Musical Comedy is an interesting form of comedy that got extremely popular in the 2000s. In an era where acts like Lonely Island, Tenacious D, and Steel Panther were rising in popularity, and in the late 2000s, Bo Burnham was on the rise to stardom as well. Bo Burnham is easily considered one of the best musical comedians of the modern era. Starting his career on YouTube, and going on to producing multiple Comedy Specials, Albums, and even touring the US producing some of the funniest shows on the planet Earth. Unfortunately, due to personal reasons that were actually discussed on this special he retired from live shows back in 2016 and went on to direct and star in movies like “Eighth Grade” and “Promising Young Woman”. So when I heard Bo was making another comedy special during a pandemic, it had me excited and extremely curious on what he would do for his special. Is it worth the watch? Let’s Dive In!
Bo Burnham basically films the entire comedy special from the comfort of 1 room by himself. He spends the entire year of filming covering social media and internet tropes that you generally see on the internet today. Tropes like react videos, the gaming community, Instagram, even sexting are just tips of the iceberg in terms of stuff he covers in his special. Honestly that pretty much covers the premise of the show without spoiling it entirely.
The pandemic has affected the vast majority of people especially in a social setting. As public places have closed down, most people have acquired anxiety, depression, and fear. And since most people also were completely alone, they spent most of their time on the phone and on social media. So during a pandemic, that’s honestly the perfect concept for any kind of comedy special. There were plenty of times during the show where I felt like I was being targeted, because some of the jokes he made about certain groups is something I’ve been a part of and I felt a sense of relatability.
The songs are absolutely wonderful. There’s not a single song on this soundtrack that made me think, “Wow that was lame”. One song in particular “Welcome to the Internet” had a bit of a polka feel to the song, and pointed out everything the internet had to offer, good and bad as if he’s a salesman pitching some kind of elixir like in Red Dead Redemption. A lot of musical styles are covered in this special There were synth pop songs, an 80s montage, and today’s pop songs, just to name a few genres. When I heard “Sexting” for the first time, the song sounded like it had a bit of a Post Malone feel to it.
What blew me out of the water throughout this entire special was his camera work and lighting effects. It blew my mind that Bo was the only person filming the special. Camera work was used to establish fantastic shots to invoke the proper emotions in each scene. The zoom was used to great effect multiple times in this special. It helped invoke a feeling of fear or anxiety because of the lack of subtlety of each shot. Sometimes the camera will change resolutions as well depending on the subject matter. “FaceTime With My Mom” had a cellphone resolution during the number, and even with the limited amount of space he had in each shot, it was utilized to great effect.
Bo Burnham has always had a knack for using lights to their full potential for all of his live performances, and it was used to great effect throughout this entire special. Lighting was also used to great effect for emotional purposes.Most of the lighting was shot from his projector, but I think some of the best lighting was actually his utilization of his phone. It was clever in the sense of giving something as simple as a cell phone or a screen some sense of life. We all get sucked into our technology at some point, it has somewhat of a symbiotic bond with our social skills. The lights are used to project loneliness as well. Whenever he’s in a dark room with just the light on the screen, it shows how much he was separated from the environment around him, as if he was sucked into the digital world. Every light that was used in each shot felt appropriate for the emotion he was trying to convey.
2020 was a very rough year for all of us, and Bo really showed us throughout the whole special that he was struggling too. If you are looking for something to watch, and you have a crude sense of humor, and have a deep appreciation for musical comedy or just really want something to laugh at in a tough time we’re living in, this will definitely help turn that frown upside down. After 5 years of waiting for his next special, I’m extremely glad he put together a special that made me laugh so hard my stomach turned Inside Out.
Final Verdict: 9/10
What did you guys think of Bo Burnham: Inside? Please be sure to leave a like and a comment below!
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