Bo Burnham - Inside

[up_the_hampipe]

I just remembered Stewart Lee's impersonation of Bo Burnham! 10 years old now, blimey: https://m.soundcloud.com/cookdandbombd/stewart-lee-impersonating-bo

Oof, imagine being criticised by someone who rates Nish Kumar.

[shagatha crustie]

Sadly wasn't all that into this - something unreal about the 'lockdown auteur' conceit, and the relentless self-therapising self-referential White Martyr stuff was a bit wearing.

Two days later, I can't stop listening to the bloody songs.

[up_the_hampipe]

All Eyes On Me was probably my favourite song, even if it's the least funny. The whole bit has just been uploaded on his YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rx_p3NW7gQ

[Blue Jam]

the relentless self-therapising self-referential White Martyr stuff was a bit wearing.

I have to admit I did a bit of an eye-roll when I heard there was a song called White Woman's Instagram. It just seemed a bit of a lazy and obvious shot at an easy target, and also a bit Reddit, what with their hatred of women and also Instagram because women apparently like using it. Also it did sound a bit dodgy to me and I couldn't help thinking Black Woman's Instagram, or even Woman's Instagram would have been offensive...

...only to then completely lose it at "A Golden Retriever in a flower crown"...

[shagatha crustie]

Yes, I had the same problem with White Woman Instagram initially. When I watched the special, it felt a bit sneery, the same sort of lazy critical shorthand as people calling women 'Karen.'

When I listened to the song again later though, without the video, I realised that I'd completely missed the empathetic bridge, where he explores the woman's life and her mother having passed away. Which reframes the Instagram content more ambiguously/positively as a fair enough method of positivity, coping and personal expression. 'Is this heaven?'

[Largely Babble]

Oooo the internet...
Sometimes I'm into it....
Oooo some times it's shit...
Hmm is anyone listen to me?

Repeat for 90 minutes.

I watched the Tim Key interview. Tim Key is a very funny man. Can someone annotate the bits where Bo Burnham says funny things? I think I missed them.

[Blue Jam]

Yes, I had the same problem with White Woman Instagram initially. When I watched the special, it felt a bit sneery, the same sort of lazy critical shorthand as people calling women 'Karen.'

When I listened to the song again later though, without the video, I realised that I'd completely missed the empathetic bridge, where he explores the woman's life and her mother having passed away. Which reframes the Instagram content more ambiguously/positively as a fair enough method of positivity, coping and personal expression. 'Is this heaven?'

Yes, the references were spot-on but it went way above the usual unfunny starter pack meme and was much more poignant than sneery. And hey, Bo himself has clearly been compiling ideas and images all year as a kind of coping mechanism, he and the White Woman Instagrammer aint that different.

Clever isn't he? Bastard.

[phantom_power]

Oooo the internet...
Sometimes I'm into it....
Oooo some times it's shit...
Hmm is anyone listen to me?

Repeat for 90 minutes.

I watched the Tim Key interview. Tim Key is a very funny man. Can someone annotate the bits where Bo Burnham says funny things? I think I missed them.

You can be reductive about anything in that way and make it sound rubbish. Comedy is subjective. Maybe Burnham isn't for you

[Largely Babble]

You can be reductive about anything in that way and make it sound rubbish. Comedy is subjective. Maybe Burnham isn't for you

I wasn't saying it wasn't. I'm just "subjecting". Genuinely can someone watch the Tim Key interview and point out the bits where Bo is being funny? I didn't spot a single one. He looked out of depth with a guy who was actually funny (and who had made an effort and written some jokes before they started filming.)
He also appears to be one of those comedians where people who like him get upset if others don't. Like Russel Howard or Stewart Lee. There's usually some Emperor's New Clothes going on when that happens.

[jofo]

the first 3 seconds of that video where he helps Tim with his mic and over steps and goes under and up his shirt, I say that was funny.

[sevendaughters]

the bit where he talks about what he does with all his money was funny.

couldn't tell if the verse about the girl writing an instagram post to her dead mum was sincere empathy toward our modern way of couching deep pain amongst images of happiness, or mockery that something so sincere seeps out in and amongst the banal cavalcade of self-shot stock happiness. I'd tend to the former as Burnham is far better as an empathiser.

[Lungpuddle]

He also appears to be one of those comedians where people who like him get upset if others don't.

I don't think that's happening here, though. Is anyone upset? For what it's worth, I've just checked out his second Netflix special and I didn't like it. Going through his stuff backwards may have been a mistake. Still enjoyed Inside.

Also, if you're being interviewed by Tim Key you're probably going to have to be the not-funny one. Simon Amstell takes a back seat when he's the one being interviewed, too.

[Bernice]

Watched the first half of this the other night and really enjoyed it, will finish it at the weekend and hopefully be able to give some fuller comment then.

He does seem to be one of those irritatingly talented people, all the more irritating for the fact that I remember him being a teenager on youtube when I was a teenager watching youtube thinking to myself, "wow, I should really try and make something."

Genuinely can someone watch the Tim Key interview and point out the bits where Bo is being funny? I didn't spot a single one.

Why would anyone bother to do that? You don't like him, who gives a shit, nobody's here to try and prove his funniness.

[Blue Jam]

He also appears to be one of those comedians where people who like him get upset if others don't. Like Russel Howard or Stewart Lee.

You reckon? I've only ever noticed that with fans of Ricky Gervais, and going beyond comedy, Radiohead.

Why would anyone bother to do that? You don't like him, who gives a shit, nobody's here to try and prove his funniness.

Yeah, this.

[Dr Rock]

He looks very attractive at 30, with a better haircut and some signs of aging working for him. hubba hubba.

[dead-ced-dead]

He looks very attractive at 30, with a better haircut and some signs of aging working for him. hubba hubba.

There's a moviebuff Facebook group I'm part of where all the women are salivating over Bo after this and sharing clips and images of his shirtless scenes.

[dead-ced-dead]

As for my opinion of it, and Bo's work in general. I didn't really think of this as being a comedy special so much as a mood piece. Tonally it's similar to Bo's debut directorial feature, Eighth Grade, which is funny in spots but is not a comedy.

This reminded me of things closer to the Safdie Brothers' films, Good Time and Uncut Gems, which were great but put me through the wringer as stressful endurance tests. I felt Bo's tone was similar to that, to see how much stress we'd endure from being trapped with him.

And for that it was great. I really dug it.

[phantom_power]

I don't think that's happening here, though. Is anyone upset? For what it's worth, I've just checked out his second Netflix special and I didn't like it. Going through his stuff backwards may have been a mistake. Still enjoyed Inside.

Also, if you're being interviewed by Tim Key you're probably going to have to be the not-funny one. Simon Amstell takes a back seat when he's the one being interviewed, too.

Yeah it is like Between Two Ferns. The interviewee is the straight man to the interviewers schtick.

I liked the second special (Make Happy) but didn't like the first one (What).

[mrpupkin]

Agreed on how the middle section of the White Woman's Instagram song reframes the whole thing and sort of wrongfoots you, it was good when he done that. Any fans of the imagery in the song about being being problematic? I liked how it played with the sexual dimension of sinfulness and guilt, reminiscent of Like a Prayer or something. And the aching for a kind of transcendent release in accusation and martyrdom. With all jokes too. It was good when he done that.

[phantom_power]

He is very good at taking a standard comedy song with a single point of focus and then deepening and broadening the scope in order to be a bit more interesting and multi-dimensional. His comedy is very empathetic

[Dusty Substance]

Made it as far as the 20 minute mark. Abhorrent stuff. Tom Lehrer for Millennials.

[Blue Jam]

Tom Lehrer for Millennials.

fwiw I'm a working scientist and a massive nerd who regards the periodic table as a beautiful thing and has a weird obsession with it and I still think Tom Lehrer can get into the exact same grave Gilbert and Sullivan are in.

I like Bo Burnham tho

[Largely Babble]

Tom Lehrer for Millennials.

*click*
Right. That explains it. And the years of having TL inflicted on me on family holidays in the car is why I must be annoyed by this fella so much.
I can move on now. Thank you.

[Retinend]

If Tom Lehrer is supposed to signify gentle comedy, then Burnham is a little more edgy - I'd compare him to Tim Minchin.

My sweet spot for musical comedy is The Flight of the Conchords. By comparison with them, Burnham's special had a lot of moments which were like "well, I'm not laughing but I'm certainly impressed" moments. The joke rate is consistently good, but the jokes drop out for pathos more than I liked.

I got cancelled for calling ContraPoints "narcissistic" in another thread, but I'll say it again for Bo: by comparison with Flight of the Conchords, I get narcissitic vibe about the music and the way he shoots himself. Maybe I should just say "vain"? It's a slight turnoff for me, in any case.

[Dusty Substance]

I can move on now. Thank you.

You're welcome! Have a lovely weekend.

If Tom Lehrer is supposed to signify gentle comedy, then Burnham is a little more edgy - I'd compare him to Tim Minchin.

My sweet spot for musical comedy is The Flight of the Conchords. By comparison with them, Burnham's special had a lot of moments which were like "well, I'm not laughing but I'm certainly impressed" moments. The joke rate is consistently good, but the jokes drop out for pathos more than I liked.

I got cancelled for calling ContraPoints "narcissistic" in another thread, but I'll say it again for Bo: by comparison with Flight of the Conchords, I get narcissitic vibe about the music and the way he shoots himself. Maybe I should just say "vain"? It's a slight turnoff for me, in any case.

Not so much gentle, more smug self-satisfied kind of humour. Not my kind of thing at all.

Tom Lehrer. Richard Stilgoe. Bo Burnham. Tim Minchin. It's all the same to me. All sounds like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9PiqCeLEmM

Loved Conchords. The songs were great, the characters were likeable and there were good jokes. In fact, it's been so long since I saw Conchords that I might do a full re-watch/listen.

Don't know much about Contrapoints but anyone who does a 90 minute video of just them talking must have a degree of narcissism.

[Deliciousbass]

I think Bo is absolutely everything I want in a comedian minus actually making me laugh.

[Blue Jam]

If Tom Lehrer is supposed to signify gentle comedy, then Burnham is a little more edgy - I'd compare him to Tim Minchin.

I believe he actually has cited Tim Minchin as a major influence.

[up_the_hampipe]

I believe he actually has cited Tim Minchin as a major influence.

Despite being a huge fan of Bo, there are some moments in his earlier work that seem a bit of a pale imitation of Minchin. From God's Perspective being the main one.

[Dusty Substance]

I believe he actually has cited Tim Minchin as a major influence.

Each to their own but imagine looking at Tim Minchin and thinking "That's who I want to be like".

[up_the_hampipe]

Each to their own but imagine looking at Tim Minchin and thinking "That's who I want to be like".

Well, he is extremely talented and successful, so why not?