known as "Art is a Lie, Nothing is Real," there's a bit Burnham did at the start of his 2013 special "what." Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. The tropes he says you may find on a white woman's Instagram page are peppered with cultural appropriation ("a dreamcatcher bought from Urban Outfitters") and ignorant political takes ("a random quote from 'Lord of the Rings' misattributed to Martin Luther King"). But when reading songs like Dont Wanna Know and All Eyes On Me between the lines, Inside can help audiences better identify that funny feeling when they start feeling like a creator is their friend. 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. The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships. of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. He, for example, it starts off with him rhyming carpool karaoke, which is a segment on James Corden's show, with Steve Aoki, who's a DJ. On the Netflix special, however, Josh Senior is credited as a producer, Cooper Wehde is an assistant producer, and a number of people are credited for post-production, editing, and logistical coordinating. 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. ", "I do not think my intention was homophobic, but what is the implicit comedy of that song if you chase it all the way down? "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. "I'm so worried that criticism will be levied against me that I levy it against myself before anyone else can. It's a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). It's full circle from the start of the special, when Burnham sang about how he's been depressed and decided to try just getting up, sitting down, and going back to work. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. "I was in a full body sweat, so I didn't hear most of that," Burnham said after the clip played. Please enter a valid email and try again. It's like the mental despair of the last year has turned into a comfort. I did! Likewise. NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. An existential dread creeps in, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. He points it at himself as he sways, singing again: Get your fuckin hands up / Get on out of your seat / All eyes on me, all eyes on me.. The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. Feelings of depersonalization and derealization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're living in a dream.". Here's a little bit of that. They may still be comical, but they have a different feel. Instead of a live performance, he's recorded himself in isolation over the course of a year. I'm sitting down, writing jokes, singing silly songs, I'm sorry I was gone. Soering New insights from various parties come to light that raise questions about Jens Sring's conviction of the 1985 murders of his then-girlfriend's parents. Research and analysis of parasocial relationships usually revolves around genres of performers instead of individuals. But now Burnham is back. Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. The hustle to be a working artist usually means delivering an unending churn of content curated specifically for the demands of an audience that can tell you directly why they are upset with you because they did not actually like the content you gave them, and then they can take away some of your revenue for it. Transcript Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. In recent years, he has begun directing other comics specials, staging stand-up sets by Chris Rock and Jerrod Carmichael with his signature extreme close-ups. Burnham makes it textual, too. Daddy made you your favorite. At first hearing, this is a simple set of lyrics about the way kids deal with struggles throughout adolescence, particularly things like anxiety and depression. 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. / Are you having fun? The crowd directions are no longer stock pop song lyrics; now, the audience understands them as direct orders to them from Burnham. Bo Burnham: Inside is a devastating portrait of the actor-director-singer-comedian's dysfunctional interiority and 2020's unyielding assault on mental and social health. Let's take a closer look at just a few of those bubbles, shall we? MARTIN: And it's deep, too. Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. Who Were We Running From? But now Burnham is showing us the clutter of the room where "Inside" was filmed. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. The songs from the special were released on streaming platforms on June 10, 2021. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. Just wanted to make sure everybody knew about Bo's comedy special transcripts on Scraps. Burnham brings back all the motifs from the earlier songs into his finale, revisiting all the stages of emotion he took us through for the last 90 minutes. All rights reserved. At the beginning of "Inside," Burnham is not only coming back to that same room, but he's wearing a very similar outfit: jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers picking up right back where he left off. 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. WebBo Burnham: Inside (2021) Exploring mental health decline over 2020, the constant challenges our world faces, and the struggles of life itself, Bo Burnham creates a. wonderful masterpiece to explain each of these, both from general view and personal experience. "Inside" feels like the creative culmination of Bo Burnham's career over the last 15 years, starting with his first viral YouTube video in 2006. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. And so I think he's always had that stubborn insistence on holding both of those things in his head at the same time. ", From then on, the narrative of "Inside" follows Burnham returning to his standard comedic style and singing various parody songs like "FaceTime with My Mom" and "White Woman's Instagram.". If "All Eyes on Me" sounds disconcertingly comforting to you, it could be because you can recognize the mental symptoms of a mood disorder like depression. Still terrified of that spotlight? Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. In the worst case, depression can convince a person to end their life. The title card appears in white, then changes to red, signaling that a camera is recording. I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. ", And last but not least, for social media he put "sexually pranking unsuspecting women at public beaches" and "psychologically abusive parents making rube goldberg machines" alongside "white people using GIFs of Black people widening their eyes.". The Volcano, which touched on labor rights. Not in the traditional senseno music was released prior to the special other than a backing track from Content found in the trailer. The question is now, Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?). Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. While sifting through fan reactions to Inside, the YouTube algorithm suggested I watch a fan-made video that pitch corrects All Eyes on Me to Burnhams actual voice. Something went wrong. Burnham achieved a similar uncanny sense of realism in his movie "Eighth Grade," the protagonist of which is a 13-year-old girl with extreme social anxiety who makes self-help YouTube videos. To save you the time freeze-framing, here's the complete message: "No pressure by the way at any point we can stop i just want to make sure ur comfortable all this and please dont feel obligated to send anything you dont want to just cuz i want things doesnt mean i should get them and its sometimes confusing because i think you enjoy it when i beg and express how much i want you but i dont ever want that to turn into you feeling pressured into doing something you don't want or feeling like youre disappointing me this is just meant to be fun and if at any point its not fun for you we can stop and im sorry if me saying this is killing the mood i just like ". But before that can register, Burnham's eyes have closed and the special transitions to the uncannily catchy song "S---," bopping about how he hasn't showered in nine days or done any laundry. Anyone can read what you share. All Eyes on Me also earned Bo his first Grammy win for Best Song Written for Visual Media at the 2022 Grammys. 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. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. And while its an ominous portrait of the isolation of the pandemic, theres hope in its existence: Written, designed and shot by Burnham over the last year inside a single room, it illustrates that theres no greater inspiration than limitations. And notably, Burnhams work focuses on parasocial relationships not from the perspective of the audience, but the perspective of the performer.Inside depicts how being a creator can feel: you are a cult leader, you are holding your audience hostage, your audience is holding you hostage, you are your audience, your audience can never be you, you need your audience, and you need to escape your audience.