bo burnham: inside transcript

Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. At the end of the song, "Inside" cuts to a shot of Burnham watching his own video on a computer in the dark. 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. newsletter, On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness.. The global pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders of March 2020 put a stop to these plans. Well now the shots are reversed. Then, of course, the aspect ratio shrinks again as the white woman goes back to posting typical content. The song untangles the way we view peoples social media output as the complete vision of who they are, when really, we cannot know the full extent of someones inner world, especially not just through social media. For the song "Comedy," Burnham adopts a persona adjacent to his real life self a white male comedian who is driven to try and help make the world a better place. I don't know exactly how it tracks his experience, Bo Burnham, the person, right? ", Right as Burnham is straightening up, music begins blaring over the speakers and Burnham's own voice sings: "He meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, but you all thought it was an accident. 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. ", When asked about the inspiration for the song, like if people he knew thought he was gay, Burnham said, "A lot of my close friends were gay, and, you know, I wasn't certain I wasn't at that point.". I cant say how Burnham thinks or feels with any authority, but as text and form-driven comedy, Inside urges the audience to reflect on how they interact with creators. A gift shop at the gun range, a mass shooting at the mall. In Unpaid Intern, Burnham sings about how deeply unethical the position is to the workers in a pastiche of other labor-focused blues. That's when the younger Burnham, the one from the beginning of his special-filming days, appears. It's like Burnham's special has swallowed you whole, bringing you fully into his mind at last. Self-awareness does not absolve anyone of anything, he says. Relieved to be done? It's as if Burnham is showing how wholesale judgments about the way people choose to use social media can gloss over earnest, genuine expressions of love and grief being shared online. 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. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. By keeping that reveal until the end of the special, Burnham is dropping a hammer on the actual at-home audience, letting us know why his mental health has hit an ATL, as he calls it ("all time low"). "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 a dangerously tempting invitation to stop caring, coming from the villain of this musical comedy (depression). HOLMES: I liked a bunch of the songs in this, and a lot of them are silly songs about the things that his comedy has already been concerned with for a long time, right? Its a feat, the work of a gifted experimentalist whose craft has caught up to his talent. A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. One of the most encouraging developments in comedy over the past decade has been the growing directorial ambition of stand-up specials. I think this is something we've all been thinking about. And many people will probably remember his 2018 movie, "Eighth Grade." Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared, don't be shy, come on in the water's fine."). Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. It's self-conscious. Copyright 2021 NPR. And the very format of it, as I said, it's very much this kind of sinister figure trying to get you interested. WebBo Burnham: Inside is a 2021 special written, directed, filmed, edited, and performed by American comedian Bo Burnham. He also revealed an official poster, a single frame from the special, and the cover art prior to its release. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. The clean, tidy interior that first connected "Inside" with "Make Happy" is gone in its place is a mess-riddled space. The second emotional jump scare comes when Burnham monologues about how he stopped performing live because he started having panic attacks on stage, which is not a great place to have them. The monologue increases that sense of intimacy; Burnham is letting the audience in on the state of his mental health even before the global pandemic. Got it? Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. My heart hurts with and for him. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. He has one where he's just sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar describing our modern world. It's a series of musical numbers and skits that are inherently about the creation of comedy itself. of the internet, welcoming everyone with a decadent menu of options while disco lights twirl. "Truly, it's like, for a 16-year-old kid in 2006, it's not bad. "That's a good start. But then the music tells the audience that "he meant to play the track again" and that "art's still a lie, nothing's still real.". Only he knows. Maybe we'll call it isolation theater. Burnham uses vocal tuning often throughout all of his specials. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. For those who are unaware, Bos real name is Robert Burnham. The performer, along with the record label and brand deals, encourage a parasocial relationship for increased profits. "Part of me needs you, part of me fears you. Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. Burnham reacts to his reaction of the song, this time saying, Im being a little pretentious. 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. I have a funky memory and I sometimes can't remember things from something I've watched, even if it was just yesterday. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. When we see it again towards the end of the special, it's from a new camera angle. That his special is an indictment of the internet by an artist whose career was born and flourished there is the ultimate joke. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". The tension between creator and audience is a prominent theme in Burnhams work, likely because he got his start on YouTube. "I didn't perform for five years," he says. Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. Disclosure: Mathias Dpfner, CEO of Business Insider's parent company, Axel Springer, is a Netflix board member. The aesthetic telegraphs authenticity and vulnerability, but the specials stunning final shots reveal the misdirection at work, encouraging skepticism of the performativity of such realism. . "The quiet comprehending of the ending of it all," is another of Burnham's lyrics in this song that seems to speak to the idea that civilization is nearing collapse, and also touches on suicidal ideation. And then the funniest thing happened.". Next in his special, Burnham performs a sketch song about being an unpaid intern, and then says he's going to do a "reaction" video to the song in classic YouTube format. Get up. 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. 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. / 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. Tell us a little bit more about that. Underneath the Steve Martin-like formal trickery has always beaten the heaving heart of a flamboyantly dramatic theater kid. @TheWoodMother made a video about how Burnham's "Inside" is its own poioumenon, which led to his first viral video on YouTube, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, defines depersonalization-derealization disorder, "critical window for action to prevent the effects of global warming from becoming irreversible.". Burnham skewers himself as a virtue-signaling ally with a white-savior complex, a bully and an egoist who draws a Venn diagram and locates himself in the overlap between Weird Al and Malcolm X. Burnham can't get through his words in the update as he admits he's been working on the special much longer than he'd anticipated. our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. And they're biting, but he's also very talented at these little catchy pop hooks. At various points, the gamer is given the option to make the character cry. It's just Burnham, his room, the depressive-sound of his song, and us watching as his distorted voice tries to convince us to join him in that darkness. In this time-jumping dramedy, a workaholic who's always in a rush now wants life to slow down when he finds himself leaping ahead a year every few hours. Im talking to you. This is a heartbreaking chiding coming from Burnham's own distorted voice, as if he's shaming himself for sinking back into that mental state. Its a lyrically dense song with camerawork that speeds up with its rhythm. BURNHAM: (Singing) Start a rumor, buy a broom or send a death threat to a Boomer. The song begins with a fade in from back, the shot painfully close to Burnhams face as he looks off to the side. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. Burnham says he had quit live comedy several years ago because of panic attacks and returned in January 2020 before, as he puts it in typical perverse irony, the funniest thing happened. The special was nominated for six Emmy Awards in 2021, of which it won three: Outstanding Writing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, and Outstanding Music Direction. Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. Visit our website terms of use and permissions pages at www.npr.org for further information. It moves kind of all over the place. The flow chat for "Is it funny?" While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. And like unpaid interns, most working artists cant afford a mortgage (and yeah, probably torrent a porn). As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Not putting a name on parasocial relationships makes the theme less didactic, more blurred while still being astutesuch sharp focus on the eyes, you dont notice the rest of the face fades into shades of blue. Burnham may also be trying to parody the hollow, PR-scripted apologies that celebrities will trot out before they've possibly had the time to self-reflect and really understand what people are trying to hold them accountable for. We see Burnham moving around in the daylight, a welcome contrast to the dark setting of "All Eyes on Me." Burnham spent his teen years doing theater and songwriting, which led to his first viral video on YouTube a song he now likely categorizes as "offensive.". "Oh Jesus, sorry," Burnham says, hurrying over to pick it up. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. The song is a pitched-down Charli XCX-styled banger of a ballad has minimal lyrics that are mostly just standard crowd instructions: put your hands up, get on your feet. An older Burnham sits at a stool in front of a clock, and he says into a microphone that he's been working on the special for six months now. 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. His new Netflix special Inside was directed, written and performed all inside one room. Is he content with its content? 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. Bo Burnhams Inside begs for our parasocial awareness The comedians lifetime online explains the heart of most of his new songs By Wil Williams @wilw_writes Jun 28, 2021, 11:01am EDT He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. The special is set almost entirely in one cluttered room. Now get inside.". Using cinematic tools other comics overlook, the star (who is also the director, editor and cameraman) trains a glaring spotlight on internet life mid-pandemic. He decided to stop doing live performances, and instead set out to write and direct his first feature film, the critically-acclaimed 2018 movie "Eighth Grade." Thank you so much for joining us. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. Comedian Bo Burnham recently a new comedy special for Netflix aptly titled Inside which was filmed entirely by himself while under lockdown during the Coronavirus Pandemic in 2020. "Healing the world with comedy, the indescribable power of your comedy," the voice sings. 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. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. But he knows how to do this. The clearest inspiration is Merle Traviss 16 Tons, a song about the unethical working conditions of coal miners also used in weird Tom Hanks film Joe vs. Like, what is it? "I was a kid who was stuck in his room, there isn't much more to say about it. Now, five years later, Burnham's new parody song is digging even deeper at the philosophical question of whether or not it's appropriate to be creating comedy during a horrifyingly raw period of tragedy like the COVID-19 pandemic and the social reckoning that followed George Floyd's murder. Today We'll Talk About That Day How does one know if the joke punches down? And I think the pandemic was a time when a lot of people were in this do I laugh or cry space in their own minds. 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. Comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham used his time alone during the pandemic to create a one-man show. Right after the song ends, the shot of Burnham's guest house returns but this time it's filled with clutter. Inside is a tricky work that for all its boundary-crossing remains in the end a comedy in the spirit of neurotic, self-loathing stand-up. People experiencing depression often stop doing basic self-care tasks, like showering or laundry or brushing their teeth. "Everything that once was sad is somehow funny now, the Holocaust and 9/11, that s---'s funny, 24-7, 'cause tragedy will be exclusively joked about, because my empathy iss bumming me out," he sang. One of those is the internet itself. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Partway through the song, the battery icon switches to low and starts blinking in warning as if death is imminent. 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.". Daddy made you your favorite. BURNHAM: (Singing) Could I interest you in everything all of the time, a little bit of everything all of the time? LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Thank you, Michel. Web9/10. "I'm criticizing my initial reaction for being pretentious, which is honestly a defense mechanism," he says. An astronaut's return after a 30-year disappearance rekindles a lost love and sparks interest from a corporation determined to learn why he hasn't aged. Burnham then kicks back into song, still addressing his audience, who seem unsure of whether to laugh, applaud, or sit somberly in their chairs. Or DM a girl and groom her, do a Zoomer, find a tumor in her HOLMES: And this is what the chorus of that song sounds like. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". "), Burnham sang a parody song called "Sad" about, well, all the sad stuff in the world. WebBo's transcripts on Scraps From The Loft. 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. WebBo Burnham has been critical of his past self for the edgy, offensive comedy he used to make. The voices of the characters eventually blend together to tell the live Burnham on stage, We think we know you.. Instead of working his muscles at open mics or in improv, Burnham uploaded joke songs to the platform in 2006. Not a comedy per se, but a masterpiece nonetheless. But Burnham doesn't put the bottle down right, and it falls off the stool. Burnham reacts to his reaction to his reaction to his reaction, focusing so intently on his body and image that he panics, stops the videoand then smiles at his audience, thanking them for watching. I've been hiding from the world and I need to reenter.' 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. "Any Day Now" The ending credits. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror. 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. If the answer is yes, then it's not funny. He's self-evaluating his own visual creation in the same way people will often go back to look at their Instagram stories or posts to see how it looks after they've shared it. HOLMES: Right. See our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" 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. And I think that's what you're getting here. 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 whole song ping pongs between Burnham's singing character describing a very surface-level, pleasant definition of the world functioning as a cohesive ecosystem and his puppet, Socko, saying that the truth is the world functions at a much darker level of power imbalance and oppression. I did! It's progress. His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. It chronicles Burnhams life during the pandemic and his journey creating the special. 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. After about 35 minutes of candy-colored, slickly designed sketch comedy, the tone shifts with Burnhams first completely earnest song, a lovely indie-rock tune with an ear worm of a hook about trying to be funny and stuck in a room. This is the shows hinge. It's a reminder, coming almost exactly halfway through the special, of the toll that this year is taking on Burnham. Burnham was just 16 years old when he wrote a parody song ("My Whole Family") and filmed himself performing it in his bedroom. Or was it an elaborate callback to his earlier work, planted for fans seeking evidence that art is lie? Tapping on a synthesizer, he sings about the challenges of isolation as he sits on a cluttered floor, two striking squares of sunlight streaming in through the windows of a dark room. In the song Problematic, Burnham sings about his past problematic behavior, asking the audience, Isnt anyone going to hold me accountable? The specials intermission looks like a clear view into Burnhams room, until Burnham washes a window between himself and the viewer an explicit, but invisible, boundary between creator and audience. But he meant to knock the water over, yeah yeah yeah, art is a lie nothing is real. 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. Is he content with its content? "And so, today, I'm gonna try just getting up, sitting down, going back to work. And then, of course, he had previous standup comedy specials. Yes, Amazon has a pre-order set up for the album on Vinyl. Doona! We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. Its horrific.". At the forefront of this shift has been Bo Burnham, one of YouTubes earliest stars, who went on to make his own innovative specials with satirical songs backed by theatrical lighting and disembodied voices. Many of his songs begin seriously, then shift into the joke, but this one doesnt. The vocal key used in "All Eyes On Me" could be meant to represent depression, an outside force that is rather adept at convincing our minds to simply stay in bed, to not care, and to not try anymore. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". Coined in 1956 by researchers Donald Horton and Richard Wohl, the term initially was used to analyze relationships between news anchors who spoke directly to the audience and that audience itself. Initially, this seems like a pretty standard takedown of the basic bitch stereotype co-opted from Black Twitter, until the aspect ratio widens and Burnham sings a shockingly personal, emotional caption from the same feed. See our analysis of the end of the special, and why Burnham's analogy for depression works so well. Mid-song, a spotlight turns on Burnham and shows him completely naked as a voice sings: "Well, well, look who's inside again. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. Also, Burnham's air conditioner is set to precisely 69 degrees throughout this whole faux music video. This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. And its easier to relax when the video focuses on a separate take of Burnham singing from farther away, the frame now showing the entire room.

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