In one interpretation, maybe the smile means he's ready to be outside again. Burnham had no idea that his song would be seen more than 10 million times,nor that it would kick start his career in a niche brand of self-aware musical comedy. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. On the simplest level, Inside is the story of a comic struggling to make a funny show during quarantine and gradually losing his mind. But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. But we weren't. He is not talking about it very much. The video is an hour-long edit of footage that was deleted from the making of Inside. And that can be a really - if you're not very good at it, that kind of thing, where there's a balance between sort of the sarcastic and ironic versus the very sincere can be really exhausting. And I'm just wondering, like, how would you describe that? In this case, it's likely some combination of depression/anxiety/any other mental disorder. Burnham slaps his leg in frustration and eventually gives a mirthless laugh before he starts slamming objects around him. Yes, Bo Burnham posted a trailer via Twitter on April 28, 2021. 7 on the Top 200. He also costarred in the Oscar-winning movie "Promising Young Woman," filmed in 2019. 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. As someone who has devoted time, energy, and years of research into parasocial relationships, I felt almost like this song was made for me, that Burnham and I do have so much in common. Gross asked Burnham if people "misinterpreted" the song and thought it was homophobic. 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. Most of the comments talk about how visceral it is to hear Burnhams real voice singing the upsetting lyrics. 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. One comment stuck out to me: Theres something really powerful and painful about, hearing his actual voice singing and breaking at certain points. WebA biotech genius tries to bounce back from the depths of grief with help from his son, who works to escape his dads shadow and save the family business. It's a quiet, banal scene that many people coming out of a depressive episode might recognize. 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. Look at them, they're just staring at me, like 'Come and watch the skinny kid with a steadily declining mental health, and laugh as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself. But he knows how to do this. And you can roughly think about this, I think, as a series of short videos that are mostly of him singing songs and that are sewn together with a little bit of other material, whether it's shots of him lying in bed or setting up the cameras. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. He brushes his teeth, eats a bowl of cereal, and begins editing his videos. Who Were We Running From? 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. But in recent years, theres been enough awareness of online behavior to see how parasocial relationships can have negative impacts on both the creator and the audience if left uninterrogated by both parties. Audiences who might not read a 1956 essay by researchers about news anchors still see much of the same discussion in Inside. The question is now, Will you support Wheat Thins in the fight against Lyme disease?). 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. A weekly roundup of the best things from Polygon, By submitting your email, you agree to our, Bo Burnhams Inside begs for our parasocial awareness, Sign up for the Good. Under the movies section, there's a bubble that says "sequel to classic comedy that everyone watches and then pretends never happened" and "Thor's comebacks.". After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. MARTIN: So as you can hear in that bit, he sounds something like other comedic songwriters who do these kind of parody or comedy songs, whether it's Tom Lehrer, Weird Al or whoever. @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.". Im talking to you. Well now the shots are reversed. And you know what? HOLMES: It felt very true to me, not in the literal sense. Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. Having this frame of reference may help viewers better understand the design of "Inside." When we saw that projection the first time, Burnham's room was clean and orderly. He tries to talk into the microphone, giving his audience a one-year update. A series of eerie events thrusts an unlikely trio (John Boyega, Jamie Foxx and Teyonah Parris) onto the trail of a nefarious government conspiracy. 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. 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. Burnham quickly shifts from the song to a reaction video of the song itself in the style of a YouTuber or Twitch streamer. And finally today, like many of us, writer, comedian and filmmaker Bo Burnham found himself isolated for much of last year - home alone, growing a beard, trying his best to stay sane. Burnhams online success and an awareness of what kind of his audiences perceived closeness made the comedian key to one of the most prominent discussions in a creator- and influencer-driven era of media: the idea of parasocial relationships. But unlike many of us, Burnham was also hard at work on a one-man show directed, written and performed all by himself. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. So when you get to the end of a song, it often just kind of cuts to something else. This is when the musical numbers (and in-between skits) become much more grim. . It also seems noteworthy that this is one of the only sketches in "Inside" that fades to black. Self-awareness does not absolve anybody of anything.". Bo Burnham: Inside, was written, edited, and directed by the talent himself and the entire show is shot in one room. He's almost claustrophobically surrounded by equipment. MARTIN: And it's deep, too. Apathy's a tragedy, and boredom is a crime. He's showing us how terrifying it can be to present something you've made to the world, or to hear laughter from an audience when what you were hoping for was a genuine connection. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror. With menacing horror movie sound effects and hectic, dreamy camerawork, what becomes clear is Burnhams title has a double meaning: referring to being inside not just a room, but also his head. My heart hurts with and for him. 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. Burnham lingers on his behind-the-scenes technical tinkering handling lights, editing, practicing lines. BURNHAM: (Singing) The live-action "Lion King," the Pepsi halftime show, 20,000 years of this, seven more to go. Linda, thank you so much for joining us. Years later, the comedian told NPR's Terry Gross that performing the special was so tough that he was having panic attacks on stage. "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. We're a long way from the days when he filmed "Comedy" and the contrast shows how fruitless this method of healing has been. 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"). WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. I don't think it's perfectly morally defendable.". MARTIN: You know, about that, because it does move into a deeply serious place at some point. The special is hitting an emotional climax as Burnham shows us both intense anger and then immediately after, a deep and dark sadness. So this is how it ends. For the album, Bo is credited as writer, performer, and producer on every song. Netflix An existential dread creeps in, but Burnham's depression-voice tells us not to worry and sink into nihilism. that shows this exact meta style. 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. 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. I have a lot of material from back then that I'm not proud of and I think is offensive and I think is not helpful. While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. "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.". While the other songs have abrupt endings, or harsh transitions, "That Funny Feeling" simply fades quietly into darkness perhaps the way Burnham imagines the ending of it all will happen. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. I hope to see you inside at some point. Theres a nostalgic sweetness to this song, but parts of it return throughout the show, in darker forms, one of many variations on a theme.