Bo Burnham Is "Inside" Again
The comedian's one man special, now available on Netflix, was written, edited and directed during the COVID-19 pandemic.
VANCOUVER – Truth is often stranger than fiction. It’s often a lot funnier, too. Case in point: five years after on-stage panic attacks caused him to quit live comedy, Bo Burnham was ready to resume public performances in January 2020. There was only one problem, within a matter of weeks COVID safety protocols would bring life in the U.S. and abroad to a screeching halt, as millions of people sheltered in place for fear of catching an incredibly contagious, and deadly, virus. Funny right? But while it seemed to be one in a long list of coronavirus casualties, Burnham’s failed comeback came to serve as a sort of setup. The start of a year long long joke, that would see the comedian exploring the darkest corners of our digital expanse for any sort of payoff, all within the confines of one room.
The result, Bo Burnham: Inside, now available on Netflix, is a virtuosic comedy performance that encapsulates the rare highs and unrelenting lows of the past eighteen months. Written, edited, shot and directed by Bo Burnham, the experimental special is a foray into the comedian’s sometimes computer-like psyche. Like Apple’s M1 processing chip, Burnham consumes and synthesizes information with incredible efficiency and power, rendering a meta-commentary on modern life that is often in dialogue with itself. Concepts like sexting, cancel culture, and Instagram aesthetics are altered and overlaid with complex human emotions. Fear, depression, anxiety are all explored alongside silliness, absurdity, compassion.
Much of this exploration occurs within the realm of musical comedy, with Burnham flexing his songwriting and production skills across a variety of genres. The soaring strings of “White Woman’s Instagram,” give way to the sexually charged synthpop of “Problematic,” which gives way to Lizzo-esque lite funk of “Shit.” Lyrically, Burnham’s never been more cutting, frequently evoking the acerbic cynicism of Josh Tillman A.K.A. Father John Misty. Sonically, he sounds quite different from folk superstar, though “That Funny Feeling” does find Burnham strapping on the old gee-tar. Piano, however, remains Burnham’s most proficient form of musical expression, with songs like “All Eyes on Me” and “Look Who's Inside Again” allowing him to seem snide, songful and sentimental all at once.
This film’s direction offers similar range, with Burnham using lights, projectors and creative camera angles to transform the confines of his space. The result is an arresting series of aesthetics that blur the boundary between the digital and physical. Perhaps unsurprisingly, his most memorable set pieces are those satirizing the visual language of social media: the wall full of emoji tongues for “Sexting,” the reacting-to-the-reaction recursion of “Unpaid Intern,” the over the top everything-ness of “White Woman’s Instagram.” Other moments pull directly from Burnham’s early days on YouTube, which saw the then teenage comedian become an early viral sensation. In one direct to camera moment, he recites a typical vlogger thank you video while brandishing a knife. At other times, he turns the camera on himself for voyeuristic confessionals centred on his declining mental health.
And yet there are other influences at work. “FaceTime With My Mom (Tonight),” for instance appears to reference the kaleidoscopic work of James Turrell, while the aforementioned “Problematic” imagines what Flashdance might have looked if director Adrian Lyne added a crucifixion. Burnham also seems to give a nod to Stanley Kubrick and the monoliths of 2001, twice turning the black eye of the camera on itself. While the intended takeaway was likely a comment on the dehumanizing effects of technology, it’s also clear that Bo Burnham is somebody who understands his cinematic history.
As our humour becomes increasingly referential thanks to mediums like memes and Tik-Tok, it feels refreshing to see a comedian capable of contributing something new to the digital discourse. Though undeniably a student of social media, Burnham’s humour is funny not because of what it references, but because of how it references. While Tik-Tokers (including yours truly) are all too happy to sacrifice their privacy as the Backyardigans play on repeat, Inside insists on digging deeper. “I wanna help to leave this world better than I found it,” sings Burnham at one point. But what exactly does that look like in 2021, amidst plagues and climate change and racial and economic inequality?
For Bo Burnham, it seems, the only way to help the world is to acknowledge it for what it is. To accept the splendour and the turmoil in equal measure, to let the outside in. “You say the ocean's rising, like I give a shit,” he sings in the penultimate song “You say the whole world's ending, honey, it already did. You're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. Got it? Good, now get inside.”
Bo Burham: Inside is available to stream on Netflix. The album is also on Spotify starting today.
Comments, criticisms, collaborations? Email me at ethan@humanpursuits.org, or follow me on Twitter and Instagram.