Main Menu

Tip jar

If you like CaB and wish to support it, you can use PayPal or KoFi. Thank you, and I hope you continue to enjoy the site - Neil.

Buy Me a Coffee at ko-fi.com

Support CaB

Recent

Welcome to Cook'd and Bomb'd. Please login or sign up.

March 28, 2024, 11:36:47 AM

Login with username, password and session length

Bo Burnham - Inside

Started by up_the_hampipe, April 28, 2021, 08:13:31 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

up_the_hampipe

Just announced on Twitter that Bo Burnham has recorded a new special throughout lockdown, with no crew or audience https://twitter.com/boburnham/status/1387466111956885504

It's pretty huge news as the possibility of Bo ever doing a special (or a version of it) again seemed very unlikely. The COVID workarounds for comedy specials have mostly been quite ropey, but I think he could pull it off, especially with the amount of work that seems to have been put into it.

olliebean

How's it been filmed by him alone? Someone must be holding the camera in that clip, surely?

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: olliebean on April 28, 2021, 09:30:56 PM
How's it been filmed by him alone? Someone must be holding the camera in that clip, surely?

As he mentions in the follow-up tweet, that first shot is the ending of his previous special. It's the next bit where he's got his quarantine beard and long hair that's new.

up_the_hampipe

Seems like no one cared about this on here, which is a terrible reflection on all of you. It's coming out on 30th May, a lot sooner than expected https://twitter.com/boburnham/status/1395861542797672448

Utter Shit

I'll definitely be watching it. Can't Handle This is an ncredible song - silly and yet profound, and wrapped up in a note perfect pastiche of Kanye's later stuff.

AllisonSays

I was working in Edinburgh the year he was first getting loads of hype, and he seemed like a lovely fella, but I only saw a latenight quick show back then (and I'll have been pissed), so quite a hazy memory. Will watch this with interest!

peanutbutter

My memory of the edinburgh show was that he was obviously crazily talented, intimidatingly so for his age, but it was just an absolute flurry of ideas that didn't gel that well, great ones being immediately interrupted by much weaker ones, etc.


Off the back of his other two shows and Eighth Grade, I'll be underwhelmed if this show isn't amazing tbh.

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: AllisonSays on May 22, 2021, 09:40:38 AM
I was working in Edinburgh the year he was first getting loads of hype, and he seemed like a lovely fella, but I only saw a latenight quick show back then (and I'll have been pissed), so quite a hazy memory. Will watch this with interest!

Worth watching "what." and "Make Happy". Two of the best specials from the 2010s.

brat-sampson

This was intense. Claustrophobic, funny, real and heavy heavy shit at times.

Funny Feeling, White Woman's Instagram and Turning 30 were probably my highlights. I also enjoyed the bits. Thanking his subscribers while holding a knife was genuinely unsettling. The man's a genius, I hope he's doing ok...

up_the_hampipe

This was truly excellent, exceeded the extremely high hopes I had for it. A lot of it was very uncomfortable, but equally funny and mesmerising. The music is genuinely incredible, not that he ever fell short in that area, but an album of this special needs to be made. All Eyes On Me, in particular, is breathtaking. The visuals on White Woman's Instagram was really impressive, and of course hilarious. Welcome To The Internet was another highlight. God, there's so much to say. I've seen some great pandemic workarounds in comedy over the past year (and plenty of terrible ones), but this is like the ultimate work of COVID art.

It's worth pausing during his Power Of Comedy song on the whiteboards, there's some absolute devastation on the state of comedy today in there.

lipsink

Yeah, loved this. I've not seen any of his other specials so I sorta feel like it'd weird to watch him just do a live show. Having him trapped in his apartment for a year made it so powerful and claustrophobic. It's life affirming that he and so many other people have managed to make great art during the past God awful year.

mrpupkin

Agree with the above sentiments, this was excellent excellent lemon excellent. I hope it gets lots of CaB viewers as I think it will be up many posters' proverbial alleys. I loved the focus on the slight madness of solo artistic endeavour, one person alone in a room trying to make their brainwrongs into reality, uncertain of the ultimate point of it all. I think anyone who has attempted such a thing will love it. Also anyone who has spent alot of time alone recently and struggled to cope at times (apparently its become a bit of a thing).

Dr Rock

I thought it was super, well don bo.

SteveDave

I'd not seen anything of his before but this was really good. I'm not sure if it was the beard and the hair, but occasionally the songs reminded me of a combination of Father John Misty and John Grant.

sevendaughters

20 mins into I Hate White Men and White Women (I Am One So Don't Say That's Dodgy) and it is okay.

selectivememory

Yeah, this was a fantastic special, one of the best I've seen in recent years. I was kind of blown away by how good it was really. Almost too many highlights to mention, but I especially loved the very cynical and dark song with the sock puppet. Some of his bits in between songs felt a bit Limmyesque in how unhinged he came across, in particular when he was waving that knife about.

I remember seeing and enjoying some of his earlier specials years back, but then I just kind of forgot about him as he didn't really pop up on my radar after that. I didn't realise he'd actually quit comedy, but it's good he's back doing more, because he's a ridiculously talented man.

sevendaughters

#16
finished. creative and clever and preferable to every other Netflix special except maybe James Acaster's one. but the self-loathing and loathing-loathing became poison to watch. still find it hard to watch the well-remunerated who can access therapy (if indeed the pain it isn't a whole meta joke) and instant well-wishers bitch about how hard it all is, even if it is genuine, even if it is self-critical, even if is aware of how it is being remunerated for it. maybe being harsh but heavy on recognition but low on laughs.

peanutbutter

Quote from: sevendaughters on June 01, 2021, 01:04:21 PM
finished. creative and clever and preferable to every other Netflix special except maybe James Acaster's one. but the self-loathing and loathing-loathing became poison to watch. still find it hard to watch the well-remunerated who can access therapy (if indeed the pain it isn't a whole meta joke) and instant well-wishers bitch about how hard it all is, even if it is genuine, even if it is self-critical, even if is aware of how it is being remunaterated for it. maybe being harsh but heavy on recognition but low on laughs.
Haven't seen it yet but tbf to Burnham he seemed to recognise this with his move into films and he'd've almost certainly been doing another film instead of this special had the pandemic not came along. Eighth Grade is pretty fantastic at adapting his instincts towards something far more empathetic than self-pitying.



I'm getting the impression this is a standup special that would benefit from being watched alone?

lipsink

I loved the sock song but found it pretty upsetting and dark when
Spoiler alert
the sock started screaming about not wanting to go back off his hand. I related to it with the unbearable tedium of being stuck inside during lockdown.
[close]

Could also relate to the FaceTime with my mom song.


JCR

Quote from: AllisonSays on May 22, 2021, 09:40:38 AM
I was working in Edinburgh the year he was first getting loads of hype, and he seemed like a lovely fella, but I only saw a latenight quick show back then (and I'll have been pissed), so quite a hazy memory. Will watch this with interest!

I saw him die on his erse that run, the mics in the room died and he couldn't ad lib for shit. Though in fairness it was the last weekend and he looked knackered.

up_the_hampipe

Quote from: JCR on June 02, 2021, 12:16:21 AM
I saw him die on his erse that run, the mics in the room died and he couldn't ad lib for shit. Though in fairness it was the last weekend and he looked knackered.

Also in fairness he had probably been performing live for less than a year during that run. I've seen a few clips of him ad-libbing really well. Riffing between bits is one thing, but very few comics could make something good in a situation where their whole act has been fucked.

peanutbutter

Well I thought that was pretty bad tbh. He's absurdly talented at certain things and the special has loads of bits most other acts would kill for and he obviously tried very very hard but he completely failed to handle to sheer toxicity of the pandemic in a manner that felt anything other than gruelling (which tbh has been a trend for a lot of pandemic related creative stuff I've encountered).

Considering the one moment of any real light in the whole thing was when he was talking about his parents it was a bit odd how little of an effort he made to touch upon the actual social aspects of the pandemic beyond that. I assume he didn't mention his partner (beyond the thanks in the credits at the end) to fit the theme he set out at the start that he was kind of stuck with, but it did eventually start to feel a bit disingenuous.

90 minutes was way too long too.


Some good bits, but I'd be surprised if he's especially proud of this beyond a few of the sketches and all the fun new technical stuff he got to learn.

McFlymo

I came away from it thinking aul Bo is pretty handy at lighting and set design.
I liked the meta-reaction video bit.
I liked White Woman on Instagram (again, that set designing was quite impressive!)
Sexting was fun.

The fairly depressing acoustic guitar song was genuinely quite moving.

I didn't care much for the constant beautifully lit and framed shots of sad bearded Bo staring off into the distance. A bit disingenuous at times, as they were obviously not natural poses or shots, given they were often slotted alongside shots that were more natural and flawed.

I appreciate the idea that all of that 4th wall breaking and showing the workings out had to be somewhat stylised to give a consistent and Netflix worthy feel to it all, but there was a bit too much, sad white boy and not enough, here are some genuinely insightful or original takes on why sad white boy.

It had some good moments though.

sevendaughters

Quote from: McFlymo on June 02, 2021, 03:05:40 AM

I appreciate the idea that all of that 4th wall breaking and showing the workings out had to be somewhat stylised to give a consistent and Netflix worthy feel to it all, but there was a bit too much, sad white boy and not enough, here are some genuinely insightful or original takes on why sad white boy.


well put. I was grasping at a similar critique but couldn't express it.

It feels like the self-deprecating application of 'white' to things has hit the same wall that '[activity] bro' did in that it stops short of being analysis and is just shorthand to signal that you're aware of some kind of vague issue and social phenomenon.

In the special's defence, there was actually a solid example of an American engaging with social class in a critical way.

I made it to 11mins and a bit. I'm sure it's part of the point being made, but it felt like watching someone have a very boring breakdown. I couldn't be bothered waiting to see if it paid off in some way.
I'm sure this is for someone, but I neither laughed nor was compelled to think. Also, was that one song that lasted 9 minutes or 3 songs which sounded very similar?
What Bo Burnham stuff should I give a go instead?

Lord Mandrake

Never heard of this guy but took a punt due to this thread and am extremely grateful. Outstanding, thought provoking and very, very funny.

dirkgonnadirk

Quote from: up_the_hampipe on June 02, 2021, 12:26:49 AM
Also in fairness he had probably been performing live for less than a year during that run. I've seen a few clips of him ad-libbing really well. Riffing between bits is one thing, but very few comics could make something good in a situation where their whole act has been fucked.

that would have been august 2010. i saw him in april 2009 in melbourne and he was already incredibly confident on stage, adept at dealing with hecklers, etc. i think he started playing a ton of colleges in 2007.


the production quality of this special was insane - i really recommend listening to the songs with headphones on as they sound fantastic. was it hilarious? no, but it was very enjoyable and incredibly impressive.

dead-ced-dead

Quote from: Largely Babble on June 06, 2021, 10:52:20 AM
I made it to 11mins and a bit. I'm sure it's part of the point being made, but it felt like watching someone have a very boring breakdown. I couldn't be bothered waiting to see if it paid off in some way.
I'm sure this is for someone, but I neither laughed nor was compelled to think. Also, was that one song that lasted 9 minutes or 3 songs which sounded very similar?
What Bo Burnham stuff should I give a go instead?

He directed a movie called Eighth Grade which is a really wonderful movie about the last week in school for an incredibly awkward teenage girl. It's painful, truthful, often funny and often heartbreaking. Here's the trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8lFgF_IjPw


Quote from: dead-ced-dead on June 07, 2021, 11:51:21 AM
He directed a movie called Eighth Grade which is a really wonderful movie about the last week in school for an incredibly awkward teenage girl. It's painful, truthful, often funny and often heartbreaking.

Thanks. That does look more in my line. It shall be hunted down and consumed.
(EDIT - It took zero hunting - it's on Netflix)

dirkgonnadirk

Welcome To The Internet is now #2 on YouTube's Trending Music chart. Pretty cool stuff!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1BneeJTDcU