Who Is Bo Burnham?

From what. (2013) to Make Happy (2016) to the newest addition, Inside (2021), Bo Burnham has been entering further and further into mainstream culture. He’s successful and isn’t a one-trick pony; he’s a director, screenwriter, poet, actor, and musician in addition to his more well-known comedian stage persona. He released a poetry book entitled Egghead, directed and wrote the commercially successful film Eighth Grade (2018), and released multiple albums utilizing a variety of musical genres and styles. He’s talented, to say the least, and utilizes all of his skills to produce amazing content.

However, everyone successful has to start somewhere, including Bo Burnham. So let’s revisit where he came from for all of those who are new to his content or don’t know who he is. Here, we’ll watch Bo grow as a performer and as a person and dive deep into his newest special, Inside.

“I’m Bo, Yo”

Bo Burnham, born Robert Pickering Burnham, has been creating content and acting his entire life. He performed in theater clubs in high school and started a YouTube channel in July of 2006, where he promptly began posting comedy videos. His first video, titled “My Whole Family…” showcased Burnham’s musical ability where he sang about how his whole family thinks he’s gay — spoiler alert, he didn’t give a straight answer.

Bo had a crude and R-rated sense of humor from the get-go that quickly made him rise to popularity. From lines such as “Maybe it’s because of the way I walk, that makes them think I like…boys,” Bo continues to employ this form of redirection in his current comedy; for example, in his “Country Song” from Make Happy, he uses this redirection in the lyric, “I’ll do what I want because I’m a total showing f*cking count…ry boy,” emphasizing the “c*nt” part. It’s satisfying to see that even fourteen years after his debut, he still uses the same comedic techniques which simultaneously make people laugh and worry about if they’re dirty-minded in one go.

He continued to upload videos onto YouTube, filming a majority of them from his room while using a keyboard for his songs. Most of his videos went viral, leading huge companies such as Comedy Central to take notice due to his potential in comedy and music. He announced his new EP, Bo fo Sho, and a record deal with Comedy Central Records in 2008 through his video “i’m bo yo.” which is now the most viewed video on his channel. With six tracks and a strong presence on Billboard charts, it included three new songs and three songs he’d already sung on his YouTube channel, including “My Whole Family…,” the very song that led him to a record deal.

The biggest name had already scouted him in the comedy business at just seventeen years old, and he only got more successful from there.

A few months later, at eighteen years old, Bo became the youngest person to have a half-hour special with Comedy Central in 2009. His special showcased his most popular songs, such as “My Whole Family…” and “I’m Bo Yo,” most of which were on the new album he released the same year entitled Bo Burnham. With an album, an EP, and a comedy special under his belt at the young age of eighteen, Bo was gaining a lot of attention, both from mainstream culture and the comedy community. He was accepted into college to study theater but deferred to pursue comedy. Evidently, it worked out for him. But stay in school, kids. Not everybody can be the next Bo Burnham.

Katy Perry presented him (very creepily) to the YouTube Live crowd, where he performed his song “Welcome to YouTube” to a pretty lukewarm audience in 2008 (who would’ve guessed it’s a YouTube-sponsored event). However, it echoed his future song “Welcome to the Internet” in its references to the problems on the site as well as the site’s effect on its viewers, highlighting his ever-present use of meta-commentary while interlacing comedy into his words. His previous songs also had this sort of commentary, but it was more of a relatable meta-commentary based on sex and parties rather than on serious problems affecting us substantially, such as social media.

Following the release of his second album in 2010 called Words, Words, Words, he earned yet another spot on Comedy Central, this time for an hour-long special. He sang songs from the album but this time added poetry and fast facts into his routine. First, he poked fun at Shakespeare and told a variety of facts, such as how 33.33% of the Jonas brothers have diabetes (it’s Nick). Then, in Bo Burnham-like fashion, he ended the show with a speech talking about the guilt of earning money by telling jokes.

Bo Burnham was now becoming more respected amongst the comedy community. He still wasn’t a household name, but instead of being some dumb kid attempting comedy, he was now some dumb kid who was pretty good at comedy. One of the big things that led to this development was his appearance on The Green Room with Paul Provenza. The comedians practically ignored him in the beginning, especially when Judd Apatow talked about how he filmed something in 1990 and how everybody in the room remembered it, even though Bo was only born in 1990. I literally had to check if this was the right episode because the camera didn’t pan to him until he spoke about three minutes in.

Bo was twenty years old, surrounded by comedians around two decades older than him — as he acknowledged by saying, “I am of the younger generation” — and was expected to keep up with all their jokes and quick-wit comedy. Well, luckily for Bo, that’s his niche. In a now-viral moment, he earned the audience’s and the comedians’ respect when he started talking about Hans Teeuwen’s black sock puppet bit, and Marc Maron said, “See, already I don’t like him.” Bo immediately responded with, “Alright, it’s a white sock.” The audience went crazy; the comedians less so. They looked like they were staring daggers into him, but they came around, with one of the comedians hugging Bo at the end.

He held his own the rest of the show with a few remarks and performing “Art is Dead,” coming away with some advice and wisdom from the other comedians. However, in addition to this filming, Bo earned respect in other ways: participating in comedy competitions. He was nominated at the Edinburgh Comedy Awards in 2010 and won £5,000, along with first place at the 2011 Comedy Central Stand-up Showdown. He was no longer just a kid singing explicit songs. Now Bo Burnham was a comedian.

“People Suck And Evil People Exist”

In 2013, Bo Burnham decided to dip his toes into the screenwriting and television production business. He was the writer, executive producer, and protagonist in Zach Stone Is Gonna Be Famous (2010), commissioned by MTV in 2010. The main character, Zach Stone, seeks to become an overnight sensation and hires a camera crew to cover his success. It eventually got canceled after one season, but it wasn’t fruitless. The show is also rising in popularity now that Bo is more mainstream and people have gone digging in his past.

Zach Stone was the perfect segue for Bo to pursue other more serious endeavors since it prepared him for working with TV and movie professionals while he had been used to working and producing all his own material by himself in his bedroom. One of these endeavors included Eighth Grade, a movie that he wrote and directed. Even though he now had more experience working in Hollywood, the movie was independently financed, and this risk paid off — literally.

Calling Eighth Grade a success would be a drastic understatement; it was one of the top ten films of 2018, as dictated by two of the most respected names in film (National Board of Review and American Film Institute). Critics raved about the film and Elsie Fisher’s acting, both winning and being nominated for multiple awards. Bo Burnham himself won the year’s Best Directorial Debut, Writers Guild, and Directors Guild of America Awards. It was all warranted; the movie perfectly captured the middle school experience: anxiety, burgeoning sexuality, and issues with social media. It makes sense why the movie was so realistic: Bo drew upon his own experiences with anxiety and growing up in the writing of this movie.

This movie was one of the biggest cornerstones of Bo’s serious endeavors, separating himself from the world of comedy — even though there were several humorous moments throughout the movie — and establishing himself as a respected director and figure in Hollywood. He proved yet again that he wasn’t a one-trick pony, that he wasn’t still the kid who got famous from YouTube. Now he’s filming for the big screen. Now Bo Burnham’s a director.

“All Eyes On Me”

what.‘s release completely changed the game for Bo Burnham. Having a special on Comedy Central was big, but having one on Netflix was huge, mostly because he was being shown to a much more diverse audience who otherwise wouldn’t have known him. He was now more visible to the mainstream world, especially since Netflix was the go-to streaming service for shows back then before everybody decided to create their own streaming service (looking at you, HBO Max and Disney+ and Peacock and…).

what. had largely positive reviews upon its release, and releasing the entire special on YouTube certainly helped broaden the audience and include those without Netflix. He released an album by the same title and used the special to promote his poetry book, Egghead, leading it to become a New York Times Bestseller. Just in one special, Bo wrote a book, released a third album, and produced an amazing special that has garnered 22 million views on YouTube to date. Bo Burnham made it. He was successful, undoubtedly making tons and tons of money, and was reaching national acclaim.

However, throughout this success, Bo was suffering from a lot of panic attacks. He had 12 of those over the course of the what. tour, the first happening on the opening night of what. at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. He had always had stage fright — as probably all of us do — and anxiety growing up, and it most likely grew exponentially with all the new press and touring he was doing. Instead of filming a viral video alone in his bedroom — where the audience was virtual and therefore invisible — or performing one show on Comedy Central and being done with it, he was doing multiple shows over and over.

These shows aren’t just about comedy — we know this about Bo by now. These shows are projections of himself, his anxiety, and everything he’s worried about in the world. There are multiple meta-commentary songs about society and the state of the world in addition to songs about his self-esteem and past, the most prominent example being the song he uses to close out the show: “We Think We Know You.” Without assuming too much, suffice to say, it must’ve been a little nerve-wracking to put his personal thoughts on the line. Even though he admitted that he never puts what he actually thinks in his work on The Green Room, there are still some inklings of him in his work.

Using these panic attacks for inspiration, Bo Burnham wrote Make Happy, which was released on Netflix in 2016. Yet another comedy special on the #1 streaming platform made him even more popular, joining other comedians like John Mulaney and Trevor Noah. However, while having lots of songs, it was not released in collaboration with an album. This special got even more praise and glowing reviews than what., and at the same time was even more meta and talked more about his mental health and self-esteem.

The Praise For The Comedic Lyrics

He had several comedic songs with underlying themes of societal issues. For example, “Straight White Male,” which spoke on how straight white men feel victimized now that minorities are becoming more equal to them, and “Pandering,” which talked about the flaws in the country genre music industry. This all culminated in “Can’t Handle This,” which was the most reflective and introspective song in the special. He began by talking about how he went to a Kanye show, and the rapper ranted in autotune at the end of his show, so Bo decided to replicate it. Then, he decided to rant about the width of Pringles cans and how he had too many fillings for his burrito, which fell apart.

Taking these examples at face value, they’re funny and relatable. But once we start breaking them apart and seeing them as metaphors for Bo’s mental health and descent into show business, these examples are sad and relatable. We’ve all had experience with taking on more than we can handle, just like putting too many fillings in our burrito, and if somebody had just told us that we were taking on too much, then perhaps we wouldn’t have horrible mental health. “I wouldn’t have gotten half this shit if it wasn’t going to fit in the burrito” — substitute “burrito” for “my life,” and that’s the core of the song.

By saying, “Dude, you should’ve warned me. You’re a burrito expert; you should’ve told me halfway through…” Bo was addressing the people around him who saw him rise in fame so quickly and at such a young age. But the metaphors soon stopped. Bo made it clear that this song wasn’t just about burritos and Pringle cans. He addressed the audience and pondered if he loves, hates, or needs them, and in the most poignant line in the song, said, “Come and watch the skinny kid with the steadily declining mental health and laugh as he attempts to give you what he cannot give himself.” He told them that he couldn’t handle performing while performing.

In the end, he said, “Thank you, I hope you’re happy.” Make Happy. That’s the title of the special. Bo lures the audience in with comedy, and when he has their attention, he goes into themes of mental illness and self-esteem issues. But he doesn’t intend to hurt them or make them feel sad — that’s why he hopes they’re happy. He makes them feel less alone; after all, we’ve all suffered from mental health and self-esteem issues. Hearing a comedian being so candid about it while also giving a phenomenal show doesn’t just let the audience leave the theater happy; it leaves them thinking.

There’s a certain trajectory with Bo Burnham’s work. It started fun and comedic, with some societal issues peppered in and his songs based on things wrong in the world. But any songs focused on him were for the sake of insulting himself. Calling himself skinny, awkward, and other unsavory adjectives were the majority of his introspective songs. But Inside shows just how far he’s come with his comedy — or rather, him as a person.

After Make Happy (2016)

After Make Happy, Bo walked off stage and immediately started sobbing and shaking. He had had even more panic attacks and decided on a train between shows that he would quit live comedy. And he did — for five years and counting. He made Eighth Grade when he was on hiatus, but that didn’t require him to be onstage. Instead, he could direct from the background, putting his visions into something anonymous. But around January of 2020, it started to feel better. But then, “the funniest thing happened,” AKA the COVID-19 pandemic, and he was forced back inside right as he was feeling good to go back out and perform.

Will Bo Burnham go back to live comedy? The answer is uncertain since “Look Who’s Inside Again” has the line, “Went out to look for a reason to hide again” — perhaps signifying that Bo was only going back into the world to self-sabotage and find a reason to not do live comedy anymore. And as he said many times throughout the special, the pandemic did nothing to help his mental health. In fact, he raised multiple times that he’d been wanting to kill himself and was using the special as a reason to stay alive. The second he released the special, he’d kill himself. That hasn’t happened, so perhaps his mental health has improved, but that is a slippery slope.

Inside is the most serious and contemplative special out of all of Bo’s works. It seems as if all the more serious content from his previous specials culminated into Inside, where several songs echo the themes from his previous songs — for example, as previously mentioned, “Welcome to the Internet” echoes “Welcome to YouTube”; “Sad” echoes “Comedy”; “Can’t Handle This” echoes “All Eyes on Me.” All these anxieties and themes and issues have been building up until it all festered for five years and burst into the pandemic where there was nothing else to do but think. As a result, we see Bo transform, both physically (where he looks like Jesus toward the end) and emotionally (where hopelessness takes over).

Thinking, of course, is absolutely necessary, but if that’s the only thing that you can do, it’s maddening. After all, “When you’re a kid, and you’re stuck in your room, you’ll do any old shit to get out of it.” And as much as we want to get out, there are far more things that make us want to stay inside, as enumerated throughout the special. Now that the world has started to open up more and more, the mere thought of going outside and doing things is now overwhelming. Tasks that were considered normal (doing chores, going to work in-person) are much too overwhelming, and all we want to do is go back home and lay under the covers.

The Aftermath Of Inside (2021)

So, of course, viewers came out of the special feeling somewhat lost and depressed. Bo Burnham put into words that numbness, that certain apathy to everything we’ve been feeling over the course of the pandemic, not only words at that. He put it into catchy, comedic, and downright beautiful songs that force us to interact with it instead of listening to it passively. He prodded the audience with questions, such as “Should I be joking at a time like this?” to demanding “Get your f*cking hands up,” to asking yet again, “Oh shit, you’re really joking at a time like this?” We can’t just sit and consume this special without thinking.

But the goal of the special wasn’t to be relatable. It happened to be relatable. Some people found their Instagrams having far too many similar pictures like those in “White Woman’s Instagram.” Millennials turning 30 or older in the pandemic found themselves celebrating in exactly the same way Bo celebrated his birthday. People who made some unsavory comments in their past found themselves having to confront that with “Problematic.” While Bo made this special for himself, to give himself a reason to live, it’s the people’s special now. Several of his songs have gone viral on TikTok, both with people making serious content and others using it as a joke. He stated in “Goodbye” how it’d be a fun idea for him to sit on the couch and watch us next time, and that’s exactly what he’s doing now. He made us content; now we’re returning the favor.

We were all inside, and now we’re outside, looking for a reason to hide again.

“So Long, Goodbye”

Bo Burnham is one of the most successful comedians right now because he’s tapped into the market of meta, introspective comedy that nobody wants to touch, or when they do, it comes off as banal and trying too hard. He hits that sweet spot where we can laugh at a joke while going “oof” at the same time, which has happened multiple times when audiences laugh and then groan at an uncomfortable joke. We leave the theater or sit on the couch thinking. Bo is so much more than a simple comedian. That’s what this entire introduction has been about. He has albums, books, movies, and comedy specials under his belt.

But he also has a grip on younger generations, who relate to the feeling of hopelessness at the declining state of the world, which he has talked about his entire career. He has a grip on older generations, who relate to the sentiment of getting older and the boredom that came with the pandemic. He has a grip on everybody, and everybody can relate to at least one song from his discography. And it isn’t that sort of relatability that’s “oh, ha, I do that”; it’s the relatability that renders us paralyzed for a moment, thinking, “Wow, somebody else feels that way, too. It isn’t just me.”

So, whether it’s “Art Is Dead” or “We Think We Know You” or “That Funny Feeling,” Bo Burnham has made something out there for everyone. If this introduction leaves you with anything, just know that there’s a comedian out there who knows what you’re feeling. If you ever need to laugh and reflect on the world at the same time, Bo Burnham is your man.