Trying to grant his dying father's wish, a son discovers an epic love story buried in his family's distant past. He doesn't really bother with any kind of transitions. The lead-in is Burnham thanking a nonexistent audience for being there with him for the last year. But Burnham doesn't put the bottle down right, and it falls off the stool. Toward the end, he appears completely naked behind his keyboard. "Inside" kicks off with Burnham reentering the same small studio space he used for the end of "Make Happy," when the 2016 Netflix special transitioned from the live stage to Burnham suddenly sitting down at his piano by himself to sing one final song for the at-home audience. this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside,". Bo Burnham defined an era when he created Inside. Netflix. Accuracy and availability may vary. Whatever it is, NPR's Linda Holmes, host of Pop Culture Happy Hour, has reviewed it, and she liked it. Burnham spoofs a PewDiePie-like figure a YouTuber who narrates his playing of a video game with a dead-eyed smugness, as shown in an image at the bottom-right corner of the screen. It's as if Burnham knows there are valid criticisms of him that haven't really stuck in the public discourse around his work. / 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. Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. Don't overthink this, look in my eye don't be scared don't be shy come on in the water's fine."). Tell us a little bit more about that. But it doesn't. He was alone. 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. "All Eyes On Me" starts right after Burnham's outburst of anger and sadness. Then, the video keeps going past the runtime of the song and into that reaction itself. And I think that, 'Oh if I'm self-aware about being a douchebag it'll somehow make me less of a douchebag.' He uploaded it to YouTube, a then barely-known website that offered an easy way for people to share videos, so he could send it to his brother. The penultimate song "All Eyes on Me" makes for a particularly powerful moment. According to a May 2021 Slate article, the piece was filmed at Bo Burnhams Los Angeles guest housethe same room used for June 2016s Are You Happy? and the closing shots of the Make Happy special. This sketch, like the "White Woman Instagram" song, shows one of Burnham's writing techniques of bringing a common Internet culture into a fictionalized bit. Viewer discretion is advised. MARTIN: And I understand you were saying that it moves between genres. WebBo Burnham: Inside is by far one of the riskiest and original comedy specials to come out in years. You can tell that he's watched a ton of livestream gamers, and picked up on their intros, the way the talk with people in the chat, the cadence of their commentary on the game, everything. The scene cuts to black and we see Burnham waking up in his small pull-out couch bed, bookending the section of the special that started when him going to sleep. I actually felt true mutual empathy with someone for the first time, and with someone Ive never even met, its kinda funny.. .] 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 Throughout the song and its accompanying visuals, Burnham is highlighting the "girlboss" aesthetic of many white women's Instagram accounts. By inserting that Twitch character in this earlier scene, Burnham was seemingly giving a peek into his daily routine. That's a really clever, fun little rhyme in this, you know, kind of heavy song. Its an origin story of sorts. So he has, for example, a song in which he adopts the persona of a kind of horror movie carnival barker, you might call it, who is trying to sell people the internet. While sifting through fan reactions to Inside, the YouTube algorithm suggested I watch a fan-made video that pitch corrects All Eyes on Me to Burnhams actual voice. Down to the second, the clock changes to midnight exactly halfway through the runtime of "Inside.". 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. While platforms like Patreon mean creators can make their own works independently without studio influence, they also mean that the creator is directly beholden to their audience. Is he content with its content? "Part of me needs you, part of me fears you. Its horrific.". Simply smiling at the irony of watching his own movie come to life while he's still inside? His hair and beard were shorter, and he was full of inspired energy. Mid-song, a spotlight turns on Burnham and shows him completely naked as a voice sings: "Well, well, look who's inside again. Burnham makes it textual, too. And I think that's what you're getting here. Bo Burnham: Inside, was written, edited, and directed by the talent himself and the entire show is shot in one room. As we explained in this breakdown of 31 details you might have missed in "Inside," Bo Burnham's newest special is a poioumenon a type of artistic work that tells the story of its own creation. On May 30, 2022, Burnham uploaded the video Inside: The Outtakes, to his YouTube channel, marking a rare original upload, similar to how he used his YouTube channel when he was a teenager. And it's important to remember, you know, this is a piece of theater. The song's melody is oddly soothing, and the lyrics are a sly manifestation of the way depression convinces you to stay in its abyss ("It's almost over, it's just begun. .] 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. Like Struccis Fake Friends documentary, this song is highlighted in Anuska Dhars video essay, Bo Burnham and the Trap of Parasocial Self-Awareness. Burnhams work consistently addresses his relationship with his audience, the ways he navigates those parasocial relationships, and how easy they can be to exploit. [1] Created in the guest house of Burnham's Los Angeles home during the COVID-19 pandemic without a crew or audience, it was released on Netflix on May 30, 2021. 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.". The reason he started making this special, he explains in the show, is to distract himself from shooting himself in the head, the first of several mentions of suicide (including one in which he tells viewers to just dont). But what is it exactly - a concert, a comedy special? His 2014 song Repeat Stuff and its music video parodies how boy bands and other corporately-owned pop stars prey on young fans desire to feel loved by writing songs with lyrics vague enough anyone can feel like it was written specifically about them. Get the fuck up! Burnham walks towards the camera and grabs it like hes grabbing the viewer by the throat. "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. But then, just as Burnham is vowing to always stay inside, and lamenting that he'll be "fully irrelevant and totally broken" in the future, the spotlight turns on him and he's completely naked. Well, well, buddy you found it, now come out with your hands up we've got you surrounded.". I don't think it's perfectly morally defendable.". It's self-conscious. Burnham wrote out: "Does it target those who have been disenfranchised in a historical, political, social, economic and/or psychological context?". Teeuwen's performance shows a twisted, codependent relationship between him and the puppet on his hand, something Burnham is clearly channeling in his own sock puppet routine in "Inside.". 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. But the lyrics Burnham sings seem to imply that he wants to be held accountable for thoughtless and offensive jokes of his past: "Father please forgive me for I did not realize what I did, or that I'd live to regret it, times are changing and I'm getting old, are you gonna hold me accountable?". "You say the ocean's rising, like I give a s---," he sings. Some of the things he mentions that give him "that funny feeling" include discount Etsy agitprop (aka communist-themed merchandise) and the Pepsi halftime show. I'm talking to you, get the f--- up.". Theyre complicated. And now depression has its grips in him. Today We'll Talk About That Day Bo Burnham; former YouTuber, iconic Viner, and acclaimed stand-up comedian has recently released a new Netflix special. At the beginning of "Inside," Burnham is not only coming back to that same room, but he's wearing a very similar outfit: jeans, T-shirt, and sneakers picking up right back where he left off. Back in 2010, Burnham appeared on Showtime's "The Green Room," a comics round table hosted by Paul Provenza. 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. Each of the songs from the first half of the special are in line with Burnham's earlier Netflix specials and comedy albums. that shows this exact meta style. I got so much better, in fact, that in January of 2020, I thought 'you know what I should start performing again. The song, written in 2006, is about how his whole family thinks he's gay, and the various conversations they're having trying to figure it out. Inside, a new Netflix special written, performed, directed, shot, and edited by comedian Bo Burnham, invokes and plays with many forms. Social media; it's just the market's answer to a generation that demanded to perform so the market said, here, perform. Got it? It's full circle from the start of the special, when Burnham sang about how he's been depressed and decided to try just getting up, sitting down, and going back to work. And I'm just wondering, like, how would you describe that? Daddy made you your favorite. Burnham's hair is shorter in those initial behind-the-scenes moments, but his future-self has a longer, unkempt beard and messy hair. LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE: Thank you, Michel. A harsh skepticism of digital life (a life the pandemic has only magnified) is the dominant subject of the special. Burnham's creative background began with being a theater then he transitioned to musical-comedy. 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.". 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. He puts himself on a cross using his projector, and the whole video is him exercising, like he's training for when he's inevitably "canceled.". While this special is the product of evolution, Burnham is pointing out its also a regression. The authoritative record of NPRs programming is the audio record. You can stream "Inside" on Netflix now, and see our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. Its folly to duplicate the feel of a live set, so why not fully adjust to the screen and try to make something as visually ambitious as a feature? But, like so many other plans and hopes people had in the early months of the pandemic, that goal proved unattainable. Daddy made you your favorite, open wide.". A distorted voice is back again, mocking Burnham as he sits exposed on his fake stage: "Well, well, look who's inside again. To save you the time freeze-framing, here's the complete message: "No pressure by the way at any point we can stop i just want to make sure ur comfortable all this and please dont feel obligated to send anything you dont want to just cuz i want things doesnt mean i should get them and its sometimes confusing because i think you enjoy it when i beg and express how much i want you but i dont ever want that to turn into you feeling pressured into doing something you don't want or feeling like youre disappointing me this is just meant to be fun and if at any point its not fun for you we can stop and im sorry if me saying this is killing the mood i just like ". 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. Like he's parodying white people who think that by crucifying themselves first they're somehow freed from the consequences of their actions. For all the ways Burnham had been desperate to leave the confines of his studio, now that he's able to go back out into the world (and onto a real stage), he's terrified. Then comes the third emotional jump scare. WebBo Burnham is more than a comedian he's a writer-director-actor who first went viral in 2006. Bo Burnham, pictured here at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, wrote, directed and performed the entirety of his new Netflix special, Inside, by himself. 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. "Truly, it's like, for a 16-year-old kid in 2006, it's not bad. See our full breakdown of every detail and reference you might have missed in "Inside" here. 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. our ranking of all 20 original songs from the special here. I think you're getting from him, you know, the entertainment element. How how successful do you think is "Inside" at addressing, describing kind of confronting the experience that a lot of people have had over the past year? 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. And we might. Please check your email to find a confirmation email, and follow the steps to confirm your humanity. While he's laying in bed, eyes about the close, the screen shows a flash of an open door. The global pandemic and subsequent lockdown orders of March 2020 put a stop to these plans. 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. He is not talking about it very much. It's a hint at the promised future; the possibility of once again being able to go outside and feel sunlight again. Similarly, Burnham often speaks to the audience by filming himself speaking to himself in a mirror. He has one where he's just sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar describing our modern world. ", "I do not think my intention was homophobic, but what is the implicit comedy of that song if you chase it all the way down? A part of me loves you, part of me hates you / Part of me needs you, part of me fears you / [. When that future-Burnham appears, it's almost like a precursor to what he'll have shown us by the end of the special: That both he, and his audience, could never have known just how brutal the next year was about to be. 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 didn't perform for five years," he says. 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. The battery is full, but no numbers are moving. 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? 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. So this is how it ends. I like this song, Burnham says, before pointing out the the lack of modern songs about labor exploitation. And like those specials, Inside implores fans to think about deeper themes as well as how we think about comedy as a genre. "You say the whole world's ending, honey it already did, you're not gonna slow it, heaven knows you tried. And it has a real feel of restlessness to it, almost like stream of consciousness. When you're a kid and you're stuck in your room, you'll do any old s--- to get out of it.". All Eyes on Me takes a different approach to rattling the viewer. ", The Mayo Clinic defines depersonalization-derealization disorder as occurring "when you persistently or repeatedly have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body or you have a sense that things around you aren't real, or both. But also, it's clear that there's a lot on his mind. The final shot is of him looking positively orgasmic, eyes closed, on the cross. 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. Thank you, Michel. It's a reprieve of the lyrics Burnham sang earlier in the special when he was reminiscing about being a kid stuck in his room. It's conscious of self. Parasocial relationships can be positive too, as outlined in culture critic Stitchs essay On Parasocial Relationships and the Boundaries of Celebrity for Teen Vogue. 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. Might not help but still it couldn't hurt. "They say it's like the 'me' generation. "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.". In another scene, Burnham gives a retroactive disclaimer to discussions of his suicidal ideation by telling the audience, And if youre out there and youre struggling with suicidal thoughts and you want to kill yourself, I just wanna tell you Dont! Look Whos Inside Again is largely a song about being creative during quarantine, but ends with Now come out with your hands up, weve got you surrounded, a reflection on police violence but also being mobbed by his fans. 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. In Unpaid Intern, Burnham sings about how deeply unethical the position is to the workers in a pastiche of other labor-focused blues. The special is available exclusively on Netflix, while the album can be found on most streaming platforms. After more sung repetitions of get your fuckin hands up, Burnham says, Get up. Its an instinct I have for all my work to have some deeper meaning or something. This plays almost like a glitch and goes unexplained until later in the special when a sketch plays out with Burnham as a Twitch streamer who is testing out a game called "INSIDE" (in which the player has to have a Bo Burnham video game character do things like cry, play the piano, and find a flashlight in order to complete their day). Now, the term is applied to how viewers devote time, energy, and emotion to celebrities and content creators like YouTubers, podcasters, and Twitch streamers people who do not know they exist. The label of parasocial relationship is meant to be neutral, being as natural and normal and, frankly, inescapable as familial or platonic relationships.