Inside Look at Inside  

During a period of quarantine darkness, Bo Burnham shines a comedic light. Burnham combines his infamous musical comedy with comedy that relates to the strange time we were in. While many might have looked at the period of March 2020 to today as a point of no creativity and of not being able to do anything, Burnham saw this as an opportunity. While we were all confined to our houses sitting and around and doing zoom, Burnham created a new comedy special. He filmed and shot the entire 1 hour and 27-minute special in the confides of one room. While normally someone would have a whole team working with them, Burnham had just himself .  

I had been a fan of Bo Burnham for a while so to be browsing on Netflix and stumbled across a new special was a very pleasant surprise. I grabbed my brother, who would enjoy it as much as I would, and we settled down and watched what would turn out to exceed all our expectations. From music to the lights to the funny hints at what is going on in the world. For the limited resources Burnham had he created something special. “It feels as if he has created something entirely new and unlikely, both sweepingly cinematic and claustrophobically intimate, a Zeitgeist-chasing musical comedy made alone to an audience of no one” said John Zinoman (New York Times). Burnham managed to create a project so cinematically inspiring when he only had himself and the resources around him.  

Although there is really no plot and the special bounces around and does not stay consistent, the music really helps carry the special along. It opens with very eerie music which transitions right into the first song. The first song “Content” introduces what is happening in the world. The first lyrics  

 

are “If you’d have told me, a year ago, that I’d be locked inside of my home,” it mentions the fact that this was filmed during quarantine when we were all isolated in our homes. Another example of hinting to quarantine is the line “I booked a haircut, but it got rescheduled,” which I think is a particularly good line because it was relevant to what was going on but because this was filmed at home it gives a more intimate feeling. More like a one on one. In the song “Comedy,” Burnham highlights the power that comedy has in this dark time. In a time where we cannot see each other or hug one another for reassurance, comedy is one of the only safe ways to comfort one another and shed light on a depressing time. In line with that, Burnham also highlights that making a comedy special alone in his house is hugely different than being on stage. One of my favorite lines from the show is “Can one be funny when stuck in a room, being in trying to get something out of it.” This lyric is like the saying “if a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, did it make a sound” because Burnham is saying can one be funny if there is no one else to bounce the jokes off, if no one was around to hear the joke was it even funny. Although this is a comedy special, it also deals with heavier issues such as racism, exploitation, and politics. His song “Problematic” hints at the abundance of cancel culture during quarantine and even before then. He uses the time he dressed up as Aladdin as the main point in the song. Although it is a serious subject, he uses comedy to shed light on it.  

I also would love to point out the use of lighting in this special. This special deals a lot with mental health and the effect that quarantine took on it, so using different lights for different scenes is very clever especially when you only have one set. Like the use of yellow and red lights for his song “How the World Works,” which is a mimic of children learning songs, but Burnham uses the second half of the song to touch on more serious political events. The more vibrant lights help keep the upbeat nature of the song while the lyrics themselves turn to be more aggressive. He uses a dim lit room and one bright light shining on him to give a melancholier feel for scene where he understands that because this is only a special and not on stage in front of you, that you could be playing this in the background and focusing on other things. For his song “Welcome to the Internet,” Burnham uses a blue light with green specks in the background to mimic a futuristic and alien setting.  

One thing that could make the special better would be a linear storyline. The show introduces songs or scenes that sometimes do not make sense or add anything to the rest of the lack of plot. There is one scene where Burnham is sitting with a knife in his hand and is thanking the viewers for watching. Although it is a very funny scene, it completely goes over my head and adds no substance to the rest of the work. Burnham also added an intermission which again is very funny but adds nothing and is an intermission for nothing. 30 seconds of Burnham pretending to clean a window is very funny and has the same vibe as the rest of the special but still does not really add anything for the rest of the special.  

This is an amazing cinematic work for the resources that he had. I would say that if he had a team, it would be done better but what gives it its originality is the fact that it was done with no production team and shot in one room. I do wish that the special had a more linear storyline or a storyline. It bounced around too many times and did not complete any of its thoughts. Burnham did give a warning for this in the beginning, but it would have made it better if there was a plot of some kind. Besides that, I loved the music and use of imagery which is hard to do with a chair and lights, but Burnham nailed it. I would recommend this special to others, especially those who are specifically interested in musical comedy.  

 

 

 

 

Work Sited 

Burnham, Bo. Bo Burnham: Inside. Directed by Bo Burnham, N/A, 2021, N/A. 

Zinoman, Jason. “Bo Burnham’s ‘inside’: A Comedy Special and an Inspired Experiment.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 1 June 2021